BYU Head Coach Kalani Sitake addressed the media on several team developments as part of his weekly press conference on Monday, although the most notable news came from Greg Wrubell’s interview with Special Teams Coordinator Kelly Poppinga during the Coordinator’s Corner episode on BYUtv. During the interview, Poppinga all but announced that Stanford transfer Tiger Bachmeier will be taking primary punt return duties from Parker Kingston, who returned two punts for touchdowns a season ago.

“We talked through it and decided it was time to give him an opportunity,” Poppinga said of Tiger Bachmeier returning punts. “I’d say right now it’s probably his job to lose…I’m sure Parker will get some other opportunities, but I think Tiger is more than capable.”

So why the change?

It all has to do with ball security and the emphasis coaches put on not turning the ball over. Through two games played this season, Kingston has fumbled two punt returns, which supersedes his past exploits, and not without reason.

“Ball security is the number one goal for our entire team,” Poppinga explained. “It’s something that Kalani emphasizes (during) every team meeting (and) every practice…that ball is everything. It’s our livelihood.”

Tiger Bachmeier did receive an opportunity to return a punt during this past Saturday’s 27-3 win over Stanford and made the most of it. The junior receiver outran the coverage laterally, ran the ball clear to the opposite side of the field and then effectively turned the corner for a 44 yard gain.

It was the type of return the 6-foot-1, 190 pound receiver showed throughout his time playing for Stanford with coaches hoping he can provide again for the Cougars.

Lapuaho in, Phillips likely out

Sitake provided mixed injury news on Monday, informing the media that receiver Jojo Phillips, who left Saturday’s game with an upper-body injury is still being evaluated and is expected to miss some time.

But one player whose return is anticipated is offensive lineman Weylin Lapuaho.

“It all depends on this week,” Sitake said regarding Lapuaho’s potential return to the lineup versus the Pirates. “We know for a fact that he’ll be back the week after and we hope with this bye week that it can give him some extra time to go against East Carolina.”

Lapuaho entered this season as BYU’s most experienced offensive lineman, having started at the left guard position since the 2023 season, a year after transferring from Utah State. The 6-foot-4, 310 pound senior has played in 38 total games for the Cougars and his return to the lineup will likely provide a boost in the offensive line’s overall production.

East Carolina game time announced

Game times were announced for Big 12 Conference teams for week 4 of the college football season on Monday with BYU set to square off versus East Carolina on September 20 at 5:30 MST. The game will be televised on ESPN2 with the Cougars having two weeks to prepare in what will be their first road game of the season.

“I’m looking forward to the next matchup,” Sitake said. “Obviously we’ll have a bye, so it will be a work week for us…and we can get an early jump on East Carolina and making our first road trip out back east.”

Not just Ferrin

Kicker Will Ferrin has received the bulk of praise for BYU’s superior special teams play dating back to last season, and for good reason. But on Monday Sitake pointed out the play of punter Sam Vander Haar and the job he’s done in placing opposing offenses in difficult situations throughout his time and BYU, and particularly during last week’s game against Stanford.

“You give him a task and tell him to go work on it, then he’s going to go crazy with it,” Sitake said. “…We’ve put a lot on his plate and asked him to do a lot of different things and…what he’s really good at is being an accurate kicker and pinning (opponents deep) is something he does really, really well.”

Vander Haar is a 6-foot, 220 pound junior from Melbourne, Australia who is still relatively new to the sport of American football, having logged most of his athletic experience in playing Australian rules football prior to joining BYU’s team just prior to the 2024 season. Before arriving in Provo he played one season for Pittsburgh where he averaged 38.5 yards per punt.

For BYU Vander Haar averaged 42.8 yards per punt last season and 44.8 yards so far in 2025 while showing particular skill in placing the ball just outside of the opposite goaline, as alluded to by Sitake.