And why wouldn’t he, considering what was at BYU upon his arrival?

Meet Cade Uluave, who starred for Cal football for three seasons before opting to transfer to and join the Cougar football program for his final senior year. The 6-foot-1, 235 pound linebacker, who started all three seasons for the Bears, is expected to make a big impact at a position most consider the deepest and most talented on the BYU football team for the 2026 season.

“It’s been quite the process to get here, but I’m super blessed to be here and part of this great program,” Uluave said. “I loved my time at Cal. They treated me great and it was a great experience. But I felt like it was time for something new, and BYU is coming back home for me in a  lot of ways.”

Turns out BYU is the place he wanted to be in the first place. Home was just 30 minutes north of Provo for the Herriman-raised Uluave, who grew up cheering for the Cougar football team.

“My dad is from Provo and he’s always been a huge Cougar fan. I grew up going to BYU games and my sister was a student here. So yeah, BYU was a place I always wanted to play when growing up,” he said. “But it worked out a different way for me, and I feel it all worked out for the best.”

So why didn’t Uluave just join the Cougar football program to begin with?

“BYU didn’t really want me and didn’t really recruit me much at all,” said the former Mountain Ridge High standout. “I mean, I wanted them to be interested, but they weren’t. So I picked the next best option for me, and that was at Cal. And honestly, I don’t think I could have made a better decision looking back.”

Indeed, Uluave saw immediate success in Berkeley.

As a freshman he saw plenty of action and contributed heavily and effectively enough to be named as the Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year. He then finished out last season with a career-high 100 tackles, which included 16 tackles-for-loss and threw in five sacks along with three interceptions.

So why leave what appeared to be an ideal situation for him to finish out his final collegiate season?

“Cal was great to me. Coaches were great from day one and how they helped me develop was all I could have asked for. All of it will bless my life forever,” Uluave said. “But there were some coaching changes, and it just led me to go looking for another team, and I was so grateful to have BYU as an option. I had some other options, but after considering everything BYU came out on top for just about every reason I could think of.”

As one could well imagine, family was a primary driver of Uluave’s decision.

“I’m still trying to wrap my head around home just being a 30-minute drive away, and I love it. But my mom, she probably loves it even more,” he said. “My family is super close and then my sister and her husband, they’re like three minutes away down here in Provo and being around all of them is such a huge blessing.”

And then there’s his other family that he’s found.

“BYU is family for me now, and I’ve felt that ever since I joined the team. There’s great people here,” Uluave said. “At Cal I was pretty much the only member of the Church (of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), but here, almost everyone is a member, and I love that. I love being around people who share the same ideals and beliefs that I do. I mean, it was great being at Cal, and I’ll cherish that experience attending a school and playing for a program that was pretty much the polar opposite of BYU in a lot of ways. But like I said, I was ready for a change, and BYU is a great change for me.”

Heading all of it is BYU head coach Kalani Sitake, someone whom Uluave has forged an instant connection with.

“I love how he goes about his business and the culture he’s developed here. You feel it every day and with every team activity we do, and I love that,” he concluded. “I’m just hoping I can add to this great culture and the great football they play here. It’s exciting to be a part of it for my last season and I’m working the best I can to make the most of it.”