The Cougar coaching staff landed recruits around the country, although the focus was locally in Utah County where five standout prospect inked their signature on their letters of intent to play for BYU with perhaps more on the way.

Headlining the local recruiting efforts were a couple of linemen rated as 4-star prospects by the 247 National Recruiting Network in Lone Peak offensive lineman Bott Mulitalo (6-foot-5, 290 pounds) and Orem defensive lineman Lopeti Moala (6-4, 250.) Both prospects held a wide variety of options before opting to commit to the Cougars during the offseason and then follow through with those commitments on Wednesday.

Lehi provided two notable additions to BYU’s roster in the coming years with receiver Legend Glasker (6-1, 165) and running back DeVaughn Eka (5-11, 185)  hoping to add to the Cougar offensive production in the coming seasons. Rounding out Utah County’s additions to BYU’s list was Orem athlete Kaue Akana (6-3, 200), who is expected to play at either safety or linebacker at the collegiate level.

“I’m proud of the fact that we got many guys from our own backyard and in the state of Utah,” said BYU Coach Kalani Sitake. “…Guys from the state of Utah have been amazing…There’s great football in the state of Utah, so we want to recruit here first. We want to take care of our backyard first and that’s going to be the key. A good number of our roster comes from the state of Utah.”

Other signings from the state of Utah included 4-star tight end Brock Harris from Pine View High School, 4-star linebacker Adam Bywater from Bountiful and receiver Graham Livingston from Ridgeline.

For BYU Defensive Coordinator Jay Hill, who has been involved with local recruiting for a long time serving as an assistant coach for Utah before the head coach at Weber State, he believes the in-state talent is perennially ripe.

“It’s phenomenal, but we don’t want anyone else to come in here and take them,” Hill said of the local football talent. “I think the biggest thing that’s occurred is that the coaching has gotten really good and the development continues to get better and better. We’ve always had really good players in the state of Utah, but I just think they’re getting developed better now. Population increases have helped with that.”

Hill also noted the level of character typically found with in-state recruits with their ability to be coachable and maintain good grades.

But in-state wasn’t the only focus for the Cougar coaching staff with ten of the 18 signees coming from out-of-state. Headlining the out-of-staters were 4-star tight end prospect Ty Goettsche from Englewood, Colorado and linebacker Braxton Lindsey from Rogers, Arkansas, who had many scholarship offers out of high school, according to Hill.

Absent from BYU’s signing list was perhaps the program’s most celebrated commit, Ryder Lyons. Lyons was rated a 5-star quarterback prospect from Folsom, California who opted not to sign anywhere on Wednesday, although it’s anticipated he’ll sign either on Thursday or on Friday. Will Lyons hold his commitment to BYU? When asked, both Sitake and Offensive Coordinator were necessarily cryptic due to NCAA stipulations of not mentioning any existing recruit by name.

“I can’t comment on any individual, but we’re going to have more guys sign,” Roderick said. “There’s several that I know of that are still coming. I will say that I think our quarterback play here has been really good for a while now. So it’s going to continue to be really good no matter who is here. So we’re going to keep playing at a high level at QB.”

BYU 2026 football signees

Kaue Akana, 6-3, 200 athlete, Orem High School

Sefanaia Alatini, 6-2, 185 athlete, Mountain View, Calif.

Justice Brathwaite, 6-0, 190 cornerback, Gilbert, Arizona

Adam Bywater, 6-3, 210 linebacker, Bountiful

DeVaughn Eka, 5-11, 185 running back, Lehi

Legend Glasker, 6-1, 165 wide receiver, Lehi

Ty Goettsche, 6-6, 225 tight end, Englewood, Colorado

Brock Harris, 6-6, 238 tight end, Pine View

Antonio Johnson, 6-4, 180 defensive back, Arlington, Texas

Nehemiah Kolone, 6-4, 255 defensive line, Stillwater, Oklahoma

Braxton Lindsey, 6-2, 230 linebacker, Rogers, Arkansas

Graham Livingston, 5-11, 185 wide receiver, Ridgeline

Matthew Mason, 6-3, 190 safety, Las Vegas

Lopeti Moala, 6-4, 250 defensive line, Orem

Bott Mulitalo, 6-5, 290 offensive line, Lone Peak

Parker Ord, 6-4, 210 tight end, Frisco, Texas

Terrance Saryon, 5-10, 160 wide receiver, Vancouver, Washington

Jax Tanner, 6-4, 270 offensive line, Meridian, Idaho