It’s a challenge to deal with the pain, the rehabilitation, the long-term impacts and trying to stay healthy, as BYU sophomore tight end Isaac Rex knows all too well.

He said during the Cougar press teleconference on Monday that he never considered skipping a game to limit the use of his recovering ankle, but it certainly wasn’t easy to make it through the fall.

“There have definitely been practices where I was like, dang, my ankle is killing me,” Rex said. “It’s weird having this a bunch of plates and screws in your ankles. I’m like an old man now. When the weather starts changing, when it starts getting cold, I could feel it in my ankle. It’s definitely weird and challenging. But I really wanted to show that I’m a tough player, that I can play through injury. I really feel like I’ve shown myself that I can do hard things.”

Although it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly how many BYU players missed time with injuries during the 2022 season, the general consensus is that the Cougars likely had more than their fair share.

That consequently led to questions about the impact of BYU’s strength and conditioning program, with many wondering if Cougar players were possibly overtaxed physically by the emphasis on getting bigger and stronger.

BYU head coach Kalani Sitake said that the head strength and conditioning coach Nu’u Tafisi and assistant strength coach Justin McClure were no longer on staff for the Cougars.

“I appreciate all the hard work that they put into this program and for the young man,” Sitake said. “They’ve done a great job but we need to change and look in a different direction.”

He said BYU is looking to get harmonized with the various physical aspects of preparing to compete.

“What we’re trying to do with our players in the weight room is combine it with what we know about sports science and with the training room,” Sitake said. “We’re trying to bridge that together from our training room to our weight room.”

He said the goal is to “help our players be healthy but be strong at the same time and still keep that that level of physical physicality that we have on the field.”

To that end, Sitake said Spencer Reid is the interim strength and conditioning coach and he is being aided by Coleby Clawson, Dr. Skyler Mayne, Dalton Elliott and Kalani Simeona. Reid is the son of Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and joined the BYU staff earlier in 2022.

“We have guys that are that are running the program right now and they’re doing just fine,” Sitake said.

Rex said that the changes have brought some sadness with the loss of coaches the players had worked with for a long time, but that he understands the evolving approach.

“We miss Nu’u and Justin,” Rex said. “They were great guys and I feel like they’ve made a lot of us stronger. But the new strength and conditioning staff, they’ve been awesome. I feel like instead of just heavy-duty lifting, they are focusing more on agility, more on flexibility, stuff that will translate more to the game which I appreciate. I just like how they’re listening to us and they’re always willing to help. They’ve been awesome throughout this year and they’re continuing the path going forward.”