College football programs traditionally have fluctuations in how strong they are at a given position.

One year a unit has veterans who demonstrate on the field they know what they are doing, while the next can be a lean year where younger players make a lot of mistakes.

The looming presence of the transfer portal certainly impacts those fluctuations as well. A team can hope to fill holes with transfers — but it can just as easily have players it was counting on decide to move on.

BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick saw his offense struggle because of some of those changes in 2023 but is optimistic that won’t be the case this fall.

“Last year we lost a lot of good players and it took us a lot longer than I think any of us expected to really gel and play as a unit,” Roderick said after practice on Monday. “This year it is nice have so many players return who know the offense, know what we are doing. I think we are going to have a good amount of continuity.”

He specifically highlighted the offensive line and the way that unit had to evolve.

“Last year we lost the Barrington brothers, Blake Freeland went pro when we didn’t expect him to and Harris LaChance decided to try to go pro,” Roderick said. “All of a sudden we were down four guys. This year we’ve got a bunch of guys back who really know what we are doing. That should be a good sign, I hope.”

Of all the reasons the Cougars hope to bounce back from the disappointments of last season, the fact that BYU has a lot of experienced players who chose to remain in Provo is likely the most significant.

On defense, for example, the number of players who now have a year in defensive coordinator Jay Hill’s system is making a difference early in spring camp.

“I think we are way further ahead in terms of ownership of the defense, in knowledge and understanding of what we are trying to get done,” Hill said.

That is allowing Hill to be selective about how he works with veterans like defensive lineman Tyler Batty and cornerback Jakob Robinson. He said they will still be looking to improve but won’t see all the reps.

“We want to be smart, but they’ve still got to get better,” Hill said. “It’s such a fine line because they’ve got a lot of work to do so their bodies can stay healthy, but you don’t need to wear them out.”

Limiting the on-field practice time for some of those experienced athletes opens the door for newcomers to shine, which is something Hill is already seeing.

“Some of the young guys who have come in are some of our best players,” Hill said. “I’m proud of some the young guys who are stepping up.”

But he wants to see more as spring camp progresses. He wants guys to emerge as the best at their positions.

“We’ve got to continue to solidify starters and that’s what I’ve not seen in all the groups yet,” Hill said. “That’s what spring ball and fall camp are for. We have veteran guys but we need some of the others to solidify who they are.”

Roderick said that he has a clear objective for how he wants his offense to improve.

“We’ve got to get back to running the football the way we did the three years prior to last year,” Roderick said.

He explained it will take everyone on the field to make that happen.

“Running the ball is an 11-man deal on every play,” Roderick said. “Obviously it starts up front but it’s also on the tight ends and receivers. It’s the quarterback getting us into the right play. It’s play-action pass fitting with the run.”

Both Roderick and Hill noted that they need their athletes to be ready for the physicality of the Big 12 and that starts in spring.

“The Big 12 had the reputation of being Air-Raid offenses with no defense,” Roderick said. “That is not the case now. It is a physical, run-the-ball conference with tough defenses.

“Nationwide scoring has gone down three years in a row in college football. Part of that is the clock rules and part is the transfer portal, but it is also becoming more of an NFL-style game where teams want to protect the football and win the turnover battle. You see a lot of that.”

Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo

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