Practice after practice after practice.

That’s the life of BYU football players and coaches during spring camp and it can be a grind.

With the Cougars keeping the 2024 season firmly in mind, they know they have to take advantage of any and all opportunities to improve.

So how are they doing?

When talking last week, BYU head coach Kalani Sitake indicated that he approved of the progress of his program during the first few practices.

“We’re not seeing missed assignments and guys are starting to understand the schemes, trusting them on both sides of the ball,” Sitake said. “What we’re seeing now is some mistakes in technique and the fundamentals of the game. The missed tackles and things like that are not because of schemes. They are happening because guys aren’t using the proper technique pad level. We’re starting to home in on those things.”

He explained that the process is at the point of changing the focus.

“We’ve put a lot of the install on offense and on defense in the first five practices,” Sitake said. “But now it’s time to start really mastering the craft.”

One of the keys for a team to succeed is having a high level of performance in the trenches, something BYU wanted to improve on before the fall.

Sitake said he also is seeing growth in that area as well, which is promising.

“I’m starting to see a lot of the big guys producing some really good things on both sides, on the offensive and defensive lines,” Sitake said. “We want to just keep getting those big boys getting better.”

That means not holding back during practice but having the players compete hard.

“I don’t know any other way to do it than to just let them just play live football,” Sitake said. “It’s really hard to play football when you’re tagging up the whole time, so it’s good that we got some live work and now we’ll see if we get some more.”

The Cougars don’t want to overdo it and have guys getting banged up, so Sitake said they are relying on following the guidance of their sports scientists.

“There is a balance between working hard and keeping them safe,” Sitake said. “We have the science behind it now so the guys have a little bit more confidence. They know that they may be sore but they’re going to be perfectly fine to knock some heads a little bit.”

Sitake also has an added perspective from long-time head coach Gary Anderson, who is helping out as a consultant for BYU.

“He’s helping out on everything,” Sitake said. “He’s able to get extra eyes on everything and focus on anything that he sees. He’s done it before. It’s been really helpful for (defensive coordinator Jay Hill) and for me and for everyone on the defensive side.”

Sitake also sees it as a benefit for the athletes, since they have someone else to turn to.

“He’s just got a great connection with everybody on the team,” Sitake said. “He is a player’s coach. The players gravitate to him and he’s able to give us some good counsel and good advice on the game of football. It’s a lot of fun right now.”

But he also knows this is just the beginning of an extended process that includes the rest of spring, the summer workouts and fall camp before the season will finally roll around.

“We’ve got to keep rolling,” Sitake said.

Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo

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