BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick doesn’t hesitate when talking about what he wants his offense to do during 2024 spring camp.

“We’re really working on our run game,” Roderick said Monday after practice. “That’s Priority No. 1. The only way to practice that is to go live and tackle and find out how many yards you made on the run.

“Sometimes in practice, when you just tag somebody and blow the whistle, you’re not really sure if you made two yards or four yards or six yards. That’s the only way I know how to do it, so we been going live a little bit just to find out where we’re at.”

He has always emphasized that every offensive player has to do well to give the rushing attack the best chance to succeed. He said he’s seeing the other units making strides as well.

“We’re making progress (with the offensive line),” Roderick said. “We’ve definitely improved. I don’t want to overstate anything. We’ve got a lot of work to do, but I believe that we are improving. And our tight ends are much improved, especially in the run game.”

But the running backs need to be ready to shoulder the load as well, according to junior Miles Davis.

“We’ve got to get back to running the ball,” Davis said. “In the past few years, we would run the ball really well.

“We’ve got to run the ball hard. Every time we touch the ball, we’ve got to run hard. We’ve got to be able to make plays when plays are there to be made.”

Davis said that he and the other running backs feel proud that they have the trust of Roderick and the Cougar coaches, since BYU didn’t add a transfer to the position group in the offseason.

“It means a lot to us and a lot to me for sure,” Davis said. “It shows that they trust the running backs. They trust all of us. They trust our abilities and what we can do.”

Roderick singled out Davis for making significant progress as he has become a more consistent performer.

“Miles Davis is doing a good job,” Roderick said. “He’s reached a point now where he can run the whole offense. He’s not a role player anymore. He’s had his moments in his career where he’s done good things for us in a limited role. Now he knows how to do everything, he can just go in the game and play. It’s good to see him be at that stage.”

Davis explained that he feels like he has finally gotten his mind wrapped around what it means to be a running back.

“I felt like my mindset was just stuck on being a receiver,” Davis said. “I was trying to get the hang of being a running back. I think what improved a lot this year was just getting the running back position really down and really being able to have fun with it.”

He sees the BYU offense as

“We’ve got all the guys and everybody’s getting comfortable,” Davis said. “I think everything’s right now is looking good. Everything, offense and defense, is looking awesome right now. We’ve just got to keep it rolling.”

Roderick agreed with that assessment, saying the most important thing for his unit right now is to not get complacent but to keep pushing hard.

“We have to just keep going,” Roderick said. “We can’t have a good practice and be satisfied. For us to be successful this year, we’re going to have to play with a huge chip on our shoulder every week. That’s what we’re going to be wanting.”

Aaron Cornia, BYU Photo

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