Playing for the BYU football team is a different experience, particularly when compared to many other programs. Athletes have Honor Code standards and religious observances along with academics and athletic demands.

But that very uniqueness can be a benefit, since in the modern age of constant roster change the Cougars have something different.

“It takes a it takes a lot of discipline (to be at BYU),” Cougar senior defensive lineman Tyler Batty said Friday after practice.” It takes a lot of buy in. It takes a ton. I think we can take that and say hey, this is what you guys are doing. This is what you’re sacrificing. When game day comes around, it makes us stronger as a team. I think it can be a competitive advantage for us.”

BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill is now in his second year in Provo and said he sees the culture that head coach Kalani Sitake emphasizes as being critical to the team’s success.

“I think culture is one of the most important things in college athletics right now with everything else going on,” Hill said earlier this week. “How close knit your locker room is super critical. Players trusting coaches and coaches trusting players is super critical and then everybody having each other’s back. That’s such an important part of having a great team.”

He said that is something the Cougars actively work to cultivate.

“We made a statement just the other day that this team feels a little closer than last year’s team,” Hill said. “We’ll see how that looks going into fall camp with the transfer portal and some of those things but it’s something that we’re always going to be fighting to get better at.”

BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick noted that the Cougar culture and experience aren’t magic and don’t prevent players making decisions based on their individual perspectives.

“I think there’s probably a few guys on this team that would maybe think twice about leaving because they have other reasons for being here,” Roderick said. “But we’ve certainly had our share of guys leave and we’ve had our share of guys come in too. I think the movement you’re going to see in college football is going to continue and it’s up to us to just deal with it and adapt to it.”

While things might be slightly different at BYU than elsewhere, Roderick said the Cougars have to accept the realities of the current college football world.

“We’re definitely in a time of change,” Rodericks said. “There’s a lot going on. But you’ve got to adapt or die. That’s how it is. There’s no sense in complaining about it, from where I sit.”

His main objectives are having the offense succeed and all the decisions go toward making that happen.

“I’m trying to get a first down and that’s how I look at it,” Roderick said. “How are we going to get the next first down? I’ll leave the other stuff to everybody else to philosophize about and try to fix all those other problems. My job is to just get our players ready to play and keep improving. So that’s what I’m focused on.”

But he said having a lot of the same players back from last season makes him believe BYU will be better at moving the football.

“I think one of the reasons I’m really confident about our team improving this year is just the continuity,” Roderick said. “We didn’t really lose a lot of guys to portal. We might lose one or two after spring, but I suspect that most of our guys are having a good time right now with what we’re doing. I think they’ll stick around and I’m confident that we’re heading in a direction right now where our guys feel like we’re doing well.”

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