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BYU tight end Carson Ryan (right) stiff arms a defender during spring practice in Provo on Friday, March 21, 2025.

Rebeca Fuentes, BYU Photo

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BYU tight end Carson Ryan (right) goes though a defender during spring practice in Provo on Friday, March 21, 2025.

Rebeca Fuentes, BYU Photo

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Immediately after Utah lost to BYU 22-21 last October, Ute tight end Carsen Ryan was far too upset to consider the kind of special season the Cougars were having.

“I was pissed off at that point,” said Ryan, who transferred to BYU last December. “I was like, ‘we lost.’ But it came later. I wasn’t thinking about transferring. I was still focused on my team at that point. I feel like once I kind of made my decision to transfer I was like, ‘Well, BYU needs a tight end, one guy is graduating, they’ve got a great coach in Kevin Gilbride,’ so that was a big part of it.”

In fact, every tight end who caught passes for the Cougars last season is gone. Keanu Hill (12 catches, 108 yards, 1 TD) and Mata’ava Ta’ase (nine catches, 91 yards 3 TDs) graduated and freshman Ryner Swanson (10 catches, 91 yards) decided to serve a church mission.

Still, Ryan was careful about making his decision.

“I wasn’t just set on BYU coming out,” he said. “When I transferred the first time (from UCLA to Utah) it didn’t really work out, So this time I was like, ‘I’ve got to get this right.’ So I took things slower. The first time I was kind of going toward Utah and I feel like I neglected being recruited from other schools and taking my time. I was thinking more about what I wanted, more in depth.”

Ryan played in the Pac-12 before Utah moved into the Big 12 last season.

“It was a little different,” he said. “We were not playing on the west coast as much so a lot less California teams. I played against a lot of teams I played in the Pac-12 like Colorado and Arizona State, so there was some crossover. It was fun. I like playing a bunch of different schools and seeing different areas of the country, like Iowa State and East Carolina, too. I feel like physically, it’s a pretty similar kind of level, with lots of great players in both conferences.”

In three seasons (two at UCLA, one at Utah), the former Timpview and American Fork standout has 29 catches for 400 yards (13.4 yards per reception) and four TD’s.

“The goal of mine has always been to get to the National Football League,” Ryan said. “I can make a big step towards getting that in this program. That’s why I came here. We have a lot of NFL coaching experience here. I feel like it can be a big part of helping me achieve my goal, that I want to be a great tight for BYU. They’ve always had a lot of great tight ends and hopefully one day I can add my name to that list.

“A big part of my game has been as a run blocker most of my life, high school and college. I’ve always been proud of it, too. This time I want to run block and pass catch. If just makes you so much more appealing to wherever you want to get to, if you can be reliable in the make the block. It just adds value.”

Ryan is learning the third new offense of his college career.

“I like how we can get the ball to the players we need to,” he said. “They (the coaches) know who they are. We know where the playmakers are. Our wide receivers are really strong and super fast. Guys get separation and catch the ball. We can get guys out on jet sweeps. We’ve got a really stacked running back room, too. We’ll run a lot of two back sets to get them on the field. I really like how Coach (Aaron) Roderick schemes us up for success. He knows what to expect from the defense and what things are going to work.”

Ryan said he’s looking forward to playing his former team when BYU takes on Utah on Oct. 18.

“It’s going to be an exciting game,” he said. “I liked playing in that rivalry game last year. It was such a fun game for me, even though I was on the losing side. It was still just a fun experience. It was such a close game at the end. I’ve got a lot of friends on that team from last year, so it’s going to be fun to play them and see them. Hopefully, we’ll get some bragging rights when we beat them.”