1 / 4

BYU senior quarterback Jake Retzlaff smiles after a good play during a spring camp practice at the indoor practice facility in Provo on Saturday, March 15, 2025.

Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo

2 / 4

BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill (right) talks to freshman safety Payton VanSteenkiste during spring camp at the indoor practice facility in Provo on Monday, March 3, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

3 / 4

BYU football coach Kalani Sitake addresses his team during practice for the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, Texas, on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024.

Courtesy BYU Photo

4 / 4

A BYU receiver tries to make a catch while freshman defensive back Cannon Devries tries to knock it away during spring camp at the indoor practice facility in Provo on Monday, March 3, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

❮ ❯

Want a bunch of competitive people to work hard?

It’s not that complicated. Just turn things into a competition.

It’s something that the BYU football team is using to increase the energy and effectiveness of its spring camp practices.

“The more competition you add, the harder guys are going to play and the more fun it ends up being,” Cougar senior quarterback Jake Retzlaff said after practice on Saturday.

To make that happen, BYU has done a lot of situation work where the offense is trying to get a first down, grind out the clock or score in the red zone while the defense is trying to stop them.

“We put a yard line and a down and distance on every play in practice,” Cougar offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick said. “Every single day, whatever period of practice we are in, there is a situation there. We talk about the context of that situation for every play.”

Roderick explained that there are some solid fundamental reasons to have those situational objectives in place, since they can ensure players have the right mindset at different times in a game.

“There are times to be more aggressive and times to not,” Roderick said. “IF you are backed up in your own third in the second quarter and it’s a tough situation like a third-and-long, you want to be smarter than if it is fourth down near the end of the game and you have to get it to win. Then you obviously can take more chances.”

He said those are things BYU is working on every day so players are aware and prepared — but he also sees it as having big benefits as far as the enthusiasm the players bring to the field at practice.

“The players love it,” Roderick said. “We did a drill today (Saturday) where we had second down and put a distance on it. The offense played that play and then had to convert the third down whatever that ends up being. It was really fun and the players were really into it. The defense was cheering if they stopped us, while the offense was saying, ‘That’s another Cougar first down!’ when they got it. It’s just a two-play sequence, then you put the ball down and do it again.”

Roderick said taking the approach of having a bunch of mini-competitions keep everyone engaged and getting after it while they get the work done they need to in order to be ready for fall.

“Our players on both sides have a blast with that,” Roderick said. “They are competing hard but they are also having fun. There are bragging rights after practice on who won the drill.

“With those types of things, you get a lot of work done, the players compete and understand the importance of the situation that will carry over to real football games, but you are able to do that in a controlled environment where you can hopefully keep people healthy and it’s not as much of a grind as a full scrimmage or a full game would be.”

Staying focused during spring might appear to be tough to outsiders but Retzlaff said he doesn’t think it’s really that hard.

“We don’t feel like it’s a grind right now,” Retzlaff said. “The grind is the winter workouts when there isn’t even a ball. You are in the weight room and sprinting on the turf. But when there is a ball on the field, we have so much fun as a team.”

He agrees, though, that having the extra adrenaline from the little competitions makes a big difference in practice.

“When we set clear situations, like it’s third-and-3, go get the first down and offense wins or if the defense stops them then the defense wins, you get a lot more energy off of that,” Retzlaff said. “The offense gets the first-down chant going or the defense gets all riled when they make a play. It’s fun.”