Courtesy BYU Photo

Those who follow BYU football closely have become aware of a refrain uttered every so often by opposing coaches, whether it be during pregame interviews or during postgame in an effort to qualify their team’s loss.

The refrain has to do with the fact that the Cougars own a substantial age advantage. And yes, due to a substantial amount of players on BYU’s roster who serve missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Cougar roster is flush with players generally two years older than their opponent.

Is it really an advantage, though?

As someone who has covered the BYU football program for years while becoming far more intimately aware of how missions affect players generally, the claim of any advantage is dubious at best. While some players use the experience from mission service effectively with regards to discipline and elevated muscle-mass, at least as many lose some of their drive and never fully catch up with their two years spent completely away from playing football.

But why can’t it be an advantage?

Courtesy BYU Photo

It’s something I believe could actually be made into a decided advantage for a long time now, and every time I interview or even see a player like Andrew Gentry on the practice field, it reinforces this belief.

Gentry is, to put it bluntly, a behemoth. The 6-foot-8, 320-pound lineman is also very much elevated in age compared with what he typically goes up against on a week-to-week basis during the season and acquitted himself nicely playing the right tackle spot for the entire season, particularly with his run-blocking ability.

Oh, and he’s also at least 25 years old.

Gentry was part of the 2020 recruiting class, and although BYU pursued him heavily, he opted to sign on with Michigan. He then served a mission to Orem, Utah, returned to Ann Arbor to play for the Wolverines before entering the transfer portal after the 2024 season.

BYU became his destination of choice in large part because the program had changed significantly since the 2020 calendar year. He stated as much in an interview I did with him on the “Cougar Sports with Ben Criddle” radio show just prior to his arrival in Provo during the 2025 offseason. Back in 2020 BYU was still independent, saddled with a cut-rate and fairly unmotivated offensive line coach, and generally couldn’t offer enough to lure a talent like Gentry, who was tabbed as a 4-star prospect.

Courtesy BYU Photo

Now Gentry is in Provo and represents what I believe should be the team’s strength, which is mammoth and talented offensive linemen who hold a 2-3 year advantage over most opponents. It always should have been the hallmark of BYU football, at least in my mind, but it was lost for too many years as the team pursued different identities, such as former Offensive Coordinator Robert Anae’s “go-fast-go-hard” offensive concept. Sure, Anae was able to generate some good offensive production at BYU, but as far as being able to truly compete at the highest level, go-fast-go-hard generally failed.

But it’s all about personnel, and I understand that. While BYU’s typical recruiting pool is always ripe with prime line talent, the ability to bring in those linemen was lacking. Now it’s not, at least relative to what it was, and I believe the parts are in place for the program to be fronted effectively by talented mammoth offensive linemen who can set forth the type of advantage the program should have always presented.

Gentry himself certainly believes as much.

“We want to compete to be one of the best units in the nation,” he said in a recent interview. “We’re not competing just to be good. We want to be great and to be the best … And we feel like we have the talent and the strength to do it … I really think we have the potential to be a phenomenal offensive line this year.”

Of course it has to involve more than Gentry. BYU needs a lot of Gentrys, and given the slew of returning talent, on top of key acquisitions like Paki Finau (Washington), Jr Sia (Utah State), Zak Yamauchi (Stanford) and 4-star true freshman Bott Mulitalo, BYU’s offensive front does look very good on paper.

Pair BYU’s offensive line with what appears to be a formidable two-tight end combination in transfers Walker Lyons (USC) and Roger Saleapaga (Oregon) fronting a running back arsenal where running backs LJ Martin and Sione Moa do their best work between the tackles, not to mention 245-pound quarterback Bear Bachmeier, and it’s what I believe the Cougar offense should have always been. And that’s a punishing inside zone offense that runs primarily out of a 12 personnel (two tight ends, one running back) formation that can assert a decided physical advantage over most opponents.

So the future is now for a BYU offensive system that plays to what the strength of the personnel should be and will be based on what’s currently coming down the pipeline. It’s the type offense that could very well lend at least some credibility to opposing coaches when whining about BYU’s age advantage, and Cougar fans will grow to love it.