BYU Football Will Need to Make Numerous Roster Cuts by the Season Opener

Casey Lundquist | Mar 26, 2025

BYU players celebrate touchdown during Spring scrimmage / BYU Phot

The BYU football program is wrapping up Spring camp this week. Between now and the season opener against Portland State, the BYU coaching staff has some work to do. The roster will need to be trimmed to 105 players by the time BYU plays the first game.

For Spring camp, BYU has 123 players on the roster. The Cougars are also expecting to add former signees to the roster for Fall Camp. By our unofficial count, BYU could add as many as 10 former signees to the Fall Camp roster.

At minimum, BYU will need to cut 18 players by the first game. Most likely, BYU will need to cut 25-35 players over the next few months.

BYU will take some time to cut down the roster. BYU can have more than 105 players on the roster for Fall camp. This is the first year 105-man roster limitations will be in place.

Roster cuts have already happened at a few positions. Take the quarterback position, for example. Last year, BYU had 10 quarterbacks on the Spring roster. This year, BYU has three quarterbacks on the roster: Jake Retzlaff, McCae Hillstead, and Treyson Bourguet.

For BYU to get to 105 players, most position groups will need to cut multiple players. For example, here's a scenario that could get BYU's Spring Roster to 105:

Roster Cuts by Position Group

1. Cornerback - 1
2. Wide Receiver -2
3. Safety - 2
4. Running Back - 2
5. Linebacker - 3
6. Defensive End - 3
7. Tight End - 1
8. Defensive Tackle - 1
9. Offensive Line - 3

In this scenario, only the quarterback group and the specialists would keep their entire room intact. At this point, BYU can't afford to lose anymore quarterbacks.