BYU Signees Naki Tuakoi and Sefo Akuila Not on Fall Camp Roster

The 2024 signees were teammates in high school

The Cincinnati Bearcats and the Brigham Young Cougars warm up prior to a college football game between the Brigham Young Cougars and the Cincinnati Bearcats, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023, at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah. / Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

Kalani Sitake and the BYU football program kicked off the 2024 season on Wednesday with the first practice of Fall camp. Two notable names were missing from the Fall camp roster: 2024 signees Naki Tuakoi and Sefo Akuila. Both Tuakoi and Akuila were listed on the media day roster at linebacker in mid July, but neither were able to get enrolled in time for Fall camp.

After the first day of Fall camp, BYU head coach Kalani Sitake said Tuakoi and Akuila will try to enroll later. You can check out the rest of our day one takeaways here.

Tuakoi and Akuila prepped at the same high school: Fremont High School in Oakland, California. The high school teammates were two of BYU's more coveted signees in the 2024 class. Naki Tuakoi, a four-star recruit, de-commited from Stanford before committing to BYU over competing offers from Stanford, Oregon, Oklahoma, Tennessee, USC, Utah, Michigan State, Maryland, Arizona, and Arizona State among others. Tuakoi was a candidate to bolster BYU's pass rush.

Sefo Akuila was an Arizona commit that BYU flipped on Signing day. Akuila played both quarterback and linebacker in high school. He already has a college-ready frame at 6'3 and 230 pounds. He could play a variety of positions at the college level, but he was listed as a linebacker.

Given the absence of Tuakoi and Akuila combined with Ben Bywater's retirement, BYU has less depth at than anticipated back on signing day. The Cougars will turn to other players at linebacker to fill the void. Choe Bryant-Strother, Siale Esera, Harrison Taggart, Ace Kaufusi, Jack Kelly, Maika Kaufusi, and Isaiah Glasker are top candidates for playing time at that position.