BYU WR Kody Epps is Healthier Than He's Ever Been

Epps is embracing the full BYU experience as he prepares for

Kody Epps catches a pass from Jake Retzlaff at Fall camp / BYU Photo

PROVO, UT - What's the biggest difference between Fall camp as a junior compared to Fall camps as an underclassman? For most players, typical answers include mastery of the playbook, familiarity with the environment, and acclimation to the college game. For BYU redshirt junior wide receiver Kody Epps? It's his hamstrings.

"Health. That's the first thing that comes to mind," Epps said when asked about the difference between this Fall camp vs previous previous camps at BYU. "I've had a bunch of hamstring problems probably in every single Fall camp, just little tweaks and nags. I think this one has been a lot of fun because I can come out and practice each and every day. I don't have to worry about my hamstrings or anything like that."

Throughout his BYU career, injuries have prevented Epps from staying on the field. Epps showed flashes as a true freshman in 2020 when he played 119 snaps. In 2021, he was sidelined with a foot injury. In 2022, he finally got settled in. There was a three-game stretch in particular where Epps elevated his game and looked like BYU's next great wide receiver. The three-game stretch included games against Utah State, Notre Dame, and Arkansas. In those three games, Epps tallied 311 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns. The game against Arkansas was his last full game of the season before he suffered a season-ending injury against Liberty.

In 2023, he was in and out of the lineup again due to injury. He started to look like his former self during the end of last season against Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. In those two game, Epps tallied 11 receptions for 143 yards.

Epps thanks the new and improved strength and conditioning program for his improved health. "I think having the strength coach that I have, having the technology that we have that tracks our steps, tracks our weight, we make sure we're not losing a bunch of fluids and stuff like that...has been phenomenal. It's been a blessing to me."

Jake Retzlaff had a good day on Monday. On his last drive of the day, Retzlaff threw a strike to Kody Epps for a 25-30 yard gain that setup the game-winning field goal (situational portion of practice). pic.twitter.com/csSDEA6yke

— Casey Lundquist (@casey_lundquist) August 13, 2024

Going into 2024, Epps is laser focused on taking advantage of every day to be ready for the upcoming season. "I was working on attacking the day," Epps said on his mindset throughout the offseason. "Coach Phillis always talks about the pain of regret and the pain and discipline...coming in each and every day and wanting to choose the pain of discipline, whatever we have on the board, whatever we have, to attack that day. I wanted to focus and just give it my all, I wanted to leave the facility depleted of all energy."

Epps has primarily lined up in the slot for the BYU offense, so he's been preparing his body to handle the middle of the field where the collisions are the most violent."I definitely have been working on, in the weight room, strength in my routes. I wanted to be a lot stronger coming into this season, just in routes, whether that's getting off press, whether that's intermediate second-level releases and stuff like that and not getting pushed too far off my track... that plays into blocking as well, just making sure that I'm super stout because definitely playing on the inside, I'm dealing with a lot bigger dudes."

In terms of breakout candidates, Kody Epps is right at the top of the list. If he can stay healthy, he is primed for his best season in a BYU uniform. Epps has been a standout throughout Fall camp. In the last practice available to the media, Epps beat Jakob Robinson off the line of scrimmage for a fade. Retzlaff put the ball where only Epps could get it and he caught the touchdown over his shoulder.

Tough angle on this throw, but perfectly thrown fade route to Kody Epps from Jake Retzlaff.

Both quarterbacks were dialed in today. pic.twitter.com/ExDw0hPv4W

— Casey Lundquist (@casey_lundquist) August 20, 2024

Embracing the BYU Experience

In just one week, Epps will take the field at Lavell Edwards Stadium in front of 60,000+ fans. Epps says playing in front of BYU fans is unlike any other, especially since they don't need the help of alcohol to get loud.

"It's like no other," Epps said. "I'm so blessed and excited to have that support. Cougar nation is like no other, man. This might be a little crazy to say but the fact that our fans are sober and they bring that much energy each and every game, it's mind boggling. Screaming for four quarters straight and you go other places and people are, you know, not as sober as BYU fans are and they're screaming the whole time, but I guess they're just out of their wits at that point. But for BYU fans to come and do that, that means they really truly care about us and love us and, and, and it means something for them to come to the game and do that for from the first quarter to the end of the game."

Nov 18, 2023; Provo, Utah, USA; Brigham Young Cougars wide receiver Kody Epps (0) reacts to a play against the Oklahoma Sooners in the third quarter at LaVell Edwards Stadium. / Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports

Off the field, Epps will start a new chapter of his BYU experience this semester. When classes start in a few weeks, Epps will start the full-time MBA program at BYU. He calls it "probably his greatest accomplishment".

"I'm so blessed man," Epps told BYU On SI. "In this interview, I wanna give a shoutout to my parents, my family. They pushed me so much to get into the Master's program - the MBA program is probably the greatest accomplishment that I've ever received to be able to get accepted into BYU's masters program of entrepreneurship. Bar none, especially from coming from where I've come from...I'm so excited to get into the mix of business and I feel like I'm at my best when I'm super focused on things in school and football is going on at the same time cause I don't like when I have too much free time. I don't like being idle, especially during football season."

Epps will be a player to watch when BYU kicks off the 2024 season against Southern Illinois.