Big 12 Media Days: Why BYU Plowed Into the Transfer Portal So Hard for 2023

Head coach Kalani Sitake brought in a well-traveled quarterback but also found himself in need of a new defensive coordinator as well.

ARLINGTON, TX – BYU is in the big time now.

The program proudly owns a national championship and a Heisman Trophy winner, but has labored in the Western Athletic Conference, the Mountain West Conference and, since 2011, as a college football independent.

Now, the Cougars can claim affiliation among Power 5 conference schools like Ohio State and Alabama and USC and Florida State.

They can also claim membership alongside blue bloods like Oklahoma and Texas – for one year, anyway. In 2024, the Sooners and Longhorns are off to the SEC, and BYU and the Big 12 will continue along without their flagship programs.

“I feel really good about the progress we’ve made as a team the last couple years,” coach Kalani Sitake said.

Needing a talent upgrade, Sitake has gone all-in in the NCAA Transfer Portal, adding 21 transfers this season (20 players used the portal to leave Provo). It’s been projected that as many as half of BYU’s starters in 2023 could be transfers.

That includes the most important position on the field, where Kedon Slovis has already replaced NFL-bound Jaren Hall as the Cougars’ starting quarterback. Transferring wasn’t exactly a hardship for Slovis, who began his career at USC, played three seasons for the Trojans and then made his way to Pittsburgh for a year.

In four seasons, Slovis has thrown for 9,973 yards and 68 touchdowns with 33 interceptions. His high point came in his freshman year in LA, when he passed for 3,502 yards and 30 touchdowns..

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Sitake (56-34 in his first seven seasons) is managing massive changes on defense this year, too.

After going 8-5 last season, Sitake fired his defensive coordinator, Ilaisa Tuiaki, who had been on staff for all of Sitake’s seven seasons. Sitake brought in former Weber State head coach and ex-Utah defensive coordinator Jay Hill to shore up the defense.

“We speak the same language when it comes to defensive football,” Sitake said. “ … Everything that he’s about fits right in with what we’re trying to get done in the culture at BYU.”

Still, Sitake knows the biggest upgrades are still ahead. He’s tasked with building a Big 12 roster that can compete now on the Power 5 level. Last week BYU was picked by the media to finish 11th among the Big 12’s 14 teams. While quality classes need to be stacked to build the needed depth, recruiting has picked up, he said.

“It’s been that way since the announcement,” he said. “We’ve seen an uptick in recruiting.”

Sitake experienced a similar move previously in his career, and also mentioned TCU’s move from the MWC to the Big 12 – last year the Frogs played for a national championship.

Sitake said he feels he’s prepared for the move.

“I’ve been through this before, and so have our offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator when we were at Utah,” he said. “We went from Mountain West Conference team to the Pac-12. … What you try to do is do what they did and lean on the experiences.”

Sitake, a former BYU player who learned under Hall of Famer LaVell Edwards and actually hosted BYU quarterback Steve Sarkisian – yes, the current Texas coach – as a high school recruit.

This has been a long time coming, Sitake said.

“This is something we’ve been dreaming of for a long time,” Sitake said, “and I’m speaking as a fan, with the thought that this could be the goal. And now that we’re here, there’s a sense of urgency.”