What an anonymous Big 12 coach said about BYU football in 2026 – Deseret News

Thanks to the return of two of the nation’s top offensive players – quarterback Bear Bachmeier and running back LJ Martin – expectations for the BYU football team in 2026 are sky high, as this outlet and many others have predicted in the days leading up to one of the most anticipated seasons in school history.

Add at least one opposing Big 12 assistant football coach to that list of admirers. In fact, this guy is going a bit overboard, perhaps with his own agenda, by praising head coach Kalani Sitake’s squad about four months before the Cougars open against Utah Tech on September 5 at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

Speaking anonymously, the assistant coach recently called BYU the best team in the Big 12, with the best coaches and also the most physical team.

They are the best team in our conference. They are the most physical team. They have the best coaches and they have a lot of energy. They play complementary football: attack, defense, special teams.

— Anonymous Big 12 assistant coach at BYU

Suffice it to say, his comments will certainly make their way to Lubbock and Salt Lake City, as the Utes and Red Raiders pride themselves on having these traits, and a case could be made that Texas Tech was at least better than BYU last year in terms of physicality in the trenches.

One of the best parts of the annual Athlon Sports college football preview – which hit newsstands last week – is that the publication lets coaches across the country talk about other programs without revealing that coach’s identity.

Overall, the publication still picks Texas Tech to win the competition, and that was with the knowledge that Texas Tech starting quarterback Brendan Sorsby, a transfer from Cincinnati, is currently ineligible to compete for betting on NCAA sporting events, including his own team while playing for Indiana.

The publication also knew that BYU will be without starting receiver Parker Kingston, but was unaware that another receiver expected to be in the 2026 rotation, Cody Hagen, has medically retired. Athlon picked BYU to finish second, Houston to finish third and Utah to finish fourth.

It predicts that BYU will face USC in the Alamo Bowl and that Texas Tech will make the College Football Playoff again and face Oregon in the first round.

Note that Athlon projected last year that BYU would finish sixth in the Big 12, and at the time there was no reason to believe quarterback Jake Retzlaff wouldn’t be with the Cougars in 2025.

Kansas State was picked to win the competition in 2025, followed by Arizona State and Texas Tech. My advice: take all this with a grain of salt.

A disclosure is in order

Martin, center Bruce Mitchell, Cal transfer linebacker Cade Uluave and safety Faletau Satuala made Athlon’s All-Big 12 Preseason First Team; Curiously, Uluave was not included in the publication’s list of ten top transfers.

Four-star quarterback Ryder Lyons, who is currently on a church mission in Florida, is among the “top 10 recruits” to watch. BYU’s games against Arizona (Sept. 12), vs. Notre Dame (Oct. 17) and at Utah (Nov. 7) are among the top games involving Big 12 teams to watch, according to Athlon.

Full disclosure: I have been writing BYU’s season preview for Athlon for the past seven years and wrote the article about BYU’s season on page 91 of this year’s publication. But even though I write the piece and compile the depth charts, I am not involved in the predictions and do not know the identities of the anonymous coaches used in the “Scouting the Cougars” section of the BYU preview.

So let’s get started; Here’s what an “opposing Big 12 assistant coach” said about BYU ahead of the 2025 season:

An exaggerated assessment?

“They’re the best team in our conference. They’re the most physical team. They have the best coaches and they have a lot of energy,” the coach said. “They play complementary football – offense, defense, special teams.”

Maybe Athlon just spoke to the wrong assistant coach. Clearly, Texas Tech was better than BYU last year, evidenced by a 29-7 win in Lubbock and a 34-7 victory in Arlington, Texas, in the Big 12 championship game. Granted, Tech had a huge home crowd advantage in both games, and Bachmeier was injured early in the championship game and clearly not himself after engineering an opening touchdown drive, but there was no comparison in the trenches as the Red Raiders and their four highly compensated defensive linemen dominated.

And the high praise continues

OK, that was last year, when the Cougars went 12-2 and defeated Georgia Tech 25-21 in the Pop-Tarts Bowl. What about this year?

“At the point of scrimmage, they look completely different than any other Big 12 team. I think that program is about to skyrocket. … This is the year they’re going to go over the top,” the coach said. “If they don’t do that this year, I don’t know if they ever will.

“The reason I say that is because of the influx of money they got with their roster. … Year 2 with Bear Bachmeier, Year 4 with LJ Martin, who is one of the best backs in the country.”

Yes, but what about the loss of key defenders Jay Hill?

The assistant coach didn’t seem fazed by highly successful defensive coordinator Jay Hill leaving BYU to join Kyle Whittingham’s staff at Michigan. Or that stars like Tanner Wall, Jack Kelly, John Taumoepeau, Mory Bamba and Logan Lutui have graduated.

“You return a lot of guys on defense who were really productive,” he said. “(Faletau Satuala) was one of the best – if not the best – safeties we’ve played all year.

Brendan Sorsby’s situation has clouded everything

The biggest stories in college football this offseason have been the push for an expanded CFP by several conferences, including the Big 12, and the Sorsby situation. Tech could be in trouble at the quarterback position, at least until backup Will Hammond recovers from an ACL injury.

The one-time BYU recruit is not expected to be cleared until a few games into the 2026 season.

Here’s what an anonymous assistant coach said about the Red Raiders this year:

“Will Hammond is talented, but we all know that with an ACL it takes a long time to recover… I think they’re still ultra-talented, so they can still (win the Big 12). It’s just not going to be easy. For me, it was BYU vs. Texas Tech for the Big 12 championship (before the Sorsby situation),” the coach said. “Can you say that now? I don’t know.”