PROVO — Upwards of 5,000 college football players have entered the NCAA transfer portal looking for a new home, but BYU's approach to college football's version of free agency has the Cougars focused on retention with only targeted additions.
Around 4,700 Division I football players entered the portal during the first week, according to CBS Sports, of the two-week window that closes Friday (though players in the portal may still move after the closing date). Part of the extra numbers can be explained by coach and administrator rulings that narrowed the transfer season to a single window prior to the 2026 campaign, eliminating the previous post-spring practice window in April.
Some departures are expected, while others have left more than a few programs working overtime to address various needs. Ohio State, for example, lost 29 players to the transfer portal after finishing 12-2 with a loss to Miami in the College Football Playoff, according to The Athletic.
But at BYU, the trend is different. Sure, the Cougars have lost a handful of players to the portal, with many looking for more playing time, a change of scenery, or better opportunities.
But after wrapping up the program's first 12-win season in 24 years with a 25-21 win over No. 22 Georgia Tech in the Pop-Tarts Bowl, the Cougars — who ranked 12th nationally in the final CFP rankings with the No. 19 scoring defense in the Football Bowl Subdivision — have focused their efforts on retaining the roster.
Every eligible starter from the Dec. 27 bowl game cheekily dubbed "the people's national championship" by Florida Citrus Sports has committed to return to Provo for the 2026 season, a list that started with wide receiver Parker Kingston and cornerback Tre Alexander and includes rising star quarterback Bear Bachmeier, linebacker Isaiah Glasker, and defensive backs Evan Johnson and Faletau Satuala.
The grouping doesn't include running back LJ Martin, the Big 12 offensive player of the year who did not play against the Yellow Jackets after having surgery to fix an injury that plagued him for much of the season. But Martin has since opted to forego the NFL draft and return to BYU for what will be his senior season, as well.
Certainly, BYU supporters, donors, corporate sponsors and boosters including Nutricost CEO Min Kim, Crumbl's Jason McGowan, construction magnate King Husein and Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith (among others) have answered the call to help head coach Kalani Sitake retain his roster with a reported eight-figure name, image and likeness commitment to go along with the program's revenue-sharing capabilities.
But the high retention rate goes beyond cash. In a world where every college program has the capability to attract players with large sums of wealth, pinning BYU's retention efforts strictly on dollar signs is simplistic, at best. That's especially true after an offseason where the Cougars saw defensive coordinator Jay Hill and cornerbacks coach Jernaro Gilford both join former Utah coach Kyle Whittingham at Michigan.
Keeping Sitake in Provo was critical. Keeping as much of the coaching staff together also proved key.
"Ultimately, I think our players love Kalani," new defensive coordinator Kelly Poppinga told BYUtv. "That was the mainstay; they knew that Kalani was going to be here, and a lot of those guys — you can say all of them — came to play for Kalani.
"No person or player is bigger than the program," he added. "This thing is going to continue to move forward. I think the players run this deal; us coaches have to put them in the right positions, but when you have great players and great leadership I think everything else takes care of itself."
NIL combined with a unique team culture of "love and learn" — an adjustment Poppinga admitted he had to make when he re-joined the staff at his alma mater three years ago after following former BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall to Virginia — as well as a group of players that felt they had "unfinished" business after making their first Big 12 championship game (and falling flat against No. 4 Texas Tech 34-7 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas) combined to fuel a push to "run it back."
That push was also primarily player-driven, though coaches played a role.
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"I recruited Tre (out of Atlanta). He texted me immediately when coach Hill decided to leave, and said, 'Coach, just so you know I ain't going anywhere — and I'm going to call everybody right now. I'm going to help you out and keep them here,'" Poppinga recalled. "A couple of hours later, he said, 'Coach, nobody's leaving.'
"There are so many pieces to this thing. It's not just one player or one coach; it's the collective unit that we have has been special — and it all starts with Kalani, with his leadership, and this culture that he has."
That doesn't mean the Cougars don't have any holes to fill. The program lost starting tight end Carsen Ryan, wide receiver Chase Roberts and offensive linemen Weylin Lapuaho and Isaiah Jatta to graduation, and linebacker Jack Kelly (among others) will likely be an NFL draft selection after standout careers at both BYU and Weber State.
Backup quarterback McCae Hillstead (Utah State), special teams ace Marcus McKenzie (Utah State) and linebacker Max Alford (Michigan) are among a handful of portal departures, as well.
But the Cougars have attempted to replace those as well, signing former four-star pass catchers Kyler Kasper from Oregon and Walker Lyons from USC, as well as a cadre of offensive linemen in Stanford transfer Zak Yamauchi, Washington's Paki Finau and Utah State's Jr Sia to pair with returners Bruce Mitchell, Andrew Gentry and Kyle Sfarcioc.
Former Mountain Ridge two-way star Cade Uluave, the former Pac-12 defensive freshman of the year and first-team All-ACC selection at California in 2025, has signed with BYU, and fellow linebacker Jake Clifton from Kansas State will enroll in Provo after he returned from a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in October.
"I think a lot of it just comes back to Kalani," Poppinga said. "And it comes back to the players; I think some of them felt like, whoever the coordinator is, we're going to figure this out if we all stay together. I give credit to those guys, great players, and to get back a team that was 12-2 and top-20 defensively — I've just got to make sure we stay out of the way and don't screw things up."
