2022 Fall Camp: Team Photo Day and linebackers preview

PROVO, Utah — BYU football conducted its annual team photo day during fall camp at the Indoor Practice Facility on Wednesday. 

Select the gallery link above to view some behind-the-scenes photos of Wednesday's photo day. Read below to see what BYU head coach Kalani Sitake, defensive coordinator 'Ilaisa Tuiaki, linebackers coach Kevin Clune and linebacker Keenan Pili had to say during media availability on Wednesday. 

More Watch Lists

• Ah You and Pili named to Polynesian Player of the Year Watch List

Linebackers Preview

While a rash of injuries beset BYU’s linebackers in 2021, the position group is set to bounce-back in 2022 and bolster the defense. Linebackers coach Kevin Clune enters his second season on staff after serving as defensive analyst volunteer in 2020, leading a room with a combined 73 career starts. Keenan Pili returns in the middle and Payton Wilgar is back after both missed significant time in 2021. The three-year starters provide an immediate boost to the linebacker room on and off the field.

“Keenan is maybe a little quieter, but he’s always doing the right thing, always working to find ways to make an impact,” said Clune at BYU Football Media Day on June 22. “Payton is a little more vocal, a great teacher. Having those guys back on the field will help us handle business.”

Pili, a 6-3, 233-pound junior, has rolled up 128 career tackles, including 31 stops, two sacks and a fumble recovery in just three 2021 outings. In 2020, Pili was named Phil Steele All-Independent Second Team and was the Boca Raton Bowl Defensive MVP following BYU's 49-23 win over UCF. He was second on the team with 72 tackles on the season to go along with two tackles for loss and forced fumble. Pili was named to the Chuck Bednarik Award watch list on Aug. 1.

“When we’re in the film room making corrections, I don’t have to explain because when the clip comes out, he’s already saying, ‘Coach, I should have done this,’” Clune said of Pili. “So, I don’t do a ton of coaching with him, but instead check in to keep him on the right track.”

Pili’s younger brother Logan joins the team as a freshman returned missionary in 2022.

Wilgar, a 6-3, 235-pound junior, was recognized with a spot on both the Dick Butkus Award and Bronko Nagurski watch lists. Despite missing the final three games of the 2021 season, Wilgar was second on the team in assisted tackles with 27 and tackles for loss with six. He was third in total tackles with 56 and solo tackles at 29. With 168 career tackles, Wilgar is BYU’s career active leader in all tackling categories.

While Pili and Wilgar were sidelined a season ago, Ben Bywater emerged as a budding star at linebacker, starting all 13 games and totaling a team-high 102 tackles and 8.5 tackles for loss. Bywater recorded at least eight tackles in nine different games, including double-digit stops versus Arizona and USC.  Pro Football Network named Bywater the 2021 All-Independent Defensive Rookie of the Year and to the PFN All-Independent First Team. The sophomore from Salt Lake City, Utah, was recognized with CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team honors as a finance major with a 3.86 GPA following the season and in recent weeks has been named to the Lott IMPACT Trophy watch list along with that of the Butkus Award.  

Max Tooley is back as another rangy linebacker that can cover in space and run with anyone. Tooley was the team’s second-leading tackler in 2021 with 68 stops. In addition to Tooley, Chaz Ah You continues to be an impact player in his role as a hybrid linebacker/defensive back. Jackson Kaufusi, Morgan Pyper, Tavita Gagnier and Josh Wilson return with playing experience, providing further depth to the group.

“I have so much depth and leadership,” Clune said. “It’s going to be awesome to see these guys work and find ways to make a difference on this team.”

True freshmen Tate Romney, Bodie Schoonover and Micah Wilson joined the team for fall camp and look to make an early impression as the future of the linebacking corps.

Read more about the linebackers in the quotes below and get an inside glimpse at the position watching the following mic'd-up video of Payton Wilgar during practice this week. 

To view photos of practices and activities throughout camp select the following link:  

• BYU Photo Fall Camp Exposure Gallery.

Quotes from Photo Day Media Availability 

Head coach Kalani Sitake

On the first week of camp

“Yeah, I've been really pleased with it considering the install that we had on all three phases, putting in our offense, defense and special teams. We're really moving along well and the sad part is some of the young guys just kind of have to get it on the run, you know? This young generation knows technology and has all of this information accessible to them. So, I think they're used to learning on the run and there's just a good adjustment for us to make as a coaching staff. I think it's going to pay off huge for us going into the season.” 

On how the players mental approach has contributed to their success on the field

“These guys are tough. They're physically and mentally strong and they're always looking for a challenge. When you're looking at the type of players we have, a good number of them served missions and they've been in leadership positions already and have had to communicate and teach others. So, it's an easy transition for them to be here now, teaching the players, teaching the young guys.”

On the transition of transfer players

“The main thing is to get them involved with our players first and allow our players to teach them, and just kind of let them know about our program. I think sometimes when you go into a new a new locker room, a lot of the kids know how to talk to coaches. They know what coaches want to hear, and when they're with their peers, they can actually ask them some tough questions and that happens in recruiting, too. So we're going to get the guys that are going to fit this program, going to fit this locker room. That way, when they come, the transition's an easy one for them because they're basically being mentored by their peers and teammates.”

On the selection of team captains

“Yeah, we'll get to that later. I don't know. I don't have it highlighted on the schedule. I think naturally we're starting to see leadership already take place from spring to now. I want the newcomers to get to know the rest of the team, and then they can figure out who they want to vote for. I think we've got a good bunch of candidates. The good thing is that we have a lot of guys who could be captains. I could name 30 captains."

Defensive coordinator Ilaisa Tuiaki

LINEBACKERS PREVIEW 🎙@coachtuiaki x #BYUFOOTBALL pic.twitter.com/0CoCdIFLSu

— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) August 11, 2022

On the strength of the defense at this point in fall camp

“I think we’re pretty sound across the board. We lost linebackers last year and it was a big, big hit to the defense and I think it showed. But I think right now with all of them back, we’re pretty sound all across the board.”

On having a healthy roster after last year’s injuries

“It’s been really good. We’ve got Max Tooley and Ben Bywater who had a ton of reps and starting roles last year, and now we have the ability to move them around and be dynamic with depth as Payton Wilgar and Keenan Pili are returning. We have really good players at their spots.”

On depth and and handling injuries

“I feel good about our depth. We’re trying to solidify the secondary right now. We have four corners that can play. We’ve got a couple of nickelbacks that we feel like we can rotate up to try and nail down who the safeties are and what packages we face.

We’ve got to stay healthy. We need to rotate to allow some of our backups time in order to keep the starters healthy; we can’t play too many snaps with our starters or else we will start to lose them towards the end of the year. This gives younger guys some experience and can help keep everybody healthy."

On positional strategy

“We’ve got to make sure that we have correct schematics, but also that the right guys are in the right places. Getting bigger at certain positions and getting the right guys on the field is going to be more of what we’re looking for this year.”

On handling pressure of the upcoming season

“We need to make sure that we put guys in the right position to win games because I think we can win a lot of games with the team that we’ve got. We can make a lot of noise early just like we did last year. We’ve got a great opportunity. We’ve got to stay healthy and continue to stay consistent.”

Linebackers coach Kevin Clune

LINEBACKERS PREVIEW 🎙#BYUFOOTBALL pic.twitter.com/9bVLpONXVA

— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) August 11, 2022

On the depth at linebacker

“The depth is very good. Some guys have seen game experience, whether that was on defense or special teams. All of the returning guys have seen significant time and made significant gains.”

On linebacker Keenan Pili

“I think it's pretty obvious that all you got to do is go back to the first two games last year to see what Keenan did. He had 17 tackles in the Arizona game and there was like a bloodlust to get to the football. He’s an intelligent, fast and physical player.”

On linebacker Tavita Gagnier

“He's worked tremendously hard. He's got speed, he played defensive back in high school and he's really put on strength. I can't wait to see what he can do. He's been in the practice room, in the meeting room and watching practices while he was injured.”

Linebacker Keenan Pili

LINEBACKERS PREVIEW 🎙@KeenanPili7 x #BYUFOOTBALL pic.twitter.com/Z6sDa6118E

— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) August 11, 2022

On his health

“I’m actually feeling a lot better than I thought I’d be. I’m just taking it day by day. The coaches and trainers are sensitive to how I’m feeling each day, but I’m trying to get as many reps as I possibly can before the season.”

On the value of so many younger linebackers getting experience in 2021

“You can see it. You look at the linebackers on our roster, and almost all of those guys have meaningful reps in games and you really can’t do that in practice. Come game time, having those guys with so much game experience helps us out in the long run.”

On achieving back-to-back 10+ win seasons

“We just need to stay humble and hungry. I think every year we need to keep looking at the things we did wrong, because in some of those losses we should’ve won. We have to stay humble and hungry and we’ll come back this season and do even better.”

On the linebackers’ goal this season

“This year we want to stop the run better and more consistently.”