BYU in final week of spring football

PROVO, Utah – The BYU football team began its final set of spring practices this week, practicing Monday and again Wednesday afternoon with another practice scheduled for Friday. 

The Cougars were able to get outside on the practice field again with the cooperative weather hitting 70-plus degrees in the sunshine. BYU will be able to utilize all 15 practice sessions before closing spring football and turn its attention toward offseason conditioning and the 2023 season. 

Following Wednesday's practice session, head coach Kalani Sitake, defensive tackles coach Sione Po'uha and defensive tackle Jackson Cravens all spoke with members of the media. Read select quotes from them below. 

Head Coach Kalani Sitake
“This was practice 14. I’m pleased with the team. I’m seeing great competition and some spots where we think we can improve. The install on offense, defense and special teams has been nice. We’ve had some nice energy from our players these last two days. We’ll see what happens with practice 15. I don’t know if we’ll do live work. I’ll leave that up to [Defensive Coordinator] Jay Hill and [Offensive Coordinator] Aaron Roderick. I’m open for all of it. I know they wanted to do live work today. We had quarterbacks live again today. It was good for our guys to go through all of that.”

On what he’s learned during spring practice
“The guys are aware of the Big 12 schedule, so their sense of urgency is nice. We have a good number of guys returning with experience and I like that leadership. Our players’ focus is our opponents this season and make sure we represent the best we can against them in year one.”

On punter Ryan Rehkow
“He’s the veteran now. He has a great, strong leg and he’s one of the best punters in the country. He’s a great holder for our PAT and field goal unit as well. It’s nice that his backup is his brother [Landon Rehkow], so he can give him all of the tips he needs. I like what I’ve seen from both Rehkows in both punting and holding.”

On the kicking game
“We’ve seen a huge improvement from day one until now. I feel a lot more confident going into the season with the way the guys are kicking now.”

On the defensive line
“I see a huge difference in their technique and presence. I know that Sione [Po’uha] has focused on stopping the run but also collapsing the pocket in the passing game so they can free up the defensive ends to come off the edge and do what they do best. There’s been nice coordination with the pass rush and disruption at the line of scrimmage. Our offensive line is a good group with good talent, so it’s nice that we have back-and-forth battles with them. We see back-and-forth with the offensive line and defensive line, with guys getting wins here and there, and guys on both sides getting knocked back. It’s a good thing because if one side is dominating the whole time, then we’re in trouble.”

“We feel good about the depth. We just need two-deep that can run and play. In the past we’ve asked those defensive linemen to take on more of a role in the pass rush by eating up blocks. Now, they’re free to go make a play. I like the way Sione is coaching the interior and how Kelly [Poppinga] is coaching the outside. I think it’s going to be a good difference for us. Tyler [Batty], [Isaiah] Bagnah, Aisea Moa, Bodie Schoonover and a lot of guys on the edge will benefit from this. They’re the main focal point of the pass rush.

On senior defensive tackle Atunaisa Mahe
“He’s had adversity in so many ways like losing loved ones and having to overcome injury too. He’s looking like he did back in 2021. I would like to bubble wrap him and just get him ready for game one. There’s a lot more things he can improve on, and I like his intention to get better.”

Defensive tackles coach Sione Po’uha
On defensive tackle Jackson Cravens
“He’s everything that I expected he would be. I’m fortunate to be his coach toward the end of his collegiate playing career. I coached Jackson when he was at Utah and was the one who recruited him there. He felt that he needed to venture off [transferred to Boise State] and then fate brought us back together here. We have a lot of great history together and we look forward to making history.”

On the depth of the defensive tackles
“You have to develop everyone you have on the roster and coach every guy like he’s a starter. You can’t segment your coaching. You have to be consistently coaching at a high level. When you coach that way that allows things to fall in place. The strength of the depth is in the development of the players. Our guys have developed really well in terms of understanding the culture, how we want things done and when we want things done. All of our defensive linemen have taken that in stride.”

On the defensive tackle position
“We’re phone booth players. We take care of all the interior work; A-gaps and B-gaps.”

On collaborating with defensive ends coach Kelly Poppinga
“It’s necessary collaboration. We collaborate as much as we need to. There’s work that the defensive tackles do with the defensive ends. My guys are just as much his.”

Defensive tackle Jackson Cravens
On being back in Provo
"It's been good. This is my home. I know I am playing for the team in my backyard and it has been great to be home and be around everybody again."

On his transfer from Boise State
"I played up there for four years and graduated and wanted to come home and play for BYU. The opportunity came up and so I took it and it has been the best decision I have made." 

On the defensive line
"I feel like we have come along a lot. I feel like the scheme really lets out people's talent with so many different things you can do in this scheme as far as assignments and technique." 

On Kalani Sitake
"He is just a player's coach. If there is someone that is a player's coach in the country its Kalani. You can tell everyone loves playing for him. He is just such a genuine guy too off the field."