When BYU senior Andrew Gentry was a freshman on the Michigan football team in 2022, the Wolverines’ offensive line won the coveted Joe Moore Award for a second consecutive year.
What’s the Joe Moore Award?
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It is an award named after former Notre Dame and Pittsburgh offensive line coach Joe Moore that was instituted in 2015 and goes to the best college football offensive line unit annually. It’s a good way of honoring hardworking guys who normally don’t get a lot of attention and accolades.
Gentry, who played for Michigan for three seasons from 2022-24 — he played in only three games in 2022 and redshirted — has brought knowledge of the Joe Moore Award to Provo, after having transferred from Ann Arbor to Provo prior to the 2025 season.
“Our goal as an offensive line unit is to compete to be one of the best units in the nation,” Gentry said last week as the Cougars started to wrap up a series of 15 spring football practices. “We are not trying to just be good. We want to be great. We want to be the best. We want to compete for that Joe Moore Award.”
Washington was the 2023 winner, followed by Army in 2024 and Iowa in 2025. The only Big 12 team to win the award was Oklahoma, in 2018. The Sooners are now in the SEC. Gentry said BYU offensive line coach and running game coordinator TJ Woods “demands greatness” and has set the bar high in 2026 after the Cougars “did some great things in the trenches” last year.
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Woods received the award for assistant coach of the year at the annual Y-Awards on Monday night at the Marriott Center, as voted on by BYU’s student-athletes. That’s quite an honor for a coach that few BYU fans know about.
“We are not trying to just be good. We want to be great. We want to be the best. We want to compete for that Joe Moore Award.”
BYU offensive lineman Andrew Gentry
“We really feel like we have the talent and the guys to (win it),” Gentry said. And obviously, coach Woods, with how he coaches us, he’s going to make sure that we’re in the best positions every week. I really think we have the potential to be a phenomenal offensive line this year.”
The reasons for Gentry’s optimism are twofold. He’s one of five redshirt seniors on the offensive line depth chart in 2026, along with Sonny Makasini, Trevin Ostler, Kyle Sfarcioc and Bruce Mitchell.
Gentry was honorable mention Big 12 offensive newcomer of the year last December, while Mitchell was first team All-Big 12 and honorable mention Big 12 offensive lineman of the year.
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“Our emphasis as an offensive line this year is to not beat ourselves, not make mistakes within the system, and make sure we are blocking the correct guys,” Mitchell said. “We have a lot of talent. We are pretty deep on the offensive line, I believe, and guys are only going to get better. … The only team that can beat us is us.”
A second reason for Gentry’s optimism is that Woods and the other offensive coaches brought in three experienced offensive linemen from the transfer portal who will immediately compete for playing time.
Redshirt sophomore Paki Finau (Washington), redshirt junior JR Sia (Utah State) and sophomore Zak Yamauchi (Stanford) will replace guys such as left tackle Isaiah Jatta, left guard Weylin Lapuaho and right guard Austin Leausa.
“Those guys are going to be big pieces on this offensive line this year,” Mitchell said after the first practice of spring camp. “We lost some key starters last year. Everybody is still fighting for a spot at this point. They’ve already been up in the film room, learning the offense.
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“They are right on track to see some major playing time this year.”
Mitchell and Gentry said another longtime member of the unit to keep an eye on is Ostler, a 6-foot-4, 320-pounder from Bountiful High — the same school that produced Brady Christensen, a BYU All-American who now plays for the Carolina Panthers. Ostler even played a little bit of tight end at the end of last season.
BYU head coach Kalani Sitake, second right, greets offensive linemen Kaden Chidester (79) and Andrew Gentry (75) during game, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025, in Provo, Utah. | George Frey, Associated Press
Redshirt junior Kaden Chidester, redshirt sophomores Joe Brown and Trevor Pay, redshirt freshmen Andrew Williams and Ethan Thomason, and true freshman Bott Mulitalo, a four-star pickup out of Lone Peak High, could also make the two-deep.
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“Our O line is going to be good,” said offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick. “We have a solid group, a solid mix of returning guys, veteran players, and some new guys who are really going to help us. … All those new guys are going to play, yeah.”
There was some talk that Gentry would move from right tackle to left tackle to replace Jatta at that all-important spot, but last week Roderick said that Finau — who played in 16 games over two seasons at Washington — is the first-team left tackle right now and looking good there.
“We tried to recruit him in high school (Oak Hills HS, Hesperia, California),” Roderick said. “We loved him in high school. We feel really great about having him now. He’s doing a nice job. … He’s been taking most of the reps with the ones (at left tackle) and has played very well.”
Makasini has been out with an undisclosed injury, but for the most part, every expected contributor in the group has been participating in spring camp.
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“We have a bunch of guys who could fit in with what we’re trying to do,” said head coach Kalani Sitake. “I think TJ can get anywhere from eight to 10 guys rotating in and out if we need to. … There are a lot of great additions. The guys that we brought in from the portal have done a great job providing competition and depth.”
BYU offensive and defensive lines wait for the snap during the opening day of fall camp, July 30, 2025, in Provo, Utah. | Aaron Cornia, BYU Photo
Offensive linemen on BYU’s 2026 spring roster
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51 Sonny Makasini, redshirt senior
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74 Trevin Ostler, redshirt senior
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63 Bruce Mitchell, redshirt senior
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75 Andrew Gentry, redshirt senior (Michigan)
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64 Kyle Sfarcioc, redshirt senior (Southern Utah)
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79 Kaden Chidester, redshirt junior
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62 Junior Sia, redshirt junior (Utah State)
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58 Paki Finau, redshirt sophomore (Washington)
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72 Joe Brown, redshirt sophomore
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67 Trevor Pay, redshirt sophomore
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56 Zak Yamauchi, sophomore (Stanford)
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66 Brigham Alexander, redshirt freshman
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76 Jeff Lewis, redshirt freshman
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78 Ethan Thomason, redshirt freshman
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68 Andrew Williams, redshirt freshman
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59 Siosiua Latu-Finau, redshirt freshman
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53 Strantz Mangisi, redshirt freshman
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73 Caden McKee, redshirt freshman
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52 Bott Mulitalo, freshman
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57 Talitu’i Pututau, freshman
