Cougars vowing to get the football to tight ends more in 2025 season

With some considerable help from the defense and special teams, BYU’s offense was able to help the Cougars go 11-2 last year, tie for first place in the Big 12’s regular season, and dominate Colorado in the Alamo Bowl.

When the dust had settled, offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick’s group finished the season ranked 59th in total offense, averaging a respectable 392.3 yards per game. Thanks to that above-average offensive play, four special teams touchdowns and a couple of pick-sixes, BYU averaged 31.2 points per game, which was 40th-best in the country.

Advertisement

But there was a weakness in the Cougars’ attack last year, which fans and media members pointed out throughout the 2024 season.

Of course, Roderick knows it, passing game coordinator and receivers coach Fesi Sitake knows it, and tights ends coach Kevin Gilbride knows it.

“We plan to utilize tight ends more this season in the passing game, for sure. That will help give us more balance. But believe me, you don’t want to take anything away from our receivers. They are very, very good football players.”

BYU tight ends coach Kevin Gilbride

BYU got very little production from the tight end position, for a variety of reasons.

Obviously, the coaches worked hard during spring camp last month, and in their recruiting efforts before and after the 15 practices, to make sure that’s not a deficiency in 2025.

“It is no secret — we would like to throw the ball to the tight end more,” Roderick said on Signing Day. “Last year we didn’t do it as much. That is not really who are guys were. These (new) guys are all good receivers. We feel like we can teach them to block. I am excited about each one of them.”

Advertisement

Of course, one of the most important offseason acquisitions for the entire team was UCLA and Utah transfer Carsen Ryan, who had a tremendous spring and was praised by coaches and teammates alike for his professional-like approach to the move.

“We have been making a point of getting the ball to Carsen every day in practice, because he is (good),” Roderick said midway through spring camp. “I always say the ball goes to the best players on the team, and he is one of them.”

Since then, BYU has continued to add depth to the position, getting commitments from Weber State tight end Keayan Nead and New Mexico State tight end Ethan Wood. Nead transferred to New Mexico in January and went through the Lobos’ spring practices before re-entering the transfer portal and choosing BYU over an offer from Kentucky.

Wood, 6-foot-5, 250 pounds, graduated from Heber City’s Wasatch High and Ephraim’s Snow College, where he caught 13 passes for 163 yards and two touchdowns in 2023. He did not appear in any games at NMSU in 2024 and has three seasons of eligibility remaining,

Advertisement

Among BYU’s seven pledged players from the 2026 recruiting class are two more highly touted tight ends, four-star Brock Harris of Pine View High in St. George and three-star Ty Goettsche of Englewood, Colorado. Both are expected to go on missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints before enrolling.

On March 7, after the Cougars had completed a week’s worth of spring camp practices, Gilbride acknowledged that the position he coaches didn’t make a huge impact in 2024 with its pass-catching, but did contribute mightily in other areas, such as run-blocking, pass protection and on special teams.

Moving Keanu Hill from receiver to tight end didn’t work out well, as the Texan caught only 12 passes all season. Freshman Ryner Swanson made 10 grabs, while Mata’ava Ta’ase made nine catches, three that went for touchdowns.

Advertisement

“We plan to utilize tight ends more this season in the passing game, for sure,” Gilbride said. “That will help give us more balance. But believe me, you don’t want to take anything away from our receivers. They are very, very good football players.

“We feel like we used our tight ends a ton, and they executed well in the run game and pass protection,” Gilbride continued. “We just didn’t ask them to do a lot in the pass game, other than towards the end of the season trying to get Ryner the football.”

Swanson, one of the gems of BYU’s 2024 signing class, is currently serving a mission in Kenya and will be back for the 2026 season. Another former four-star recruit, Jackson Bowers, transferred to Oregon State and reported via social media after the Beavers’ spring game that he is having fun playing football again.

Also on March 7, head coach Kalani Sitake said an offensive emphasis in 2025 will be on getting the ball to the tight ends more, then mentioned that the school has had a fine tradition of outstanding tight ends — even before he played fullback for the LaVell Edwards and the Cougars in the 1990s.

Advertisement

Sitake said another tight end to keep an eye on is Ethan Erickson, who was playing well in 2024 before getting injured.

“I think they are doing some really good things. Having Carsen is huge. And Ethan is there at the position (and healthy). There are a lot of young guys who need to prove themselves. This is a good chance for them to get on the field and get as much work as they can,” Sitake said.

Ryan caught 10 passes for 113 yards and a touchdown for Utah last year; he played in 17 games in two seasons at UCLA, catching 13 passes for 205 yards and three touchdowns for the Bruins in 2023.

Is Ryan a good enough blocker to stay on the field when BYU goes into 12 and 13 personnel?

Advertisement

“Yes, he is a very good blocker. Like, I knew we were going to get a guy who had good hands, who could block his butt off, was tough, smart and could run good routes,” Gilbride said. “But his speed and the way he accelerates out of his breaks is what I am excited about.”

Roderick said the coaching staff will get creative to incorporate the tight end into the offense, but not at the expense of other outstanding skill position players such as LJ Martin, Sione Moa, Chase Roberts, Parker Kingston and JoJo Phillips.

“Each time (Ryan) does something well, we find more ways to use him. And the same goes for the running backs,” Roderick said. “We have good running backs, so we are finding ways to use those guys, and get the ball to them.

“There is no shortage of creative ideas from our coaching staff. We have good coaches who have been at all levels of college and pro football, so there are lots of fun plays you can run as long as you have the right people to execute those things.”