Story thread · 2 reports / 2 sources

Inexperience on special teams might be the biggest question mark facing the Cougars in 2026

deseret.com · 3h · first reportShare

A case could be made that plays made by BYU’s special teams — field goals, punt and kickoff returns for touchdowns, and blocked kicks — have won a half-dozen or so games for the Cougars over the course of the past three years. Utah, Colorado and Kansas State in particular were burned by big plays from that particular phase in their losses to BYU. Former BYU linebacker and assistant coach Kelly Poppinga, who was hired back to Provo in 2023 as the school’s special teams coordinator and edge rushers coach, did a marvelous job with that group. It’s one of the reasons the native of Evanston, Wyoming, was promoted to defensive coordinator in January to replace Michigan-bound Jay Hill. “K-Pop is a really good coach,” said offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick. “He’s been coaching a long time, and he knows what he’s doing. He was outstanding as a special teams coordinator, and he’s going to be fine as a defensive coordinator. Those guys are squared away, and they have great players.” For BYU, t