BYU football storylines to monitor during fall camp 2026
Jul 28, 2026, 11:27 AM
PROVO – The 2026 BYU football season might be the most anticipated in program history.
It all starts next week with fall camp practices getting underway.
After 23 wins over the past two seasons, BYU football is looking to reach the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history.
Expectations will be high for this team, the 11th under head coach Kalani Sitake. Fall camp serves as a starting point to see the progress that has been made for the 2026 edition of BYU football.
On the Cougar Tracks Podcast, I dove into the key storylines entering fall camp.
Handling preseason expectations
From those lofty expectations, which could be the highest in program history for a given season, how will BYU handle that? Sitake’s last team that was ranked as a preseason Top 25 squad was in 2022, and they had a lackluster 7-5 campaign in the regular season.
Is this group, that focused on “Running it Back,” ready to handle the increased expectations?
Questions at wide receiver
What about the wide receiver position?
BYU football had two of the top seven receivers in the Big 12 Conference last year in Parker Kingston and Chase Roberts. Both are now gone. Who do they turn to?
Josiah Phillips, Kyler Kasper, and true freshman Legend Glasker could be some of the favorites to lead the receiver room entering camp.
Coming out of spring, Phillips was the number one receiver, while Kasper, a former Oregon transfer, was a star of spring.
Year one with Kelly Poppinga as defensive coordinator
The start of fall camp will also have a lot of attention on first-year defensive coordinator Kelly Poppinga.
A former BYU linebacker for Bronco Mendenhall, Poppinga was the first choice by head coach Kalani Sitake to replace Jay Hill, who took the same coordinator position at Michigan.
He’s become a student of the Fred Whittingham/Kyle Whittingham/Kalani Sitake/Morgan Scalley/Jay Hill/Gary Andersen school of defense over the past three years, while also drawing on his wealth of experience from excellent defenses in the Mendenhall era at BYU.
How BYU football staff navigates fall camp
Another storyline worth tracking is how the coaching staff handles physicality in fall camp. With so many proven commodities- six preseason first-team All-Big 12 selections- how much work/contact will go to the upperclassmen?
Sitake has always been big on players needing to “spar” in camp in preparation for a season, but unlike the past two seasons, this is a veteran team with many players who have proven their talents at the Power Four level. Will BYU’s staff create more opportunities than usual in fall camp for younger players to strengthen the depth in hopes of playing a 15- or even 16-game schedule that stretches into the winter?
It’s all in this episode of the Cougar Tracks Podcast. Check out the show daily on the KSL Sports YouTube, KSL Sports app, KSL+ app, or wherever you get your podcasts.
BYU football fall camp storylines in the Cougar Tracks Podcast
- Handling preseason expectations
- Who is going to emerge at wide receiver?
- Year one with Kelly Poppinga as defensive coordinator
- How the coaching staff approaches fall camp
- Underclassmen worth monitoring in camp
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSL and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast daily on KSL Sports YouTube and KSL NewsRadio (SUBSCRIBE). Harper also co-hosts Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL NewsRadio.
Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU athletics in the Big 12 Conference on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram: @Mitch_Harper.
