BYU Football Lands Utah Transfer Paul Maile
Jan 17, 2023, 6:58 PM
BYU football lands Utah starting center Paul Maile out of the Transfer Portal. (Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News)
(Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News)
PROVO, Utah – The latest addition to the retooled BYU football offensive line is Paul Maile. Maile comes to BYU after an entire season of being the starting center for the Utah Utes.
The 6-foot-2, 304-pound prospect was part of a Utah offensive line that helped produce 220 yards per game on the ground for the Utes. Maile played and started in 12 games in 2022, including the Pac-12 Championship Game against USC and the Rose Bowl versus Penn State.
Last ride🔜 #GoCougs🤙 pic.twitter.com/wVVeexpKgh
— Paul Maile (@PaulMaile54) January 18, 2023
Paul Maile started at center for Utah during the 2022 season
Maile started in 16 games along the offensive line during his five seasons with the Utes.
On Tuesday night, Maile tweeted, “Last Ride (soon) #GoCougs,” to announce his signing with the BYU football program.
Maile arrives at BYU with one year of eligibility remaining in his collegiate career. He can continue his collegiate career due to the free year of eligibility from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
During his career with the Utes, Maile was an offensive lineman who could play any of the line’s five spots. He saw snaps at right tackle, right guard, and at center throughout his Utes career.
BYU continues to add linemen out of the Transfer Portal
Maile joins Utah State’s Weylin Lapuaho and Missouri State’s Ian Fitzgerald as the third offensive line prospect BYU has added during the 2023 Transfer Portal cycle.
All three players will be looked upon to contribute immediately to an offensive line that lost Blake Freeland to the NFL, Clark and Campbell Barrington to the Transfer Portal, and Joe Tukuafu to graduation.
BYU is gearing up for its first season in the Big 12 Conference this fall. Maile has the talent to be a plug-and-play contributor along BYU’s offensive line in the program’s first year as a Power Five program.
Maile graduated from East High School and was a three-star defensive tackle prospect. As a prep standout for the Leopards, Maile received offers from Arizona, BYU, Boise State, California, Colorado, Georgia Tech, Oregon State, Vanderbilt, Washington State, Wisconsin, and others.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU moving to the Big 12 Conference on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
