PROVO, Utah — After a year hiatus due to the pandemic, BYU hosted its annual National Football Media Day at the BYU Broadcasting Building ahead of the 2021 football season on Thursday.
Head coach Kalani Sitake, his coaching staff and 25 players from the 2021 squad met with more than 50 media members in attendance.
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The day kicked off with a live broadcast of The State of the Program on BYUtv and ESPN3. Dave McCann discussed the status of the team and expectations for the 2021 season with BYU director of athletics Tom Holmoe, head coach Kalani Sitake and members of the coaching staff. Former BYU player and current ESPN analyst Trevor Matich also joined the discussion.
During the broadcast, Holmoe and BYU announced its Built4Life program, a career development program for BYU student-athletes that will help them excel beyond their athletic careers and best access future name, image and likeness (NIL) opportunities.
We're excited to officially introduce, BUILT4LIFE!!#BUILT4LIFE x #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/KouoBVuyTU
— BYU Cougars (@BYUCougars) June 17, 2021
The program will pair with both the Salt Lake and Utah Valley Chambers of Commerce and Silicon Slopes. Holmoe also appointed Gary Veron to oversee the Built4Life program in an associate athletic director role.
Starting at 8 a.m., BYUtv provided coverage throughout the day that included a two-hour special of BYU Sports Nation and live web chats. Following BYU Sports Nation, Greg Wrubell hosted a special broadcast of Behind the Mic on BYU Radio with interviews live from media day.
The premiere of BYU Offense: A History of Innovation on BYUtv and ESPN3 debuted at 1 p.m. The program included current and archived interviews with many coaches and players past to present who helped to innovate and develop BYU’s highly successful offense over the years.
BYU Football Media Day also had a significant presence on social media and the web with various outlets publishing content. The event had multiple topics that trended on Twitter throughout the day.
The players and coaches report for fall camp on August 4 and will begin practice on August 5. The Cougars begin the 2021 season with a matchup against Arizona at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Sept. 4, at 8:30 p.m. PDT on ESPN.