2023 Fall Camp: Practice 9—Coach Justin Ena and Linebackers Preview

BYU football practiced Friday at the outdoor practice fields as the second week of camp winds down before one more practice Saturday morning. 

View the 2023 Fall Camp Photo Gallery by BYU Photo

At linebacker, the Cougars return Butkus Award candidate Ben Bywater along with Max Tooley for his senior season, coached by former BYU star linebacker Justin Ena. Read more about Coach Ena and the linebackers below in today's position preview. 

2023 BYU LINEBACKERS
#	Name	HT	WT	YEAR	HOMETOWN, PREVIOUS SCHOOL
3	Ah You, Chaz	6-2	220	R-Sr.	Saratoga Springs, UT/Westlake HS
2	Bywater, Ben	6-3	235	R-Jr.	Salt Lake City, UT / Olympus HS
43	Danielson, Naseri*	6-0	205	Fr.	Stockton, CA / St. Mary's HS
54	Esera, Siale*	6-3	245	Fr.	Provo, UT / Timpview HS
49	Finau, Lucky*	5-11	225	Fr.	Sandy, UT / Alta HS
16	Glasker, Isaiah	6-5	220	R-Fr.	South Jordan, UT/Bingham HS
30	Hall, Miles*	6-1	205	Fr.	St. George, UT / Skyline HS
22	Hannemann, Ammon	6-2	218	R-Jr.	Highland, UT / Lone Peak HS
53	Jackson, Fisher	6-5	230	Jr.	South Jordan, UT / Herriman HS
18	Kaufusi, Ace*	6-4	218	Fr.	Kahuku, HI / Kahuku HS
34	Kaufusi, Maika*	6-3	215	Fr.	Cottonwood Heights, UT / Alta HS
50	Krebs, Kason*	6-0	210	R-Fr.	Sunset Beach, HI / Southern Utah
41	Moa, Sione	6-1	230	R-So.	North Ogden, UT/Weber HS
11	Taggart, Harrison*	6-1	235	R-Fr.	Draper, UT / Oregon
31	Tooley, Max	6-2	225	R-Sr.	Bountiful, UT / Bountiful HS
10	Vongphachanh, AJ*	6-3	235	R-Sr.	Pasco, WA / Utah State

*newcomer
Lost from 2022:
Jackson Kaufusi, Tavita Gagnier, Tate Romney, Josh Wilson, Keenan Pili, Micah Wilson, Payton Wilgar

Coach Justin Ena Preview
A three-time all-conference standout for the Cougars from 1997-2001 and four-year NFL player with the Eagles and Titans, Ena returns to Provo from San Diego State with 16 seasons of college coaching experience, including seven seasons as a defensive coordinator and five years coordinating special teams.

Ena, who previously worked for Jay Hill at Weber State, has coached on the defensive side of the ball at all five other Division I schools in Utah that sponsor football — Southern Utah (2008-2013), Weber State (2014), Utah (2015-18), Utah State (2019-20) and Utah Tech (2021) — and comes to BYU after coaching defensive line at San Diego State in 2022.

A native of Shelton, Washington, Ena helped San Diego State earn a Hawai’i Bowl berth this past season with a defense that ranked No. 4 nationally in red zone defense (.690), No. 21 in rushing defense (113.8), No. 21 in tackles for loss (6.8), No. 24 in sacks (2.77) and No. 25 in scoring defense (20.5).

He was hired by SDSU head coach Brady Hoke, a veteran defensive coach, to oversee the defensive line for the Aztecs after spending the 2021 season as the defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Utah Tech in St. George. Ena went to Utah Tech to lead the Trailblazers defense after helping Eastern Washington advance to the first round of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs as the Eagles’ linebackers coach during the 2021 FCS winter-spring season played in place of the 2020 fall season due to Covid-19.

Previously, Ena coached inside linebackers for two years at Utah State from 2019-20, also serving as defensive coordinator in 2019, while helping the Aggies to a berth in the 2019 Tropical Smoothie Cafe Bowl. Prior to being hired to lead the Aggies defense by then head coach Gary Andersen, Ena was the linebackers coach at Utah under Kyle Whittingham for four years from 2015-18, where he also served as co-special teams coordinator over his final three seasons.

During his tenure with the Utes, Ena was part of a Utah program that made three bowl appearances — Las Vegas Bowl (2015), Foster Farms Bowl (2016) and Heart of Dallas Bowl (2017). Utah’s rushing defense finished among the nation’s top 30 in each of his four years, including a No. 5 ranking in 2018 and a No. 6 standing in 2015.

Under Hill at Weber State, Ena served as the Wildcat’s defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in Hill’s first season as the program’s head coach in 2014. Ena arrived at Weber State after a six-year stint as an assistant under former BYU assistant head coach and current Northern Colorado head coach Ed Lamb at Southern Utah from 2008-13, including the last four years as the defensive coordinator. He was also SUU’s special teams coordinator his first two seasons. 

As a player, Ena was a four-year contributor at linebacker for BYU while receiving All-Mountain West accolades over his final three seasons. He played in 47 games, making 266 tackles, including 23 tackles for loss, two interceptions and six forced fumbles. Ena led the Cougars in tackles his final two seasons in 2000 and 2001, earning first-team All-MW honors after receiving second-team recognition in 1999.

Ena competed in the Senior Bowl after his final collegiate season before starting his NFL career as an undrafted free agent with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2002. Ena played four seasons in the NFL, three with the Eagles and one with the Titans, while playing in 51 NFL games.

Instincts – you either have 'em or you don't.

BYU LB Ben Bywater has them -- and a ton of other #elite skills at the LB position.pic.twitter.com/IZFBwVKOJn

— Cam Mellor (@CamMellor) July 27, 2023

BYU Linebacker Preview
BYU's linebacker room is led by Ben Bywater, a 6-foot-3, 235-pound junior from Salt Lake City that was recently named to the 2023 Butkus Award watch list, selected as a Lott IMPACT Trophy candidate for the second consecutive season and was named to the 2023 Phil Steele Preseason All-Big 12 Third Team as well as the Athlon Sports Preseason All-Big 12 Fourth Team.

As a sophomore in 2022, Bywater led BYU in tackles with 98, becoming first player to lead the Cougars in tackles in back-to-back seasons since current San Francisco 49er All-Pro Fred Warner did so in 2016-17. In addition, Bywater recorded four tackles-for-loss, one sack, three interceptions and two pass breakups during the 2022 season.

Bywater was named the 2022 New Mexico Bowl Defensive MVP after recording his first career pick-six in a game-changing play that helped BYU defeat SMU 24-23. He was named 2022 Phil Steele All-Independent Second Team and was selected to the Associated Press All-Bowl Team for his outstanding play in the New Mexico Bowl. 

NCAA Football Awareness rating for Max Tooley: 💯 pic.twitter.com/ZOKFFAjCwi

— Cam Mellor (@CamMellor) September 3, 2022

In addition to Bywater, BYU returns veteran Max Tooley, a senior now with 48 games of experience and 219 career tackles and six career interceptions. 

Tooley, 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds from Bountiful, Utah, missed the last six games last season but still managed 57 total tackles and two pick-sixes. 

The Cougars also went out and got senior linebacker AJ Vongphachanh (6-3, 235) from Utah State. Starting in 33 of the 40 games he played for the Aggies, he compiled 223 tackles, including 88 solo stops, 21.0 tackles for loss and 7.0 sacks in his career and led the Aggies least season with 101 total tackles. 

BYU gets Chaz Ah You back, an experienced backer with 29 games and 11 starts, along with Fisher Jackson, who appeared in 12 games last season and 23 in his career. 

The lengthy 6-foot-5 Isaiah Glasker is back after a redshirt season and Ammon Hanneman who will also be returning, moved over from the safety spot. 

BYU added another transfer with Harrison Taggart from the Oregon Ducks with four years of eligibility remaining after utilizing a redshirt season in 2022. As a four-star prep recruit out of Corner Canyon High School in Draper, Utah, Taggart gained recognition as ESPN named ranked him as the top-ranked outside linebacker from Utah and No. 25 in the nation. 

Freshman newcomers include four-star recruit Siale Esera from Timpview High School, along with Naseri Danielson, Lucky Finau, Miles Hall, Maika Kaufusi and Ace Kaufusi.

Esera was ranked as the No. 4 overall prospect in Utah and was the 2022 5A Defensive Player of the Year in Utah with 76 total tackles, two sacks and an interception. He posted 20 sacks and 31.0 tackles for loss during his career at Timpview. 

Other transfer linebacker additions are Sione Moa from Utah State and Kason Krebs from Southern Utah. Moa played in 10 games last season for the Aggies putting up 12 tackles.