BYU football welcomes 28 recruits during early signing period

BYU head football coach Kalani Sitake announced 27 signees Wednesday on the first day of the December early signing period, and one more in January that previously signed for a total of 28.

Author Jon McBride
23FTB Signing Day 10523FTB Signing Day 105

PROVO, Utah – BYU head football coach Kalani Sitake announced 27 signees Wednesday on the first day of the December early signing period for college football as part of the 2024 recruiting class. 

Update Four-star safety Faletau Satuala signed during the early signing period and announced his decision on Jan. 6 at the All-American Bowl in San Antonio. More on Satuala. This gives the Cougars a total of 28 recruits signed during the early signing period. 

“First of all, we want to officially welcome to the family our 2024 football recruiting class,” head coach Kalani Sitake said. “It’s been a lot of hard work from the recruits, their families and from our coaches and our staff. I just want to say thank you to our coaches, support staff and recruiting department for all the hard work they put into giving these young men the opportunity to understand more about our school, especially on the official visits. I also want to thank faculty and staff on upper campus. I want to thank our administration, President Shane Reese, Advancement Vice President Keith Vorkink and Director of Athletics Tom Holmoe for being available to connect with our recruits as well. Finally, I just want to give a great shoutout to the fans, to Cougar Nation for being involved in recruiting and for their support and definitely not least, the players on our team are great ambassadors of our program.”

BYU’s signees joining the program on Wednesday include 22 high school prospects and five transfers. The 2024 recruits announced feature 17 slated for the defensive side of the football, seven on the offense and three on special teams.

 “We’re really excited about the talent and athleticism in this signing class, but more than anything, excited about the great young men we’re adding to our program and to our family,” Sitake said. “The recruits came here for the right reasons. We have a unique style of recruiting. It’s different from what everybody else is doing. This isn’t just a thing that happened just the last couple of weeks, this recruiting has gone on for years and our coaches have done a great job recruiting through some battles. Having the young men and their families on campus has been such a valuable asset and gamechanger for us. The retention rate we have of those that come on visits, then commit and sign is as high as ever.” 

Additional recruits may still be signed during the early signing period and will be announced later on BYU's Signing Day Central page. 

 

 

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Opening statement
“First of all, we want to officially welcome to the family our 2024 football recruiting class. It’s been a lot of hard work from the recruits, their families and from our coaches and our staff. I just want to say thank you to our coaches, support staff and recruiting department for all the hard work they put into giving these young men the opportunity to understand more about our school, especially on the official visits. I also want to thank faculty and staff on upper campus. I want to thank our administration, President C. Shane Reese, Advancement Vice President Keith Vorkink and Director of Athletics Tom Holmoe for being available to connect with our recruits as well. That’s what they do with our student athletes. I’m really excited that they have a relationship and got to know most of our recruits. Finally, I just want to give a great shoutout to the fans, to Cougar Nation for being involved in recruiting and for their support. That’s something that the players and recruits mention quite often.  

Finally and definitely not least, the players on our team are great ambassadors of our program. They did a great job of hosting these young men, connecting with them and seeing that they’re a great fit for our program. We’re really excited about the talent and athleticism in this signing class, but more than anything, excited about the great young men we’re adding to our program, to our family. They came here for the right reasons. We have a unique style of recruiting. It’s different from what everybody else is doing. This isn’t just a thing that happened just the last couple of weeks, this recruiting has gone on for years and our coaches have done a great job recruiting through some battles. Having the young men and their families on campus has been such a valuable asset and gamechanger for us. The retention rate we have of those that come on visits, then commit and sign is as high as ever.” 

On the program’s approach to recruiting  
“We have to be innovative and adjust to the times. If you’re using the same formula and format as you were a couple of years ago, you’re already outdated. You have to stay on top of it. One, we have to understand the rules and opportunities. We also have to make sure that falls in line with what we’re trying to do as a university and as a football program; with the mission the university has for our football program. How we recruit is always going to be unique and different from everyone else. We also want to be able to adjust and find creative ways to enhance recruiting. If it’s only about one thing, then we’re not doing our job. Football is always going to be our pitch but it’s always going to be in alignment with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and with the school and what they want from our football program.”  

“Look at the way we recruit and how unique and different it is. Everyone is going to the one thing that they can try to sell the most and that’s money. We have way more than that. There are way more layers than that here. That’s not the focus. We’re never going to be a program focused on money as the attraction. Everything I’ve mentioned today is about people. That’s our currency. We have enough to take care of our players here. We also know there are way more valuable things than cash. The value of mentoring and of leadership, camaraderie and fellowship, to build yourself spiritually, physically and mentally. We have all of those things. When you talk about money, that’s all it becomes. That’s not what we’re ever going to do. We will focus on the spirit first and go from there and build a program the right way. If we do things the right way, the outcome and product will be the wins. That will get us where we need to be.  

On the combination of high school, junior college and transfer portal additions
“I feel really good about it. Considering what our needs are and building on what we did last year, the most important thing is that they’re a good fit for what we want to do as a team here. They came here for the right reasons. We were able to see that in recruiting. We’re really excited to see they and their families join us here. There’s a lot of potential here and a lot of potential to play right away. We have to develop guys but it’s a lot easier to develop guys who already developed quite a bit in high school and junior college. We’ll still have a few surprises anytime between today and signing day in February. Those will be in the spots we need and will enhance and upgrade everything else.  

On the role of loyalty in recruiting  
“It has to be about relationships and also what’s best for the young man. Sometimes, we forget that they have needs and desire and we need to hear them out. Most of the guys that are in the portal from BYU right now are looking for more playing time. Normally, when we do have guys in the portal, that’s their number one concern. We want them to do that to. We want them to be happy. I can speak for all of the coaches, that we want them to have a great experience here but we also want them to have a great experience on the field.  

Sometimes, our roster is just loaded and they have to find a different place to go. That’s just the game. It’s not about trying to make them feel guilt or shame to be attached to us and using the loyalty card. We have to give them reasons to stay. If there’s enough reasons out there for them to leave and they have to weight and consider it all just like the recruits do. If we show them that there’s more to us, more in depth with what we are as a program compared to everyone else, then we get them. That’s worked out well for us, especially this year.” 

On the impact of Jay Hill and Aaron Roderick in recruiting
Jay Hill and Aaron Roderick. These are the two best recruiters I’ve been with. It’s been a lot of fun to see Jay and Aaron recruit. These guys do an amazing job of evaluating players. Look at the history they have in terms of recruiting. It’s at every position too. I’m very fortunate to have two great coordinators who love to recruit as well as run a defense and offense. These guys are great leaders. I needed help in winning recruiting battles and I went to two guys who I know can recruit their butts off. I’m really fortunate to have these coordinators with me.”  

On the current roster’s offseason approach
I don’t want to take away from the players we have on the team currently. Those guys have done an amazing job in their approach to the weight room and offseason conditioning. We got an early start on it and I’ve been very impressed with the way they’re going about it. There’s a hunger in this team.” 

On preparing for the 2024 season
We have some good things going and we know we still have some work to do. We’re going to do that with a positive outlook and a lot of optimism, excitement and energy. We’ll focus on being the best version of ourselves so we can get the best program out there when we take the field in 2024.” 

Emphasis on the defensive line.
“It was definitely an emphasis. We should have monster, athletic, nasty defensive lineman at BYU. I think this class is a great start to where we are heading. We have those guys. Tyler Batty is one of the best edge rushers in the Big 12 right now. We know that. We have to continue to bring in guys that get to see how he does it and continue to develop those guys. It was definitely an emphasis.”

“I love the guys we signed. There’s great length and athleticism in this group. There are some guys here that have growth potential that could grow into bigger things. That’s the key in recruiting is the ability to identify that athletic ability and then be able to slide them forward into positions that are best going to suit them. We do need to be more disruptive on the defensive line. We know that.”

Dallin Johnson staying true to his commitment
“It says a lot about him and his character, his integrity and all those things. In today’s world, there’s so much noise that these players hear, to see someone like Dallin stay to what he committed to was huge. It’s different for every person and for him he wanted to play at BYU. He had the opportunity and stayed true to it.”

Recruitment of Ephraim Asiata
“Sione Po’uha was a huge in recruiting and is huge. There is a reason why Kalani, I and Coach Roderick wanted him here. He’s a phenomenal recruiter, does a great job getting close to the families. There was already a previous relationship there with the family. Coach Poppinga did a phenomenal job, adding that relationship to the mix. We’re super excited about him. We are excited about that family coming here to BYU. That is not always an easy thing. I hope everyone’s considerate to that on both sides of this thing. That’s not always an easy deal. People have to do what they feel is best for them. We’re grateful for them coming here and we believe he’s going to be a phenomenal player for us.”

Keys to roster rendition
“I think all the guys believe in what we are doing. We have a lot of guys coming back that have played a lot of football for us. They’ve been through some ups and downs but they believe in the culture that Kalani has established here. I think they believe in what we are doing on offense. Those guys have a unity about them. The group of wide receivers have all kind of been together for a bit now. They have something they want to prove next year as a group. We have offensive lineman returning that have a chip on their shoulder about something they want to prove. There is a unity amongst the group offensively that the year didn’t go the way we had hoped. We didn’t play the kind of offense that we’ve been playing the last few years, and those guys have a huge chip on their shoulder to stick together and keep getting better.”

Quarterback room
“There’s a good chance we’ll bring in one quarterback from the portal. In fact, we plan to. The room is pretty full right now, but we are going to bring in one veteran player. We feel that if we bring in one veteran player and mix that with the guys, we have we will be set.”

Wish list moving forward
“We have a couple of offensive line spots we would like to fill. We really like the group that’s coming back, and we are adding a couple of guys mid-year. I don’t feel like it’s a desperate need, but we are going to be really smart and patient how we fill those spots. We would still like to build depth there a little. We are well stocked at wide receiver, tight end and running back right now.”

Moving Keanu Hill to tight end
“Playmaking ability at that position. He’s been a great playmaker for us in his career. This year he struggled a bit with an injury to his shin that slowed him down. He is so tough that he wanted to play every week. He fights to keep his weight down, I mean he is 6-foot-4, 225 to 230 pounds on any given day. We felt like with our depth at wide receiver why fight it and let him get to 235 to 240 pounds. He is already one of our best blockers on the whole team at any position. We feel like moving him to tight end makes perfect sense.”

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Transfers highlighting this year’s class are 6-foot-3-inch, 355-pound defensive tackle Danny Saili from Hutchinson Community College, first-team all-conference defensive tackle Luke To'omalatai from Long Beach City College and four-star, playmaking linebacker Jack Kelly from Weber State.

From the high school ranks BYU added highly sought after prospects, including four-star Californian tight end Ryner Swanson and cornerback Tre Alexander III from Georgia, along with in-state targets in four-star defensive end Devoux Tuataga, athletic defensive ends Ephraim Asiata and Kinilau Fonohema along with wideout Tei Nacua, younger brother of current NFL record-setting wide receiver and BYU alum Puka Nacua.

BYU signed players from seven different states and Australia on Wednesday, including 12 in-state products. Four come from California, three from Texas, three from Arizona and one each from Georgia, Kansas and Nevada. Three players come to Provo from Australia.

OFFENSE
On offense, the Cougars signed two quarterbacks, two receivers, two offensive linemen and a tight end on Wednesday, including one of the nation’s top prep tight ends in Swanson.

Swanson, at 6-foot-4, 235 pounds, is a four-star signee out of Laguna Beach, California that can do everything at tight end including block, catch and run routes at an elite level. Swanson is the No. 18 rated tight end in the nation by 247 Sports and the No. 25 overall prospect in California. He accounted for 2,255 receiving yards and 27 touchdowns in high school. He was also recruited by Arizona, Oregon, Vanderbilt, Colorado, Louisville, Utah, Duke, Purdue, Arizona State, Stanford, Florida, Pittsburgh, Washington, Texas, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Oregon State, Washington State and San Diego State.

At quarterback, BYU picked up two high school products in Noah Lugo and Enoch Watson. Lugo, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound signal caller from Haslet, Texas combined for 4,756 yards of total offense and 53 touchdowns at Eaton High School, including 2,460 yards and 22 total touchdowns as a senior. Watson comes to the Cougars from American Leadership Academy in Queen Creek, Arizona where he was coached by BYU Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer and fellow former BYU quarterback Max Hall. Watson was a first-team all-region selection and first-team all-conference. He completed 189 of 298 passes for 2,581 yards and 29 yards as a senior. 

Nacua, at 6-foot-2, 180 pounds, totaled 139 catches for 2,121 yards and 20 touchdowns at Timpview High School. He was named to the Deseret News 5A All-State First Team in 2023. Tei is the fourth Nacua brother to play for the Cougars after Kai, Samson and Puka preceded him.

Also at wide receiver, the Cougars add 6-foot-5, 210-pound Jett Nelson. He posted 60 receptions for 960 yards and seven touchdowns as a senior at American Fork High School.

The Cougars also added two offensive lineman in Ikinasio Tupou and Joe Brown. Tupou appeared in 33 games at Palo Alto High School, posting 97 total pancake blocks. He also played some defensive line, totaling 13 tackles, two pass breakups and a fumble recovery. Brown, a returned missionary, joins the class after a standout career at Lone Peak High School anchoring the offensive line where he helped the Knights win the 6A state title in 2021 as an all-state first-teamer. 

DEFENSE
On the defensive side, the Cougars loaded up on the defensive line with line with 10 lineman signed. They also added two linebackers, two safeties, two corners and and one of the class' top athletes in Carson Su'esu'e.

Up front, Saili, To'omalatai, Tuataga, Asiata and Fonohema are joined by other linemen Siosefa Brown, Dallin Johnson, Viliami Po'uha, Adney Reid and Sani Tuala.

Saili was also recruited by Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Arizona and Maryland among others. He played two seasons at Hutchinson Community College and had 21 tackles, four sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss last season. At 6-foot-3, 305 pounds, To'omalatai had 31 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks for Long Beach Community College in 2023.

Tuataga is a 6-foot-6, 245-pound defensive end who was also recruited by USC, Utah, Oregon, Tennessee, Nebraska, Cal, Arizona, Washington, Washington State and Oregon State. He played in just five games as a senior. As a junior he had 32 combined tackles, including 15 tackles for loss and 11 sacks in 10 games at Cedar Valley High School.

Asiata was named a first-team all-region selection in 2023 after a standout senior season at Herriman High School. He was also selected as a 2024 Polynesian Bowl All-Star. His father Matt played running back at the University of Utah and in the NFL. Ephraim was also recruited by USC, Utah, Tennessee and Wisconsin.

Fonohema, a 5A All-State First-Team selection out of Springville High School, adds another lengthy edge rusher to the program. He was also a high school wrestler and rated the No. 12 overall prospect in Utah. 

Brown was a 2023 all-region defensive MVP out of Highland High School in Salt Lake and can line up at outside linebacker as well as edge rusher. Johnson stands at 6-foot-3 and 290 pounds as a true freshman out of Springville High School where he was named an Army All-American. Po'uha is a returned missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who was a 6A all-state second-team selection at Bingham High School in 2020. Reid is the son of former BYU tight end Gabe Reid who joins the Cougars from Sydney, Australia, where he lived with his parents who are serving as mission leaders and played two years of rugby.

Another key transfer addition is Tuala, who also comes to BYU from Sydney, Australia, via Citrus College, where he totaled 13 tackles, three sacks and four tackles for loss in nine games. 

At linebacker, Kelly is expected to make an immediate impact as a four-star transfer. He had 85 tackles, 20 tackles for loss, 16.5 sacks, five forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, seven pass breakups and an interception in 28 games played for Weber State. He led the Big Sky Conference in multiple statistical categories. Blake Lowe will also join the linebacker room out of Chaparral High School in Temecula, California where he was defensive MVP and team MVP. He currently has a mission call to Mozambique.

Carson Su'ese'e also joins the Cougars as a high school quarterback originally from Oakley, California but played at Granger High School in Utah. He'll join the roster on the defensive side when he returns from a mission and could end up at linebacker, defensive end or even safety. 

At safety, Matthias Leach joins the Cougars from Forth Worth, Texas. He was a three-time academic all-district selection, had 17 tackles and six tackles for loss in 2023 and also competed in the high jump with the track and field team. Tommy Prassas also joins the defensive secondary at corner. Out of Chandler, Arizona, Prassas posted 197 total tackles in high school, including 90 solo takedowns. He also had six interceptions and 13 pass breakups.

At corner, Alexander signed with the Cougars after being recruited by Georgia Tech, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, West Virginia, North Carolina State and Houston. He was first-team all-region and first-team all-county at Southwest Dekalb High School. He was a team captain on the football team and also ran track with an 11.1 as a junior in the 100-meter dash, and a 21.97 in the 200-meter as a junior. He won the state title in the 400-meter. Also joining the Cougars at the cornerback position is Jonathan Kabeya. At Byron Nelson High School in Richland Hills, Texas, he racked up 55 total tackles and 10 career interception. He was a 6A all-district first team selection as a senior.

SPECIAL TEAMS
On special teams, BYU added one kicker, one punter and one long snapper.

Brody Laga is a five-star kicker out of Mountain Ridge High School in Herriman, Utah. He's a two-time region special teams MVP in 2022 and 2023 and connected on eight field goals of 50 yards or more, with a career long of 59 yards. He played on the US youth soccer national team in 2020.

Sam Vander Haar is a transfer from Pittsburgh where he played in 12 games as a rugby-style punter and punted 30 times, averaging 38.5 yards per punt. From Melbourne, Australia, he played semi professional Australian rules football.

Cannon Skidmore is rated the No. 2 long snapper nationally, out of Red Mountain High School in Mesa, Arizona. He was selected to the Under Armour All-America Game and was a 6A all-state first team selection.

Watch the Wednesday BYU football press conference with head coach Kalani Sitake, associate head coach/defensive coordinator Jay Hill and offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick as they addressed questions from the media.

Bio information and video highlights for all signees can be viewed by selecting the links in the roster list below. 

NAME POS. HT. WT. PREV. SCHOOL BIO
Alexander III, Therrian "Tre" CB 6'2'' 165 Southwest DeKalb HS BIO
Asiata, Ephraim DE 6'3" 210 Herriman HS BIO
Brown, Joe OL 6'4'' 285 Lone Peak HS BIO
Brown, Siosefa DE 6'4" 210 Highland HS BIO
Fonohema, Kini DE 6'5'' 210 Springville HS BIO
Johnson, Dallin DT 6'3" 290 Springville HS BIO
Kabeya, Jonathan CB 5'10" 170 Byron Nelson HS BIO
Kelly, Jack LB 6'2" 235 Weber State BIO
Laga, Brody K 5'11" 160 Mountain Ridge HS BIO
Leach, Matthias S 6'3"  175 Chisolm Trail HS BIO
Lowe, Blake LB 6'3" 205 Chaparral HS BIO
Lugo, Noah QB 6'2" 185 Eaton HS BIO
Nacua, Tei WR 6'2" 180 Timpview HS BIO
Nelson, Jett WR 6'5" 210 American Fork HS BIO
Po'uha, Viliami DE 6'3" 260 Bingham HS BIO
Prassas, Tommy S 6'2" 190 Basha HS BIO
Reid, Adney DE 6'5" 225 The King's School (AUS) BIO
Saili, Danny DT 6'3" 355 Hutchinson Community College BIO
Satuala, Faletau S 6'4'' 200 Bountiful High School BIO
Skidmore, Cannon LS 6'2" 200 Red Mountain HS BIO
Su’esu’e, Carson Athlete 6'5" 215 Granger HS BIO
Swanson, Ryner TE 6'4" 235 Laguna Beach HS BIO
To'omalatai, Luke DT 6'3" 305 Long Beach City College BIO
Tuala, Sani DE 6'5" 260 Citrus College BIO
Tuataga, Devoux DE 6'6" 245 Cedar Valley HS BIO
Tupou, Ikinasio OL 6'6" 290 Palo Alto HS BIO
Vander Haar, Sam P 6'0" 218 Pittsburgh Univ. BIO
Watson, Enoch QB 6'3" 202 American Leadership Academy BIO

Watch the BYU Signing Day Press Conference