PROVO, Utah — BYU football begian its third week of fall camp practices on Monday at the Zions Bank Practice Fields. Today's position preview features the secondary with both the cornerbacks and safeties.
Associate head coach, defensive coordinator and safeties coach Jay Hill is back for his third season at BYU, along with newly promoted defensive passing game coordinator and cornerbacks coach Jernaro Gilford returning for his 10th year on the staff. Coach Hill also elevated Gavin Fowler from an analyst to the assistant safeties coach in the offseason.
Hill, who joined the staff prior to the 2023 season, has quickly built BYU into one of the top defenses nationally and tops in the Big 12 last season in several categories. The Utah native came to Provo after spending nine seasons as the head coach at Weber State before nearly a decade on the staff at Utah from 2005-13.
A former defensive back at Ricks College and the University of Utah, Hill was an NJCAA All-American and All-Mountain West Conference performer in his college career before spending time with the Buffalo Bills and New York Giants in the NFL.
Gilford, who is one of Kalani Sitake's original staff members from 2016, has worked as the cornerbacks coach during his tenure at BYU and has added the defensive passing game coordinator responsibilities for the 2025 season. The product of Hawthorne, California, also spent time at Southern Utah and Whittier College in his coaching career.
A three-year starter and All-MWC performer for BYU, Gilford played in 37 games for the Cougars, including a 2001 season where he started all 14 games, was named first-team All-MWC and tied for the nation's lead with six interceptions.
Fowler has been working as a member of the staff in various roles since 2019 as a graduate assistant, analyst and now assistant safeties coach. From Kaysville, Utah, Fowler played defensive back and was a special teams standout during his time as a Cougar from 2011, 14-18.
In the safety room, BYU is deep with experience and returners with starting experience, led by Academic All-American Tanner Wall.
Wall, a former wide receiver walk-on, has become one of Hill's most reliable defensive weapons, having played in 31 career games with 13 starts at safety last season. Wall, 6-foot-1, 205 pounds from Arlington, Virginia, posted 53 tackles last season and tied for the team lead with three interceptions.
In addition to Wall returning, Raider Damuni (6-1, 205) started the final two games last season and has appeared in 23 in his career while Talan Alfrey (6-2, 205) has played in 29 games with 11 starts at BYU.
Two highly-touted prospects got their first action in 2024 and return as sophomores now in 2025 with Faletau Satuala (6-4, 210) and Tommy Prassas (6-2, 195). Satuala played in 12 games while Prassas appeared in 13, both as true freshman cracking the rotation in 2024.
BYU also has Matthias Leach, Jarinn Kalama and Payton VanSteenkiste returning in 2025. Newcomers include Crew Clark and Joseph Douglas to round out the safety room.
At corner, Mory Bamba returns for one final season as one of the top players at the position for the Cougars. The lengthy 6-foot-3, 190-pounder has appeared in 22 games in his Cougar career, including six starts last year with 17 total tackles on the year.
Evan Johnson (6-0, 185) is back after a breakout 2024 season where he played in 12 games with four starts. The Monterey, California, product had 16 tackles and two picks last season.
Therrian Alexander III (6-2, 175) and Jonathan Kabeya (5-10, 177) also played in the rotation at corner and nickel last season, respectively, and are back after solid true freshman campaigns in 2024. Alexander saw the field in 10 games with Kabeya appearing in nine.
The Cougars get experience back in Marcus McKenzie, Jayden Dunlap and Kevin Doe who have all spent multiple years in the program now. Tayvion Beasley, a transfer from San Diego State joins the room and new freshman faces include Cannon Devries and Jordyn Criss.