BYU Football begins final week of spring practices

PROVO, Utah – BYU football began its fourth and final week of spring ball Monday on the outdoor practice field. 

Head Coach Kalani Sitake | video
On what he hopes to see this week as spring ball wraps up
Just finish off strong in the spring. I think we've had some really good practices. You've got some guys banged up, but I think we got everything we wanted so far. It’s more of getting everything ready, thinking about fall camp, or getting as much film as we can for install for a lot of the new guys, so they can see it on film. And to just keep getting better at our fundamentals and technique. I feel like we've made some huge strides as far as getting our team, deeper and competing a lot of different spots. We had a really good (practice) today, and I think we'll take a couple more to get ready for Friday, which is going to be more like another practice. We’ll try to do some 11-on-11 stuff during the practice, but I don't think we’re going to do a spring game type of deal to try to keep our guys healthy.

On which positions he feels is most settled
I would say the most settled would probably be linebacker. I feel like we have not just a good two-deep But a good three-deep. We have a lot of really good players there. If you're looking at the three—Payton Wilgar, Max Toole, Keenan pili—I think they have tons of experience under their belts and had a lot of big time plays in a lot of different places.

On how important it is to get players to the NFL
It’s been a priority from day one. If you look at the years past, we've been trying to develop our program. I've said it before, I want to get guys in the NFL, that's a priority for me. I think the league needs our guys and I think we have guys that can go out there and have success. Even guys who have been injured, we need to find a way to get them back on track and give them an opportunity to make teams. I really believe that this is something that's been delivered, we've been trying to focus on that from the beginning.

Linebacker Josh Wilson | video
On how he would describe his freshman season
I was just honestly getting comfortable trying to figure everything out. It was awesome because I got to play a lot. I got to kind of figure things out and got to get a good feel for college football. Obviously, I learned a lot, and things weren't perfect, but that's how you grow.

On where he feels he has grown this spring
I didn't think it would change that much, but I've seen a lot of growth for myself. I think it's just being more comfortable. I know the guys—they’re all my friends now. The playbook has just come easier. I think I've just gotten smarter, and when I feel like I'm knowing all the plays and all that, I can play better because I'm just more comfortable.

Wide Receiver Chris Jackson | video
On what the wide out group has been working on the last three weeks
We’ve really just been working and making sure we know our assignments. That's the most important thing, is being reliable. They don't really care how good you are, if you’re not reliable, you’re not going to play. We really just want to make sure, as a receiver corp, that we know what we're doing on the field, and everything else will fall into place.

On who some of the leaders on offense have been in spring ball
I would consider Neil (Pau’u). Neil's a leader. Jaren (Hall) is a leader. Most of our quarterbacks are leaders. (Baylor) Romney, he's a leader. Gunner Romney, he's a leader. I consider myself a leader, I've just got to make sure I'm doing the right thing, as well.

On how the quarterback play has been
I think they're all great quarterbacks. They all have their own style of play. Some may be more athletic than others, some just have a different style. They all work very hard, they all rotate, they all do the job.