Jay Hill updates, NCAA news, ticket prices

Plus: A new name to think about to replace Jay Hill.

BYU’s best season in two decades ended on a sweet note.

The Cougars won the Pop-Tarts Bowl over No. 22 Georgia Tech and ended the night eating a sweet treat on national television.

Kalani Sitake certainly enjoyed the celebration and ate a Pop-Tart in one bite straight from the toaster.

“Maybe he ate a little too much,” the head coach joked after the game.

But after the sweet it was a little sour.

Defensive coordinator Jay Hill — the architect of BYU’s defense and recruiting — may be headed to Michigan to join his former boss, Kyle Whitingham. Losing Hill would be a huge hole to fill on a team that has won 23 games over the last two years.

It’s not just Hill. Gavin Fowler, who coached the secondary with Hill, is leaving for Weber State as defensive coordinator. Eddie Heckard, another cornering mentor, goes to Weber as a cornering coach.

The good news is that Sitake will have the resources to fill Hill’s role. His contract extension included more zeros in BYU’s bank account to hire coaches.

So who could he be looking for?

Internally, I would take a long look at four options. Kelly Poppinga is the most visible, with experience coordinating at Virginia and being the special teams coordinator for the past three years. He knows Hill’s scheme well and is once again seeking the defensive coordinator position.

Gary Andersen, who has been in the booth next to Hill every game, is another candidate. He has all the experience you could want as a head coach at Utah, Wisconsin and Oregon State. He was the defensive coordinator at Utah and would be a perfect fit. Sitake pushed for more resources to retain experienced analysts like Andersen.

But if you want to go with a Power Four coordinator for the first time, I’d look at Jernar Gilford or Justin Ena. Gilford is an excellent recruiter and has been retained by several BYU staffers. He was just promoted to defensive coordinator and is clearly somewhere in line for the coordinator position. Why not at BYU?

And Ena transformed the linebacker unit at BYU to produce the likes of Jack Kelly and Isaiah Glasker. Coming from the Whittingham coaching tree, he sees a defensive philosophy similar to Hill’s – favoring positional length and pressure from defenders.

But if Sitake doesn’t like those options, there are some big names that could come in handy. Texas just fired their defensive coordinator after a successful stint. Pete Kwiatkowski is a name I would follow. Moreover, he knows this area of ​​the country.

He had time at Snow College, Boise State, Washington and Eastern Washington before heading to Austin.

New faces

During the Pop-Tarts Bowl, it was pretty clear that McCae Hillstead had to go.

With quarterback Bear Bachmeier limping and limping all game, BYU still didn’t give its backfield a chance. Bachmeier threw for over 300 yards. But even not giving Hillstead a look in a meaningless game when the starter was clearly injured speaks volumes.

Hillstead couldn’t play in Provo, Bachmeier has three years left and Ryder Lyons is coming in 2027.

Hillstead will have options from Group Five level. He started at Utah State as a freshman, and the Aggies need a quarterback.

Outside of the quarterback room, the McKenzie brothers are testing the waters. Dom and Marcus McKenzie never quite hit the mark at Provo and will look elsewhere for further opportunities. Add LaMason Waller to that list as well. The wide receiver was heavily touted as a recruit but never stepped into a significant role.

Ticket prices are going up

Last thing, season ticket prices are going up again – up to $1,000 for some. There are seven home games next year instead of six, and that partly accounts for the steep increase. Additionally, revenue is a major concern in college sports these days.

But there is one silver lining for BYU fans. Notre Dame is coming to Provo for the first time since 2004.

Call it a consolation prize for what should have been a Pop-Tarts Bowl game before the Irish backed out.