Effective teams have leaders who drive results.
They can do it silently. Do it by example. Speak up, maybe yell a little, or a lot. But they’re the guys on a football team that take charge, men who teammates listen to and want to follow and not disappoint.
It’s been that way since men tasked themselves with others to fight, hunt, or go steal somebody’s land.
Special Collector’s Issue: “1984: The Year BYU was Second to None”
Get an inclusive look inside BYU Football’s 1984 National Championship season.
BYU lost a good leader in Jake Retzlaff and they’ll sorely miss him. He was energetic, positive, confident, supportive until he slipped up off the field and disappeared when the Cougars were on the threshold of the 2025 season.
So, who is going to step up?
On offense, it will be senior receiver Chase Roberts, and to a lesser “outspoken” extent, running back LJ Martin.
On defense, two leaders expected to stand out are transfer defensive tackle Keanu Tanuvasa and safety Tanner Wall.
They’re believable achievers who work hard, and when they speak, others listen.
This past week, Roberts explained how he hopes to lead BYU this season.
It’s basic Spartacus stuff.
“I pride myself in that I want to be the best possible leader I can be,” Roberts told the media.
“First, making plays on the field. I think that’s the best way, and then making sure everyone’s in the right place, being confident on and off the field, putting my arm around them (teammates) and making sure that they’re OK, that their lives are in balance, at least they are striving to be, and helping out in any way I can.”
Meanwhile, on the other side of the line, head coach Kalani Sitake and defensive coordinator Jay Hill have found a sword-and-spear gladiator in Tanuvasa. They don’t have to even wind him up, he’s already spinning when he wakes up.
“He’s, always been an explosive player, but seeing him work with Sione (Po’uha) and with Gary (Andersen) and with Jay in the system, I think we’re leaning on his leadership,” said Sitake.
“He’s done a great job getting the energy up. You see it at the end of practice. The defense has been like that every practice that he’s been involved in, so I think it’s the things that he does off the field that helps our team more than anything. But it helps out too that he’s very disruptive.”
Sitake said Martin is bigger, stronger and faster, and because he’s more mature and knows the playbook, it’s a natural step up for him to be a leader on offense.
“Instead of trying to memorize stuff, he has ideas and thoughts on how we can block things. That’s when you know you have a guy that’s kind of a veteran, and we can count on him. The first two years he didn’t talk much and now he’s speaking up, and guys are listening.”
Wall was leading BYU as a special teams player and second-string safety.
“You don’t need to be a starter to be a leader, but it helps that he’s had a significant amount of reps and starts under his belt,” Sitake said of Wall. “We can lean on him and others know what he says makes sense, and if it’s true, we abide by it.
“It takes great guys who want to follow and humble guys who want to follow in order for a leader to excel and Tanner has always been comfortable saying the right things at the right time.”
On Saturday, Sitake will take his team through its first major scrimmage. This event, expected to go upwards of 70 or 80 plays, will go a long way in giving coaches signs of who may lead in the QB race to replace Retzlaff.
The candidates are USU transfer McCae Hillstead, Western Michigan transfer Treyson Bourguet and freshman Bear Bachmeire.
BYU needs one of these guys to not only separate himself from the others as a playmaker, but also as a leader. QBs always wear that mantle.
“We’ve told them we want them to make it hard for us to decide,” said Sitake.
Making it hard begins with delivering big plays, completing drives, avoiding mistakes and leading the offense to TDs.
Not a big ask, right?
