Yes I know these will be hotly debated and discussed. Holmoe has assured me that they won't be used in any raises/firings as I don't want that on my conscience.

Kalani Sitake: A Yes I have been dubbed as the Kalani hater on this board and I am giving him an outright A. How could you not? This team went 11-2 despite not having a ton of high end talent (we have more than most people think, but in terms of recruiting we do not). This team seemed cohesive the entire year. They mostly said all of the right things in the media and Kalani did great in replacing old coaches (at least in one spot, the other is up in the air).

Jay Hill: A+ Hard to not be impressed with what Jay Hill did this season. Very few times did I feel like the defense was out of sorts (the OK State game comes to mind, we also struggled mightily against Arizona St). He also managed to play a lot of younger guys and get them reps. His schemes against Sanders were exotic and NFL like. His players all seem to love him. Kalani isn't going anywhere, but I respect Hill so much as a coach that I would be thrilled to have him as our HC.

Aaron Roderick: A- I was very impressed with Aaron Roderick this year. He managed to put up the 35th best offense in the land according to FEI (we were 31st in points per drive if you simply want to go off of that metric, but because the defense did a great job it got adjusted down to 35). This was without a seasoned QB and in a P4 conference. He dealt with injuries at RB, the OL, WR (Epps) and QB. Yet through it all he put up the 35th best offense in the land. My hesitation to give him a higher grade comes only because of recruiting in many areas. He made the most of the talent he had. The CU game was a great example. Due to his personnel against the opposing team's he couldn't just drop back and pass the ball. Yet he created schemes to get guys open on 3rd downs and dominated in the run game. The defense was definitely the star of the season, but the offense was solid which made a huge difference. One thing to note is complimentary football. In many games the defense was able to do so well because they got a lot of rest. The goal this year was clearly about ball control which served us well in going 11-2.

Kelly Poppinga: A++/B+ Kelly has two jobs so it is hard to give him just one grade. As a Special Teams guy he hit it out of the park and deserves an A++. That was the best special season in BYU's history. I don't even think that is arguable. The DE's were good, but not great. Batty was a force, especially late in the year. But other than Batty I thought the group was just OK.

TJ Woods: A+ Anything other than an A+ would be wrong here. He turned a huge weakness into a strength despite having injuries and a lot of guys who were not highly sought after. When injuries happened we seemingly didn't miss a beat. Etienne looked like an NFL tackle. I can tell you that recruits and portal guys were impressed with him. Gentry is not at BYU without him. He is the anti-Funk.

Fesi Sitake: A Fesi has done a great job of building the WR room. We have both talent and depth. We have big guys and we have fast, quick smaller guys. I would like to see the team cut down on the drops (yes Lassiter I am looking at you), but again we have a great group and Fesi is responsible for that.

Kevin Gilbride: B- Honestly I should probably give him a lower grade based on the production of the TE group. But I won't as he did a good job with Ta'ase. Hopefully moving forward we can get TEs that can block and catch. I know Hill wanted to be an NFL TE, that obviously did not happen as he did not have a good year.

Harvey Unga: A Harvey dealt with some injuries, but what looked to be a weakness for BYU turned out to be a strength. So Harvey for the most part hasn't recruited great, but what he has done is find great players who are not recruited as high. Moa is a keeper and LJ is a beast. The way LJ is patient and just kind of glides through the defense is impressive. I like Haunga moving forward.

Jernaro Gilford: A+ Jernaro was blessed with Jakob Robinson who I believe is the greatest DB we have ever had. Teams literally quit throwing at him. But add in Marque Collins, Mo Bamba, Evan Johnson...etc and there is a reason we finished the season #4 in pass efficiency defense.

Justin Ena: A+ Listen all Ena did was coach up Kelly, Glasker and Taggart to be one of the best linebacking groups that BYU has EVER had. The good news is that they might all be back. Great job Ena!

Sione Po'uha: A Our defensive tackles this year did great, especially considering that there was very little there in terms of recruiting talent. Po'uha was mostly not responsible for that group, but an increase in recruiting is what I hope to see as time moves on. He has a good start with getting Tanuvasa to transfer.



11-2 with a team that didn't look like it was super talented coming in is a great job by all. Well done Cougar coaches in 2024! I am certainly quick to point out coaching flaws when I see them, but you all overachieved this past year and I am quick to sing your praises.