Kickoff, punt return TDs show BYU has improved under special teams coach Kelly Poppinga

When BYU special teams coordinator Kelly Poppinga said during preseason training camp that the 2024 Cougars have as much speed as any team the program has ever had, it sounded like one of those August throwaway comments that people forget once the season starts and the reality of a Power Four-laden schedule kicks in.

Four games into the season, however, Poppinga’s bold statement is ringing true.

Poppinga “is a great coach,” said head coach Kalani Sitake. “You look at the improvement (on special teams) and the way that we have been able to play at the defensive end position, and what he does with the special teams, he is a great coach, a great recruiter and a great man. I love having him on staff.”

Among the Poppinga-engineered special teams highlights to date:

Receiver Keelan Marion returned a kickoff 102 yards for a touchdown against Wyoming, the first for BYU since Adam Hine took one to the house in 2014. Fellow receiver Parker Kingston returned a punt 90 yards (plus about 50 more) for a touchdown in the 38-9 win over No. 13 Kansas State last Saturday, the first time since 2011 that BYU has had a punt and kickoff return for a touchdown in the same season.

Thanks to gunner-extraordinaire Marcus McKenzie, some well-placed punts by Pitt transfer Sam Vander Haar, and heady play from special teams ace Tanner Wall and others, BYU has shut down opposing punt returners, while also forcing a turnover in the 18-15 win over SMU.

Sure, there have been a few miscues, such as a shanked punt against Wyoming that appears to have given Vander Haar the punting job over Landon Rehkow. And a few of Marion’s decisions to bring the ball out of the end zone have been questionable and resulted in poor starting field position.

“We feel like things have gone well,” Vander Haar said last week. “There is a huge emphasis on doing the little things right here, paying attention to detail. I love it.”

Vander Haar has a ways to go to duplicate what arguably the best punter in BYU history, now-Cincinnati Bengals punter Ryan Rehkow, did in four years in Provo. But he’s off to a good start. The Australian’s second punt against Kansas State pinned the Wildcats at their 5-yard line. His last punt pinned the visitors at the 9-yard line.

“It is kinda one of those things where when my name is called I am ready and I don’t really know exactly when that time will be, in terms of during the game, who goes in,” said Vander Haar, who was in a battle with Landon Rehkow to be the “starting” punter throughout preseason training camp. “But to me it doesn’t really matter as long as I am ready and good to go.”

Vander Haar said he has the rugby punt in his repertoire, which has to be expected seeing as how he’s an Aussie, but has yet to display it in a game.

“We haven’t seen all of (what he can do as a former Australian rules football player), which has been cool,” he said. “We are sort of showing some of the stuff we have been working on, which has been great. But yeah, I am looking forward to the coming weeks when we can open up the playbook a little bit more with different things we want to try and do, and yeah, I am sort of excited for the fans to see that too.”

Poppinga said in August that special teams would decide a couple of close games for BYU this season. He was right in Week 2, as second-year kicker Will Ferrin made two field goals in the 3-point win over SMU, including the game-winner from 26 yards out with 1:58 remaining against the Mustangs.

Ferrin was a known commodity, having made 32 of 33 PATs and 11 of 14 field goals last year. This year he is 15 of 15 on PATs and 6 of 8 on field goals.

“We’ve got great long snappers, kickers, punters and holders,” Poppinga said. “They were committed to their craft throughout the summer, and it shows. It is a close group, very tight knit. I am excited to see what they will do next.”

BYU’s special teams have been good and bad in Sitake’s nine-year tenure. The coach allows some of the team’s best players — starters such as linebacker Isaiah Glasker — to play on special teams, and the strategy has paid off handsomely.

Kingston probably wouldn’t have made every highlight reel in America last week — sans the blooper reels — if Glasker hadn’t paved the way with some well-placed blocks.

“Another fantastic play tonight. K Pop has done a great job with special teams and having them believe they can make big plays and have an impact on the game,” Sitake said Saturday night, after lamenting the “drama” and “mistake” that preceded the big return.

Popping is a big reason why BYU was able to get Ferrin from Boise State, after reliable kicker Jake Oldroyd graduated. Sitake said the former BYU linebacker and linebackers coach can identify special teams talent with the best of them.

“I wanted to hire him because he is a great coach and a great person. That is the No. 1 thing. I recognize what he can do as a mentor to these young men. Being a former player here, I know he loves this place and so I knew that he could to it,” Sitake said of replacing Ed Lamb with Poppinga after the 2022 season.

“He had a great reputation in coaching even before we hired him. I knew it before that. Now that I work alongside him and see the work that he does, it has been really, for me, it has been nice to see.

“Jay (Hill) is a special teams guy, too,” Sitake continued. “He has that background, too. So it is nice to have the presence of Jay there as a former head coach, and special teams coordinator and defensive coordinator.”