Despite quarterback Jake Retzlaff, May is an encouraging month for BYU football program as it continues to prepare for its third season in Big 12, but the amazing, sad and disturbing development is an encouraging month.

The Cougars began this month’s link to fans in Idaho and Southern Utah’s Fan Festival celebrations at Idaho Falls and St. George and ended up signing players this month’s transfer portal and high school squads who should be able to make a significant impact on the team as soon as possible this season.

Most notably, Kalani's cotake and his staff landed quarterback Bear Bachmeier and receiver Tiger Bachmeier from Stanford and flipped lineman Alai Kalaniuvalu from Oregon. The Bachmeier brothers will join the team this summer, while Kalaniuvalu is currently on church missions in Colorado and will be enrolled by the 2027 season.

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“It’s very suitable for us, and I think that’s how many people who come into the portal now see it.”

- BYU coach Kalani Sitake on landing on Bachmeier brothers Tiger and Bear

June may be just as lucrative as some of the West’s top prep prospects – California quarterback Ryder Lyons, only peak catcher Jaren Pula, Oregon-run Lamarcus Bell and Idaho State Ranger Jax Tanner – are planning a formal campus visit.

Sitake talked with reporters at 12 major conferences recently in Orlando, and then again benefited greatly from the National Kidney Foundation of the Coaches Legacy Invitational Golf battle for Sandy’s Hidden Valley Country Club and the National Kidney Foundation of Idaho and politely refused to talk about the May 21 citizen lawsuit filed against Retzlaff, filed a lawsuit on May 21, with alleged cumulative senior attackers attacking senior attackers to the point where a Salt Lake County woman owned 18 months.

But, when asked Monday about his acquisition of the Bachmeer brothers, Situak smiled. The Tigers are a graduate transfer who played 24 games for the Cardinals, 13 games with a 6-foot-1-foot receiver and scored 46 passes for 476 yards and two touchdown passes. Bear, a 6-2,225-pound quarterback, graduated from California's Murietta Valley High School last winter and participated in Stanford's Spring 2025 practice before entering the transfer portal.

Given Retzlaff's situation, Bear's signing was particularly lucky. McCae Hillstead, Treyson Bourguet and upcoming freshman Emerson Geilman are the other QBs in the room so far.

The key is that coach BYU has been in a relationship with the brothers since high school, and that familiarity paid off when they entered the transfer portal.

"When we contacted them, they said they wanted to be in a place like they remembered we had," Sitake said. "We had a relationship with them before. So, I think it's easy to adjust what they had to deal with at Stanford.

“So I’m glad they’re part of our team,” Sitake continued. "It's a perfect fit for us, and I think that's what many people who come into the portal are looking for it right now. They're trying to find a place where they can take advantage of the environment and be at their best on the scene."

As for Kalaniuvalu, Sitake said it was a classic case where a four-star offensive winger moved from Oregon to BYU, then back to Oregon and then back to Oregon.

“How our (assistant) coaches treat people,” he said.

Kalaniuvalu became the highest recruit in BYU's signature class of 2025 with a ranking of 94 rankings 247Sports.com, which is now ranked 59th on the land with 247Sports and 41st on the compound, which is the average ranking of ESPN, which is the average ranking of ESPN, ON3, Rivals and 247Sports.

Kalaniuvalu leads in Clovis, California, with guard McKay Madsen, a mission-held four-star McKay Madsen, who made headlines by winning the state championship for the second consecutive year last weekend and discussing the state championship. He is the first California athlete to achieve this feat for more than 100 years.

Madsen received a mission from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which sponsors and supports the faith of BYU.

Still optimistic about his BYU team

Regardless of what happened to Retzlaff, Sitake still speaks about his team like a coach, who reiterated what he said when he finished spring camp over two months ago. He said early signs that players did not let the success of 2024 be in their minds.

In fact, people believe they should get more than they did with an 11-2, prompting them to go “another miles” in their offseason workout, he said.

“I feel good with the team. I’m very happy with the way it moves and the leadership we plan to do,” he said. “I’m really grateful that I’m able to keep our coaching staff intact. It’s always a hard thing to deal with, and knowing we have a year to stay with these guys and not lose any full-time coaching is a good thing for us.

“I’m glad (new athletic director) Brian Santiago and the rest of the administration are looking at it the same way we are able to retain our coaches and I think that will be a huge help for us to move into this fall.”

Live cake still loves the job

The ever-changing college sports landscape The Puppets’ job became even harder as they entered BYU’s tenth season, but he didn’t complain. At least not. He said he still liked it even in the transfer portal Nil, revenue sharing, and all other administrative tasks, making it impossible for him to recruit and coach.

"The head coach now has a lot more things to do than the previous rules," he said. "But you still have to be able to change and move. … We try to move and try to get our roster at 105, and we don't even know if that will become a problem. We just have to be able to adjust and adapt to it."

After the season, and then after spring training camp, the coach embarked on the mission of trimming the roster to 105 players, hoping that the NCAA’s house settlement court case will require layoffs. However, a federal judge in California has not approved the settlement, and she suggested that perhaps the restrictions on the list are unacceptable.

"We will do everything we can to fit the program but at the same time comply with what the NCAA has to do with us," Sitake said. "That being said, so I didn't complain. Everyone has to deal with the same things I have to deal with as the head coach. It's just more work, but I don't actually mind my job. I don't mind at all."