Cougars select captains, leadership council – Deseret News

With BYU’s football season kicking off in five days, the Cougars have selected their captains.

Fifteen players have been selected to serve on the team’s 2024 leadership council, the program announced Monday.

Center Connor Pay, receiver Chase Roberts, defensive end Tyler Batty and cornerback Jakob Robinson will serve as captains for the Cougars. The quartet will be joined on the council by the following 11 co-captains:

• Gerry Bohanon, QB
• Jake Retzlaff, QB
• Weylin Lapuaho, OG
• Darius Lassiter, WR
• Hinckley Ropati, RB
• Tanner Wall, FS
• Talan Alfrey, SS
• Jack Kelly, LB
• Logan Lutui, DL
• John Nelson, DL
• Will Ferrin, K

The players selected to the council “will meet regularly to plan and provide the leadership responsibilities … with their teammates and for the program, on and off the field,” according to a statement from head coach Kalani Sitake.

Additionally, three of the captains will represent the Cougars for each pregame coin toss, with a different co-captain joining them each week.

“The 15 players on the council are those who received a majority of votes,” Sitake told reporters Monday. “It was exciting for me to see that there were more players than those 15 who received a vote, even multiple votes. That means we have a great leadership group not limited to the 15 on the team leadership council. That should happen when you have a lot of veterans and a group that’s gone through a lot of adversity and worked hard together.

“Leadership isn’t just about the guys who speak, it’s about the guys who actually do the work and lead by example. You look at that group of young men, and they’re not all talkers. A lot of them just do the work. They have an impact in a lot of different ways… This gives me a lot of confidence that we have a good group.”

Interestingly, although Sitake doesn’t plan to announce his starting quarterback prior to Saturday’s matchup with Southern Illinois, both of the passers competing for the job — Gerry Bohanon and Jake Retzlaff — are included among the co-captains.

“The team views them both as leaders,” Pay said of the two QBs. “That’s definitely a good thing. They both garner that respect from their teammates. That puts them both in a position to lead the offense. “The player respects both of them in the starting quarterback role.”

What BYU’s captains said about serving as leaders

Connor Pay: “For me, it means a lot. This probably means more than any other award or anything else that could happen because this is my teammates voting for this, not anybody else. These are the people I care about the most. They’re the ones making that decision. To be voted a captain by them, to be someone who they feel comfortable with and want leading the team, that’s a really special thing for me. “I know it is for everyone else on the leadership council too.”

Jakob Robinson: “It means everything. I was a captain in high school and growing up, so I have always thought it is cool to have that ‘C’ on your chest and know that you are one of the leaders for the team. Everyone will really listen to you and respect you.”

Chase Roberts: “It is such an honor knowing that your teammates are asking you to be a leader for this team. It makes me want to be better and be an example in every aspect, whether it is on the field making plays, off the field, how to handle a weekend before a game and how to handle yourself after a game. People are looking up to you and it is an honor to know that the eyes are on you. “It helps me be a more Christlike example.”