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It is time for a little Cougars in the pros.
Gonna welcome to a former BA rate the Talks and
BYU Football, his pro Day, his NFL combine, and you
know what his next steps are as he takes his
talents to the National Football League.
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Speaker 4: Let's get out to the hotline.
Speaker 3: Welcome in the six foot two, two hundred and forty
forty pounder out of currents Utah. We got Jack Kelly,
former BYU great linebacker.
Speaker 4: What's up Jack? How are you guys doing? Awesome man
number one.
Speaker 3: Congratulations on a great career, great season, great final season
at BYU, and also like a cherry on top one
of the best pro Day slash combine performances in BYU
football history coming in, I think like it may have
been a top five ross score. It's that relative athletic
score that combines all of these different elements of the
Pro Day and combine and compares it to other combine
scores historically. You have like a top five rating athletically
all time in BYU football history.
Speaker 4: Man, that's a cherry on top. Great job.
Speaker 5: Hey, sure, thank you so much. I appreciate it.
Speaker 4: What went into that? Man? Like, how was it that?
Speaker 3: I mean, obviously you've always been a good athlete, but
tell us a little bit about what went into that
and all the preparation in order to maximize your athletic ability.
Speaker 5: Yeah. So I moved down to Fort Myers, Florida, and
I was training down there for about two months. But
you also got to give credit to I have a
guy out here in Salt Lake named Total Athlete Training,
and then all the strength coaches at BYU just helping
me preserve and get better throughout the seasons, the off seasons,
and then when I got down to Fort Myers, it
was kind of just got to really refine the little
details and put in the work, stay disciplined on your
meal plan, do all the little things, and so it's
really just a testament to all the coaches I've had
and setting the right example for me coming up through this.
Speaker 3: Yeah, what were you most happy about with your combine
performance pro day performance?
Speaker 5: I think my biggest thing was the position drills. I
think just showing the scouts that I can move. Some
of them thought I was a little stiff previously, so
that was a big emphasis offseason. Was just showing that
I'm fluid and I can drop, I can pass rush,
just showing a little bit of it all.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it sounds like you've made some doubters into believers.
I felt like with your performance in the combine as
well as the field drill, I feel like you elevated
your draft status a bit.
Speaker 4: Have you gotten that feedback as.
Speaker 5: Well, I mean, yeah, still a little early to tell.
I mean, we don't really know until draft day comes.
I like to think I did everything that I could though,
and showed what I wanted to show, so hopefully that
improved my draft stock. But at the end of the day,
it's kind of hard to know. You don't really know
what teams need or want until draft day comes.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's it's awesome to watch the progress. Right, Like
from where you were coming out in high school, underrated,
under recruited, You go to Weber, you end up at BYU.
Did you have doubts like you could play at the
highest of levels at that time when you were coming
out of high school? What was the mindset like when
you came out of high school ended up at Weber.
Speaker 4: Was it a little bit of a.
Speaker 3: Kind of an eye opening experience when you got to
BYU and you were as dominant as you were even
at all these other levels that you had played at.
Speaker 5: I mean, it really just comes down to like betting
on yourself and trusting in your work in preparation. So
it wasn't doubt. It was always I felt like I
could play at this level. So I was like working
as hard as I could do and all the extra stuff,
just trying to do what I knew I needed to
do in order to be successful. So I was kind
of my mindset going into Weavers, like, I'm grateful I
get to play college football. A lot of people don't
get to get this opportunity, so I'm just gonna take
full advantage of it. I'm gonna work hard. Listening to
my coaches, and I'm grateful for the journey that I
have had no.
Speaker 4: Doubt about it.
Speaker 3: What would you say is your your your most memorable
moment as a BYU Cougar Jack, when you reflect on
your career at b YU, what are some of the
memorable moments or the most memorable moment that you had.
Speaker 5: I mean, there's really too many to count or the list,
but one super memorable moment I guess it'd be two
would be Utah the Utah game both years. I mean
that first game getting back to Provo and just seeing
all the fans and everyone being there, and then this
year as well, just having that in Provo. I think
nothing be say that crowd was wild, it was a
good game, good competition. So I think those two games
would definitely be at the top of my list.
Speaker 3: Big games in big moments for you and one of
the things that I actually was most impressed by. And
I think this problem is going to help your NFL
career as well. You suffered an injury this year, an
upper trimity injury. You rehabed it, got back on the
field of play, you played through injuries, had surgery obviously
at the end of the year, I think that that
show's kind of great in fortitude and the toughness that
NFL teams are looking for.
Speaker 5: Yeah, for sure. I mean it was really just sacrificing
for my brothers out there. Like I knew, I wanted
to be out there with them, fighting, competing. Everyone on
the team is fighting through some sort of injury, whether
it's little or dig So it was really just wanting
to do it for them and just a brotherhood that
we had that made me want to go out there
and try to play to the best of my ability,
to contribute as much as I could, and then just
to be out there fighting. Like you you don't want
to miss those opportunities out there with your brothers. You
only get so limited amount of them, so just every
opportunity I try to take full advantage.
Speaker 3: Of Jack Kelly former b YU great talking some ball
here on your Utah ESPN Radio Network. What was the
experience like at the combine? It always feels like it's rushed.
You don't get enough sleep. They're trying to like test
you mentally, emotionally, and then obviously then do the physical
component to it. Cortisol levels are high, you know, and
it's almost like it feels like they're like trying to
dehydrate you in things before you get out there, trying
to like lessen your athletic potential.
Speaker 4: Give us a little breakdown of what happened there.
Speaker 5: Yeah, so it's definitely like a quick trip kind of
like you mentioned, you kind of fly in, do all
your medicals, do what they need to see, and then
they're going to keep you up with meetings, doing team interviews,
stuff like that. Go to the hospital, make sure everything's
checked out from head to toe, get all the teams
what they need to see. I mean, yeah, you're super
busy pretty much the whole entire day, so you're getting
back to your room pretty late, so you're trying to
just fit in water meals wherever you can. And then
obviously the sleep component, they definitely are trying to test you.
It seems like a little bit so you're gonna be
out a little later, gonna get you up a little earlier.
So it's really just had to be walked in on
the little things like eating and sleeping and then trying
to get your training into just finding little segments of
the day where you had a little break, maybe an
hour break where you just go get that training segment
in real quick and then go back to meetings or
whatever was planned for that day.
Speaker 3: What was the weirdest questions that you were asked during
the interview process.
Speaker 5: You know, I've heard a lot of stories about people
getting asked weird questions, but I didn't get asked anything
that was like out of the norm. So I was
grateful for that based on some of the stories I've heard,
and like just some of the like scouts or Coast
or whatever it may be trying to get like a
little funny detail out of you or something like that.
But yeah, I didn't have anything crazy.
Speaker 3: There was a number of guys that got the invite
to the combine. Obviously, Chase Roberts got the invite. I
believe Garrison Grimes went out there, Wilf Farron, and so
pretty cool to.
Speaker 4: See all those guys there.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I kind of felt like there was a few
other guys that should have maybe merited an invite. I
thought Timmer Waald, you know, a big twelve All Conference player,
he tested out extremely well at his PRODA. I thought
he could have maybe got that invite as well. Your
thoughts on that, like the threshold of what merits an
invite and what doesn't and who if your teammates, did
you feel good?
Speaker 4: Maybe got shafted in that regard.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I don't necessarily knows what goes into that getting
the invite process. I mean, I definitely think there's more
of the guys that should have. Pretty much everyone at
pro Day had a great protay, so if they would
have been at the Combine, they would have tested phenomenally well.
They all had great seasons. But at the end of
the day, all they need is a shot. All of
us need is just one shot. So Combine obviously helps
a little bit, but the numbers that they put up
at the pro Day is definitely all that they needed
to show. All of them went through position drills really well.
So I'm super happy and I love the way they
attack the process and I'm really hoping that everyone gets
a shot, and I think they'll all strive in the
opportunity that they do get.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we got a couple of like underrated guys I
feel like that are coming out in this class.
Speaker 4: I think Tannel Wall is one of them.
Speaker 3: I think Austin Leousa is also an underrated guy. You
had to go against Austin a lot I think as
a linebacker, either coming off the edge or going up
the middle of what stands out to you about Austin
Do you think he could find a way in the NFL?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 5: Yeah, for sure. Him and Way and I think have
great opportunities ahead of them. Just their physicality, the smart
the IQ part of the game that they do have,
just being able to understand defenses, read defenses, call blitzes out,
like if we started creeping too early, they would call
those out. So they just have high IQ and that's
really what translates well to the NFL. They already got
the physical aspect, they just tested well, showed the teams
what they needed to see, and now it's just really
showing the teams the IQ side of the thing, which
they did on film. But then once they get in
those meeting rooms with those teams, they're definitely gonna be
able to show and I think those are going to
be huge positive plus sides for them.
Speaker 3: Jack Kelly, former BYU, great linebacker here on Utah's ESPN
Radio Network and Cougar Sports. Jack, you got coach up
by some good coaches down there at BYU, and they
got a good thing going right now. Two consecutive seasons
of double digit wins eleven and two and twelve and two.
For those that are evaluating going to BYU right now,
what's the pitch right to get them in BYU Blue
and get coached up by some of these coaches and
be a part of a unique and singular locker room.
Speaker 5: Yeah. I mean just the culture that Kilani has, it's
a winning culture. We look at the past two years
and what they're building, it's just going to continue to
grow and develop into something bigger and better. I think
the guys that they brought in this year, the guys
returning from last year, I think they're gonna have an
even better season than the year we just had. So
I think it's just going to be a continuous winning
program that's just going to continue to get better, especially
under all the coaching staff that they have up there.
They have the right mindset, the football IQ. They can
develop you the way you need to be developed, and
winning at the end of the day is the best
thing in football, and that's what they do.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I feel like, you know, b Yu's moving in a
unique direction right now. It's becoming like they talk about
the glory days of like the eighties and nineties. I
feel like these are the new glory days for BYU
since twenty to twenty, a lot of double digit wins,
a lot of NFL talent speak to what makes Kilane's
culture so special.
Speaker 5: I think just the way he allows the players to
run things, He allows play it to be a player
led team, which helps for us building that brotherhood and
that bond that we have with each other. I mean,
he's gonna step in and yell when he needs so,
he's gonna what a head coach needs to do, but
he's he's allowing the players to control it. To make
sure we're pushing the tempo, make sure we're all holding
each other accountable. And I think at the end of
the day, if you're able to compete at a high
level with your brothers and you, you guys are the
ones leading each other, that's the teams that are going
to be successful.
Speaker 4: Jack, what's next for you? What what goals do you have?
Speaker 3: What's the next I guess weeks and months look like
for you.
Speaker 5: Yeah, just going to continue to be training, try to
get better in every way that I can, get in shape,
continue to do football work on the field, and then
just kind of play the waiting game. Hopefully I get
that opportunity and then try to attack it and be
as best as I can.
Speaker 4: So, where you're training at right now and who you're
training with.
Speaker 5: I'm training at Total Athlete Training and the guy's name
is Christian Sandibal.
Speaker 3: What stood out to you about I mean, look, you
had some high level training at BYU, Skyler Maine, Ryan Phillis,
Colby Class and all those guys.
Speaker 4: They do fantastic work.
Speaker 3: What has stood out to you about the training that
you've received after BYU.
Speaker 5: It's all very similar to what they did, actually, so
it's all positive things. It just shows and really allows
me to understand the level of knowledge that they have
at the BYU that they're all doing the right things.
They're building guys the right way, they're allowing us to
grow in the ways that we need to. So I
think it's all very similar. And nothing has been really
like where I'm shocked that we didn't do that before.
Everything has been what we did at BYU, what we
did for injury prevention, injury rehabs. So it's all been
very similar.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's cool to see that BYU over the last
three years, three or four years has implemented some of
the highest level training, sports science, nutrition combination, and I
imagine like you.
Speaker 4: Reaped a lot of those rewards from.
Speaker 3: A body composition standpoint and athleticism standpoint. Like what stood
out to you about that development process over the last
few years.
Speaker 5: Yeah, just the things that you didn't really know and
you're like, is this gonna work? You just trust them
and then ends up working like way more than any
other movement or any other meal plan, any other injury
prevention rehab. And then you just really look back and like, Okay,
I can trust these guys with everything with my body,
and then you go to them for everything. You get
a little nick and you're like, just go to them,
and it feels better within two days. So it's really
just them putting together a program and then the players
trusting and believing in it, and then following everything that
they say. If they say, oh, we need to get
you a little more mobility here, you're gonna do it
because you know they have your best interests in mine.
Speaker 3: Jack Kelly former BYU great talking some Cougar football, Jack,
you know this roster better than anybody.
Speaker 4: I mean, who can fill your shoes? Bro?
Speaker 3: I mean those are big shoes to fill. I call
you the Juggernaut dude. You're like that X Man, Juggernaut dude,
just running around Jack Kelly, the Juggernaut. If you haven't
gotten the intellectual property up and running yet with shirts
and paraphernalia, all this stuff, you need to because you
are the Juggernaut, my friend. But who's gonna fill the
shoes of the juggernaut man?
Speaker 5: I think there's a lot of guys that our linebacker
room is beat. I mean, obviously they got Ka Luave there,
Jake Clifton, who I've heard they've both been playing really
well in springball, Miles Halls, y'a l a a Micah.
I mean there's that was the deepest linebacker room I've
ever seen or like looked at, and every one of
them can play. So I have no worries in mind
that someone's gonna step into that role and excel at
a high level, just based off of the work that
they put in, the extra work. I'm always staying ready,
always getting better, and yeah, it's definitely gonna be easy.
Not I don't I don't know how to say this,
but it's to be someone that's gonna fill it and
they're gonna excel.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I love it. Man. Well, like who's the pass
rusher though?
Speaker 3: I mean, see you you were divers in your skill
set when you could be a second level defense defender
Philly A Gaps obviously be involved in that blitz game
that gets linear. I think you demolished a number of
running backs along your way that tried to, you know,
pass pro on you. And then you could also be
lined up as a stand up outside edge guy in
the and A seven technique. I wouldn't be surprised if
you could have employed a little five tech too, taken
on some pulling guards, et cetera. But you know, being
able to win off the edge in pass rushing situation.
Speaker 4: Who fits that mold the mass? Do you think?
Speaker 5: Oh, that's a good question. I mean Cayle Seely, I
think he's been playing some backer and he's kind of
doing that where he played DM last year, and I
think he's going to be a phenomenal player, so he
could definitely fill into that role. I mean, all those
linebackers they do that I mentioned, they work with coach
Chad every day, so we're all doing the same drills
getting better at that. I think that's a huge test
meant to Coach Chad and his ability to develop the
needs that the team, that the team needs.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no one talks enough about Chad K. We're all
worried that, you know. You know, look, you were a
j Hill guy. You got recruited, you got developed by
Jay Hill. His scheme came over from Weaver to b
Y you, et cetera. I want to talk about Jay here,
but like, I don't know if we talk enough about
Chad K and the the the impact that he's had
at b YU quietly behind the scenes.
Speaker 5: Yeah, No, for sure, he's definitely a behind the scenes
type of guy. All though the pass rush work that
we did every day was second to none. I mean
the film work that he would do. With the film study,
he'd come into our meeting rooms and give us a
breakdown on the O line we're playing, what moves are
going to work. So it's really just that extra step
that we needed, just understanding, just adding that little extra
detail we needed going into game day. Rather than just
studying like the run game in pass game, we'd also
study past sets where they're going to shoot their hands.
So I think Coach Chad is a definitely an underrated
part of the team.
Speaker 4: Yeah, love that that breakdown.
Speaker 3: Look, we lost Jay, we lost Gennaro, lost gav all
big losses. Uh, what makes you optimistic that we can
that we've filled we got we've got those shoes filled
as well, and we can, Uh, we can be as
effective as productive defensively as we were even last year
as K Pop at the Helm. I think Lewis Walker's
your your quarnerbacks coach obviously Tomorrow Warren, et cetera.
Speaker 4: But some big shoes to feel.
Speaker 5: No doubt, Yeah, for sure, And that's just where he trust. Kilane.
He knows what he's doing, He's got the right guys,
he knows he needs to hire. Putting coach h K
Pop there, he's been in this defense, he knows it,
he understands it. He's gonna be just as successful. All
the defensive minds that I was around all season, they're
all super smart, they all know what they're talking about.
And then Kilane he knows what he's doing, he knows
who the guys he needs, what kind of culture he
needs those guys to be. And all the coaches he's
hired ever one said they've loved. So definitely think that
This offseason has been a positive and they did everything
they needed to do to have another successful season.
Speaker 3: A lot of people don't know what Gary Anderson's doing
there is an analyst. How did you describe Gary Anderson
his roll down there in prov over the last year
or so.
Speaker 5: Yeah, he's definitely one of the smartest football minds you
will be around. I mean, he's been doing it for
a while. He knows what he's talking about. He knows
He's just one of those guys that you can go
up to and ask about anything. He's going to be
there for you. He's going to help you with football.
He's going to show up for you if you want
some extra meetings. He's just a football guy that loves
ball and he wants the best out of each and
every one of the athletes that is there.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I feel optimistic. How would you describe Kelly Papinga too.
I mean, he you've worked with him, You've seen what
he's done. We've done with the special teams units in
the linebacker edge room as well. How would you describe
Kate pop and how Why do you think he can
be a great DC at BYU.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think he's going to be great because he's passionate.
He loves the game of football. I mean, even when
he was coaching special teams last year, you could feel
the passion in it. Where a lot of people think
special teams isn't that important, he really emphasized the fact
that special teams can win games. And just seeing the
passion he has for the game, the mind he has.
He's been in doing this for a while as well,
so he's got the knowledge that's needed to be successful.
And he's just there for the guys. Everyone that kind
of like coach Gary Anderson that I talked about, he's
someone you can go up to, you can trust, and
he's going to get the job done.
Speaker 3: Jack Kelly, Ladies and gentlemen, former b y you great
talking some ball here on your Utah ESPN Radio network.
Speaker 4: Who should be what you fans be aware of?
Speaker 3: Maybe like that that is on the come up into
twenty twenty six season. Newcomers, Guys that were, you know,
maybe on the bench last year, Like who should be
YU fans keep an eye out for offensively or defensively
special teams wise this next season.
Speaker 5: Oh, there might be too many to name. There's a
lot of guys from last year that I thought were
ballers that may might not have got the playing time
or the attention they needed, and even newcomers. I've heard
a lot of the newcomers, whether that's transfers or freshmen
that have been balling. So I mean, I can't really
put a finger on a couple because there's too many,
but I think coover fans should be super excited about
what's coming.
Speaker 4: Love that.
Speaker 3: Man, Well, we appreciate you hopping on Jack to give
us an update on everything. I'm sure you've received a
ton of interest post pro Day and post NFL combine.
What is that feedback from the NFL scouts and also
from your agent?
Speaker 4: What feedback have you received during the process.
Speaker 5: Yeah, right now, it's not a whole lot of feedback.
It's more of just like getting on calls, understanding who
you are more as a person, like seeing how well
you know yourself, Like what are your strengths, what are
your weaknesses. So it's kind of just understanding more of
who we are at this point. So it's been a
lot of positive conversations. Just trying to continue to show
my ability to drop into coverage and be a versatile player,
and that's something that I've been able to show through
workouts or film and stuff like that.
Speaker 3: Love it, Jack, Well, can't wait to see you ball
out in the NFL. Do you have an ideal location
at a deal scheme you want to be in going forward?
Speaker 5: No, any opportunity I get, I'm going to be super
bust and happy and I won't take event or won't
take for granted any any city I get to go
play for.
Speaker 3: We'll tell you this much, BYU's linebacker. You look at
all the great linebackers that have gone on to the NFL,
two great careers over the last twenty or so years.
Twenty or so years, it's been awesome to watch and
you're part of that legacy now as one of the
best linebackers and be what you football history, Jack Kelly.
We salute you man, Thanks for coming on. And yeah,
had you heard the nickname the Juggernaut or is that
the first time?
Speaker 5: That was the first time I ever heard that?
Speaker 3: Actually, man, shoot, I'm send you my my my mockup
of you as the Juggernaut once we get off the air. So,
I I mean, come on, like the way you run
and you got the neck role too, I.
Speaker 4: Mean, yeah, it fits, doesn't it.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it does. I'm definitely gonna see that mock up.
Speaker 3: All right, I'll send it over to your brother, Big Cougar.
Order you man, Thanks for joining us, Thanks for hopping on.
Speaker 5: Jack, Yes, sir, thank you so much.
Speaker 4: There you go. That's Jack the Juggernaut Kelly.
Speaker 3: He can run with the best of them, great coverage,
as you know, he's a great pass rusher. He's got
a bright future in the NFL. No IF's hands or
butts about it. Let's take a time out, guys. That
segment was brought to you by Orthropos of Utah Arthroposovutah
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