Will UCLA and Utah transfer Carsen Ryan adequately fill BYU’s huge tight end void

New BYU tight end Carsen Ryan, the transfer from UCLA and the University of Utah, grew up in Orem and attended Timpview and American Fork high schools.

So the 6-foot-4, 252-pound rising senior was already familiar with Provo, the area surrounding BYU’s campus, and all that being a student-athlete at the Big 12 school entails.

Except for one aspect of campus, that is.

“Those death stairs, man,” Ryan said last week. “I guess that hike up 10 flights of stairs to get to class would be my ‘Welcome to BYU’ moment.”

Also known as the “Stairs of Death,” the outdoor climb from lower campus and facilities such as the Student Athlete Building, Smith Fieldhouse and the Richards Building to upper campus requires 192 steps.

“First time I had to go up them, I got so tired I thought I was going to pass out,” he laughed.

Don’t get too concerned, BYU fans. Ryan, who turns 22 in August, is in excellent shape. He already looks the part of an NFL-caliber tight end.

He better be in great shape, because, as BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick told the Deseret News last week, “We have been making a point of getting the ball to Carsen every day in practice.”

Obviously, there is an increased emphasis in spring camp on getting the ball to the tight ends, after that key position in BYU’s offense was neglected, at times, last year. Tight ends Keanu Hill (12), Ryner Swanson (10) and Mata’ava Ta’ase (9) combined for just 31 catches in 2024, for 290 yards.

All three have moved on (Swanson is on a mission and is expected to return in 2027), along with Ray Paulo, Mason Fakahua and Jackson Bowers, which is why getting Ryan out of the transfer portal was so critical for the Cougars. The only other tight end on the current roster with a catch in a college football game is redshirt senior Ethan Erickson, who was injured for most of 2024.

“I always say the ball goes to the best players on the team. That’s just how it is, and it will always be that way. Whoever our best players are, we will find ways to get them the ball,” Roderick said. “Through seven or eight practices … Carsen is one of our best players on offense, and we are finding ways to get him the ball and involve him more, and the better he does, the more we will involve him, and if there are other tight ends that prove they can be amongst our best playmakers, we will get the ball to them, too.

“That’s just how it works, and he is doing a good job. So each time he does something well, we find more ways to use him.”

Starting quarterback Jake Retzlaff has been throwing the ball to Ryan since early January, when winter workouts and conditioning sessions began, and suffice it to say he’s been impressed by the tight end who had 10 catches for 113 yards and a touchdown for the Utes last year, played in 17 games in two seasons at UCLA, and caught 13 passes for 205 yards and three touchdowns for the Bruins in 2023.

“Dude is a stud, man. He’s a heckuva football player. I love throwing him the ball. He does a good job in all aspects. He is a well-rounded tight end. He does it all, and he does it all really well,” Retzlaff said. “It is super fun to see him out there running routes, creating separation, and then using his physicality against DBs and using his speed vs. linebackers.”

Retzlaff said Ryan has “hit the ground running” (except for the death stairs) and made himself one of the favorite targets for all the quarterbacks in camp — Retzlaff, McCae Hillstead and Treyson Bourguet.

“He is a guy who is going to get open even though it seems like he shouldn’t be, and he’s going to make plays. The way he has picked up this offense so fast has been awesome,” Retlzaff said. “It is cool to see a guy like that who is obviously older, has transferred in and has a good feel for the game.

“That is a big part of our offense, having a feel for what is going on around you, while also knowing what you are doing. … He has impressed me a lot. He is going to be a weapon for us, no doubt.”

New BYU defensive tackle Keanu Tanuvasa, who also transferred in from Utah, said being reunited with Ryan is a blessing. The former Utes’ lockers are next to each other and they’ve already commiserated about the death stairs.

“When Carsen left, I was like, ‘Oh, good for him, he found a new home,’” Tanuvasa said. “We are having a lot of fun here. He’s a great player, and a great guy.”

Head coach Kalani Sitake said having Ryan in the fold “is huge” because of the relative inexperience of the tight ends group as a whole.

“There are a lot of young guys at that position who need to prove themselves,” Sitake said. “This is a good chance for them to get on the field and get as much work as they can.”

Ryan’s hope — a breakout season

Ryan, a four-star recruit out of high school, said he entered the transfer portal for a second time this winter after only a year at Utah because the Utes changed offensive coordinators, replacing Andy Ludwig (and interim OC Mike Bajakian) with former BYU quarterback Jason Beck.

“We didn’t have the year we wanted to have at Utah,” he said. “A lot of players left, and I just felt like I needed to be where I would have an opportunity to showcase my talents better. The new coach they brought in, he is a very spread guy, in my opinion, and doesn’t utilize the tight end as much as I want to be utilized.”

Ryan said after he went into the portal, he was contacted by Roderick almost immediately, and was interested in BYU because it is close to home and also because it was apparent the cupboard was bare at tight end at a school that has been known for getting the most out of tight ends in the past, with legends most recently such as Isaac Rex, Dennis Pitta and Jonny Harline.

“Hearing from A Rod about how they wanted to utilize me in this offense, and use me a lot, that’s why I decided to come here,” Ryan said. “That was a big part of the decision. When I was in the portal, I wanted to go somewhere where I knew I was going to play, because it is my last year and I need to play a lot. I need a spot where I can get a lot of reps, play 50 snaps a game, be able to get in and showcase all my talents and do what I can to be the best player I can be.”

Ryan said after a couple of weeks of spring practices that he fits into Roderick’s schemes “really well” and that he’s been able to pick it up quickly with the help of tight ends coach Kevin Gilbride.

The two-time transfer’s expectations for the team and himself are high, to put it mildly.

“We want it all this year. We want to go in there and win the Big 12 and dominate every game and win a national championship. … I feel like we are going to be a great team. I think we got a really high ceiling,” he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we are in those playoffs fighting for a national championship.”

As for himself, Ryan is putting no limits on his personal goals, which include getting his degree in economics at this time next year.

“My goal this year is to get a lot of catches and be all-Big 12, at least,” he said. “I want to be a force in the run game as well, be a great run blocker, just be physical and just get out there and ball out as much as I can. This is probably my last year so I gotta show out.”

Because he was injured midway through his freshman year at UCLA — where he was teammates with second-year BYU linebacker Choe Bryant-Strother — Ryan could ask the NCAA for a medical waiver to get that year back, but prospects don’t look good and he’s of the mindset that he will probably be ready to give the NFL a try at that point, anyway.

Gilbride gets his guy

Roderick and Sitake weren’t the only BYU coaches who were pleased to see Ryan enter the transfer portal. Tight ends coach Gilbride said he watched a lot of “crossover film” of Utah’s offense facing defenses on BYU’s schedule and Ryan “popped off the film, even with the limited reps that he got over there” at Utah.

“We saw what he could bring to the table,” Gilbride said. “Once he was in the portal, we jumped all over it.”

Gilbride said Ryan has worked hard to learn the playbook and has enough experience that he already knows the basics and can focus more on details.

“He has really surpassed my expectations with the way he runs routes, and his speed,” Gilbride said. “And he is a very good blocker. I knew we were going to get a guy who had good hands, who could block his butt off, was tough, smart, and could run good routes. But his speed and the way he accelerates out of his breaks is what — not taking me by surprise — but what I am excited about.”

Gilbride said it is true that BYU wants to use its tight ends more, but not at the expense of taking catches away from its outstanding group of receivers.

“There are a lot of very, very good football players in that receivers group, too,” he said.