Throughout his life, BYU football chaplain Shawn Tanuvasa has enjoyed feeling special to God — even when that feeling has come in unexpected ways.
“2025 was the year of the Cougar for our family,” he said.
After playing football at Snow College and then at the University of Utah, he called it a transition that brought him to his knees when his son Keanu transferred to BYU. But he has adapted.
“BYU is very unique and, to me, very special,” Tanuvasa said.
His perspective of BYU changed after seeing both the way coach Kalani Sitake runs his program and how God uses BYU to accomplish His work. He has been trying to help ever since.
“I didn’t know that you could blend football with faith … because I had kept those two worlds separate in my life," he said.
He was amazed to hear the story about BYU football players Isaiah Kaufusi and Kyle Griffitts giving two Western Kentucky offensive linemen a Book of Mormon after having on-field gospel conversations during their 2020 game.
“As violent as it is, you don’t have to play this game in a very aggressive and angry way," Tanuvasa said. "You can play it with love.”
Before the start of the 2025 football season, Sitake brought up the idea of a team chaplain a few times to Tanuvasa without mentioning that he thought it should be him. It wasn’t until after the opening game against Portland State that Tanuvasa finally learned it would be him — information he obtained at the same time as everyone else.
Tanuvasa was at the game on a recruiting trip with one of his sons when Sitake invited them both into the locker room.
“He called me up to the front and said, ‘I want to introduce you to Keanu’s dad — he’s our chaplain.’ And I was like, ‘What?’ And that’s how I found out.”
Tanuvasa began researching chaplains to try to understand what his role should be.
Before each game, Shawn teaches nonmandatory 15- to 20-minute lessons about Jesus Christ they call “Faith Sessions.” Players began coming to him because they wanted to feel closer to God. He started reading the Bible with them and realized many of their challenges came because they didn’t understand what they were reading.
“It’s been a wonderful experience to allow them to share their current spiritual status with their Father in Heaven and their desire to get closer,” Tanuvasa said.
Tanuvasa said he mostly has these discussions with players who aren’t members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. During practices and games, Shawn has brief moments — especially when players make a mistake on the field or something goes wrong — where he tries to encourage them and “keep the faith up.”
In addition to being the team chaplain, Tanuvasa has also taken part in a podcast called “Faith Huddle,” sponsored by Center Street Media. At first, he was hesitant about the idea because he usually doesn’t enjoy the spotlight. But he came across Luke 18:8 in the Bible, which asks, “When the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?”
“That has always been a driving verse for me in my desire to help people grow in their faith,” he said.
Tanuvasa grew up with a mother who converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a father who wasn’t very active. He wasn’t baptized until he was 18 and did it mostly to please his mom, who asked him to be baptized before leaving for Snow College.
“I felt like I needed to be a part of something and be more faithful to God, but it wasn’t a priority," he said.
As an 18-year-old at Snow College, he met his then-22-year-old wife, Lisa, who was a returned missionary.
“She pointed me in the right direction,” he said.
She encouraged him to go on a mission, where he gained a testimony of the Book of Mormon.
“In my first year at Snow College, I had a 0.97 GPA. … The first book I ever read was ‘Go, Dog. Go!’ and the second book I ever read cover to cover was ‘The Book of Mormon.’”
While dating his wife, she asked him a question that “changed everything.” She asked, “Who do you love more — me or Jesus Christ?”
When he answered confidently that he loved her more, she said, “I don’t think you will ever know how to love me unless you learn to love Him first.”
That motivated him to learn all he could about who Jesus Christ was. Now his focus is “doing things that God prefers, not what He permits.”
Tanuvasa married his wife in the Los Angeles Temple, and they had five children. While living in California, someone introduced Shawn to the Church Educational System, where he started working for the Seminaries and Institutes program for 20 years.
“I got hired by the church so that the Lord could keep me on the covenant path,” he said.
Tanuvasa has had many opportunities to help others come closer to Jesus Christ since.
“I haven’t been perfect, but I’ve just enjoyed feeling special to Heavenly Father and the Savior, so I’ve tried my best to help people feel the same way,” he said.
Tanuvasa's role as team chaplain has increased his own faith.
“Being a chaplain has opened my eyes to the fact that Heavenly Father is in every detail of people’s lives, and if we just pay attention, we can see that," he said.
Tanuvasa said he feels the two root causes of players’ spiritual struggles are: first, trying to understand their eternal identity; and second, understanding their spiritual purpose in life.
“They know they want to be football players … but they don’t always know who they are and their purpose as far as spirituality is concerned,” Tanuvasa said.
What would he most want players and fans to know?
“That every person is on a journey with Jesus Christ … and if they can learn to see Him and learn to love like Him, they’ll see that their faith in Him will grow.”