There is something special about the month of August.
The college football season is just around the corner. Position battles are raging as players work hard to perfect their craft under a blazing summer sun.
For Cade Uluave, BYU’s latest addition to its linebacker room, August and fall camp are even more special.
“This is when all the magic happens,” he said. “This is really the meat and potatoes of football. This is the grind.”
Uluave spent his previous three seasons at the University of California and was a force to be reckoned with. Over his 34 games and 26 starts for the Golden Bears, Uluave recorded 237 career tackles, 21.5 tackles for loss, six sacks, three interceptions, two forced fumbles.
The South Jordan, Utah, native has a trophy case of accolades. In 2023, he was named the Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year and made The Athletic’s list as a First-Team Freshman All-American selection. In year two of his college career, Uluave was named an All-ACC Honorable Mention.
Last season, Uluave imposed his will in each contest, finishing with 97 total tackles, 42 solo tackles and three sacks. His performance earned him a spot on the First-Team All-ACC list.
Initially passed up by BYU in high school, Uluave returned to his home state to play for the Cougars this offseason. Even though his time at BYU has been short, Uluave can already tell what makes Provo special.
“It’s been quite a bit different and I love it,” he said. “I think everything’s just more detailed and detail-oriented and I think there’s a lot more fun.”
BYU’s culture has always been noted as unique, especially with fun-loving coach Kalani Sitake at the helm. But the mantra "work hard play hard" is at the core of fall camp.
“You see a lot of smiles on people’s faces out here just enjoying it. But football is football, we still have meetings and practice,” said Uluave. “But it’s just a different vibe here … The standard is different out here and it’s fun. I just love it.”
Uluave was a highly recruited target in the transfer portal. 247Sports ranked Uluave as the No. 1 linebacker in this year’s transfer portal class. After BYU’s go-to guy on defense Jack Kelly went off to the NFL, Uluave has been touted as BYU’s next man up.
At the end of last season, BYU’s defense, under then-defensive coordinator Jay Hill, finished No. 14 in the nation in overall efficiency and No. 19 in scoring defense, holding opponents to an average of 19.1 points per game.
Even with new defensive coordinator Kelly Poppinga taking up the mantle, the status quo hasn’t changed. But Uluave and his team are learning a revamped defensive scheme one step at a time.
“Each day there’s some sort of emphasis we work on. Whether it’s being aggressive, playing downhill or playing our gap," Uluave said. "I think that’s what fall camp is for, working out the kinks. So by the time we are in game week, we’re looking crisp, clean and everyone knows their job."
With just over three weeks until opening kickoff, Uluave is not only excited to start playing football on the national stage, but also ready to experience what LaVell Edwards Stadium and its fans have to offer.
“Being from out here, I’ve been to a few BYU games and being a fan it’s super sick,” he said. “But now as a player, I can’t even imagine, it’s probably 10 times that. I’m looking forward to that.”