'I'm gonna be a starter': How BYU's Crew Wakley went from walk-on to starring role

PROVO — Long before Crew Wakley rose to the top of a crowded depth chart in BYU's safety room, the Utah State transfer took a chance on himself as a preferred walk-on.

Not long after he got to campus, he met another player in the program in the middle of one of his own moves in John Nelson, who was switching from defensive end to defensive tackle.

The two shared a class together in January 2023, but Nelson admits he didn't know Wakley that well. Still, knowing that Wakley had moved around positions in his career since his days as a 5A all-state first-team quarterback at Jordan High, he confided in Wakley.

Nelson said he was worried about making the move, that he didn't know if his 6-foot-4, 290-pound frame would fit in on the interior of the defensive line. He didn't know if coaches and teammates would like him there, either.

Something about Wakley's brash response stuck with Nelson, he admitted over a year later.

"He basically told me he didn't give ... that he didn't care if no one liked him," Nelson recalled. "He was going to be the best safety this team could have."

"I'm gonna be a starter," Nelson recalled the walk-on saying.

Fast forward to Saturday night's 38-9 win over then-No. 14 Kansas State, Wakley's words proved prophetic as he totaled a season-high seven tackles in his second consecutive start at strong safety for the Cougars, now ranked No. 22 by the Associated Press after a 4-0 start.

From a crowded group that includes Micah Harper, Raider Damuni, Talan Alfrey and Ethan Slade, the 6-foot, 203-pound sophomore from Sandy who is a history major and hosts the "Laced Up" podcast among his myriad other non-football hobbies has become a light in the Cougars' defense that ranks No. 23 nationally, including No. 3 in pass efficiency defense.

The Cougars have held each of its first four opponents to 15 points or less to start the season, which hasn't happened to the program since 1984.

Wakley has been one of a number of defensive standouts on a team that includes Tyler Batty and Harrison Taggart, who both pulled an interception off Kansas State quarterback Avery Johnson last week.

But look a little deeper, and you'll see Wakley, who ranks fourth on the team in tackles with 15 and could've had even more in Saturday night's win over the Wildcats.

"If he doesn't intercept it, the crazy thing is Crew Wakley is going to intercept it right behind him," said BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill of Taggart's interception against the Wildcats on a play called "Nemo" on Monday's "Coordinators Corner" studio show on BYUtv.

Wakley has always had that confidence about him, as Nelson noted, but don't mistake it for arrogance.

The former Region 7 MVP at quarterback who threw for 2,998 yards and 22 touchdowns and ran for 1,407 yards and another 22 scores as a senior never played safety before his four-game redshirt freshman season in Logan three years ago.

But he always had it in his mind to be the best he could be — whether that was at quarterback, safety or starting a business.

"I've known since I made the decision to come here that I was going to be a starter one day," Wakley said. "With that comes a lot of patience and all the ups and downs. You've got to be willing to grind some stuff out for sure, but I had that belief in myself before I even showed up, so it was my plan all along.

"I didn't come here to be a backup," he added. "I came here to help the team win in whatever way that is, but I knew what I was capable of."

That same mentality was approached by BYU's defense under second-year defensive coordinator Jay Hill. While the rise of the Cougars' top-25 defense has seemingly come overnight by outside viewers, the reality is it started long ago — as far back as the day Hill was hired after nine seasons as head coach of Weber State.

"It's the foundation he was building this whole time," Wakley said of Hill. "It's all built on top of itself, to where last year we showed some signs of improvement and had some really good games like the first half against Texas, who played for a national championship. We had a lot of games where we played really well last year.

Wakley said the focus of the offseason was: "How can we complete this to where we're not playing good for a half or three quarters of the game, but to where we're playing good for four quarters of the game?"

"It's been something that kind of looks like an overnight success or that it came out of nowhere, but we've been working on this all offseason," he added. "It's been the focus since we all showed up, since Jay Hill got here, and since he's been preaching to us. It's been on our mind the whole time, and it's not a surprise to anybody in the building, offense or defense, just because it's been a mentality and a focus of ours."

The next step, then, is continuing to build the foundation while adding in an extra layer or obstacle: the emotions that come from outside sources offering praise and validation as the 22nd-ranked Cougars head to Waco, Texas, to face Baylor (2-2, 0-1 Big 12).

"After last week, we're still underdogs in this game," noted Isaiah Bagnah of the Cougars, who are 3.5-point underdogs to the Bears by FanDuel. "We're always going to have that chip on our shoulder. We knew what our plan was at the start of the season — and it's only Week 4. It's an emphasis on being hungry and humble until the very end.

"It's cool to have a good win and climb in the rankings. But at the end of the day, we know our purpose, we know what we want, and we're not going to stop until we get it."

Related topics