‘No place I’d rather be’: Why backup QB Treyson Bourguet turned down other offers to stay at BYU

BYU quarterback Treyson Bourguet delivers a pass during practice March 23, 2026, at the outdoor practice facility in Provo, Utah. | Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo

Why are you still here?

It is a question that BYU’s Treyson Bourguet, a backup quarterback from Tucson, Arizona, by way of Western Michigan, has been asked for several years now.

The 6-foot-2, 205-pounder emerged from BYU’s recently completed spring football practices as Bear Bachmeier’s likely replacement if, heaven forbid, the wonder kid who set the Big 12 on fire as a freshman last fall gets injured or otherwise leaves the field in 2026.

“We feel good about (Bourguet and fellow backup Enoch Watson, a freshman),” offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick said. “We feel like we can win football games with either one of those guys.”

After it became apparent that Bachmeier was going to return for his sophomore season, his backup in 2025, McCae Hillstead, entered the transfer portal in early January and eventually landed at Utah State — the school at which he began his college career.

“I’ve seen it all and, to me, there’s no place I would rather be than here in Provo, Utah, with the BYU Cougars, and going to school at BYU. I am just blessed beyond words. I can’t say enough how thankful I am to be here at BYU with coach (Aaron) Roderick and coach Kalani (Sitake) and everybody on the staff. This is home.”

BYU backup QB Treyson Bourguet

But Bourguet stayed, much to the relief of Roderick and his staff. Last August, Bachmeier had beat out Hillstead and Bourguet for the starting job, after 2024 starter Jake Retzlaff left for Tulane in July. Bachmeier didn’t arrive at BYU until June, but still beat out the two veterans for the QB1 designation.

A few weeks ago, Bourguet told the Deseret News that the decision to return was difficult but that it came down to a loyalty that he felt for the program, his teammates and coaches, and the desire to get his degree this month.

He will graduate from the Marriott School of Business next week.

“I could have gone somewhere else and competed for the QB1 job or even been told, ‘Hey, you are going to come here and you are going to be QB1,’” Bourguet said. “That’s hard to say no to, especially when you add NIL, and how much money people are throwing at you just to come in and be their guy. But at the end of the day, I ultimately decided to come back to BYU.”

A pair of quarterbacks who prepped at Bountiful High — Snow College transfer Max Barker and returned missionary Owen Geilman — have been added to the BYU quarterbacks room since Hillstead departed, and Bourguet has already gone out of his way to praise them, along with Watson.

Teammates say that’s what kind of guy he is — a team-first, selfless leader willing to sacrifice personal accolades for the good of the group.

“Treyson is a big culture guy,” Bachmeier said.

’No place I would rather be than Provo’

Bourguet said since he graduated from Arizona’s Saltpoint Catholic High in 2022 and played in 10 games at Western Michigan in 2022 and 2023 that he has “been around the block” and realized what is really important in a college football program. He completed 111 of 212 passes for 1,314 yards and six touchdowns during his time in Kalamazoo.

“I have been at every seat at the table,” he said. “I’ve been the starting quarterback. I’ve been the backup quarterback. I’ve been the third-string quarterback. I’ve been the freshman just trying to compete for reps in fall camp.

“I’ve seen it all and, to me, there’s no place I would rather be than here in Provo, Utah, with the BYU Cougars, and going to school at BYU,” he continued. “I am just blessed beyond words. I can’t say enough how thankful I am to be here at BYU with coach Roderick and coach Kalani (Sitake) and everybody on the staff. This is home.”

Bourguet describes himself as a “spiritual person” from a “very loyal and faithful family” who believes in God although he is not a member of the faith that supports BYU, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“I have amazing parents (Toby and Vanessa) and siblings who serve the Lord and do what we preach,” he said. “I’ve got a great foundation, and things may change in my life, where I am living or what I am doing, or my health, but I know my foundation is rock solid, and no matter what happens to me, I am going to get knocked down, but my foundation is going to help me get back up.”

Can the ‘big culture guy’ play Power Four football?

Bourguet has appeared in only one game for the Cougars — the 2025 season opener against Portland State in which he ran once for 21 yards and did not attempt a pass — and, quite frankly, has not looked particularly sharp or accurate in the media viewing portions of practices.

He does throw a really nice deep ball, and teammates say he is one of the best athletes on the team.

But coaches insist he can play, direct the offense, and deliver the ball accurately and on time.

“Treyson’s a veteran player. He knows our offense very well. Has a lot of respect from his teammates. He’s playing good football,” Roderick said after the third week of camp. “We have lots of confidence in him.”

Roderick said that coaches are letting the QB2 competition “play out until we get to the season,” but acknowledged that Bourguet “has the advantage” of knowing the offense better than Watson does.

“Treyson is an underrated athlete,” Roderick said. “When he goes in, we don’t skip a beat. We can operate at a high level with Treyson right now.”

If nothing else, Bourguet had a hand in getting one of BYU’s top offseason acquisitions to Provo in January. He and new receiver Kyler Kasper, the Oregon transfer, were teammates on an Arizona-based seven-on-seven team that “never lost a game” when they were in high school.

“Once I hit the portal, Treyson was the first person I talked to from BYU, and then he got me in touch with everybody else,” Kasper said. “I’ve always had tremendous respect for Treyson as a person, and a football player.”

Watson, a returned missionary from Queen Creek, Arizona, who participated in practices last December before the bowl game, said both Bourguet and Bachmeier have helped him get up to speed in terms of learning the playbook and the culture of the program.

“Treyson is such a phenomenal quarterback, but he’s also a phenomenal person,” Watson said. “He’s such a good culture man. He definitely brings the team together.”

BYU quarterback Treyson Bourguet delivers a pass during practice March 27, 2026, at the outdoor practice facility in Provo, Utah. | Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo