Prayer, a favorable coin flip and Jay Hill brought safety Faletau Satuala to BYU, but now he’s a Cougar for life

BYU safety Faletau Satuala (11) celebrates after a play against the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the Big 12 championship game held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News

From the moment that three-year defensive coordinator Jay Hill decided to leave BYU and take the same position on Kyle Whittingham’s staff at Michigan, fears that one of the Cougars’ best defenders from the 2025 group that was one of the best in the Big 12 would follow Hill to Ann Arbor raged throughout Cougar Nation.

But safety Faletau Satuala, who emerged as one of BYU’s best players — on either side of the football — during his sophomore season says he never really thought long and hard about making the move. He also stressed, humbly, that because he never entered the transfer portal, he never heard from Hill or anyone else at Michigan and doesn’t know if the Big Ten’s Wolverines even wanted him.

“I just kind of got with my parents and talked to them about it, and tried to weigh out the pros and cons (of going into the portal),” Satuala told the Deseret News on April 3 after spring practices concluded in Provo. “… Knowing how good of a dude coach Hill is, there was a lure (to follow him). But yeah, I didn’t really get to talk to him at all once he left.”

On Jan. 2, the day the football transfer portal window opened, Satuala announced on X that he would “run it back” and return to BYU this season. And all of Provo breathed a huge sigh of relief, after the former three-star recruit in 2023 who had chosen BYU over Utah due to Hill’s recruiting and a coin flip — more on that later — said he was staying.

The 6-foot-4, 215-pounder was not a full-time starter in 2025 until the seventh game of the season — the 24-21 win over Utah — but still led BYU in tackles with 83 and recorded three interceptions. He also forced two fumbles, had one sack, and made a pick-six in the 41-27 win over Iowa State that went a long way in earning him second-team All-America honors from the Football Writers Association of America.

Satuala said Hill “was actually really good about it” and told BYU’s defenders before he left that he loved them, but was going to follow the rules and not tamper with any of them.

“He just wanted us to know that he was always going to be there for us, and left it at that,” Satuala said. “He’s still probably one of the greatest mentors I will ever have in my life.”

The only BYU player who followed Hill to Michigan was backup linebacker Max Alford, whose uncle, Tony Alford, is Michigan’s running backs coach.

So what kept Satuala — teammates and coaches call him “Fally” — out of the portal, where he probably could have commanded more revenue sharing money?

“The culture here, and coach Kalani (Sitake),” he said. “Then, obviously, all the defensive players coming back and having all my teammates still here was a really big thing. Coming back with all of them and knowing they were going to be here and we have a chance to be really good was a really big thing for me.”

Not that Satuala isn’t being well compensated via revenue sharing and NIL earnings at BYU. He recently purchased a Tesla, which he uses to zoom up and down Interstate 15 to visit his parents and family back in Bountiful.

“This year I definitely had a way bigger NIL check than I did the last couple of years,” he said. “As this year goes on, I will start to get a lot more of that money and understand how good it is. It is definitely a blessing to be able to be here in this time of college. Some dudes missed out by just one or two years, so I am just super grateful that the timing worked out exactly how it did.”

What about next year? Will Satuala be that rare star college athlete in this day and age of rampant transferring who stays at one school all four years?

The kid who told his father, Ului, that one day he would play in the NFL said he will try to have a good enough season to increase all of his options. Coincidentally, one of Satuala’s uncles, Jeff Holtry, played football at Michigan and BYU but sustained a career-ending knee injury in 2000 against Florida State and never got the chance to play in the NFL.

“Once you have a chance to reach your dreams, it is hard to say no to that,” Satuala said, while acknowledging that some guys can now make more money in college than they can in professional sports. “It is a decision I will make when it comes. The big thing now is to focus on this season and be the best I can be, so I have a chance of going to the NFL, if that ends up happening.”

Flip out: How Satuala picked BYU over Utah

When he picked BYU over Utah and UCLA in December 2023 and signed with the Cougars in February 2024, Satuala said Hill was a big reason why. Recently, however, he said there was more to the story of how he arrived at BYU.

He told Center Street Media’s Hinckley Ropati, the former BYU running back, that after a Bountiful High basketball game that year, his parents told him it was time to make a decision — BYU or Utah — after he had narrowed his choices to those two in-state schools.

Satuala said he went downstairs to his bedroom to pray about it, and was prompted to follow the admonition of his mother, Corin.

“It landed on BYU. I came upstairs and told my parents, BYU it is,” he said. “I felt at peace with it then.”

On April 3, he confirmed the coin flip story to several reporters in the press box at LaVell Edwards Stadium before the annual alumni game.

Bountiful’s Faletau Satuala (11) celebrates his touchdown with London Wood against Skyline in Millcreek on Friday, Sept. 2, 2022. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

“It is 100% true, actually,” he said. “I don’t know if that is a good way to put my future, but I had no other option. … My mom jokingly told me to flip a coin on it. I was like, shoot, I don’t really got anything else to decide on. So it was true, yeah.”

When he was asked if it was the right decision, Satuala nodded his head.

“I mean, we are 2-0 against (Utah), so I am pretty happy with it, yeah.”

Still, the family remains split between blue and red. His older sister, Emrie Satuala Moea’i, played volleyball for Utah, while his younger sister, Milika, who was recently named Deseret News 2026 Ms. Basketball after leading Bountiful to another state championship, has signed to play basketball for the Utes.

BYU recently offered his younger brother, Lakepa, who will be a senior safety and receiver for the Redhawks this fall, a scholarship for the class of 2027. Lakepa was on campus in Provo two weeks ago.

“He loves it down here and he’s starting to get big and fast,” Satuala said. “I think he’s going to be really good.”

Satuala and the safeties should excel in 2026

After Hill departed, Kelly Poppinga was promoted to defensive coordinator and Demario Warren and Lewis Walker were brought in to coach the safeties (Warren) and cornerbacks (Walker). Satuala said he was originally “kind of nervous” about who Poppinga would hire to coach the safeties, but after working with Warren in the spring, he’s confident that the right choice was made.

“Coach (Warren) reached out to me first and I think I was a little skeptical at first, because I love coach Hill, and he was a great coach for BYU,” Satuala said. “But over the course of spring ball, coach D-Mo was there and showed a lot of love, and he’s also really smart. He’s going to help us a lot.”

Satuala said the new coaches have brought some added elements to the secondary, such as the playing of “Cover 4” in the red zone.

Satuala will be the starting strong safety, while senior Raider Damuni will be the starting free safety. Sophomores Tommy Prassas and Jarinn Kalama are in the mix to be the primary backups. Other safeties in the room include sophomores Payton VanSteenkiste and Joseph Douglas, redshirt freshman Crew Clark and true freshman Kennan Pula, a four-star athlete from Lone Peak High.

“There are a lot of high expectations,” Satuala said. “But you can’t let up and just get content with being a starter. We have some really good dudes, especially young guys coming in who are competing and pushing us for spot. I think that will push our whole room to be really good.”

Poppinga said he will rely on the veteran safeties to bring the entire secondary up to speed as the Cougars go about replacing starters Tanner Wall and Mory Bamba in the defensive backfield.

“We have a ton of returning starters on this defense,” Poppinga said. “We are not dealing with a bunch of freshmen coming in. We’re good there. I feel really good with three safeties right now, with Tommy Prassas and Faletau and Raider. I am excited about where we are at right now.”

Especially that Satuala is in Provo, and not Ann Arbor.

Brigham Young Cougars safety Faletau Satuala (11) steps in front of Stanford Cardinal tight end Sam Roush (86) for an interception as BYU and Stanford play in Provo on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. BYU won 27-3. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News