From players to coaches, the Cougars have reached the pinnacle of the football world in many different ways. More than 400 former players have played professionally to date.
Currently, BYU has 21 players in the NFL (January 2025), including some of the league’s brightest stars including wide receiver Puka Nacua, linebackers Kyle Van Noy and Fred Warner, do-it-all player Taysom Hill and 1,000-yard running backs Tyler Allgeier and Jamaal Williams.
In the coaching world, no coach has had more recent success than BYU alum Andy Reid with the Kansas City Chiefs. Reid is coming off of back-to-back Super Bowl rings, and three in the last five years as the head coach in Kansas City. Reid is the NFL’s active leader with 273 career regular-season wins, 28 postseason wins and is No. 4 in all-time wins in the NFL.
Historically, Steve Young is one of BYU’s most recognizable NFL players, having spent 15 years in the league, including 13 with the 49ers. Young won Super Bowl XXIX and was named the MVP after throwing six touchdown passes to beat San Diego 49-26. He was the NFL MVP in 1992 and 1994 and set an NFL-record 112.8 passer rating in 1994. He was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 2005.
Punter Lee Johnson had the longest NFL career of any Cougar, spending 18 seasons with six teams. Johnson is currently back in the BYU athletic department working in development. Brian Billick, a former BYU tight end and graduate assistant, along with Mike Holmgren, a former quarterbacks coach have both won Super Bowls as NFL head coaches as well. Athletic director Tom Holmoe won four Super Bowls with the 49ers, three as a player and one as a coach.
