Steve Young

“There's certain behaviors that we're going to ask from you, but as far as who you are, you can express that, and you can be, you can feel, and I think that there's a lot of players, non-LDS players on the team, and that's true when I played, that felt like this is awesome being here.”

Steve Young · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-07

Young said BYU asks for certain behaviors but allows players to be their whole selves, which non-LDS players appreciate.

“There's big money involved. Money is, we all know money is dangerous, man. There's fits and starts to it too, trying to figure it out. It is the wild west, and it's not simple,”

Steve Young · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-07

Young acknowledged the dangers of big money in college football and called the NIL landscape the wild west.

“We think it's good for you. We don't think it's bad. We don't think it's restrictive. We think it's actually expansive in ways that maybe be counterintuitive, but it's awesome.”

Steve Young · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-07

Young said BYU's rules are expansive rather than restrictive, even if that seems counterintuitive.

“We'll compete, but we're going to compete in (what) I call it the BYU way.”

Steve Young · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-07

Young said BYU will compete in what he calls the BYU way.

“And that's why I say what Kalani's done is what is, I think, impossible, nearly, I think he is doing it, so it's not impossible. He's doing it in a really complex environment that works away from affinity, works away from spirit of abundance.”

Steve Young · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-07

Young praised coach Kalani Sitake for building affinity in a complex environment that works against it.

“Congress is the only one that can put that back together. I hope that all those competing interests can find a place where the players aren't the ones that lose. Cause I think that was what started the whole problem before is so much money was coming into the system, and the guys playing the game were, were making $50 in stipend.”

Steve Young · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-07

Young said Congress is the only entity that can balance competing interests of paying players and not restricting transfers.

“Hold on, you're supposed to be flailing in this system, and I think we've hit on it. We've looked it in the eye, right?”

Steve Young · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-07

Young said BYU has succeeded in the NIL system when many expected the school to struggle.

“It's hard to build affinity,”

Steve Young · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-07

Young told OutKick that building affinity is difficult in the current college football environment.

“Right now, it's a zero-sum game, right? It's, I'm a mercenary and just pay me. And, and he's built something. He's like, oh, no, we recognize you need to be paid. We recognize that this is part of the system, but can we put that aside, take care of that, and now build something that is unified.”

Steve Young · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-07

Young described college football's current mercenary culture and how Sitake acknowledges player compensation while building unity.

“Why I give Kalani so much credit in, in kind of holding up, like taking the spirit of what was, has always been here. And then applying it to these, and I guess in some ways, that's the magic, is that with an infrastructure of what I call the law of love, where like, we see you. We want all of you, like the whole self, and we want you to feel welcomed and, and here's the rules of the road.”

Steve Young · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-07

Young credited Sitake for maintaining BYU's spirit through what Young calls the law of love.

“It's counterintuitive in a way, but because you lead with the honor code, you lead with the uniqueness of BYU. By definition, the conversation is different than any other, like a lot of the conversations. And so, when you lead with it, but you lead with it with an openness and an invitation, and you can be your whole self. You don't have to conform,”

Steve Young · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-07

Young said the honor code's counterintuitive nature can actually be a recruiting draw when presented with openness.

“How is BYU gonna do this, right? How in the world?”

Steve Young · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-07

Young reflected on his initial reaction when NIL compensation transformed college football in 2021.