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PROVO — BYU assistant head coach Ed Lamb has a passionate father, just like head coach Kalani Sitake and the other coaches on staff.
So when former NFL running back Merrill Hoge, whose son Beau is a running back on the team, took to BYUtv to criticize Lamb and the decision to move his son out of the quarterback room, Lamb understands the passion the father brings to his boys’ personal life.
No hard feelings, right?
“Dads step up for their sons, and I appreciate that,” Lamb said after Thursday’s second scrimmage of fall camp. “I’m a father. But my worry is about Beau, and I feel like he is in a really good spot and he thinks he is in a very good spot.”
Speaking as a guest on BYUtv’s SportsNation, Merrill Hoge criticized the coaching staff for moving Beau Hoge — who played significant minutes as a sophomore in 2017 when healthy — to running back at the start of fall camp. The former Idaho State star and Pittsburgh Steelers running back of seven seasons knows a few things about being a workhorse running backs, and he openly mentioned Lamb — “the linebackers coach,” who is also special teams coordinator and assistant head coach — as being behind the move.
“The thing is weird to do that,” Merrill Hoge said Wednesday. “They’ll claim they are maximizing talent, but I think it’s a waste of talent. I don’t think it’s a smart move.”
But Lamb said the BYU coaching staff was in constant collaboration about Beau Hoge’s move, and his role as special-teams coordinator gives him constant evaluation, re-evaluation and changes of personnel — for every player on the roster, not just Hoge and the quarterbacks.
“The special-teams coordinator works with every player on the roster; there are no players on the roster that doesn’t have a daily job on special teams,” Lamb said Thursday. "I’m generally involved in all of those conversations."
Beau Hoge addressed the situation via a statement on his Twitter account late Wednesday night, acknowledging that he had not spoken with his father about as much of the position change as he could have.
“My dad is the best father in the world and believes in me, but I’m at peace with moving to running back and excited to help our team in any way I can,” he wrote. “I haven’t always shared all of my feelings about this with my dad, and that’s my fault. My concerns and questions about playing another position were always answered by my coaches in meetings that lasted as long as they needed to in order for me to feel at peace about moving positions.”
After offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes announced that senior Tanner Mangum and freshman Zach Wilson were the final two competing for the starting quarterback job, it became apparent that Hoge’s role as a signal caller might be — at best — third string during the 2018 season.Thus, the move to running back would present Beau Hoge with a chance to earn more playing time, even rotating at the position with incumbent starter Squally Canada, redshirt freshman Zach Katoa, fifth-year senior Matt Hadley and others.
And Lamb views Beau Hoge as a strong contributor at running back, where he has earned first-team reps during the first two weeks of fall camp.
“He’s one of the best pure athletes on our team — strength, speed, size. In terms of toughness and power, he’s at the very top of our team,” said Lamb, who added Sitake also signed off on the decision. “It wasn’t my decision, but the whole staff that was available looked at the possibilities.”
Scrimmage highlights
Thursday’s scrimmage was closed to the media, though around 40-50 members of the university’s Cougar Club were invited to watch the full practice.
Among the highlights was freshman kicker Skyler Southam, the recently returned missionary from Wasatch High and former U.S. Army All-American, who booted a 48-yard field goal during practice, according to Twitter.
Lamb is pleasantly surprised with the rate at which Southam has returned to full form.
“I’ve seen guys go through that, and it can be hard for a skill player like kicker to get back those skills,” he said. “It’s one thing to get back in the weight room and to get in shape. But he has gotten his skill back up really well.
“I hoped that it would happen, and it has.”
Other highlights include Jaren Hall’s long pass over the middle to wide receiver Inoke Lotulelei that set up a 1-yard TD plunge by freshman running back Tyler Allgeier. The former Maple Mountain signal caller appears to be positioning himself as the No. 3 quarterback through two weeks of fall camp.
