alt=Jay DrewBYU’s newest hotshot tight end is seemingly straight out of central casting, which is somehow fitting, considering he grew up not far from Hollywood.
Meet 17-year-old Ryner Swanson, the 6-foot-4, 245-pound, self-described “surfer dude” from Laguna Beach, California, who has almost everyone associated with the BYU football team buzzing as the Cougars wrap up 2024 spring football practices this week.
“I have the goal to play, just like every freshman, and make an impact before my mission. I believe I am on a good track. Obviously I am not saying I am going to start. I got a lot of work to do. I am not perfect at all.”
— BYU tight end Ryner Swanson
He’s got the muscular build, the wavy blond hair, the aw-shucks attitude, the self-deprecating style — “I’m not really that cool,” he says, “I am no Chase Roberts. Now, that guy is cool.” — and the optimism of youth that will surely gain him boatloads of fans in Provo this fall.
And he can also run like a gazelle, block relatively well for a freshman who should still be in high school, and catch the football on the reg, while in stride, so much so that coaches are already saying he should be able to make an immediate impact in September.
“Ryner’s got a chance to be special,” said BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick.
Head coach Kalani Sitake, new tight ends coach Kevin Gilbride and even linebackers coach Justin Ena have also noticed, all predicting big things for the prototypical Southern Californian who doesn’t turn 18 until June.
“You’ve already heard us talk a lot about the freshman, Ryner,” Sitake said last week when asked what new guys have made their presence felt in spring camp.
Swanson served notice the first day of spring practices that he was different, hauling in a pass from Jake Retzlaff on the dead run and not breaking stride until he reached the end zone. It was an eye-popping moment rarely seen that early in camp.
“Who is No. 80?” asked more than one onlooker that day. Everybody knows now.
“He has a high ceiling,” said Gilbride, who spent 12 years coaching in the NFL.
It’s not that Swanson has been a surprise. He was widely considered the gem of BYU’s 2024 signing class, a four-star recruit who could have gone to almost any school in the country, but chose BYU because he grew up a Cougars fan, loved former BYU tight ends coach Steve Clark — his primary recruiter — and wanted a school that would be OK with him playing a year and then serving a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
That’s right — whatever happens this season, whether he makes Cougar fans forget about outgoing star TE Isaac Rex with dozens of catches and a handful of touchdowns, or barely sees the field, Swanson says he will leave on his mission next January. He said he will turn in his papers for a mission call before the season starts and tell church officials he will be available in early January “when the national championship game is over.”
As for not being able to play under the tutelage of Clark, who is now at Utah Tech, Swanson said he was “super bummed” and “shocked” when the eight-year BYU assistant was “let go” after the offense struggled in 2023 and the Cougars went 5-7 and failed to make a bowl game.
“I am totally stoked with the new (hire). Either way would have been great for me. I love coach Clark, I love coach Gilbride,” Swanson said. “Coach Gilbride definitely knows what he is doing and I have no doubt he is going to make me the best tight end that I can possibly be. He is very knowledgeable when it comes to football.”
So does Swanson believe he will make as big of an impact as a freshman Matt Bushman did in 2017 after his church mission, or a freshman Dallin Holker did in 2018, before his church mission? Not exactly.
“I have the goal to play, just like every freshman, and make an impact before my mission,” he said. “I believe I am on a good track. Obviously I am not saying I am going to start. I got a lot of work to do. I am not perfect at all.”
Swanson said converted receiver Keanu Hill “is already a fantastic tight end,” and Ray Paulo, Jackson Bowers and Mata’ava Ta’ase have made big plays in March as well. Ethan Erickson, Rex’s primary backup in 2023, is recovering from offseason surgery.
“I believe I got speed. I am good on my feet. If I just keep listening to coach Gilbride and watching these great tight ends, I can get way better and hopefully make an impact this fall,” he said. “I can hang with these dudes. They are teaching me a lot.”
While Swanson talks about the other tight ends, a receiver and fellow native of SoCal with a similar big personality, Kody Epps, walks by and calls him “Shredder,” another reference to Swanson’s surfing background.
“I would say I take on a surfer vibe, with the way I talk. I try to talk a little mellow. Kody calls me Shredder because we always talk about surfing,” Swanson said. “He is just like, ‘Dude, you just shred the waves, you shred life, you shred everything. You are just a Shredski.’”
One who is already starting to make a name for himself — five months before the first kickoff.
