How a double-dose of the Daley brothers might be the ticket to improving BYU’s pass rush
Michael and John Henry Daley may be poster boys for how a returned Latter-day Saint missionary should look, sound and act, but when it comes to football, the brotherly pair of defensive ends live on the edge.
“That’s what I do. I get to the quarterback,” said John Henry Daley. “I get sacks and I plan on doing that here at BYU.”
Older brother Michael Daley concurs.
“That’s what we do best,” he said. “We get after the passer, but we are also physical against the run. I think we can do a lot here.”
So does defensive ends coach Kelly Poppinga.
“They are the exact type of guys we are looking for in this scheme,” Poppinga said. “They remind me of their uncle (David Nixon). That’s who they remind me of.”
Nixon is one of four former Cougars with a beat on the Daley boys. The other three — Neal, their father, and uncles Taysom Hill and Craig Bills.
Michael Daley
The 6-foot-2, 235-pound sophomore was a one-man wrecking crew at Lone Peak High. During his senior season in 2018, Daley registered 24 ½ sacks and blocked four punts while leading the Knights to the state championship.
Recognized as the Deseret News 6A MVP, Daley signed with BYU before serving a church mission to Uruguay and Vancouver, Washington. Since his return, injuries to his foot and groin have kept him off the field — until now.
“I feel great. It took a while to get back,” Daley said. “It’s great having coach (Jay) Hill and Poppinga here. Their defense is a lot like what I ran in high school.”
Daley married Abbie Lafrandt in 2021 and turned his focus to getting healthy.
“This offseason he’s gotten himself in great shape,” Poppinga said. “He looks good. Both guys are very explosive.”
John Henry Daley
The six-foot-five, 230-pound freshman returned from his mission to Brazil in early July. With his mother Julie’s cooking, Daley has put on 18 pounds and with Poppinga’s coaching, he’s turning heads in practice.
“John Henry is doing better than I expected as far as his endurance, strength and power,” Poppinga said. “He has great explosion coming of his mission. I’m very encouraged.”
Daley had a staggering 38 tackles for loss, including 22 sacks during his senior season at Lone Peak before signing with BYU in December 2020. Whether he follows coach Kalani Sitake’s preferred post-mission protocol of redshirting remains to be seen.
“We’ll see how it goes,” Poppinga said. “At this point, he’s on pace to have a role. We’ll see how that continues to go and if he can stay healthy.”
So far, so good.
“My body has been transitioning great since my mission,” Daley said. “I’m running at full speed. I’ve really been blessed.”
The reunion
Michael and John Henry lined up together in Lone Peak’s state championship game in 2018.
“Luckily the coach gave me some reps, so I was able to play on the other side of him,” said John Henry, a sophomore at the time. “It was probably the best thing in the world to line up with your brother and win a state championship.”
Cool for sure, but the brothers had bigger plans.
“We always talked about it growing up,” John Henry said. “We wanted to go to BYU and play together.”
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When the recruiting process threatened to keep that from happening, the brotherly ties won out.
“We are just glad they are playing at the same school,” said Neal Daley. “John Henry was also being courted heavily by Stanford and Utah. The deciding factor was his brother. He wanted to play with his brother.”
Today, two years later, they are back on the field and remain as close as their numbers. John Henry is No. 45 and Michael is No. 46.
“I missed him for two years. When you have a relationship like we have, two years is a long time,” Michael said. “It’s a lot of sacrifice, but when you put the Lord first you know that your family gets blessed. It means the world to have him back and even better to have him back in pads.”
Those sandbox conversations about playing at BYU as young boys growing up in California are much different now. For one, both are too big for the sandbox, and secondly, Michael speaks fluent Spanish and John Henry has command of Portuguese.
“When I coached them in California, I always had John Henry play up with Michael and the older kids,” Neal Daley said. “There is a different energy level when they are on the field together.”
Neal Daley
Neal and Julie Daley are byproducts of large athletic families. Neal showed up as part of an 11-boy run before his mom delivered two sisters. Julie is one of 10 Nixon children. All 23 kids excelled in a variety of sports.
“Neal was a tremendous athlete in high school,” said David Nixon, Julie’s brother and BYUtv football analyst. “He would have played for years in the NFL had he not got hurt on his mission.”
The neck injury Daley sustained while playing basketball kept the 6-foot-5, 235-pound linebacker on the sidelines during his BYU career (1993-95). But it won’t keep him and Julie from returning to that same mission next month to watch his boys play at Kansas on Sept. 23 in the Big 12 opener.
His brother-in-law has a word of warning for Jayhawks fans.
“Neal won’t stop yelling during games,” Nixon said with a laugh. “It’s nonstop cheering/yelling coming from Neal Daley as he cheers on his kids. As for Julie, she is right up there, too. My sister is dialed in. They get super intense for this stuff.”
The three uncles
Forgive the Daley brothers if they feel a little special when they leave the locker room for the practice field. Their trio of uncles are deeply respected in Cougars lore — David Nixon, Taysom Hill and Craig Bills.
“Having an uncle like David, it’s unreal,” said Michael Daley. “Also with Taysom, Craig and my dad, there is a lot of Cougar blood in our family. As good of football players as they were/are, they are even better men.”
Nixon played linebacker at BYU between 2003-08 with a mission in between. He finished his Cougars career with 137 solo tackles and 11 sacks before playing several years in the NFL.
“It’s an absolute blast having those two at BYU,” Nixon said. “I got to watch them come up through high school. They were both committed to BYU and opposing teams knew they were the best players on the field. But even so, as their stats show, no one could stop them. They wreaked havoc and made plays.”
Michael and John Henry were coached by former Cougar Ryan Denney at Lone Peak, a former teammate of Nixon’s with the Texans.
“It was fun to see them being coached so well so they could go out there and create,” he said. “With Jay Hill’s defense, they are going to have the same opportunities. I’m excited to watch.”
Hill served his mission before coming to BYU. He suited up for the Cougars between 2012-16. The current Saints all-purpose player and former BYU quarterback, rushed for 2,815 yards, passed for 6,929 and scored a combined 75 touchdowns during his reign in Provo.
Bills logged time at BYU between 2009-14 with a mission in between. The safety had 130 solo tackles and five interceptions. Bills and Hill are uncles through marriage.
“They are all great guys and very good athletes,” said Neal Daley. “It’s been great for our boys. They grew up watching them play and when we get together as a family, they are here in our living room.”
As for who the Daley boys listen to the most, John Henry sides with his dad.
“He’s the man I respect the most on this earth,” he said. “I try to apply everything he coaches me up on.”
Michael sides with a two-man committee.
“I listen to my dad and David the most, for sure,” he said. “I get so much wisdom from (Nixon) every time I talk to him, and it’s been fun having John Henry back because we just talk BYU football all the time now. But as important as it is to listen to family, it’s even more important to listen to your coach because they are the ones grading you day in and day out.”
It’s been five years and two missions since the Daley brothers last played in the same game. How soon Neal, Julie and the three uncles see that again is being determined in practice.
When the moment does come, and No. 45 and No. 46 line up together on opposite ends of the defensive line, it will be the culmination of hard work and big dreams for a pair of church boys who like to live on the edge.
Dave McCann is a contributor to the Deseret News and is the studio host for “BYU Sports Nation Game Day,” “The Post Game Show,” “After Further Review,” and play-by-play announcer for BYUtv. He is also co-host of “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com.
