BYU announces Bear Bachmeier as starting QB in bizarre way

On Tuesday, BYU announced freshman Bear Bachmeier will be the Cougars’ starting quarterback in the 2025 campaign. However, BYU football’s official X account didn’t simply post a stereotypical graphic to make the announcement.

Instead, the program posted an AI video of a bear wearing a No. 47 jersey walking through the woods. Bachmeier voiced the talking bear, greeting BYU fans and confirming he’s the team’s QB1.

As expected, the odd video had BYU fans flooding the comments section with everything from words of encouragement to outlandish memes. In fairness, BYU’s unusual decision to start a true freshman QB may have warranted an even more unusual post.

While Bachmeier is a true freshman, he’s also a transfer. He initially committed to Stanford and spent the spring with the Cardinals before transferring to BYU.

Bachmeier won the starting job over redshirt sophomore transfer McCae Hillstead (Utah State) and redshirt junior transfer Treyson Bourguet (Western Michigan). He was initially expected to be a backup to BYU’s starting quarterback in 2024, Jake Retzlaff.

However, Retzlaff transferred out of the program this offseason after BYU planned to suspend him for seven games for violating the school’s honor code. Now, Bachmeier will immediately be handed to the reins.

Bear Bachmeier played high school football at Murrieta Valley (CA), where he was a three-star prospect. He was the No. 451 overall player and No. 28 quarterback in the 2025 recruiting cycle, according to the Rivals Industry Rankings. He amassed 6,810 passing and 59 touchdowns in his high school career.

Nonetheless, Bachmeier has massive shoes to fill at BYU. Last season, Retzlaff tallied 2,947 passing yards and 20 touchdowns, compared to 12 interceptions, en route to an impressive 11-2 season. It was only head coach Kalani Sitake‘s second 11-win season in his 10 years with the program.

Bear isn’t the only Bachmeier on BYU’s roster. His older brother, Tiger, is a wide receiver for the Cougars and should play a significant role for the team this season. Tiger also transferred to BYU from Stanford this offseason.

This year’s quarterback competition wasn’t Sitake’s first at the helm of BYU. The team also had an internal competition for the QB1 title last season and Sitake is confident in his decision-making.

“We feel good about the talent that we have,” Sitake said. “We have to let them battle it out and see what happens. If you’re going to play quarterback at this level, you have to be a leader already… Obviously, we had a quarterback competition last year, so, luckily, the staff has been through quarterback competitions many times before.”