also played baseball and ran track<\/a>.<\/p>\nHe was rated as a four-star LB out of Mountain Ridge by 247Sports, but didn\u2019t really draw a lot of interest from BYU and picked Cal over offers from UCLA, Boise State, Duke, Washington State and others. Uluave said he didn\u2019t have a \u201csuper big preference\u201d as his favorite team growing up, but \u201cdeep down\u201d was always a BYU fan because his dad grew up in Provo and his grandfather always praised the school.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs I\u2019ve walked around campus, I can\u2019t tell you how many people have said, \u2018I know your grandpa, or, I know your cousin,\u2019\u201d Uluave said. \u201cI love that, I really do.\u201d<\/p>\n
A linebacker with receiver\u2019s speed<\/p>\n
Uluave has been clocked running anywhere between a 4.51 to 4.75 seconds time in the 40-yard dash, which is extraordinarily fast for a man his size. He ran the 4.51 time in 2022 at a high school regional combine in Dallas, and although he hasn\u2019t been tested recently, he believes he\u2019s even faster now after three years of college training.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s maybe the second-fastest guy on our team right now, and we have some really fast guys,\u201d defensive coordinator Kelly Poppinga said in March. \u201c\u2026 We\u2019ve clocked Cade in practice at 22 miles an hour, which is as fast as most of our cornerbacks. <\/p>\n
\u201cI watched his film (when he was at Cal) and I thought he was fast, but he\u2019s faster and more explosive than I thought he was,\u201d Poppinga continued. \u201cWhen that guy pulls the trigger in the run game and comes downhill, it is as quick and fast as I\u2019ve seen. Really excited to see what he is going to do in Big 12 games.\u201d<\/p>\n
Uluave played spring ball with a heavily bandaged, club-like right hand, but said he will be ready to go in May when the players get back together for player-run practices and workouts.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey said 22 (mph), so if that is true that\u2019s the fastest I\u2019ve ever been at,\u201d Uluave said. \u201cI credit coach (Ryan) Phillis and the strength staff. One of the first things I noticed at BYU was how big, fast and strong our guys are. That\u2019s a huge credit to type of workouts we do. We work hard and the (strength staff) elevates us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having played in the Pac-12 and the ACC, Uluave said BYU\u2019s players are just as athletic and talented as anywhere in the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got players who are legit,\u201d he said. \u201cWe got size, speed, you name it. We played Miami and they probably had one of the biggest O lines that I have ever seen, and now I\u2019m at BYU and our O line is probably the most athletic O line I have ever seen. Being able to play in three different conferences, from the Pac-12 to ACC and now the Big 12, it has been awesome. We are right there, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Can Uluave play in the NFL?<\/p>\n
Having played four seasons in the NFL, former BYU linebacker Justin Ena \u2014 now the school\u2019s special teams coordinator \u2014 knows what it takes to make an NFL roster. He believes Uluave is well on his way.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt in my mind that he\u2019s going to be a huge contributor (to the BYU defense), just the way he plays,\u201d Ena said. \u201cHe\u2019s very, very intentional, and you can tell that by just how he plays. He has a motor. He\u2019s violent (tackling). He\u2019s also a master of the film, because you see his reads, and his reactions are elite.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both Poppinga and Ena noted that newcomer Jake Clifton, who transferred from Kansas State after a church mission to Nicaragua, also looked great in spring camp. <\/p>\n
\u201cThose are two transfer guys, Jake just coming along this mission, who can play at the next level,\u201d Poppinga said. \u201cThose guys have played a lot of football, and then you combine that we already have with Siale Esera, Miles Hall, Isaiah Glasker, Ace Kaufusi, Maika Kaufusi, Pierson Watson, it is super competitive in the linebackers room.\u201d<\/p>\n
Uluave said his position coach at Cal was also the defensive coordinator, so he\u2019s grateful that Poppinga will be both the DC and the inside linebackers coach.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am looking to be versatile in this defense and just showing people that I can be all over the field,\u201d Uluave said. \u201cIn coach Poppinga\u2019s defense, that is literally what it is all about, being versatile and making plays. That\u2019s something I am excited to do for BYU.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GJJJEBQKAZAGJEU5JQSURXB244.jpg\")
UCLA running back Carson Steele, right, stiff arms California linebacker Cade Uluave during game, Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023, in Pasadena, Calif. | AP <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Although he has only been on campus for about four months, when people around Provo ask new BYU…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":776790,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[1318,1317,1315,1316,1680,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-776789","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-ncaa","10":"tag-ncaa-football","11":"tag-ncaafootball","12":"tag-news-feed-local","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116526515721586338","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=776789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/776790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=776789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=776789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=776789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}