BYU’s reputation for hospitality got a public nod this week from an unexpected place: the father of Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita.
After the Cougars hosted the Wildcats at LaVell Edwards Stadium last Saturday, Les Fifita took to X on Tuesday to describe the welcome he and his family received in Provo. He tagged BYU head coach Kalani Sitake and associate head coach/defensive tackles coach Sione Po’uha while praising both the program and the people around it.
“So much love and respect for BYU ... and the people of Provo,” he wrote.
Fifita said the experience started before he even reached the stadium.
“From the minute we parked, it was “Welcome to Provo,” “Good luck today,” “Go Cats.” People offered us food and drinks from their tailgates.
Inside the stadium, same thing even ice cream at 2nd quarter. And their crowd was electric."
He added that he sat in a wheelchair-accessible seating area with his father-in-law, who was wearing his grandson’s jersey, and said BYU fans “constantly checked on him and treated him with nothing but respect, even when Arizona made a play.”
That led into the larger point of his post.
“Made me think, this is what real competition should look like. Welcome people into your home, treat them with respect and grace, then when the ball is kicked off, try to knock each other’s heads off,” he wrote.
Les Fifita, who is the co-founder and president of a youth football league in Southern California, said the visit also shaped how he wants that league to operate.
“I told our staff: make everyone feel welcome,” he wrote. “If someone genuinely can’t pay at the door, let them in.
Let them watch their kid. If we want to change the culture at the high school and college level, it starts in youth.”
He closed by tying that experience to the Fifita family’s faith.
“And I don’t think it’s a coincidence faith is at the center of BYU’s culture,” he wrote. “Jesus welcomed everyone to His table.
Compete hard. Cheer loud.
Want to win BAD. But still love people.
Appreciate the love, Provo.”
BYU won the game 28-17. Noah Fifita finished 23 of 31 for 230 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and he also rushed for 38 yards on 11 carries and scored a touchdown.
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