PROVO — Facing a seven-game suspension, BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff is leaving the school and will transfer to play for another major college football program, perhaps as soon as this week, the Deseret News has confirmed through multiple sources.
Retzlaff, a redshirt senior who led BYU to an 11-2 record and a No. 13 ranking in 2024, was expected to lead the Cougars again in 2025 and help the team land a high preseason ranking.
Instead, Retzlaff has cleaned out his locker at the Student Athlete Building on the Provo campus and is expected to announce early this week that he will play for another school, a school one source noted that is "in desperate need of an experienced college quarterback."
The same source confirmed multiple reports Sunday morning that BYU informed Retzlaff last Thursday that he would have to sit out the first seven games of the 2025 season due to a violation of the BYU honor code.
The quarterback faces a civil lawsuit from a woman who said he "raped, strangled and bit" her in his bedroom after she and a friend visited him and his roommates the night of Nov. 22, 2023, to play video games and hang out. The lawsuit seeks more than $300,000 in damages for each of three causes of action "to be proven at trial."
Retzlaff's attorneys filed a response to the lawsuit in court on Friday in which he denied the allegations.
"Mr. Retzlaff specifically and categorically denies each and every and all allegations that he bit, raped or strangled AG, which are ridiculous and bizarre allegations, all of which are false and untrue," states the response, filed in Third Judicial District Court in Salt Lake City Friday.
In the filing, Retzlaff's attorney's say the quarterback and the woman had consensual sex that night.
A source said Retzlaff's attorneys expect the lawsuit to be "resolved" early this week, which would clear the way for the aforementioned school to bring Retzlaff aboard and sign him to an NIL contract.
Retzlaff's departure, although not unexpected, is a blow to BYU's hopes of reaching the Big 12 championship game. The Cougars have two quarterbacks on the roster with college experience, Utah State transfer McCae Hillstead and Western Michigan transfer Treyson Bourguet.
Last month, freshman Bear Bachmeier transferred to BYU after participating in spring practices at Stanford.
