Tower of redemption: How Caleb Etienne went from being benched to a first-team All-Big 12
Oklahoma State transfer rebounded from a subpar junior year to make himself an NFL draft candidate in 2024
Standing at nearly 6-foot-9 and weighing more than 320 pounds, Caleb Etienne is impossible to miss on the football field.
BYU’s starting left tackle towers over most opponents and all of his own teammates, with the possible exception of the Cougars’ starting right tackle, 6-9 senior Brayden Keim.
Etienne and Keim, who was injured in the 22-21 win over Utah, are the type of guys you want to get off the bus first — as physically imposing as anybody on the 2024 team.
But on the night of Oct. 18, 2024, the big man was reduced to tears. The Cougars had just pulled out an improbable 38-35 win over his former team, Oklahoma State, to improve to 7-0, and Etienne joyfully belted out the school song as his teammates reminded him that he had just defeated the school, and coach, that didn’t want him after the 2022 season.
That was a really good feeling, that night,” Etienne said a few weeks later. “That’s a game I will never forget. That was sweet.”
Sweet redemption, as it were.
Back in Wichita, Kansas, Etienne’s fiancée, Sataizha Buckner-White, and their 3-year-old son, Caleb Jr., watched the scene unfold on television and shed a few tears themselves.
“I was (holding back tears) myself,” Buckner-White told the Deseret News last week. “I was very excited for him, because I know what it meant for him to beat them, and I know how controversial it was when he left Oklahoma State. I know how important it was to him to prove himself, get that redemption. So I totally understood why he cried that night.”
BYU receiver Darius Lassiter made the game-winning touchdown catch in the final seconds against OSU, but in the postgame news conference, one of the more stoic players on the team also fought to hold back tears when he was asked what the win meant to Etienne — one of the more popular players on the team.
“We wanted to get that dub for him,” Lassiter said.
More redemption for Etienne came on Dec. 5, when the All-Big 12 honors came out and he was not only named a first team offensive tackle, but also honorable mention Big 12 offensive lineman of the year.
“It felt good,” Etienne said. “I have just been working hard and trying to get better each and every week. I had some moments last year when I wasn’t at my best. I am still trying to work on being the athlete and the person I can really be on the field as a pl
ayer.
