Unleashing the Beast
Alex Semadeni
Ty Benefield is having a great season by any objective measure. The sophomore safety from Irvine, Calif. is the team’s leading tackler with 55 on the season, and his four takeaways (two interceptions and two fumble recoveries) are the most on the team.
His dominance was potentially never more evident than this past weekend against San Jose State, where Benefield picked off a pass and later in the game forced a fumble on a critical fourth down. Both turnovers were instrumental to the Broncos’ come-from-behind victory on Saturday.
The scary part, for opposing offenses that is, is that all this success is happening in Benefield’s third season – ever – on the defensive side of the ball.
“Being a defensive back was not part of the plan at all,” Benefield said. “I did not ever think I was going to want to play DB but it happened.”
PART OF HIS BLOOD
Benefield’s versatility can be traced back to his father, Daved, a decorated Canadian Football League star who played for 13 seasons for five different teams. Daved also played multiple positions on the field, growing up as a safety, but transitioning into a linebacker and defensive lineman throughout his career.
Ty, who was born on the tail end of his father’s CFL career, grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia. Initially a basketball player, Ty didn’t begin playing football until he was 10 years old, two years later than most of his peers. However, his natural athleticism was apparent early on, and he was soon playing quarterback for his local Pee Wee team.
“I could throw better than those guys who had been playing as 8-year-olds,” Ty said. “Those guys couldn't even throw a real football. They had to throw those nerf ones. I was actually throwing a real football and I was doing it pretty good. I could definitely tweak some stuff and work it but it felt natural. I was also the best athlete.”
Strangely, Ty didn’t watch much football as a kid, as his dad didn’t want to overdo it. As he got older however, he began to watch some of his dad’s old tapes, and was blown away with the intensity with which his dad played.
“I really liked watching his film,” Ty said. “It’s cool watching that old style of football, being able to light up the quarterback. There was no strike zone - you just ran through a quarterback's face if you wanted to. That’s the football that I love watching.”
As he morphed into a teenager, Benefield became entranced by the allure of the game. He started incorporating football games into his viewing habits, and found himself enjoying college football, CFL and NFL games.
Periodically, he would accompany his father to CFL games, where Ty witnessed how popular his dad was.
“Everybody knew who he was,” Ty said. “Random dudes would come up to him and say hi. That’s when it started clicking for me how cool it all was. I realized that my dad knew what he was talking about. He knew his stuff for sure. I started trusting him and kind of falling in love with it.”
THE MOVE
Knowing there would be more athletic opportunities, Benefield moved to Irvine when he was 15. It was huge transition - and sacrifice from his family - to head to California and Benefield was determined to make the most of it.
Moving as a teenager is naturally an awkward transition, but the competition Benefield faced on the football field was jarring. In Canada, his natural athleticism had made him a successful quarterback. In America, he was competing for spots with players who had been living and breathing football their entire lives.
However, his father had prepared him for the shift, and Ty was prepared to put in maximum effort.
“I became obsessed with how tough guys would look coming out of the tunnels,” Benefield. “It’s what I fell in love with as a little kid. As I got a bit older, I realized I had to grind to get there. Moving to California wasn't an easy sacrifice for my family at all. They were sacrificing all this financial stuff. I told myself I’m going to do this and I have to do this. It pushes me to this day. I have to get up and go.”
He transitioned to wide receiver, a position where he thought his athletic prowess would be realized. However, the gains from his hard work weren’t immediately realized. As a junior at Santa Margarita High School, Benefield played a majority of the season on the junior varsity squad.
“If you’re playing junior varsity as a junior you’re probably not going to go play college football.”Ty Benefield
As spring practice rolled around ahead of his senior season, Benefield hit a timely growth spurt. His head coach, Anthony Rouzier, had him partake in defensive drills as a potential way to get him on the field.
“I played 7-on-7 and realized it was kind of fun,” Benefield said. “I enjoyed tagging dudes off, sometimes deflecting a pass, making a big hit. I was also getting picks while covering guys and I started falling in love with that. When they asked me to go with the receivers at one of our summer practices, I realized I didn’t want to. I was just starting to click with our coverages. It made more sense to me than route trees. It seems backwards, but I’m telling you, it clicked way faster.”
Fueled by a newfound love on the defensive side of the ball, the transition wasn’t as difficult as many anticipated.
“People thought the hardest thing for me was going to be the tackling aspect. Growing up, I did not want to hit and I did not want to get hit. When I got hit as a receiver, I hated it. That aspect sure changed though. I started hitting people pretty hard. Obviously, I worked to get to that part but I enjoyed lighting people up. It was awesome.”
Benefield transferred to Crean Lutheran prior to his senior year, where he played in all three phases. He was a return man on special teams, returning 12 punts and nine kickoffs for the Saints. On offense, he averaged 117 yards per game, hauling in 90 receptions for 1,404 yards and 20 touchdowns. He also got some time in the backfield, registering 136 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries.
And in his first full season on the defensive side of the ball, Benefield recorded 91 tackles (52 solo), seven pass breakups and four interceptions.
His dominance on full display, his phone started blowing up with college coaches. Benefield was admittedly overwhelmed with the amount of coaches calling and texting him, but felt a genuine connection with Boise State throughout the process.
“I was just looking for a place that would love me for what I've been through and then love me for the type of player and person I am,” Benefield said. “Boise State was literally the first place to ask me what I’ve been through. They wanted me to tell them my story. That’s what stuck out with me.”
Inspired by the genuine connection between the team and the coaching staff, Benefield selected Boise State over the likes of BYU, Colorado State, Oregon State, Stetson, Washington and Washington State.
SEEING BLUE
When Benefield arrived a few weeks ahead of fall camp in the fall of 2023, he was instantly blown away by the competitiveness in the locker room.
“My first thought when I got here was that it was the real deal,” Benefield said. “Everything my dad told me when I was younger literally happened. I remember thinking that I should have listened better. He was trying to tell me like all this stuff so I'd be better prepared. And I was better prepared. Some things squeaked through and got me. But after that first fall camp, I realized that I thought I had time. But no, this thing goes by so fast.”
Benefield became a sponge, doing his best to learn from the leaders of the defense. Guys like Demetri Washington, Michael Callahan and Alexander Teubner were instrumental in his development his freshman year.
“All these dudes were telling me about the grind of fall camp,” Benefield said. “I listened to them, thank God. I listened and I took every bit of advice from the older dudes. As soon as I got the playbook I studied that thing. I studied the crap out of it. I wanted to know everything so every time I went out to practice, I wasn’t acting like that freshman running around. I stole as many reps as I could. My dad told me that and I listened, sure enough it helped me get to where I am right now.”
“I'm so glad that I have these brothers, helping me study the playbook together. There were times in Sawtooth when we're just on the whiteboard drawing stuff up. That stuff is so much fun.”Ty Benefield
The hardest part for Benefield was learning the intricacies of a position he had just begun playing a year prior. In high school, his raw athleticism covered a lot of the learning curve he had on the X’s and O’s. But the jump to college was at a whole other level.
“I had only played DB for one year when I got here,” Benefield said. “There were things that I just wasn't used to, like intermediate run fits and intermediate coverages. I was still trying to understand my body and learn how to backpedal and break in a more advanced way. Doing it against high school kids is way different than doing it against college kids. When you get to college, you realize that you really need to work on a lot of stuff.”
You wouldn’t know it if you were a Bronco fan. Benefield saw the field in 13 games as a true freshman, resulting in 46 total tackles. He finished the year with three sacks (including two against Utah State) and recorded his first career interception against Wyoming. He ended the season in his hometown with perhaps his best performance, registering eight tackles, including one for a loss, against UCLA in the Starco Brands LA Bowl Hosted By Gronk
“My freshman season was an absolute blessing,” Benefield said. “I just gave it all to the amount of work that I put in. I was focused on what I'm going to bring to the table. It helped me. I'm so glad that I had people to help me out, like the older guys and my dad pushing me every day. That freshman year was just so much fun. But I left a lot on the table for sure. I knew I had to keep going.”
“I’ve always wanted to outwork everybody. That’s the type of guy I am.”Ty Benefield
Benefield was hungry to improve. He decided to prioritize improving physically. He met with Director of Sports Performance Benjamin Hilgart, who came up with a summer plan to help him improve.
“If you look on film, I look little when I’m out there when I first came in,” Benefield said. “I took Coach Hilgart’s plan and ran with it. We had a break for a couple of weeks and I told my dad, ‘When I get there we need to start eating and working.’ He fed me so much and we worked out so much to the point where I was lifting extra and running a lot. I gained a lot of weight. Sure enough, my numbers [in the weight room] were going up.
“I give it all to Coach Hilgart because he let me know exactly what I needed to work on. I feel a lot faster and my body control is just way better. Coach Hilgart and the strength staff have done an unbelievable job of transforming me and just keeping me healthy too.”
Entering his sophomore season, the Boise-media contingent took notice. Several local reporters were impressed at Benefield’s physical transformation, and his play on the field certainly rectified the hype.
In his first game of the season against Georgia Southern, Benefield recorded a career-high nine tackles. He recovered a fumble against Oregon, and added tackles for loss in back-to-back games. Through 10 games, the former quarterback-turned-wide-receiver-turned-defensive-back leads the team with 55 tackles and his four takeaways are the most on the team.
The sophomore arguably had his best game last weekend against San Jose State, picking off quarterback Walker Eget in the first half before forcing Eget to commit a critical fumble on fourth down. Both plays led to touchdowns on the offensive end.
Had himself a day ?????#BleedBlue | #BuiltDifferent pic.twitter.com/4MecLjOSsw
— Boise State Football (@BroncoSportsFB) November 17, 2024
Throughout the season, Ty will get texts from his father on little tidbits that could help.
“I ask him about technique and stuff all the time,” Ty said. “He loves it because he's definitely able to coach me up still. I got a text from him the other day telling me I was too high on my tackles. He loves it for sure, and I love it too, because I need all that. I’ll take all the coaching I can get.”
Most importantly, Benefield is helping his team win. The Broncos are currently 9-1 on the season, and are projected to receive a bye in the first round of the College Football Playoff if the current projections show.
To get there, though, the team has to take one game at a time. Which means taking care of business against Wyoming on Saturday.
“I’ve followed all these great teams when I was younger, and we’re really living that,” Benefield said. “It’s so great to have a team where all of our mentalities are really very similar. We want to get to this place so bad and we're willing to put in all that work. I love them so much. I love this team so much. We've been through the tough stuff together, so it makes us that much more dangerous.”