Kyle Van Noy

Early years

Van Noy was born in Reno, Nevada. He attended McQueen High School in Reno, where as an all-state linebacker and receiver he led his high school football team to a perfect 14-0 record and a 4A state championship in 2008, and was rated as a 2-star recruit by Rivals.com and Scout.com.

In addition to playing football, Van Noy lettered in basketball, baseball, and track where he was an all-league performer (4 × 100 m, 4 × 200 m and 4 × 400 m). He also ran the 100 meters in 11.84 seconds and the 400 meters in 50.99 seconds.

Van Noy was ranked the 63rd best high school athlete by ESPN. He received scholarship offers from Arizona, Arizona State University, Boise State University, BYU, California, University of Colorado, UCLA, UNLV, Nevada, San Jose State University, and Stanford.

Freshman season (2010)

Van Noy was admitted to BYU in 2009 but sat out his first year due to an honor code violation. During the 2010 season he played in every game while starting two and earned letterman honors. He recorded 35 tackles (24 solo) and was third on the team with 7.5 tackles-for-loss including 2.0 sacks. He also recorded two forced fumbles, two quarterback hurries, two pass breakups and one fumble recovery (which he returned 44 yards for a touchdown).

Sophomore season (2011)

Van Noy started eight and played in all 13 games of the 2011 season, recording 68 tackles and leading the team with 15 tackles for loss, 7 sacks, 10 quarterback hurries and tied for the team lead with three interceptions. During the 2011 season, Van Noy was the only FBS Division I player to record a stat in each of the following categories: tackle, tackle for loss, sack, interception, pass breakup, quarterback hurry, fumble recovery, forced fumble, blocked kick and touchdown. Like the 2010 season he again recovered a fumble (which he forced), which he returned for the game-winning touchdown.

He was named to Phil Steele All-Independent First Team, Yahoo! Sports All-Independent Team and FBS All-Independent Team.

Junior Season (2012)

In 2012, Van Noy was the defensive leader of a BYU team that led the nation in red zone defense (opponent red zone percentage of .62), was second in rushing defense (84.25 yards/game), third in 3rd down conversion percentage (27.71%) and total defense (allowing 26.33 yards/game), fourth in 1st down defense (14.83/game), and fifth in scoring defense (176 total points). Additionally, they were in the top 25 in passing defense (13th), sacks (22nd), 4th down conversion defense (23rd), and tackles for loss (25th).

In 13 games played he recorded 53 tackles, 22 tackles-for-loss, 13 sacks, 2 interceptions (one for a touchdown), 6 forced fumbles, and 1 fumble recovered (for a touchdown), 8 quarterback hurries, 5 pass break-ups, and 2 blocked kicks. Van Noy dominated in BYU's 23-6 victory over San Diego State in the 2012 San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, where he recorded 8 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery (for a touchdown), 1 interception (for a touchdown), and a blocked punt. One writer speculated that Van Noy’s performance, in a bowl, may be best defensive performance by a BYU Cougar ever.

Van Noy was named to the Bronco Nagurski Trophy, Lombardi Award and Bednarik Award Watch Lists, was National Linebacker of week 3, and was Third team All-American. He also earned the 2012 College Football Performance Award (CFPA) trophy for overall best defensive player of the year, as well as the 2012 linebacker Trophy.

Van Noy was projected as a first or second round pick in the 2013 NFL draft, but opted to remain at BYU for his Senior season.

Senior Season (2013)

As a senior in 2013, Van Noy was named to the watch lists for the Butkus Award, Rotary Lombardi, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Walter camp, Chuck Bednarik Award, and the Lott Trophy. He was a Phil Steele, USA Today, and SI.com Preseason All-American and finished the season All-America to Walter Camp Second Team, Athlon Sports Third Team, CBSSports.com Third Team and Sport and SI.com Honorable Mention. He was also named to the All-Independent First team and was the All-Independent Defensive Player of the Year.

College career statistics

All statistics from Brigham Young Official Athletic Site,

2014 NFL Draft

Van Noy was rated as the fourth best outside linebacker prospect in the 2014 NFL draft and was projected as a first or second round pick. Van Noy was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the second round, 40th overall, in the 2014 NFL Draft.

Detroit Lions

On June 5, 2014, the Detroit Lions signed Van Noy to a four-year, $5.10 million rookie contract with $2.63 million guaranteed and a $2.03 million signing bonus.

Van Noy's rookie season was delayed due to an abdominal injury but he did see action in eight games, registering six tackles. On November 9, 2014, he played in his first game and registered 2 tackles in a Week 10 victory over the Miami Dolphins. On September 11, 2016, Van Noy had his first career start in the Lion's season opening 39-35 win over the Indianapolis Colts. Before being traded, Van Noy started the first seven games of the season for the Lions and registered 23 total tackles. He finished his time with the Lions with a total of 39 tackles since 2014.

New England Patriots

On October 25, 2016, Van Noy was traded to the New England Patriots along with a 2017 seventh round draft pick in exchange for a 2017 sixth round draft pick. After being inactive for the first two games, Van Noy made his Patriots debut against the 49ers and recorded a sack and three tackles. On December 4, 2016, Van Noy recorded his first career interception off of Los Angeles Rams' rookie quarterback Jared Goff. The Patriots won 14 games and would make the playoffs.

On February 5, 2017, Van Noy was part of the Patriots team that won Super Bowl LI. In the game, the Patriots defeated the Atlanta Falcons by a score of 34–28 in overtime. Van Noy was credited with one tackle and a .5 sack in the game.

On September 8, 2017, Van Noy signed a two-year contract extension with the Patriots.

Personal life

Van Noy was a communications major at BYU. He is the son of Kelly and Layne Van Noy. He was college roommates and a mentor to football player and former Lions teammate Ziggy Ansah and best friends with BYU basketball player Brandon Davies. Van Noy is married to Miss Utah USA, Marissa Powell.