Bear Bachmeier family tree: Meet BYU QB’s football brothers Tiger, Hank and Buck, parents and more
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The BYU Cougars have become a force and have turned into contenders for a Big 12 title and College Football Playoff berth.
BYU’s success is largely thanks to the play of true freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier. Bachmeier, who is from California, has a strong support system, which includes four siblings, in addition to his parents Michael and April.
Let’s take a closer look at Bachmeier’s family roots, including his three brothers, sister and more.
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How many siblings does Bear Bachmeier have?
Bear Bachmeier has four siblings, in an older brother Hank, another older brother in Tiger, who plays on the team with him, another younger brother Buck who plays in high school and an older sister, Eleanor. His sister runs track at Redlands University in California.
Bear Bachmeier brothers
Bear’s older brothers in Hank and Tiger both played football, so you can say the signal-caller followed in their footsteps.
Hank Bachmeier
Hank Bachmeier played quarterback for several seasons collegiately. He was a former 4-star quarterback prospect coming out of high school, playing out of his brother’s alma mater in Murrieta High School. He was ranked as the No. 6 pro-style quarterback from the class of 2019.
He played at Boise State from 2019-2022, where he made 29 starts over four seasons for the Broncos, throwing for 6,605 yards with 41 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. He then transferred to Louisiana Tech for the 2019 season. He made eight starts for the Bulldogs, throwing for 2,058 yards with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions.
He then spent his fifth and final season at Wake Forest in 2024, where he made 11 starts for the Demon Deacons. He threw for 2,593 yards with 16 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He went undrafted during the 2025 NFL Draft and signed briefly with the BC Lions in the Canadian Football League in May.
“He’s been such a great role model and such a great asset to have,” Bear told SI about his brother Hank. “He’s played college football for six years. The amount of knowledge he has, and just how much he’s passing down to me, it’s just special. I just love learning so much from him.”
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Tiger Bachmeier
Tiger Bachmeier is Hank’s other older brother, who plays with him at BYU. His real name is James, but goes by Tiger as a family nickname.
“Tiger’s real name is James,” Bear said via KSL Sports. “Tiger is the fourth … James Bachmeier I is my dad’s grandpa and he was a fighter pilot, he smoked those unfiltered Camels … when my dad was growing up … James I would always tell my dad, ‘get over here Tiger,’ and my dad always thought that was cool so he named James IV Tiger.”
Like Hank, he started his career at Stanford for 2023-24. Over two seasons, he had 46 receptions for 476 yards and two touchdowns. He is a former 3-star recruit from the class of 2023.
Buck Bachmeier
Buck Bachmeier is Bear’s younger brother, who is currently a freshman at Murrieta High School. He does not have a 247Sports recruiting page at this time.
According to The Athletic, Buck is nicknamed “Cougar,” and plays quarterback and linebacker in high school.
Bear Bachmeier sister: Eleanor Bachmeier
As you can see, athletics runs in the Bachmeier family, as his older sister, Eleanor, runs track at Redlands University as a hurdler. She has been named an All-American three times during her career, both in indoor and outdoor. Most recently, she was named one in the Heptathlon.
In 2024, she was named the Division III West Region Women’s Track Athlete of the Year (AOTY) after scoring 4,585 points in the Heptathlon. She is hoping to earn her MBA at Redlands.
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Bear Bachmeier parents
Bear Bachmeier is the son of Michael and April Bachmeier.
Bear Bachmeier dad: Michael Bachmeier
Bear’s father, Michael, attended the U.S. Naval Academy, where he also played basketball briefly. He was commissioned as a Marine, and worked in consulting and real estate in Murrietta. He was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2019 but successfully underwent treatment for it.
“You shake hands, you look them in the eye and you give them respect,” Hank Bachmeier said via The Desert Valley News in Aug. 2025. “That’s what my dad passed on to us. You call your elders ‘sir’ and ‘ma’am.’ The way you honor your family outside (the house), in the public realm, is with respect. Your last name means a lot.”
Bear Bachmeier mom: April Bachmeier
April Bachmeier was born in Thailand and moved to the United States with her family when she was five years old. She homeschooled her children during fifth and eighth grades, mainly so they could focus more on training.
“My dad would hand us a Malcolm Gladwell book, or economics books,” Hank said via Desert.com. “We didn’t have a regular curriculum, but by the time we got to (high school), we were just as prepared as anybody else.”
Per CBS Sports, April would make her sons a Thai Egg, stuffed with meat and potatoes which was their favorite.
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Why is Bear Bachmeier named Bear?
The Bachmeier sons’ names in Bear and Tiger stem from their grandfather, who fought in World War II. His grandfather is who came up with the nickname for Tiger.
“It’s a long story,” Bear said via the newspaper. “Dad decided the best (son with an animal name) has got to be named Bear.”
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Bachmeier family photo
Here’s a photo of the Bachmeiers from 2018:
Another wonderful visit to go over paperwork. It’s getting real 😢🏈💙🧡 pic.twitter.com/ZG1mbSca7v
— April Bachmeier (@aprilbachmeier) December 11, 2018
Bear Bachmeier religion
Bear and his family were raised Catholic, and he and his brother Tiger attend a church in Orem, Utah. Although BYU is closely associated with the Mormon Church, it is not a requirement to convert to go to school there.
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Where is Bear Bachmeier from?
Bear is from Murrieta, Calif., which sits just north of Temecula. The Bachmeiers lived up in the California mountains and had to drive 15 minutes to town just to get to the grocery store. Hank described all his siblings’ practices and games “organized chaos” growing up.
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