church? what type of school do you want BYU to be? are we the "harvard of the west"? (amazing academic institution with decent bball program and non-existent football) can we not become a stanford type school? (great in football and olympic sports while maintaining high academics) have we given up on being ND-lite? (independent football power with religious ties). as you consider BYU's position in the ever-shifting college football landscape consider the following:

1. football brings people together while they are at BYU and creates a certain atmosphere and memories that cannot be replicated by any other sport, even bball. it also draws people back to BYU after the graduate unlike any other sport. it becomes a vehicle of attraction for all FUTURE, CURRENT and PAST BYU students, without which the school will suffer. unless of course, the school feels, despite its unpopular conservative stance on many issues, it can become a beacon of strength in the world of academia. despite the amazing scores of BYU students, i have my doubts on this one.

2. football = $$$ - it funds your entire athletic program. remove it and bye-bye to other olympic sports, many of which, BYU excels in.

3. future P5 affiliation - also say bye-bye to any future P5 affiliation which could be damning in and of itself.

4. given #'s 1-3, i would strongly encourage BYU leadership to quickly begin to make SIGNIFICANT monetary "investments" into the football program. this is most needed in two main areas: (a) coaching salaries; (b) facilities.

here's my vision for BYU's football program...they become an oregon-lite with the financial backing of the LDS church. (we just invested $3B into a mall...i'm pretty sure we could do some amazing things with our football program.) try and ignore the business side of football...we've already established that BYU needs to embrace the monetary aspect...let's focus on what types of people are successful. last night i watched a QB lead his team to their 25th(?) straight win...he's been accused of rape, been convicted of shop-lifting and stood on top of a table in a very public area of school and yelled some of the most profane things i've ever heard. among other things. another star player for FSU was being investigated for domestic violence (and still playing)...the star RB for UL had bounced around from auburn to CC to UL because of criminal problems. it's a sport riddled with criminals. a sport whose players are begging for a safe-haven where they can come and learn how to be great men and great football players.

it is, essentially, bronco's vision for the program. but for that to succeed we need more talented coaching and more attractive facilities to lure top-level, conservative talent away from the sun belt states and into the frigid mountains of provo. BYU needs to go out of their way to become attractive to recruits, not hope that the recruits beg bronco to come. if you set up the program in a certain way, they will. surround these players with a good COMBINATION of LDS coaching talent along with non-LDS coaching talent. if it were me i'd seriously consider hiring the MOST ELITE HC you can possible get regardless of religion. you must pay him a PREMIUM to come b/c, honestly, who would want the BYU job if not LDS. let him establish his staff with the understanding that BYU's morals and HC stand paramount, but also recognizing that if BYU can't win the football program doesn't matter. if you can't do this, double sitaki's salary and bring him here. fork out the $$$ to convince andy reid that his spiraling KC Chiefs are done and his mission in life is to resurrect BYU football. steal away Stanford's DC. steal bevel away from seahawks who are on decline. do something...there is LDS talent out there too. but it will require $$$! and lots of it.

while i struggle to defend bronco, i also feel bad for him. his hands are tied given the restrictions currently placed upon him with regards to assistants he can hire. did he hire howell b/c that is exactly who he wanted or the only guy they could get? i'll never know the answer to that question but usually whatever part of the ball bronco focuses on does well, his assistants are, frequently, incompetent. this reflects both an individual flaw in bronco but also an institutional failure as well. BYU CANNOT survive with just a bunch of "BYU guys" and yes-men running around the field. they cannot.

as far as facilities go...even schools like NIU have recently announced NINE FIGURE renovations to their stadium. BYU sits in an outdated, high-school bleacher looking stadium with an incredible view. you gotta do something...NOW. stadium, locker rooms, weight rooms, etc. make it top of the line. you will get push-back from old-fashioned leadership on this but, remember, we're trying to ensure the survival of our football program and it is needed, not wanted at this point.

if you do those things you can establish a winning program in today's CFB world. this, along with other improvements, will attract young, conservative ATHLETES to your school, and their time at BYU will change the course of their lives forever and everyone else that begins to follow BYU because of their journey to provo. THIS is what will open doors and roads heretofore unseen. THIS is how you can actually make BYU football not just something that connects your typical white, west-coast, upper-middle class, pioneer descendant BYU alum and students together but begins to "flood the earth" so to speak to touch people you never thought possible. and while it will require somewhat having one foot in babylon (see stadium upgrades, business side) it will also allow us to, with that foot in the door so to speak, reach out to people we could not otherwise grab should we stubbornly keep both feet firmly planted in provo and refuse to keep up with the times. quite frankly, if we do that, it would probably be better to just wrap up the football program, fold up shop and declare ourselves the harvard of the west and be done.