During the MWC years (post ESPN), BYU disappeared from the national spotlight. You had 5-6 years where young players never saw BYU on TV unless their families were die hard fans. BYU started losing kids to power conference teams.

Since becoming indy, BYU has been one of the most televised programs in the country. You now have kids graduating from HS who have seen BYU regularly on TV since they started playing serious football. We're just now in a position to start fully reaping the benefits of the exposure independence has brought to the program. It will then take 2-4 years before these new recruits are making an impact if they're LDS and mission bound.

Bottom line is that independence is not a quick fix remedy. It's a long-term strategy that will eventually pay off. The quick fix would be an invite to a P5 conference. Absent that, BYU is pursuing the best strategy available (and one only a handful of programs could even pull off).