overall church membership (in the US, specifically) was about half of what it is today. Think about it..that many more LDS youngsters growing up playing football all across the country. Bronco has many more potential LDS kids to recruit from than Lavell did, including church growth within the Black American population.

Additionally, for much of his career, Lavell had to contend with the Blacks & the Priesthood issue which reduced the number of quality recruits he could pursue. Even though Church policy on that issue changed in '78, the after effects were felt (at BYU) for years to come. Though i don't think the student body was racist in the 70'-80's, the campus has become more and more open/inviting to Black American players. That gives Bronco a leg up on Lavell in recruiting.

With respect to # of scholarships, Lavell had the same # as the rest of the country as does Bronco. Seems to be a non-issue as what we are really doing is comparing each coach to what he did in his era against his peers. The fact (if it is true) that Lavell had more scholarships than Bronco is irrelevant.