...there are a lot of elements to culture and winning is a huge part of that. It doesn't bode well for new recruits when they watch a HC stubbornly stick with a QB who is hurting the team. Look what that did to the 2012 season? Coach's stubbornness and favoritism for one player cast a negative pall over the season and overshadowed maybe the best defensive team in BYU history and undermined what should have been a special season.

Super talented new recruits want to win and win big, we'll always get the 2 star LDS kid who always wanted to come to BYU but what we won't get enough of are the kids who are difference makers on the field because they have programs after them hot and heavy that are serious about winning.

Also, new recruits don't want to go to a program where they see coaches playing favoritism with older players, they want to see a culture of the best players play and when one is clearly not getting it done on the field, the younger player behind him gets their shot. Not many freshman are down for the old model of "sit for three years and then you get your shot". They want their shot right out of the gate.

We've had enough of the facade of building culture and molding young men in areas OTHER than winning on the field. How much molding do a bunch of Eagle Scouts, RM, married with children, Temple Recommend holding guys really need? The majority get plenty of molding before they ever step foot on campus.

Establishing a culture of winning football (when I say winning, I'm not talking about beating up on sub .500 teams or g5 teams) means coaches have to make hard decisions sometimes, including unpopular ones. They did the right thing in giving Taysom a shot to comeback from his latest injury, but he is struggling in a lot of areas and it's dragging the team down. He's clearly not the same player anymore. That's sad to realize it but it's clear. It's putting way too much pressure on our defensive players who are thin on depth and getting thinner and it puts a lot of pressure on Jamaal.