...his thinking at the time is that it was temporary--at most 5 years. I know this as he's a long-time friend, neighbor, and ward member. He used to be very vocal about it among the ward, neighborhood, and friends, as things were looking great. He was super enthusiastic about it, especially in the first couple of years, because all signs were that we could patch things up with the stupid lawyer play with the Big-12, and it was just a matter of a couple of years. Things went off script and not as planned with Big-12 (and no other conference has ever been a remote possibility, unfortunately). He never had imagined 7 years of this and it's causing immense stress. Without shaking down donors, we would have collapsed because the ESPN money is not enough to get us to the next level to pay for what we're doing. The BOT is very wary about the level of donor money, such that it's an issue (they have consistently told BYU 'no' on donor money to other projects they did not approve, even when they approved it but it was not in the fundraising order they wanted). One key issue for sure is the BOT want independence, but they want it as cheaply as possible and they don't want hordes of donor cash that could be used for other church purposes.

Meanwhile, Tom has absolutely lost his semi-public enthusiasm for independence, but I cannot say for certain where he stands--just that in the last couple of years that gleam and enthusiasm and vocal reaction, has changed to a subdued, pursed lip funeral-like reaction. He's in a very bad spot right now because he has limitations on fundraising, the Big-12 looks dead, no other conference was ever an option, and the natives are getting restless.