If any of this information has been posted since last friday I apologize, I have been traveling since last weekend and have not been on the board since then. Last Friday I attended the BYU coaches clinic that they do annually for High school coaches. It included coaches from Texas, California, Florida and Georgia as well as coaches represented from the intermountain states. The clinic commenced with Bronco offering some statements and doing a powerpoint presentation on the BYU experience. He explained the uniqueness of BYU and what kind of athletes BYU is looking for. IMO he did a good job of selling BYU. He provided some powerpoints showing how BYU stacks up with other teams in the country in terms of 10 win seasons, rankings etc over the last 6 years. It was very impressive to see BYU included with programs like Bama, LSU, Va Tech etc. He then spoke about BYU having more polynesians on their roster than any other program with the exception of Hawaii. He was very passionate about this and spoke about misconceptions that exist currently regarding BYU and polynesian football players.
Bronco then spoke about independence and how unique BYU's fanbase is. He spoke about the amount of national television exposure last year. He then showed a powerpoint that featured future opponents. They included teams I was aware of like Notre Dame, Nebraska and West Virginia but also included two names that have not been announced as far as I know and they are Penn State and Wisconsin (although Wisconsin has been rumored for some time). He said they had presented several "big time" programs with an option of a 3 game series, H/H/N and that they had been turned down on every occasion thus far. He did say that they have some big games in the works. I must also note from where I was sitting I was obstructed somewhat and the list may have included other unannounced opponents. Bronco said that prior to going independent BYU was approached by a conference and that the talks went no where because of sunday play. He then said they are currently talking to a conference and that the issue once again is sunday play. He then went on to talk about being in a conference that wants BYU for what they represent and for who they are and that they will never budge on their prinicples (sunday play).
I also got a good chance to be up close and personal for practice. Very impressed by the athleticism and build of Taysom Hill. O'Neill Chambers looked much smoother at DB than I expected. He still has a long way to go schematically and fundamentally but I came away impressed. I suppose it is too bad he has only 1 year left. Juice looked good and much quicker and explosive than last year. Iona Pritchard is going to be an absolute beast if he can get and stay healthy. Manoa Pikula is going to be a fantastic LB and I was also impressed with Spencer Hadley in the indy drills. I apologize for this post droning on like it did but I felt like there is some worth while info here and I apologize again if this info has already been posted.