Hi all. I’m a longtime lurker/first time poster. Before I get into my post, I just wanted to give a little background: While I grew up an avid BYU fan, I was born and raised in the Ogden area and I ended up attending Weber State and playing for one of their sports programs. I am currently involved as a booster with Weber as well as being involved with the athletic department, so I’d like to remain anonymous. I’m sorry that I can’t go into further detail. Since attending Weber, I’ve remained a Wildcat through and through but I also keep the Cougs close to my heart and certainly continue to follow them very closely. This past week, I was involved in a discussion that is pretty eye opening and I thought some of you might be interested. Ok, sorry for the long intro, now let’s get down to business:

This past week I was visiting with 2 members of Weber’s athletic department as we talked about the USU opening and how Jay Hill might be headed to Logan. Both individuals were certain that if Jay gets offered the USU job, he’s a goner. However, what I found interesting is that one of the guys chimes in and said: “Jay has always been open with us about the fact that if Utah or USU ever pursue him, he will take either job”. I added in: “I’m sure BYU is on that list as well”. Both men informed me that Jay has already discussed with them that he would not leave Weber for BYU. I was pretty surprised by this considering that Jay is an extremely devout individual, and that the BYU job is certainly an upgrade over the Weber job. I told these guys as much and they both relayed to me that Jay has been told by several local coaches (including some currently @BYU) that it’s a bad idea to take the BYU job until there is a conference affiliation, relaxation of current admittance standards and a better relationship/possible relaxation of minor infractions between the honor code office and athletic department. I still somewhat scoffed at what they were saying and both gentleman went on to tell me that I would be shocked to see how hard it would be to fill the head coach position if Sitake was not to return. They adamantly stated that just about every coach in the state told Sitake not to take the HC job @BYU and that even Sitake himself knew it was probably a bad idea but that his love for BYU and Lavell was enough to tip the scales. At the end of the conversation the higher ranking official told me that BYU football’s Head Coaching position is currently “the least desirable” HC position in the state. He even said that taking the Weber or Southern Utah job puts you in a position to build up your name and get yourself a conference affiliated G5 HC job with a program that doesn’t face any of the challenges that currently face BYU. His last sentence on the subject was: “Until BYU gets into a football conference, the program is going backwards and the powers that be are getting very nervous in Provo”.

I’d also like to add that the character of these 2 individuals is top-notch. They are both very active members and have a huge respect as well as a good working relationship with Brigham Young University. In other words, this was not a case of 2 Chris Hill clones spewing venom at BYU. I’m still so surprised by what I learned during this discussion. I’m certainly aware of the challenges BYU is currently facing but I NEVER believed I’d live to see the day that BYU became a less desirable location than Weber State. As somebody who still carries a lot of love for BYU, I’m hoping these challenges can and will be overcome, but I’m still pretty saddened by how far they seem to be falling. Anyway, thanks for reading my long story. Take it for what it’s worth, I realize nobody knows me from Adam and you’ll probably be skeptical of what I’ve had to say and I completely understand why.