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Nov 19, 2019
9:25:05am
The Y's Insider All-American
Recruiting concerns Part II; first-hand observations
I posted last week about my concern of Utah out-recruiting LP's Nate Ritchie (from a long-time BYU family). CoachSpeak weighed in to express his first-hand concerns about BYU's ability to recruit, but it seems many posters kinda scoffed and said, "Well obviously BYU didn't really want your son, anyway, so who cares."

You guys are missing the point and burying your head in the sand.

For the past 10 seasons or so, BYU's recruiting game has been losing traction. The most elite in-state kids are now mostly going to out-of-state to Pac12 programs, and more than ever before we are battling Utah for the 3-star LDS local products (including BYU legacy kids).

I'm not solely blaming Kalani for this slip in recruiting, but I think it falls on his staff to get things turned around. And ultimately it falls on Tom Holmoe to oversee the "lifeblood of the program". I know for a fact that in Kalani's first few years at BYU he petitioned HARD for a bigger recruiting budget like he was accustomed to at Utah (he was not satisfied with the result of his petition).


Over the past 5 years I have seen the recruiting process play out with several family members and close friends. Let me share 3 examples of what I saw first-hand:

Kid #1: Played for a small Utah school that didn't get a lot of attention from recruiters. The kid is a terrific 3-sport athlete but played in a football system that didn't showcase his talents very well. He had scholarship offers from several FCS programs, but only 1 scholarship offer from an FBS program (out of state and somewhat of a disaster program). Utah State (Matt Wells at the time) invited him on a recruiting trip and to several events, and he called him occasionally and tried really hard to persuade him to accept a PWO position with the possibility of earning a scholarship depending on his performance. Utah was even more involved; aside from several invitations to attend campus for various events, Morgan Scalley texted him every week and visited him at school about once a month - pulled him out of class to talk about his last game, his health, etc. Scalley always said "We really love you as a player and we feel like you can thrive at Utah and earn a scholarship - we're just in a crunch at your position at the moment." Ben Cahoon visited him in person once, invited him on a recruiting trip and to a football game, but beyond that there was virtually no communication. By about Oct of his sr year, this kid was weighing his options between Dixie and Weber State, when seemingly out of nowhere BYU offered him a scholarship. He was shocked and told me, "I really didn't think BYU had any interest in me. Between BYU, USU, and UU, I thought BYU was the least interested."

He accepted the BYU scholarship and is currently on the team (and is very happy at BYU), but had Utah offered, there's no doubt this kid would've chosen Utah over BYU because the U sold him that he was truly WANTED. This is a long-time BYU fan, but his distaste for Utah quickly washed away as the U staff showed personal and sustained interest in him and sold him on their program.


Kid #2: Big-time recruit with offers from most Western FBS programs. Being in BYU's back yard (almost literally), you would expect BYU to visit him twice as often as Utah, and 4X more often than Pac12 coaches. The opposite was true. BYU was one of the first to offer a scholarship, and there was no doubt they wanted him, but they didn't stay in touch with him nearly as often as Utah, Stanford, UCLA, and Washington. These schools contacted him weekly via social media, made in-home visits regularly, and just out-worked BYU on the recruiting front.

Ultimately this kid chose to attend a Pac12 school (not Utah). To be honest, I'm not sure if BYU could've landed him even if they had recruited him harder, but they really didn't give themselves a legitimate chance. The kid's dad told me, "If the recruiting process is indicative of how my son will be watched after and taken care of at school, then it's apparent that some schools are just far more committed to their student athletes." (I disagree with the dad's comment - I realize recruiting is a lot of smoke and mirrors. But most kids and parents don't recognize this when they are in the process.)


Kid #3: Pretty good player, but undersized and a bit of a tweener.

Lots of "interest" from regional FBS schools as a high school sophomore. The kid was really mature for his age and looked like a man amongst boys.

As a high school junior, some schools continued to show "interest". BYU sent him a form letter expressing interest but they never called, texted, or made a personal visit. Utah State invited him to Junior Day where they told him they were impressed by his film and wanted to keep an eye on him. Utah coaches visited with him during school multiple times and said they really liked his film and were interested in offering him a scholarship depending on his development the following year.

His senior year (after not growing and very little development) BYU never really reached out again. Utah State also stopped expressing any interest. Utah coaches stayed in regular contact - "How you doing? Hope you can heal up and play on Friday. Good luck this week against _________. I know there are FCS schools and junior colleges offering you the opportunity to play, but we would love to have a kid like you at Utah with the opportunity to perhaps earn a scholarship through hard work and determination. If you go the JUCO route, that is understandable and we will keep a close eye on you in hopes of landing you after a few years. What an awesome opportunity to play for a Pac12 program. blah, blah, blah...."

Ultimately this kid went the JUCO route, with hopes of progressing and earning a scholarship at... Utah. (Incidentally, he played a year of JUCO ball then went on a mission and washed out.)



In all 3 of these cases, I can say with conviction that BYU LOST the recruiting battle to Utah. True, none of these kids actually played for Utah, but all 3 cases show just how much more active Utah is in the process and illustrates how Utah is landing more talent (including BYU legacy players like Chase Hansen, Covey, Handley, etc.).

Utah is outworking BYU in staying in close touch with elite athletes.

Utah is outworking BYU with young athletes (sophomores and juniors) with borderline D1 ability, hoping they will develop into legit prospects and will then already be sold on the U coaching staff. These high school juniors are proudly walking around high school with UU gear - "Yeah, I met with the U coaches a few days ago and they are probably gonna offer me a scholarship."

BYU has little control over our position in the college landscape - we are on the island of misfit toys until an improbable P5 offer comes our way. Meanwhile, Utah's Pac12 affiliation is a huge advantage for their program and they are selling it every single day. But we actually do have resources that most mid-major programs don't have, and if we want to have a competitive shot with Utah this coming decade, we MUST release those resources and put FAR MORE effort/work/investment into the recruiting game. This is essentially a math problem: If team A ranks #35 in recruiting, and Team B ranks #70 recruiting, which team is likely to win?

If recruiting is, indeed, "the lifeblood of the program" (which I think is true), then we simply MUST get better.
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