A couple of things. Bronco recruited a certain type frame(generally LB size) and hoped he could mold out of that.  What we ended up with was a couple of spring games that couldn't happen because we didn't have enough healthy lineman. He also didn't have a Gilford back recruiting guys that were athletic BYU fits that he could develop over the course of their time at BYU. That's primarily the reasons for increased depth across the board. We were generally stacked at LB.

I do think P5's taking more notice to Utah kids is a factor for our local recruiting suffering. I also think 2017 is still working against the current recruiting cycle. I believe there is opportunity with local recruiting in overall effort. BYU recruits far fewer kids than most schools and if we want a kid, it shouldn't be because Utah or Oregon who offer 2-3 times more kids than we do have assistants spending more time and effort on that kid. 

Two things that really go under the radar when people talk about academics and HC are 1) The honor code revisions earlier this year really would seem to logically favor athletes in general. You can't anonymously report. How many HC suspensions have we had this year that didn't involve an arrest?  As far as I know it's just the one that made the news before the season.  2) While I don't think academic standards have gotten harder, the xfer portal has changed the game or recruiting. Getting kids into BYU isn't any harder from the kids we recruit in HS, but with the xfer portal, grad xfers have become a much larger thing across the country and really can impact teams right away. BYU is a great place for a lot of these P5 kids who want to shine one last year before exhausting their eligibility. They really only have to fit BYU and the HC for 3-4 months, not 4 years. However, a lot of the grad schools at BYU do not seem to be super keen on the idea of giving somebody a 1 semester entry knowing they most likely are gone after the season. That to me seems to be the biggest academic hurdle BYU is currently having and if I were Tom would be the area I'd really be focused on with the admin on finding solutions here.