They knew nothing about Utah. On the other hand, they needed a football coach and they knew Lavell and I had learned football from him. So that might not be a fair comparison. I know most people around here would see BYU as more prestegious than Utah in other areas as well
I also know my Son-in-law (a Utah Grad) told me as a Chemical Engineer, BYU would have had a better chance than Utah grad at the companies he had worked for at that time