I won’t comment on Cody Hagen, WR from Corner Canyons because of my prediction with Braydon Casper.
Braydon played with Dax Milne at Bingham High and was part of the one-two punch WR’s that led Bingham to winning four state championships.
Went to BYU and Braydon has been injured most of his time there.
Cody Hagen is the real deal with sure hands, good route running, good fundamentals, etc. But I don’t want to jinx him like I did Braydon. LOL.
Cody is the nephew of a member of my bishopric. Who happens to be a die hard Utah fan. My counselor special needs son is an avid Utah fan and teases me all the time about being a BYU fan. I wonder now that his cousin is a BYU player, he will change allegiance?
I don’t think we are near where we need to be for entering the Big12, but I do think we are moving in the right direction.
I watched Hagen a couple times on TV this fall when I was in Utah visiting my kids. Hagen is VERY fast and dominates all comers. He looks a little skinny on film but if he really is 6’1" he will likely fill out a little and be big enough to handle the big, strong corners he will see every week in the B12 when he gets home from his mission (at least I’m told he planning to go on a mission before he plays; I guess we will see). Kody Epps DOMINATED high level HS competition just like Hagen did (I think S. California and Utah have some of the best HS football north and west of Texas), and I was fired up about Epps, but he’s been either hurt or simply too small to get on the field at BYU.
Kinglsey, the OT who transferred from Oregon, looks like the Real Deal. They don’t count him as a recruit since he’s a transfer, but he would definitely bump up BYU’s “rating” for the class.
Good to know this young man is completely focused on serving as a missionary. All he needs to do now is have some kind of physical hardship so he can get an honorable discharge from his mission and enroll in school early to prepare for next season.
“Called to serve him, head coach of the wolverines”
“Chosen first to represent their line”
“Far and wide he’s headed off to Michigan”
“Far and wide he’ll be a wolverine”
Onward ever onward, as he glories playing ball, onward ever onward as he glories playing ball… forward blocking forward looking for triumph every game, block forward every game, block forward for Jim Harbaugh… he’s the king!
Jim,
I posted this elsewhere and thought it might put things into perspective:
The parents are the ones that contacted the coaches
The parents made sure that the coaches knew they could not contact the missionary directly.
The parents “Asked” permission from the Misson President for Harbaugh to come to lunch with the missionary
The Misson President said as long as it does not affect the work. That is why this happened on P-day (you do remember what P-day is for, right?)
The missionary had lunch with Harbaugh on P-day.
I don’t know a single missionary EVER when they get within 6 months of their mission completion that they are not working with their parents to get them enrolled in school or whatever. It does not mean they are less focused; just means they are preparing for the future.
Why do people feel so justified in how and what they judge others as being “worthy” of being a good missionary or a good member or whatever?
Maybe because I was the target of such “righteous” members when I was growing up, I have become more sensitive to seeing how some people judge others, all because that person does not live the way that these members think they should.
I think way too many people including myself are more judgmental of others than they should be. Maybe it is the “new” culture in America to sit back and criticize others for whatever reasons.
This kid is just looking out for his future, being on a mission does not stop a young person from planning for his life post mission.
Now I will step off my soap box. Sorry for the rant, but for whatever reason the comments I have read about this article is a bit disturbing to me.
The bottom line. The kid was committed to Bronco in Va. when he quit, the kid’s dad talked to his son. It came down to BYU and Mich. and the kid, who’s brother and father played for BYU, said, “I want to go my own route” chose Mich. nothing on BYU,
How does Michigan promote the spread of the Gospel?
BYU is getting some great recruits. Many non-members to convert as well. Great place to play sports at to have missionary opportunities. I was a non-member when I entered BYU as a Junior.
And BYU got that good OT from Line Peak who recommitted from Virginia, so you wins some you lose some. Maybe the LP kid turns out to be better. You just don’t know until you know. Maybe the Gentry kid continues to live to high standards and makes a big impression on his teammates, coaches and fans, and if so more power to him.
thanks fish, good to know someone around here appreciates my artistic talents.
It was only a little humor injected to keep things from getting too serious around here. I would have preferred the kid not make all those decisions during his missionary service time but in the bigger picture I am TOTALLY ok with it. I love it when a high profile LDS athlete gets press and his story is out there for others to see. It helps us look more normal, which is a hard sell in many ways. We are still a very peculiar group, something I am proud of and actually like.
Anyhow, I hope he does well. I love it when I can talk to other sports people about NFL players like Kyle Van Noy, Daniel Sorensen and Fred Warner and tell them they played at BYU or they are LDS, etc. It helps others to be more accepting of the church and our beliefs.
exactamundo…Arkie is over there in another post talking about a missionary meeting with Harbough, I don’t know about the rest of you but towards the end of my mission, I sat down with the president and talked about my plans after the mission. Fairly sure that that happens throughout the world. My president cared.
I also was privy to a missionary in my zone that game away everything he had because he was going home over a girl. Our tough love pres. informed him that the only way he was going home was if it was in a casket-true story. I watched him hit a brick wall so hard, it left all his skin on the bricks. A bunch of us gave him shoed and clothes and worked him so hard, he didn’t have time to think about the ex… It took months but he came around. We are still buds today. That great pres…Berkley Spencer, the #1 baptizing mission in the world, Santiago Chile, Norte…later served as the guy that got the churches perpetual fund going to help foreign RM missionaries access college degrees. STUD. Probably had 25,0000 baptisms over his time as a mish pres.
Back in the early to mid eighties (82-84) when I served in Paraguay I knew a couple of sister missionaries who served in that mission. They were in my MTC district. One of them sent me a couple of letters and told me they baptized anywhere from 600 to 800 people a month in their mission. I think we were somewhere around 50 to 75. No matter, the church population is much bigger there now. I don’t think the church is growing where we live right now. Our stake is smaller in size than in the past. We have consolidated wards in the last several years and Covid has brutalized church activity. I happen to think that is by design, just curious where it will all lead to.
Funny story about Cody, As I said his uncle lives in our ward. He also has a special needs cousin who loves him very much. When Cody came over to his house to show him he signed with BYU, he showed a picture of him in his BYU uniform with a candy bar. All this special need cousin would need to do is cheer for BYU to get the candy bar.
The special need cousin would not eat the candy bar at all under those conditions. So they changed it to that he would cheer for Cody when he plays.
Funny story, No one really knows why this Special Needs cousin is a diehard Ute fan. He kind of woke up one day and that was that.
I hope Cody turns out the one of the best receivers we will have, but the way he works with his cousin is an inspiration to me.
I don’t know. Harbaugh claims that he is the only coach of the “blue bloods” that is NOT cheating and that it is unfair to compare his record to OSU’s or all the other elite programs out there (his words)
I read a report that there are more members of the church outside of the US than inside. Serving in the inner city Spanish mission, I can tell you they are good people who really want to serve the Lord the best way they can.
Just curious, did you ever have to shower on you mission where the water was heated by electric wires? My friend that served in Ecuador, said one place he lived he had to do that. Not sure he is not pulling my leg.
