Spencer Linton mentioned on Friday morning that Jay Hill met with a recruit and his family on Thursday evening and sealed the deal with a 4-star recruit. The father saying that Hill was the best recruiter his son has met. Since then, the speculation has been swirling about the identity of said recruit. Two names are mentioned more than any other:
Siale Esera, an outside linebacker from Timpview High School. Esera committed to BYU in September but has been wavering. He recently went on a recruiting trip to UCLA and reportedly had a fabulous time.
Smith Snowden, a legacy recruit and conerback from Skyridge. Snowden has long been thought to be a lock for Utah, but Jay Hill and Will Snowden (Smith’s dad and a former BYU running back) reportedly have a close friendship. He addition Hill is a former cornerback and plans to implement a Utah-style of defense. Coincidentally–or not–Snowden announced Friday morning that he would announce his commitment on Monday. The question now arises is Snowden the recruit Hill met with on Thursday and did that meeting lead to Friday’s/Monday’s announcement.
Hill is a killer recruiter and he knows the importance of recruiting Utah, is said to have strong ties with every big time HS program here in the state. He is going to have to win against Utah’s Whitt, who is being compared to Nick Sabin when it comes to locking up local kids. And with back to back Rose Bowls, Whitt is the man in the West. Go Hill, KILL IT.
I think the bigger issue for recruiting at least on the defensive side is the soft defensive scheme that was used at BYU. I believe it was Tom that said "Why would a 4- or 5-star defensive lineman would want to come to BYU only to be put in a position to not succeed (going against 5 or 6 offensive linemen)?
On the offensive side, well Conover entering portal makes a hugh comment about ARod and his schemes.
Does it? Why? I mean, I’m critical of Arod as well. But both Wilson and Hall have benefited being coached by Arod. I just don’t like the calls he makes and also not using the TE more.
From the funny but it hurts department: Gabe is actually an uncle of the Reid brothers. Their father is Spencer Reid.
Spencer Reid today was named BYU’s interim strength and conditioning coach.
But, as long as we’re on the subject, let’s explore the BYU-Timpview-Anae-Sitake-Utah dynamic. As I recall the scenario is something like this (feel free to correct me):
Gabe Reid, son of Spencer Reid and nephew of Gabe Reid, Brittain Covey, and Devin Kaufusi were all members of Timpview’s 2015 graduating class. All three considered BYU-bound.
However, Spencer Reid and Brittain’s dad were not Anae fans. You will recall that Bronco distained star rankings and perhaps the Reids and Coveys felt slighted by him and Anae. Gabe Reid signed with Stanford, Covey with Utah, and Kaufusi with BYU. The Reid commitment to Stanford actually came as somewhat of a major surprise because Reid was expected to announce a commitment to BYU in February 2014 at the ceremony were Timpview’s Isaiah Nacua signed his LOI. The Reid announcement was scratched at the last minute. But even at the time, Reid’s decision was disappointing but not disappointing. You may recall that Rocky Biegal’s son Vince, a 4-star recruit and current Baltimore Raven, chose Wisconsin over BYU. Rumor at the time was that Rocky and Bronco did not get along.
One of the Sitake selling points–by the PR department if not Kalani himself–was that he would be head coach Poly players would flock to. Obviously that hasn’t happened. As Tim and others have mentioned, if you are a high school athlete and you have the chance to play at BYU or a nearby univeristy that has one of the nation’s premiere defenses and, let’s face it, is the best football program in the state, which would you choose? Devin Kaufusi transferred, Karene Reid signed with Utah, Gabe Reid joined his brother as a grad transfer, Stan Raass recently decommited from BYU and committed to Utah, and today Smith Snowden committed to Utah.
My opinion: Being an independent and Anae’s personality kept BYU from getting the legacy recruits. Independence and the Sitake/Tuiaki/Lamb system and lazy recruiting compounded BYU’s problem. This should have been a prime year for recruiting, but it wasn’t. BYU played bad ball. The coaching change came at least one year too late.
If I recall, Bronco didn’t even offer Covey–only would give him PWO but not a scholly. I’d have gone to Utah too. Worked out for him since he’s getting his NFL checks…
The problems created by our soft defense has created a cruise ship crisis–everyone wants to stop the ship immediately, but something that big takes time to stop. Kalani created this and now BYU is getting its face kicked in by Utah on almost EVERY in-state recruiting head-to-head battle. Like I have said and you reiterated, star players don’t want to play in a pathetic defensive scheme where all you do is drop into zone and get your teeth kicked in every week. Didn’t Jay Hill just say something like “I’d rather put 9 guys on the line than sit back and get pounded.” That’s what high school kids want to hear. So I think the Hill hiring is a great one, but it will take some time to sort this mess out. Bottom line is the best high school defensive players in Utah obviously now see Utah as fun and exciting and BYU as boring.
It’s too late? Is the 2nd coming happening in two years or something? It maybe for this year’s recruits. But, not the following year or afterwards. Hill is a great way to get recruits in the future. And don’t forget. Many are going on missions first. There is 2 years to show them BYU is where they need to re-commit to after their missions.
How far do young people and young high school football players look? Answer: From their shoulder to their hands (if that far). If BYU is not winning at a high standard (and they can see that on their devices) they will not come to BYU. And a high standard is not 7 and 5. If the D stinks, and ours has, the high schoolers and transfer ballers see that from their devices. Now we are going into the Big 12 and what will our wins be the next 2 to 4 years: 2 to 4 or 5 wins? Even with Hill, BYU is behind a very giant 8-ball Ya gotta win big to attract 4 and 5-star athletes, whether or not your program is in a P5 program.
It all depends on the Big 12 schedule which will be released either later this week or next. Right now we begin with two easy preseason home games which should both be wins: Sam Houston St. and Southern Utah. BYU then plays at Arkansas as the lead in to the Big 12 Schedule. To be bowl eligible, BYU needs to win four of the nine Big 12 games.
Now here is where I am optimistic. Will the games be tough? Yes. Has BYU proven in the Sitake era that it can beat Big 12 and other P5 teams? Yes. Should be able to win at least four Big 12 games and be bowl eligible? It depends on which nine teams BYU faces, but it’s not like any conference has top to bottome unbeatable teams. I suspect BYU will finish 6-6, 7-5, or 8-4 next year. Anything better than that will bring a smile to my face.
One more thing: Isn’t it wonderful to finally be able to say that with more than one or two losses BYU still has plenty to play for? Goodness knows, look at Utah. Three losses, including two in conference, and they are Pac 12 champs and playing in the Rose Bowl. Kansas St. has three losses, including two in conference, and is playing in the Sugar Bowl. Oklahoma finished 6-6 and is playing in the Cheez-it Bowl against Florida State. Despite its name, the Cheez-it Bowl is ranked 11th out of 41 bowl games this year by CBS Sports. BTW, CBS ranks The New Mexico Bowl 24th and The Rose Bowl 3rd.
What we are really facing is NIL money. â– â– â– â– Harmon said that one Utah commit was offered 500,000. How is BYU going to compete with that kind of money.
Offered by who? This doesn’t smell right. I do t mind athletes making money in their name. But how about they play a year or two before being paid NIL money
