The Robert Anae-theme “Go Fast, Go Hard” took a lot of energy. Mathews didn’t want to knock it, but he did wish he’d made more plays for the targets he got and for all the running and effort. He also wishes his older brother Marcus, a kind of tweener at 6-5, had been given more opportunities to make plays in his BYU career.
“The ‘Go Fast, Go Hard ‘thing worked. But, you know, it wasn’t very fitting for a body like mine at 6-6 220 pounds, running 80 plays a game.”
Mathews said he had a tracker attached to his shoulder pads and wore it on game days. The data showed that from warmups to the end of the game he’d run 81⁄2 miles in a few games.
Can you say gassed?
Meanwhile, BYU just landed the fastest receiver crew in all the land.
My friends son played O-line during that time under Bronco and company.
In his Sophomore year, his son missed exactly 10 plays during the season. When all was said and done that season, the number of plays BYU ran with GFGH offense equaled to about 2.5 years of normal plays run for an offense.
My friend son never fully recovered that season and ended up having to have surgery on his knee and shoulder. which was a shame, because during that sophomore year this kid never allowed a sack of the QB (I guess they kept track of that type of stuff).
It is because of what happened to this kid and some of the inside information i heard from his dad, that made me dislike Bronco as a coach and Anae as a person and coach.
the GFGH would be a great idea if BYU was full of fast athletes, something we were NOT at the time. If I remember, it all started in Oregon, got them a title, then Chip Kelly left for the NFL, and that did not work out well.
Inside information from a Dad? Umm… okay. The reality of the situation is no matter what a guy like Bronco does, there will be a lot of people who dislike him. You really can’t win with everyone. The fact that the kid was there playing at BYU should be good enough for them to like Bronco, the fact that his career didn’t end making millions of dollars playing in the NFL isn’t really Bronco’s fault. Things happen and lives take different courses than the ones we plan or imagine. VERY FEW people get to do what they want to in life. Most of us grind it out and hope we did well for those we love.
Jim, i would normally agree with you. But this dad is not your typical athlete parent.
He is one that tried to help his kids see the importance of education over sports. His family is a long time Utah fan.
But they supported thier son decision to go to BYU. In fact he was impressed with Bronco focus on education.
What bothered him is Anae lack of concern for players health. Like i said, his son played every down except for 10 plays. When he got hurt, Anae never once checked on him. Then they changed oline coaches who played favorites.
Mt friends son was so damaged from his injuries that he gave up football for other things, like marrying the daughter of a very rich guy in Kentucky
In my opinion Bronco is HC and should have been on top of that.
