"Thou Almost Persuaded me to be a..."

Ute fan.
Well, not quite. But…
What an exciting game last night. What a defense! Why can’t BYU put this product on the field? As others have mentioned, the BYU defense scheme of 3 -8 is so dumb. So boring. The whole time watching Utah’s defense I’m thinking - is Sitake watching and learning from this??!!! How can he not be? And are any potential defensive recruits (and current players), especially linemen watching this and comparing it to BYU? I know where I’d go if I were being recruited by both. Night and day, unfortunately.
And I’m slowly losing my daughter to the dark side, highly influenced by all her Ute husband ad in-laws. But almost can’t blame her.

Forgot this. And the word that kept going through my head the whole time was “disruptive”. Wow, what a concept! We should try that!

Whitt is a wizard on D, no doubt. The reason why he has been P12 champ two years running is Cam Rising. Whitt has NEVER let a QB sling it in 20 years, relies on strong rushing and D. I guess even an ol dog can learn some tricks.

Sitake doesn’t have half the brains or guts of KWhitt. Hate to say it but it’s too obvious not to say it. And another thing I hate to say but is painfully obvious: any DE or OLB with a chance to play on Sundays would be an idiot to pick BYU over Utah.

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Are you a wolf in sheepskins?

I fear things are getting worse. Rumblings of Nua out of USC is not good. BYU needs deversification, not poly polarization. Jish

That’s why Stan Raass’s decision to decommit from BYU and to commit to Utah is painful but understandable.

One question I have for Chris is, “What do you mean by diversification?” I ask because about half of the names floating around as potential BYU defensive coordinators are Poly and LDS. So does diversification mean attended BYU vs. not attended BYU, Tongan vs. Samoan, LDS vs. non-LDS, Poly vs. some other race, experienced DC vs up and coming DC?

Another intriguing name that I’ve heard discussed–though there’s no rumor of an offer–is Jason Kaufusi. He has experience as a DC (Weber St. 2016), P5 coaching experience, Utah rather than BYU experience, a reputation as a relentless recruiter, and the last name Kaufusi. On a personal note I’ve disliked Jason Kaufusi ever since 2001 when he should have received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty during the BYU game but didn’t. Still, I would forgive him for a barely-remembered incident if he were to become a coach/coordinator at BYU.

Speaking of available coaches and diversity, rumor in Boise is that Dirk Koetter will not be returning as offensive coordinator [replacement for Arod anybody?]. Koetter is non-LDS, very familiar with the Intermountain area and LDS culture (grew up and coached in Pocatello), a former head college and NFL head coach and coordinator. I don’t know if he’d be interested in working at BYU, but I’d take his proven success over Roderick’s any day.

It would be nice that someday we are judged by one another by the content of our character and not the color of our skin. Don’t let the door hit you in the but Barrington. I’d rather be a bottom dweller than a bunch of whining bigoted players. That’s what I’m gathering he means. He probably enjoyed a few blacks back in the days when they helped us win games.
Now, if what he meant is about DC experience versus non-experience then I’m with him.

Report: Former Cougar Kelly Poppinga expected to leave Boise State to rejoin BYU staff (msn.com)

This is a good thing

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Depends – If he is hired as the LB coach, “Great”, but if they hire him as DC, well I am not impressed. What has he done to get that spot? He was “Co-DC” in Virginia, which means Bronco did not trust him to do the job by himself.

Sorry, but the track record for Kalani hiring assistant coaches is nowhere near Lavell’s ability (Kalani has stated he wants to emulate Lavell).

If he’s not the DC then one has already been picked and just not announced. DC’s pick their assistants.

Dirk Koetter is LDS, but not active. He played softball for my dad in SE Idaho in the 80s. He was head coach at ASU for a while. He’s a great offensive mind who hasn’t quite turned the corner as a head coach.

Even though he’s not active LDS (and probably doesn’t keep all standards), I think he would do fine at BYU as far as representing the school. Ditto with Mike Leach, although he would only want to be a head coach (and we wouldn’t pay him what he would want).

Dirk Koetter has a lot of head coaching and coordinating experience: Per Wikipedia Career History (if you trust Wikipedia):

As a coach:

I think Koetter would be a real upgrade from Aaron Roderick. Or Kalini Sitake . . .

So would Mike Leach.

I don’t see it happening, but I think Paul Peterson would be a great hire.

Did you hear Tate Romney has also entered the Portal? Isn’t he from your area?

I know he is the younger brother of the Gunner. 3-star LB, who had a whole lot of schools after him.

Haha no way Leach comes to BYU…dude’s straight up crazy but in a “I love it” way…plus he’s making a lot more than BYU would ever pay him and doesn’t need to deal with the HC.

Koetter? Maybe. But the problem with a guy like Koetter is that I doubt anyone with that resume would take a job at BYU unless the HC agreed to GET OUTTA THE WAY and give him autonomy. Has Kalani done that, even once, in 7 years? Nope, didn’t think so.

I see a lot of canaries dropping in the coal mine. Unfortunately, they keep extending Sitake every year, it seems like. I think BYU was heading to mediocrity even before the Big12, but we have major coaching, morale, and recruiting issues.

I’ve said this before, but there are big donor Cougar Club members who were unhappy about Sitake from the start. One of them, who flew my dad up to a game, told my dad that he hopes we lose enough games that they have to get rid of Sitake. The trajectory we are on now is trending in that direction, although he has how many years of extensions left?

I was thinking more as a head coach than a coordinator (both Koetter or Leach). I know neither would ever happen (Leach is nuts, and would be a threat to say things that would embarrass BYU and the Church). I did like when he locked Kirk Herbstreet’s son in the shed, and Herbstreet had a hissy fit. :slight_smile:

I never liked the Sitake hire. I know that many loved how he boogied with the players and stuff like that, but I’m more of a stolid guy. He hasn’t adjusted when it’s obvious it needs to happen.

I really don’t like the politics with players. Connover played well when he pushed Zach Wilson, and he clearly wasn’t given a chance against Hall. I think they’ve been obsessed with producing another high draft pick at QB, and they were sensitive about Hall’s reputation as an oft and easily injured “Glass Joe,” so they wanted to keep playing him at Connover’s expense. I think Connover was overall a better quarterback, anyway. I think there was also some buying into the hype about Hall being the first black RM starting quarterback at BYU, and it was ■■■■ the torpedoes and straight ahead, no matter what.

The kid in the shed was Craig James: ESPN analyst, part of the SMU Pony Express with Eric Dickerson, former political candidate, and killer of five or six prostitutes.

BTW, there are a lot of rumors out there so let me make a guess before reality sets in. BYU gets an A+ grade: Assistant Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator Jay Hill, Defensive Coordinator and Line Coach Shaun Nua, Kelly Poppinga Outside Linebacker Coach, Jernaro Gilford retained as Defensive Backfield coach. Other staff to be named later.