McKay, I agree with you that Detmer got screwed by BYU. I have some close connections with the program and I think a lot of people–including players–were surprised that Sitake threw Detmer under the bus they way he did. Detmer was already making MAJOR inroads in recruiting, because apparently everyone but Sitake loves the dude. Detmer also had a “Bronco-esque” commitment to academics and to the HC. Parents were lining up to have their kids sign with BYU, because parents love a humble, highly accomplished, smart and friendly guy like Ty Detmer. LET’S ALL NOTE that almost all these sophomore and junior RM studs we have on offense: Allegeir, Rex, Jalen Hall, Romney, Milne, etc. were Detmer recruits. You are dead right: Kalani was in over his head, the program was reeling, he needed a scapegoat, and he picked Detmer. I think Grimes is great, but he never had noteworthy success until this year when we played a bunch of cupcakes.
Disclaimer: I have not met Ty Detmer, but I flew down and met with Jason Ah You and was able to finagle invites to BYU’s special invite camp for my QB and RB/WR, both of whom were incoming sophomores at the time and now on D1 football scholarships. Both are non members; both kids and their dads (both former D1 scholarship athletes) came home RAVING about how awesome Detmer was in every way. I am very close with both kids, and both say working with Ty was a highlight of their football experience. My daughter (who was working in the Ath Dept) took them all out to dinner talk about the HC and academics (both kids were valedictorians in HS). Knowing they were non members, she started talking about the HC, and both kids piped up and said Coach Detmer had pulled them aside the day before and said he knew they were not LDS but wanted them to know how much the Honor Code meant to him as a non-member recruit to BYU. Both kids were floored by his honesty and vulnerability when most football coaches–especially at camps–run around screaming and yelling and cussing at everyone to ‘pump guys up’. Both kids were already on Pac12 recruiting radars and had already heard the anti-BYU stuff, but after working with Detmer they left loving everything about BYU.
I liked Grimes. I thought he did a great job. My friends who work directly with him say he is an awesome guy. But I still think Detmer got an absolutely raw deal at BYU, and had he been able to stay long enough to work with his own recruits, I think he would have not only done great things, but done so with a commitment to academics and the HC that matched Bronco’s–and which has been MIA for much of the last 4 years in BYU football.
I am Queen Creek Football’s newest fan, because I think football–at every level–needs more people like Ty Detmer.
