A long season is over, thoughts for next year...

[Goatnapper'96]

The argument for Tommy Connor is that it takes a special coach to win at Utah, and he appears potentially qualified in that respect. To win at Utah you have to have an eye for the Drew Hansens that no one outside the state and even BYU is much interested in but in whom you recognize real, genuine potential. You have to be able to wow the moms of LDS athletes. You have to be able to tolerate the mission strangeness and roll with it. You have to figure out a way to not lose any quality local players north of Alpine to BYU or any out of state programs. You have to have a system that focuses on the strengths of athletes Utah has historically recruited and deemphasizes their glaring weaknesses. Once you have mastered all of the foregoing, you can build a great program at Utah if you can in addition attract some major out of state talent every once in a while. But that is the gravy.

My concern about Boylen is not x's and o's, ability to motivate, or the gravy. My concern is whether he's the right man for this peculiar job in which LDS culture can be such an anvil tied around your ankle as you're trying to win the race, but you have somehow to figure out a way to turn that anvil into an advantage, how to make it work for you. Utah has been fortunate to have had some great coaches in basketball and football who have figured that out. Most good coaches are not cut out for it, however. That's one reason New Mexico beats us out for a guy like Alford.

U guys wouldn't like Alford, he uses potty words.

[U-Ute]

U guys wouldn't like Alford, he uses potty words.

Yeah, but he uses them at BYU players. A definite plus.

[Flattop]

I bet that unless next year is real bad and I mean sub 10 wins bad, Boylen is here for 2 more seasons.

Fortunately, I don't expect him to do a Giacolleti and be worse next year.

[SeattleUte]

Fortunately, I don't expect him to do a Giacolleti and be worse next year.

Giving him a total of five years would be the right thing to do for a lot of reasons.

[SeattleUte]

The argument against Tommy Connor is most coaches elevated from NAIA to NCAA Div. I fail, and for t his reason it's rarely done.

[Goatnapper'96]

The argument against Tommy Connor is most coaches elevated from NAIA to NCAA Div. I fail, and for t his reason it's rarely done.

If Boylen fails it is time to fire your AD, doctor whathisname. How could anyone screw up two University of Utah basketball hires?

[DrumNFeather]

Fortunately, I don't expect him to do a Giacolleti and be worse next year.

I'm not so sure that will be the case. He might not have a 20+ win season next year, but somewhere in the neighborhood of 17 or so would show an improvement.

I think that one thing that has really set Boylen back (aside from BYU, SDSU, UNLV, and UNM being good) is that he decided to keep some average players and had some otherwise decent players leave. What would this team look like with Stephen Weigh as a slasher? How many wins is that worth? Hard to say, but I would trade Weigh for the production we got out of both Tillie and Drca this year. Also, think about the PG position, Josh Olson wasn't retained and Curtis Eatmon had a career (at least at Utah) ending injury, which is kind of a tough break. He's still in the process of balancing out scholarships and whatnot...which just takes time.

He seems to have had a few big misses bringing in guys like Kepkay and Reed and missing out on Ty Abbot and AJ Ogilvy, and he needs to correct that. Flat out, if he's going to bring in a JC guy, it HAS to be someone that can conttribute.

[Mr. Crimson]

I am fine with that short list. 2 of the 3 guys have connections to Majerus and that is something that this program needs right now.

Actually this program desperately needs the opposite, to forget Rick Majerus was every the coach. Until we move on from that this program will never get better. We need to learn our Indiana type lesson and get the eff over our Bobby Knight.

[Mr. Crimson]

The argument against Tommy Connor is most coaches elevated from NAIA to NCAA Div. I fail, and for t his reason it's rarely done.

After having thought about this, if Boylen fails for the life of me I don't know what Tommy Conner brings to the table that would make us any better. MPFunk is in love with him because of some supposed quote Majerus made about him and nothing to do with actually knowning anything about him.

[Mr. Crimson]

He seems to have had a few big misses bringing in guys like Kepkay and Reed and missing out on Ty Abbot and AJ Ogilvy, and he needs to correct that. Flat out, if he's going to bring in a JC guy, it HAS to be someone that can conttribute.

Abbot and Ogilvy were Giac misses not Boylen.

[DrumNFeather]

Abbot and Ogilvy were Giac misses not Boylen.

Who am I thinking of then? Isn't there a kid playing for Purdue or Vandy the Boylen missed on? Missed probably isn't the right word, but you know what I mean.

[SeattleUte]

Just to remind everyone, this is where the Utes sat just one year ago after tonight:

[ame="http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=290730254"]San Diego State Aztecs vs. Utah Utes - Recap - March 14, 2009 - ESPN[/ame]

It's something vaunted BYU failed to accomplish this year. Last year was especially meaningful in light of the tie for the regular season title. Utah killed to birds with one stone.

One year ago.

It now appears likely Utah got a higher seed last year than BYU will this year. Soon the books will be closed on this season and BYU fans like junkie and Monson will have nothing but their own delusions on which to base any conclusion that BYU is on the way up and Utah is on the way down. Next year we start over again, and Utah history will be better, as always. And Utah will have better recruiting years in 09 and 10 to build on.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Soon the books will be closed on this season and BYU fans like junkie and Monson

Monson? Do you mean Gordon Monson? He is now a BYU fan? Have you ever read him? I would say no SU knows his history.

[Flattop]

Monson? Do you mean Gordon Monson? He is now a BYU fan? Have you ever read him? I would say no SU knows his history.

Utah fans believe Monson is a BYU homer, and BYU fans think he is a Utah homer. That must mean something, I just don't know what.

[Mr. Crimson]

Who am I thinking of then? Isn't there a kid playing for Purdue or Vandy the Boylen missed on? Missed probably isn't the right word, but you know what I mean.

You're thinking of the JC guy Nemanja Calasan or something like that. He was a Giac recruit that Boylen didn't take because Boylen wanted to get younger and balance the scholarships. He ended up averaging 6 and 3 at Purdue. I don't know that I'd call it a miss.