Great article from Stewart Mandel at SI.com. Take a moment and read it if you have a minute.
Duke (ACC), Vanderbilt (SEC), Stanford (PAC12) and Northwestern (B1G10) are all from power conferences. While they don't mention BYU in the article, a lot of the same principles apply, though not necessarily at the "smart kid" angle, but more the higher standard of recruiting.
Some quotes/points that stood out to me that I felt were particularly relevant:
It's been interesting to me listen to the way Bronco recruits kids to BYU. Bronco definitely takes a very similar approach. I think I've heard him make claims very similar to Harbaughs that there are only around 50 kids a year that meet BYUs academic, religious (for lack of better wording) and talent qualifications in terms of recruiting. It's why it's important that BYU get the kids that it needs to get, more so than any other school.
I think Bronco has relaxed only slightly some of these standards. I think he's absolutely right in understanding what BYU is and using that to his advantage. No, we may not be able to recruit the biggest/fastest/strongest players, but if we're able to identify players who can be disciplined, talented and smart, I think that goes a long way to overcoming some of the other talent deficiencies. Moreso than the age difference from missions, it's the maturity and discipline that benefits BYU, and having the types of kids that have the discipline, no matter whether they choose to serve or not, is important.
Yes, there are great non-LDS or non-mission LDS kids that fit the profile. Jamal Williams, Kyle Van Noy and Cody Hoffman are great examples.
I wish that BYU's graduation rates weren't skewed by missions, because I would be interested in seeing where they stack up to other schools on GPA and percent of graduates. I'd imagine they'd be high and in the same conversation as well.
Duke (ACC), Vanderbilt (SEC), Stanford (PAC12) and Northwestern (B1G10) are all from power conferences. While they don't mention BYU in the article, a lot of the same principles apply, though not necessarily at the "smart kid" angle, but more the higher standard of recruiting.
Some quotes/points that stood out to me that I felt were particularly relevant:
In 2008, then-coach Jim Harbaugh told the Los Angeles Times that only about "100 to 150" of the approximately 3,500 annual FBS signees are realistically in play for Stanford.
Former Stanford AD Bob Bowlsby, now the Big 12's commissioner, recalled that when he hired Harbaugh in 2007, the coach said: "Mr. Bowlsby, you can't convince me that with 300 million people [in the U.S.], there aren't 25 good football players out there smart enough to play at Stanford."
"It's not about a hashtag on Twitter, it's not about a fan that's illegally sending you, 'go to my school' messages," said Pat Fitzgerald (Northwestern). "It's about using football as a vehicle to prepare you for life."
Northwestern's 13.9-percent acceptance rate is slightly less daunting, but its admissions department won't accept a player it feels might struggle to graduate. "If I have to sell a kid to the admissions department," said head coach Pat Fitzgerald, "I doubt he's a good fit." Fitzgerald keeps a database of every recent Northwestern player's high-school credentials so that he knows early in a prospect's recruitment whether he's on target for admission and can feel comfortable that the player won't be denied admission if he's offered a scholarship.
I think Bronco has relaxed only slightly some of these standards. I think he's absolutely right in understanding what BYU is and using that to his advantage. No, we may not be able to recruit the biggest/fastest/strongest players, but if we're able to identify players who can be disciplined, talented and smart, I think that goes a long way to overcoming some of the other talent deficiencies. Moreso than the age difference from missions, it's the maturity and discipline that benefits BYU, and having the types of kids that have the discipline, no matter whether they choose to serve or not, is important.
Yes, there are great non-LDS or non-mission LDS kids that fit the profile. Jamal Williams, Kyle Van Noy and Cody Hoffman are great examples.
I wish that BYU's graduation rates weren't skewed by missions, because I would be interested in seeing where they stack up to other schools on GPA and percent of graduates. I'd imagine they'd be high and in the same conversation as well.
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