I am sending out
this issue today instead of its normal time of Monday because I won’t be
available then.
Thanks,
HB
HB Arnett’s
COUGAR SPORTSLINE
801
372 0819
hbarnett@fiber.net and hbarnett@xmission.com
Vol. 29,
Issue 36 – April 6, 2009
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Here To Order Or Renew Your Subscriptions
MAX HALL
IS STILL THE BIG DOG
Max Hall is not a
laughing matter despite his luster among Cougar fans becoming a little
tarnished late last season.
Throwing six picks
against
Here is a Max Hall
joke that was making the rounds after the season ended. Did you hear that Max
Hall lost his three best receivers to early entry into the NFL?
Yeah, Austin
Collie, Paul Kruger and Sean Smith (The latter two both picked off a Hall pass
for the Utes and both are headed early to the NFL.
Hall certainly was
good for a little levity, but without him as quarterback for BYU last year, a
little levity would have been a lot of losing.
That is not funny,
but true.
Without Hall last
season, the Cougars are lucky to get 5 wins.
Without Hall this
season, the same will hold true.
Here something
else to smile about.
Hall is having a
great spring.
Here are some
numbers that are no joke and will get you longing for the season to get started
right away.
With three weeks
in the books and several 11-on-11 drills and two serious scrimmages, Hall's
numbers are not laughable, but laudable. That lends itself to a big fall for
the senior-to-be quarterback.
Game
Like
In the two most
game-like scrimmages, Hall has gone 19-of-26 for 176 yards.
As has always been
the case with BYU football, the Cougars will only go as far as their
quarterback will take them.
Stand-up comics
are funny, but Hall has put up some stand-up-and-take-notice numbers this
spring. In other work during the spring, he has completed 53-of-67 throws.
We don't think you
will see any coaches in the MWC laughing about Hall coming back for his senior
season and neither should we as BYU fans.
COUNTING
CORNERBACKS AND OTHER RECRUITS
There is a good
reason that Bronco Mendenhall focuses on recruiting LDS players. There is an
even better reason why he focuses on trying to find LDS cornerbacks and other
defensive backs.
If the recruit is
a defensive back and not LDS and signs with BYU out of high school, history
shows it is highly unlikely he will last at BYU.
There is normal
attrition of recruits at BYU and with all football programs, but when it comes
to non-LDS recruits in general and defensive backs, in particular, they seldom
survive in
We go back ten
years to look at the non-LDS high school recruits BYU has signed in the last
decade and see how they fared in the program.
1998...In this recruiting
class BYU signed four high school non-LDS recruits: Kevin Gilbride, qb; Eugene
Childs, wr; Michael Westbrook, wr; Jernaro Gilford, db; Brandon McFerron, ol.
Gilbride, Childs,
McFerron and Westbrook lasted two seasons or less. Gilford did go the distance,
but he had to take an honor code hiatus before returning to
The Cougars also
signed a jc defensive back, Michael Lafitte. He didn't play much, but made it
through his two years of eligibility in
1999...BYU signed Jenaro
Gilford (again, because he didn't qualify academically the year before), db;
Colby Bockwoldt, lb; Kurt Elliott, db; Devian Mims, dl; Robert Ramirez, db.
Mims and Ramirez
never qualified academically and never enrolled. Only Bockwoldt made it through
4 years of eligibility.
In the non-LDS
juco ranks, BYU signed Hashi Robertson, db; Brian Gray, db; Jonathan Pittman,
wr. All three played their two years.
2000...Isaiah Joiner, a
running back, was the only non-LDS high school signee that year. He ran back a
few kickoffs and also had an incident where he ran through a mall parking lot.
He was a quick exit.
On the juco scene,
Danny Phillips and Derrus Wilson, both db's, didn't contribute much, but stayed
two years. Brian McDonald, rb, also played 2 years. He enrolled as non-LDS, but
joined the Church and served a mission after graduation.
2001...O'Neal Howell, db
and Breyon Jones, wr signed. Both made four years. Josh Brandon, db, a juco,
played his two years.
2002...Curtis Brown, rb,
Dan Coats, te, Travonne Jackson, db, Thomas Stancil, rb signed out of high school.
Brown and Coats were four year-guys and stars. Jackson and Stancil lasted a
year. Brown joined the
James Allen, db
and Walt Williams, db, signed from the juco ranks. Allen lasted a year and
Williams could never qualify academically.
2003...This was a small
class and no non-LDS recruits were signed.
2004...Karland Bennett,
db; Antwaun Harris, wr, B.J. Mathis, rb; Michael Reed, wr; Ibrahim Rashada, db;
Billy Skinner, db; William Turner, lb. Only Reed survived and graduated. We
would tell you what happened to the others, but Cougar fans don’t want to
be reminded of it.
Juco wise, BYU
signed non-LDS recruits Todd Watkins, wr; Riley Weber, wr; Eddie Scipio, db;
Michael Morris, wr; Gary Lovely, lb; Greg Lovely, db, Justin Luettgerodt, lb.
Watkins, Weber,
Luttgerodt and Gary Lovely made it. Scipio never enrolled for academic reasons.
2005...Brandon Howard was
the only non-LDS high school signee. He started last year, but is not currently
in school. There is hope that he will return in the fall.
On the juco scene
BYU signed non-LDS recruits Sete Aula, ol and Justin Robinson, db. Both were
starters and played through their eligibility.
2006... BYU signed just
one non-LDS recruit; a juco deep snapper, Matt Johnson. He never enrolled.
2007...BYU signed 4
non-LDS high school recruits. They included:
Only DiLuigi is
still here after just two years.
No non-LDS jucos
were signed.
2008...Only 2 non-LDS
signed. O'Neill Chambers, wr and Garett Nicholson, db. Both present and
accounted for after one season.
No jucos signed.
Stats aren't our
forte, but our numbers show that BYU is retaining just 33 percent of its
non-LDS high school recruits over the last decade.
When you figure
the retention rate of non-LDS high school defensive backs that have signed in
the last ten years, it is only 25 percent.
By contrast, when
you figure the retention rate of non-LDS juco recruits, the retention rate of
juco signees in the last decade is 81 percent.
We are sure there
must be other factors, but it appears to us that BYU would be better served by
focusing more attention on the junior college market, especially when it comes
to defensive backs and non-LDS prospects.
For perspective,
from what we can gather from the official press guides of BYU football for the
last ten years, there is also a pretty good turnover rate for the bread and
butter LDS recruit over the last 10 years.
Here are the
counts per year. The attrition can be attributed to scholarships being pulled,
transfers, injuries, academics and other problems, but here are the numbers.
1998...Signed 13 LDS high
school recruits. Only 7 made it through 4 years of eligibility.
1999...Signed 16 LDS high
school recruits. Only 8 finished four years of eligibility.
2000...Signed 19 LDS high
school recruits. Only 5 finished the full scholarship trip. Highest attrition
rate in the last decade.
2001...Signed 9 LDS high
school recruits. Only 4 survived the full four years.
2002...Signed 12 LDS high
school recruits. Only 6 made it to the end.
2003...Signed 11 LDS high
school recruits. There are still 8 left with this being the senior season for
those signees.
2004...Signed 9 LDS high
school recruits. Three left the program early. The rest are still playing with
the exception of Austin Collie who left for the NFL. We aren't counting him as
part of the attrition.
2005...Signed 13 LDS high
school recruits, but three are long gone already. The rest are still in the
program.
2006...Signed 20 LDS high
school recruits, some of which will be enrolled as true freshmen this fall. Of
the 20, 4 are already gone for good.
2007...Signed 17 LDS high
school recruits. Most of this group is just getting started in the program, but
4 are already not considered part of the team and we are hearing from a pretty
good source that one more who is currently serving a mission is seriously
considering not coming back and transferring to the Pac 10 instead.
Before we
give up the name, we want to wait a few more months to see if this changes. We
will say that this is a high profile player who made waves as a freshman.
2008...Signed 15 LDS high
school recruits a year ago. It's too early, but we are sniffing at least three
right now who won't last.
The numbers are
rough and are skewed to show better than they really are because we don't know
yet what the ultimate attrition will be in the latest recruiting classes.
Regardless, even
if no other players leave the program from the most recent classes, the numbers
show the retention rate for LDS high school signees for the last 10 years is 61
percent.
If you look at the
early classes in the last decade which had time for a class to work itself
through the system, the retention rate for LDS high school signees in the years
1998-2003 was only 47 percent.
We expect the
recruiting years from 2004-2008, when it all shakes out and attrition is
accounted for, to be pretty similar.
Based on those
retention numbers, there is a reason why BYU focuses on LDS recruits in
football.
Based on those
same retention numbers, when it comes to signing non-LDS players, BYU has more
success in retaining jucos than high school recruits.
Who really knows
what it means. Our best guess and extrapolation is that the
We are still
probably another decade and 7 million baptisms away from that changing.
Hold the
Hype
What
really hits you in the face, however, is how over-hyped football recruiting
really is. When you go back and check on the “big names”, LDS or
non-LDS, which signed with the Cougars, it is amazing to see how many of them
never worked out or left the program with eligibility remaining.
The two most
publicized recruits that lasted only one year in the program were Ben Olsen and
Ofa Mohetau.
It happens with
every recruiting class and will continue to happen. It doesn’t diminish
the fun of following recruiting, but the actual results don’t match the
hype. That holds true for almost every football program in the country.
Recruits are like
movies. They all are released with tons of hype, but most go straight to DVD
and are never seen or heard from again. The blockbusters are very few and far
between on the field and on the screen. Then, of course you have a low-budget
movie or player who beats the odds and makes money on the screen and noise on
the field.
BYU has had its
share of them.
When it comes to
recruiting, we will still refer to the trite phrases of “blue chip and
can’t miss”, but are adding a new adjective to our recruiting
jargon. That would be “Napoleon Dynamite”.
It refers to
recruits and movies that are totally unheralded that make waves on the field
and money at the box office and last for at least four or five years in the
program and on the screen.
NAMES
AND GAMES OF SPRING
With the annual
spring game put on ice for this year, we are publishing the official BYU spring
football roster.
Almost half of
those names listed are probably guys of whom you have never heard and who will
not be listed on the roster this fall.
These are names
you would have watched if the game was played. You wouldn't have seen guys like
Max Hall, Harvey Unga, Dennis Pitta, Jan Jorgensen etc.
As another bonus,
we are passing along the score of the Blue-White contest, had it been played.
Blue 16 White 10.
Here is the roster
to help you predict your own score.
No.
Name
Ht. Wt. Pos. Cl. Hometown/Last School
Attended
90 Bernard
Afutiti 6-1
262 DL Jr.
51 Matt Ah
You 5-11
220 LB Sr.
72 Nick
Alletto
6-6 318 OL Jr. Parker,
CO/Ponderosa HS
29 Luke
Ashworth 6-2
201 WR Jr.
43 Jordan
Atkinson 6-3
243 LB Jr.
35 Matt
Bauman
6-1 230 LB Sr.
58 Jeff
Bell
6-0 218 LB Sr.
5 Brandon
Bradley 6-0 200
DB Jr.
89 Braden
Brown 6-6
260 TE Fr.
87 Rhen
Brown
5-10 187 WR Fr.
60 Terence
Brown 6-3
351 OL So.
32 Riley
Bushman 6-1
215 LB Fr.
11 O’Neill
Chambers 6-2 210 WR
So. Harmony, FL/Harmony HS
41 Coleby
Clawson 6-3
235 LB Sr.
12 Stephen
Covey 5-11
198 WR So.
92 Brett
Denney
6-4 265 DL Sr.
10 J.J.
Diluigi
5-9 200 RB So. Canyon Country,
CA/Canyon HS
42 Shawn
Doman 6-2
232 LB Sr.
80 Matthew Edwards
6-3 195 WR So. N.
96 Steven
Fisher
6-4 250 DL So.
26 Landon
Fowler 5-11 185
DB Fr.
56 McKay Frandsen
6-3 225 LB Fr. American
Fork, UT/American Fork HS
48 Jameson
Frazier 6-2
200 DB So. Draper, UT/Alta HS
16 Brenden
Gaskins 6-4 215
QB Sr.
88 Andrew
George 6-5
250 TE Sr.
15 Max
Hall
6-1 205 QB Sr.
76 Braden
Hansen 6-6
285 OL Fr.
59 Chase
Hansen
6-3 20 LB So.
Draper, UT/Snow College
20 Daniel
Hansen 5-10
195 RB So.
67 Nate
Hartung
6-2 345 OL So.
30 Connell
Hess
6-0 210 LB Fr.
97 Tevita Hola
6-1 320 DL Sr.
31 Tyler
Holt
5-9 175 K/P So.
47 Terrance
Hooks 6-1
230 LB Sr.
45 Shane Hunter
5-10 235 LB Jr.
26 David
Jackson
6-1 175 WR Fr.
6 McKay
Jacobson 5-11 190
WR So.
23 Landon
Jaussi 6-5
210 DB Jr.
85 Leon
Johnson
6-0 185 WR Jr. Thatcher, AZ/
21 Scott
Johnson 5-11
185 DB Sr.
84 Jan
Jorgensen
6-3 260 DL Sr. Helper,
UT/Carbon HS
55 Solomone
Kafu 6-2
310 OL Fr. Rio
91 Rockey Kalamafoni
6-2 290 DL So.
28 Bryan
Kariya
6-0 215 RB So.
7 Tyler
Kozlowski 5-9
185 WR Jr. Wildwood, IL/
34 Tucker
Lamb
5-9 195 RB Fr.
33 Ryan
Love
5-10 175 RB So. Cameron Park, CA/Ponderosa
HS
5 Parker
Mangum 6-4
210 QB Sr.
16 Brady
19 Matt
Marshall 5-10
185 WR So.
96 Jonathan McCullough
6-5 230 TE Jr.
25 Steven
McFarland 6-2 235
RB So.
13 Carter
Mees
5-11 190 DB Fr.
27 Blake
Morgan 5-11,
195 DB So.
17 Rex
Morgan
5-10 175 DB Fr.
82 Mike
Muehlmann 6-5 225
TE Fr. American Fork, UT/American Fork HS
39 Grant
Nelson
6-3 225 LB Jr
Sewickley, PA/Hopewell HS
3 Garrett
Nicholson 5-9 180
DB Fr.
53 Austin
Nielsen 6-0
230 LB Fr.
36 Billy
Oden
5-10 220 LB Fr.
38 Brandon
Ogletree 6-0 225
LB Fr.
17 Paul
Olsen
5-11 195 DB Fr. American Fork, UT/American
Fork HS
59 John
Pace
6-2 210 DS Sr.
38 Mitch
Payne
6-2 210 K Jr.
1 Jordan
Pendleton 6-2 230
DB So.
86 B.J.
Peterson
6-3 200 WR Jr.
98 Matt Peterson
6-5 265 DL Fr.
32 Dennis
Pitta
6-5 250 TE Sr.
31 Byron
Putnam 5-11
195 DB So. Draper, UT/UofU
57 Matt
Putnam
6-6 265 DL So.
70 Matt
Reynolds 6-6
320 OL So.
22 Andrew
Rich
6-3 215 DB Jr.
37 Vic
So’oto
6-3 250 LB Sr.
73 Jason
Speredon 6-5
305 OL Jr.
63 Jesse
Taufi
6-4 302 OL Jr.
75 Stetson
Tenney 6-5
295 OL Fr. Show Low, AZ/Show Low HS
30 Malosi
Te’o
5-10 200 RB Fr.
2 Shiloah
Te’o
5-10 205 DB So.
24
StevenThomas 5-11
180 DB So.
62 Marco
Thorson 6-3
310 OL Fr.
52 Russell
Tialavea 6-3
290 DL Sr.
46 Masi
Tuitama
6-2 215 LB Fr.
94 David
Tuitupou 6-5
255 DL So.
18 Travis
Uale
6-2 195 DB So.
45 Harvey
Unga
6-0 240 RB Jr.
44 Dan Van
99 A.J. Van
Valkenburg 6-1
195 LB Jr.
49 Jadon
Wagner
6-4 235 LB So.
21 Neal
Watterson 6-0
180 RB Jr.
9 Kase
Wells
6-2 185 WR Jr. Basin City,
WA/BYU-Idaho
64 R.J.
Willing
6-5 310 OL Sr.
71 Rick
Wolfley
6-3 350 DL Jr.
50 Tanner
Zylstra
6-3 225 LB Fr.