Can Recruiting Get More Effective?

Seems like there are a lot of 4 star LDS guys that we don't get. Could the team identify these guys when they are freshmen, get them to BYU camps early and lock them up on the BYU spirit. Maybe even get a group of young up and comers that want to play together and for their church.



If we could change the attitude of these guys and change our reputation, the sky would be the limit.

Could we get these young kids to watch our games on ESPN? And become cougar fans.

It will never be perfect and we will continue to lose many recruits but it MUST improve and a big problem is Bronco. Bronco does not place the same importance on recruiting that other teams do. Hoge (one of the top OL from Idaho commited to ND last week), Luatua won't end up at BYU and I would be shocked to see Mama end up at BYU. Bronco needs to improve or we will be stuck around 7-5 to 9-3, with 10-2 every once in a while. We need better players, it was clear in a few games this year.



Bronco needs to be a bit less focused on what they can do for him and really sell......if he won't other top programs will continue to beat him. The recruiting is not Bronco's strong trait......if he really wants to win the NC with the right type of kids he needs to land them, until he will roll up his sleeves and put away some pride and recruit he is not serious about an NC IMO.

Improbable possibility.

NDCougar wrote:
It will never be perfect and we will continue to lose many recruits but it MUST improve and a big problem is Bronco. Bronco does not place the same importance on recruiting that other teams do. Hoge (one of the top OL from Idaho commited to ND last week), Luatua won't end up at BYU and I would be shocked to see Mama end up at BYU. Bronco needs to improve or we will be stuck around 7-5 to 9-3, with 10-2 every once in a while. We need better players, it was clear in a few games this year.



Bronco needs to be a bit less focused on what they can do for him and really sell......if he won't other top programs will continue to beat him. The recruiting is not Bronco's strong trait......if he really wants to win the NC with the right type of kids he needs to land them, until he will roll up his sleeves and put away some pride and recruit he is not serious about an NC IMO.

Agreed. Bronco can just as easily sell the exciting GFGH potential and the fact that his D has been top ranked for a couple of seasons now. There is more to BYU football than nice guys and firesides believe it or not, nationwide recruits!

Definitely. Ideally only half of the roster should be mission bound athletes. The other half should be non-LDS or LDS athletes not going on a mission. These athletes have been our best players in our history.



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The question is how do we get them here? Heaps was able to get a couple of highly recruited players to the Y. Do we need to target a kid like him each year to work the phone and reel them in? Is there something we can do with ESPN? Junior Day is good but it targets the local kids and might now be too late for the potential stars.

I have a proposal. Get a team from the marketing program at the Y to survey a group of these kids that we lost and ask them, how they made their decision and how we could have gotten them. Do some market research and improve the process.



They would have to be careful about the NCAA rules of course but I think it could be done and might be eye opening.

scott715 wrote:
I have a proposal. Get a team from the marketing program at the Y to survey a group of these kids that we lost and ask them, how they made their decision and how we could have gotten them. Do some market research and improve the process.



They would have to be careful about the NCAA rules of course but I think it could be done and might be eye opening.

It's the same group that is lost in the church and scouting - 15-18 year old young men. Both the church and scouts have changed how they approach the situation and adapt all activities to the interests of the young men -- Not Bronco though. His way or no way.

jvquarterback wrote:

I have a proposal. Get a team from the marketing program at the Y to survey a group of these kids that we lost and ask them, how they made their decision and how we could have gotten them. Do some market research and improve the process.



They would have to be careful about the NCAA rules of course but I think it could be done and might be eye opening.

It's the same group that is lost in the church and scouting - 15-18 year old young men. Both the church and scouts have changed how they approach the situation and adapt all activities to the interests of the young men -- Not Bronco though. His way or no way.

Can you expound on this? I'm not sure I understand. Maybe I missed something during conference...

Perhaps if you read the criteria that they use to evaluate talent and likelihood that recruits will succeed at BYU and its culture. They have to pass criteria for high GPA and ACT test score, meet and live honor code requirements, be multi-sport athlete, team first attitude, service oriented, etc. In the end they have a pool of about 35 players that fit this mold. Quite a filter and not all LDS players want this or have this as their priority. If one looks at the last couple of recruiting classes, the pool is expanding its geographical footprint and encompassing Christian athletes who are not LDS. It can be tracked to ESPN exposure and will only improve with time.



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mizzoucoug wrote:

scott715 wrote:
I have a proposal. Get a team from the marketing program at the Y to survey a group of these kids that we lost and ask them, how they made their decision and how we could have gotten them. Do some market research and improve the process.



They would have to be careful about the NCAA rules of course but I think it could be done and might be eye opening.

It's the same group that is lost in the church and scouting - 15-18 year old young men. Both the church and scouts have changed how they approach the situation and adapt all activities to the interests of the young men -- Not Bronco though. His way or no way.

Can you expound on this? I'm not sure I understand. Maybe I missed something during conference...

The young men are supposed to choose and plan all their activities (within certain bounds of course). If you check the venturing and varsity manuals they tell you so. It's the reason we shot guns once a month in my last ward - 100% attendance by all priests at those activities so we saw them at least that often. I tried to get them to have a shooting activity on our trek as well - I still think that would have helped with attendance. And if they come they'll feel the spirit.



BTW I think BM should take the guys shooting rather than surfing. Would've sealed the deal for for Ty Detmer that's for sure.

https://blogs.emory.edu/sportsmarketing/2013/04/25/best-worst-colleges-for-converting-elite-recruits-into-nfl-draft-picks/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



A study on getting elite recruits to the NFL. We are not in the results but it is eye opening. Perhaps Bronco could use it.

How about having KVN speak in Priesthood meeting for 5 minutes in April? Then next year have Ziggy speak. Then another BYu stud each year after.



Maybe President Monson should show up Jan. 31 on a snow mobile.

You cannot engage the 4 and 5 stars as freshmen in high school, because you usually have no idea which ones will be studs that early. You might tend to get the rich kids who have had advantages others do not get and thus look great young, but are close to topping out.



Re the Press Conference at I guy's trio. All three have been busts so far - jury still out on Apo. T Fab was linked closely to Apo. Bust. KVN was a 2009 class recruit, but Heaps was a key part of him sticking around a year. Credit Heaps for that. I forget who else Heaps recruited. Did anyone pan out?



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scott715 wrote:
The question is how do we get them here? Heaps was able to get a couple of highly recruited players to the Y. Do we need to target a kid like him each year to work the phone and reel them in? Is there something we can do with ESPN? Junior Day is good but it targets the local kids and might now be too late for the potential stars.

Heaps did get some highly ranked kids to come here, and then got blasted by his coach for doing it the way he did it.



I actually didn't hate the press conference because, guess what, it is what big time programs do to create hype around the program.



We'll never get all of the 4 and 5 star LDS recruits. We may be able to improve a little bit, but we will never have the corner on the LDS recruits that we used to. It's part of being involved in big time recruiting.

Off the top of my head 2 Lds guys can/will go to Stanford this next year. So not only were they Lds, but academics weren't an issue either. You could say the same with every Lds player that goes to Notre Dame. I don't think academics play as big a role as some would like to believe.

It all comes down to the HC as the clear #1.

I'd put favorite team growing up as #2. We lose Lds talent this way a lot, especially the cali kids.(USC,UCLA)

#3 with big time recruits could be coaching/development. We don't have amazing stats for kids going to the NFL like some other schools do.

stgeorgefan wrote:
Off the top of my head 2 Lds guys can/will go to Stanford this next year. So not only were they Lds, but academics weren't an issue either. You could say the same with every Lds player that goes to Notre Dame. I don't think academics play as big a role as some would like to believe.

It all comes down to the HC as the clear #1.

I'd put favorite team growing up as #2. We lose Lds talent this way a lot, especially the cali kids.(USC,UCLA)

#3 with big time recruits could be coaching/development. We don't have amazing stats for kids going to the NFL like some other schools do.

look up the lifetime value of a degree at Stanford vs a degree at BYU. Then add in the legacy value of an athlete for endorsements and advertising in SF or LA vs Provo or SLC and you will discover a really big reason - MONEY AND PRESTIGE.



Specific coaches they want to play for is huge - think reputation for developing NFL or NBA players. Think legenfs. Think money and prestige. BB at Duke. FB playing for Saban or Meyer. That.



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Cougarbib wrote:

Off the top of my head 2 Lds guys can/will go to Stanford this next year. So not only were they Lds, but academics weren't an issue either. You could say the same with every Lds player that goes to Notre Dame. I don't think academics play as big a role as some would like to believe.

It all comes down to the HC as the clear #1.

I'd put favorite team growing up as #2. We lose Lds talent this way a lot, especially the cali kids.(USC,UCLA)

#3 with big time recruits could be coaching/development. We don't have amazing stats for kids going to the NFL like some other schools do.

look up the lifetime value of a degree at Stanford vs a degree at BYU. Then add in the legacy value of an athlete for endorsements and advertising in SF or LA vs Provo or SLC and you will discover a really big reason - MONEY AND PRESTIGE.



Specific coaches they want to play for is huge - think reputation for developing NFL or NBA players. Think legenfs. Think money and prestige. BB at Duke. FB playing for Saban or Meyer. That.



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I agree with you on that. My point was to show that Byu's academics was being called a draw back. In reality it is also a draw back that it isn't as good as Stanfords. We lost TH to Stanford, glad things worked out for him here. It also doens't hurt that Stanford is great at football. Losing Bingham's Dalton Schultz to either Stanford of Utah is a kick in the chest. I really hope we aren't losing ground at Bingham High.



Also worth noting; Fred Warner and Damien Mama both weighing USC very seriously now. Warner and Mama grew up SC fans and Warner is a soft commit while Mama is a long shot. With Sarkisian now at USC how is that playing against the Y? Mama announced he is mission bound. Something tells me that Steve is going to use his former Byu experience to his advantage when recruiting misson bound Mama. Hard to recruit against Usc when their HC is a BYU grad.

Could they do a summer football camp in other locations? Bring it closer to the athletes. How about one week in CA, one in TX, FL and one in HI?