The Unanswered Question

During the press conference where Bronco announced his resignation with TH at his side, he mentioned that TH had inquired as to whom he recommended to replace him as coach. I never heard via twitter if TH gave consideration to his suggestion. If it was any of the coaches that left the program to follow Bronco to UVA (Anae, 2J, JBeck, Atuaia, et. al.), then TH rejected his recommendation, and was in line with Bronco that it was time for a change and a new direction is needed.



I believe that TH realizes that in order to field the best team to successfully compete with the teams they face on the upcoming schedule, the team must step up in terms of recruiting top end talent. Bronco was not a recruiter but a good closer. The new coach should be both and have a staff that mirrors his enthusiasm. I believe that the Poly connection will need to be secured...any combo of Niumatalolo and Sitake will help to address that challenge. I am sure that TH will have in mind some recommendations for assistants and will take a more active part in assembling the staff than previously.



The stakes are higher this time around when selecting a coaching staff. BYU is poised to be considered in the NY 6 games and playoff should they play well on the big stage against big name opponents. As has been noted previously, should they do well on the field and at the gate, a P5 invite in the future is a strong possibility. TH needs to get this coaching selection just right or the window of opportunity will close forever.

The racist assumption that Sitake or Niumatalolo will improve recruiting just by being poly is quite annoying to me. Stanford is still Stanford. USC is still USC. We're still beating Utah for most of the poly's that grew up BYU fans and can qualify at BYU. We're losing the ones that grew up Utah fans and who had siblings that went to Utah. It happens. Let's not forget that Bronco had Star Lotulele and several other poly's locked up, but they couldn't qualify.



Where we're losing poly's is to USC and Stanford. We're always going to lose some players to Stanford and USC. And occasionally we win those battles too.



Oh, and I'm guessing Bronco probably pushed either Anae or Poppinga for the position (more likely Anae).

Or the assumption that we can somehow get those 2 in a combination. I'm not sure why Sitake would leave his highly compensated Pac 12 coordinator position to come to BYU to be a coordinator--probably for less money than he makes now--I remember reading he was quite highly compensated at Oregon State when he left Utah. Now he would leave for the HC job but I don't think so for a coordinator.

Sitake has stated his interest as HC or in some capacity less than HC (i.e. DC).



Regarding Poly statement, not intended as a racist comment at all. Presently, there is one Poly on staff (Kafusi). I believe TH would like to continue to successfully recruit through this pipeline as it feeds OL, DL and LB positions. It appears that both Sitake and Niumatalolo are able to readily convey love and support and gain confidence of parents that they have a personal interest in their development. They both have also been successful with other races in attracting them to their respective universities so that it isn't just a one specific race targeted recruiting effort.