Are We Building Heaps Up For a Fall??

I know that I'll probably get blistered for this post given my irretractable position last season that Heaps should have been red-shirted and Nelson given the ball for that year, but let me assure you of two things before I get into the meat of my concern: (1) Jake Heaps is absolutely, and absolutely should be, The Man this year, and (2) Riley Nelson should not be anything more than a "situational tool" in our offense this season. This has nothing to do with that debate--this is merely about what issues we are facing that no one seems to be discussing and how it could be the perfect storm for disappointment.



Let me start by laying out the premises upon which my concern is founded:

- Jake Heaps is the highest profile recruit most of us can ever remember BYU signing, and NFL and Heisman talk abounded before he took a meaningful snap.

- Jake Heaps struggled early last season with the 2QB fiasco, but came on like gang-busters towards the end of the season.

- Heaps success late last season was the production of two factors: (a) he got more reps and seasoning; and (b) we played the easiest stretch of games I can remember BYU playing in my 30+ years of existence.

- In the offseason, BYU fans were exposed to Jimmermania.

- Our offense is returning nearly every starter from last season.

- Vanilla Anae has taken his talents to South Beach AZ.

- Brandon Doman is the new OC and has promised to tailor the offense to the skills of his players, which includes two speedy tall receivers and a shifty slot guy.

- Brandon Doman is returning to the WCO roots, and one of the feature components of that offense is the QB under center and the 3, 5, and occasional 7 step drop.

- Jake Heaps has only played in spread-offenses and has little experience lining up under center

- We open next season with our toughest games at the beginning.





Here is my concern--I wonder if our expectations for Jake Heaps and the BYU offense are irrationally high. The posts about next season seem to focus on the chances of going undefeated or Heaps chances of setting new marks for sophomore QBs at BYU. It seems that success (and oodles of it) are just assumed. Do BYU fans expect Heaps to come into the 130 degree heat in Hattiesburg and treat Ole Miss like UTEP in December in his first game in a new offense and his first game where he routinely lines up under center? What do Graham Harrell, Timmy Chang, and Colt Brennan have in common? They were tremendously prolific shotgun-spread QBs who could never transition to pro-set or WCO offenses in the NFL. Jake Heaps has in interviews commented on how he is trying to get comfortable playing from under center. Are we just taking for granted that in the summer he got married he is nevertheless going to be able to master something that has been historically nigh-impossible for spread-QBs to successful transition to?



And that is just the concern with one aspect--the WCO components and playing under center. We are playing opponents who will likely be much more athletic on defense than we saw in the last half of 2010. Ole Miss would appear on paper to be a sieve in pass defense, but they are breaking in a new but proven secondary coach. Texas has historically been DEEP in the secondary, and we have seen Kyle Whittingham's defenses at work (at least for the first 44 minutes of games....ZING!!!). Yet there seems to be the expectation that Heaps will treat them like UNM, UNLV, and UTEP on the basis of last year's performance.



Brandon Doman will be making his debut as a full-time play-caller. Believe it or not, that will affect Heaps' performance as well....for better or worse.



BYU fans have had a taste of Jimmermania, and I fear that with his departure we have shoved Jake Heaps onto that pedestal to feed our addiction for highlights and national ink. My fear is that we are ASSUMING things will happen that we instead should merely be HOPING will happen. That leads to inflated expectations and primes a kid to take a fall when he shouldn't have to.



It could start rough next season. Oddly enough, even though he is one of our two most talented players (with Matt Reynolds), Jake Heaps could prove to be our weakest link next year simply because of the circumstances surrounding him. Unfortunately when you are the guy who distributes the ball every offensive snap you are also the guy who the changes in scheme and philosophy affect the most. We are asking Jake to learn and change alot in his game, and I just want to put a vote out there that we temper some expectations to leave him room for the learning curve next season.

nah.

snoscythe wrote:
I know that I'll probably get blistered for this post given my irretractable position last season that Heaps should have been red-shirted and Nelson given the ball for that year, but let me assure you of two things before I get into the meat of my concern: (1) Jake Heaps is absolutely, and absolutely should be, The Man this year, and (2) Riley Nelson should not be anything more than a "situational tool" in our offense this season. This has nothing to do with that debate--this is merely about what issues we are facing that no one seems to be discussing and how it could be the perfect storm for disappointment.



Let me start by laying out the premises upon which my concern is founded:

- Jake Heaps is the highest profile recruit most of us can ever remember BYU signing, and NFL and Heisman talk abounded before he took a meaningful snap.

- Jake Heaps struggled early last season with the 2QB fiasco, but came on like gang-busters towards the end of the season.

- Heaps success late last season was the production of two factors: (a) he got more reps and seasoning; and (b) we played the easiest stretch of games I can remember BYU playing in my 30+ years of existence.

- In the offseason, BYU fans were exposed to Jimmermania.

- Our offense is returning nearly every starter from last season.

- Vanilla Anae has taken his talents to South Beach AZ.

- Brandon Doman is the new OC and has promised to tailor the offense to the skills of his players, which includes two speedy tall receivers and a shifty slot guy.

- Brandon Doman is returning to the WCO roots, and one of the feature components of that offense is the QB under center and the 3, 5, and occasional 7 step drop.

- Jake Heaps has only played in spread-offenses and has little experience lining up under center

- We open next season with our toughest games at the beginning.





Here is my concern--I wonder if our expectations for Jake Heaps and the BYU offense are irrationally high. The posts about next season seem to focus on the chances of going undefeated or Heaps chances of setting new marks for sophomore QBs at BYU. It seems that success (and oodles of it) are just assumed. Do BYU fans expect Heaps to come into the 130 degree heat in Hattiesburg and treat Ole Miss like UTEP in December in his first game in a new offense and his first game where he routinely lines up under center? What do Graham Harrell, Timmy Chang, and Colt Brennan have in common? They were tremendously prolific shotgun-spread QBs who could never transition to pro-set or WCO offenses in the NFL. Jake Heaps has in interviews commented on how he is trying to get comfortable playing from under center. Are we just taking for granted that in the summer he got married he is nevertheless going to be able to master something that has been historically nigh-impossible for spread-QBs to successful transition to?



And that is just the concern with one aspect--the WCO components and playing under center. We are playing opponents who will likely be much more athletic on defense than we saw in the last half of 2010. Ole Miss would appear on paper to be a sieve in pass defense, but they are breaking in a new but proven secondary coach. Texas has historically been DEEP in the secondary, and we have seen Kyle Whittingham's defenses at work (at least for the first 44 minutes of games....ZING!!!). Yet there seems to be the expectation that Heaps will treat them like UNM, UNLV, and UTEP on the basis of last year's performance.



Brandon Doman will be making his debut as a full-time play-caller. Believe it or not, that will affect Heaps' performance as well....for better or worse.



BYU fans have had a taste of Jimmermania, and I fear that with his departure we have shoved Jake Heaps onto that pedestal to feed our addiction for highlights and national ink. My fear is that we are ASSUMING things will happen that we instead should merely be HOPING will happen. That leads to inflated expectations and primes a kid to take a fall when he shouldn't have to.



It could start rough next season. Oddly enough, even though he is one of our two most talented players (with Matt Reynolds), Jake Heaps could prove to be our weakest link next year simply because of the circumstances surrounding him. Unfortunately when you are the guy who distributes the ball every offensive snap you are also the guy who the changes in scheme and philosophy affect the most. We are asking Jake to learn and change alot in his game, and I just want to put a vote out there that we temper some expectations to leave him room for the learning curve next season.

Can't argue with any of those points or concerns - but I would add that he has a ton more experience surrounding him and will likely have better defensive support early than he had last year. That partially mitigates the concerns. In other words - I do not expect him to look inept like he did through about game 7 or so last season. On the other hand, I do not expect him to look like a Heisman Trophy contender in the first 4 games, especially. BYU should be more competitive - but we also have some chinks in our armour that will get exposed at times. Doman and Cahoon are the biggest question marks for me due to inexperience in their respective roles and TE follow closely on offense. DBs and DL are questions on defense. There are ?s on Special Teams as well. It may all come together - but I expect some adversity at times.



HOPE was a good word. I HOPE for a perfect season as always. I do not EXPECT one, but I will never lose HOPE.

PS - wasn't Heaps quoted last season as saying he was more comfortable coming from under center and that he wished he got more opportunities to do that?

130 degrees? I've never been to Mississippi, so I don't know how bad that humidity is, but I looked up the average august high and it was only 88 degrees, so even with a hot day in the mid 90's and high end humidity, I doubt we are going to see 130 degrees heat indexes. I do, however, think the heat and humidity will be a factor for our team.



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Self correction: I found a heat index calculator, put in 95 degrees and 80% humidity and the heat index was 133 degrees, so maybe we will see 130. I apologize for doubting.

BYULV wrote:
130 degrees? I've never been to Mississippi, so I don't know how bad that humidity is, but I looked up the average august high and it was only 88 degrees, so even with a hot day in the mid 90's and high end humidity, I doubt we are going to see 130 degrees heat indexes. I do, however, think the heat and humidity will be a factor for our team.



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Self correction: I found a heat index calculator, put in 95 degrees and 80% humidity and the heat index was 133 degrees, so maybe we will see 130. I apologize for doubting.

With all of the coaching changes, I hope someone was put in charge of the pickle juice.



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Hey guys. I've been lurking for quite a while, but not posting (obviously).



I had a barrage of personal stuff to take care of and work through, and though I haven't posted I did stop in quite often.



But enough about me... ;)



What a great post. I completely agree with Sno's OP and subsequent plea at the end. That we give Jake (and the rest of the newbie coaching staff) some room and let them grow into themselves.



I think that we might be putting too high expectations, but at the same time, I think we are making the season out to be waaaay harder than it actually is going to be.



Our first 4 games are the toughest, sure. And I am not saying we just roll through those. But you have to remember:



- We return the entire offense, minus a guard (who got plenty of backup, anyways.)

- We will be getting touchbacks almost every single kickoff.

- As a poster mentioned above, our defense will be better.

- I would like to add to that. This defense will be better than the defense that we beat Oklahoma with. Yes, I said it. And it will hold true. The only thing that could make this D any better is a healthy Eason, a Joe Sampson miracle, and a healthy JP.

- Robert vANAElla is gone. So we play to win games. Not to, not lose them.

- We won't have FS and SS running around like chickens w their heads cut off anymore, giving up big plays.

- A UNIFIED TEAM. RALLIED AROUND ONE QUARTERBACK, ONE HC, AND 2 CO-ORDINATORS, THAT ALL WANT TO BE THERE, DOING THEIR JOBS

- Ole Miss didn't get a "Nutt" ringer in the offseason

- Texas will be the weakest they have been in 10 yrs.

- Utah will be the worst they have been in 5-8 yrs.

- WAC Competition

- WAC competition

- Did I mention that we are playing teams from the WAC?



Don't want to hi-jack my first thread back. I think we need to pay attn to what Sno has wisely said. But we also don't need to dig our own graves. I don't think we will need them just yet.

I'm with CougarClaw on this. "Nah." Not only does Heaps have an incredible cast around him, but he is cool as a cucumber. It was once said of Ty Detmer, when he started a few games for the 49ers: (paraphrasing) Detmer could go out on the playing field with his pants on fire, and he would be just as unflappable. I think the same thing of Heaps. Sure, he, and others, will make some mistakes, while working out the bugs and jitters. No one is saying that he is a god. But I do like his confidence. He is also like Max Hall in his confidence, and that might just cost us a few games. What ever happens, Jake will give us one hell of a ride.



I think Texas is a toss up. But we will roll the Utes, and beat most of the other respectable FBS teams. TCU will not be prepared for us this year.

[quote="snoscythe"]I know that I'll probably get blistered for this post given my irretractable position last season that Heaps should have been red-shirted and Nelson given the ball for that year, but let me assure you of two things before I get into the meat of my concern: (1) Jake Heaps is absolutely, and absolutely should be, The Man this year, and (2) Riley Nelson should not be anything more than a "situational tool" in our offense this season. This has nothing to do with that debate--this is merely about what issues we are facing that no one seems to be discussing and how it could be the perfect storm for disappointment.



is 'situational' your way of not getting in trouble with the mod's for calling riley a tool?



All great points, I agree that some may have unrealistic expectations of pure domination but I have hopes for domination by Jake. If it doesn't happen will my world crumble? No, but the chair I'm in might as I go through traumatic weight gain as I hide behind food for awhile.



In all seriousness, I think Sno, as always, has great insights. Nothing wrong with a cake of cautious optimism and excitement, but we do need to make sure that it is sprinkled with a dash of realism. I'm hungry...

I agree with the growing pains on our new coaches but Heaps is not a "spread" QB. He was an under center QB in High school and was most successful last year at BYU when they ran the offense from under center. Why do you think that Doman is putting him under center this year? Heaps may struggle with some of the defenses that we will see to start the season but it won't be because he doesn't know how to run an offense from under center.

Sno, I agree with the majority of the things that you brought up, but I do not agree with one point. Riley as a situational tool. No!!!!!! Unless Jake gets hurt or is playing horribly (not going to happen) Riley does not need to see the field ever. Go back and look at our great offenses of the past. How many times did they bring in a situational tool for Detmer, Bosco, McMahon, Nielson, Wilson? They didn't need to bring in situational guys because these guys made it happen themselves.

The problem isn't with Jake, it is with our expectations. The original question you asked was wrong. It should be, "Are fans setting themselves up for disappointment if Jake isn't undefeated with an average season QB rating of 300?"



I think you are trying to manage expectations but have put the issue on Jake. Jake won't fall, he just might not live up to the expectations of some fans. After watching the UTEP game again last week, I was reminded again of how good Jake was at the end of the season. Talent wise he is the real deal. I expect great things from him, but likely not until 2012. Anything great this year is icing on the cake.



Jake won't fall, but some might be ready to jump if he doesn't perform to their expectations (some of them are very unrealistic) to start the season.

We are NOT building Heaps up for a fall---We are building Heaps up for this Fall. ie Autumn (as in football season.)



Heaps is as talented as any qb we've had. He has the most experienced O line we've had in a while (2 linemen mentioned for national awards). He has the fastest tallest receivers we've seen at BYU in a long time--and Ben Cahoon to coach them. He has 3 solid running backs.



The front 7 of the D is as good as we have ever seen, and Bronco is DC again.



I always expect to win every game, but I think realistically BYU wins at least 10 games this year.

I think it all really depends on what your expectation for Jake is and for the team this year. If you expect Jake to throw for 4,000 yards and BYU to win every game and play in the BCS title game--then yes. But that is an irrational expectation problem, isn't it?



If you expect Jake to be really good and win some games for us, for BYU to win 9+ games this year, then no, he is capable of that.



My honest expectation is 10 wins with the bowl game and Jake playing like the player we think he can be. He can make all the throws nd makes good decisions.



Now if you want to talk about expectations being too high, let's talk BYU defense. I think this is where many BYU fans are getting ahead of themselves. With so many questions marks in the secondary, not loving all the talk about our defense slaughtering every opponent and no one running on us. A bit premature for that, in my mind. Offense has fewer questions than the D and should excel, while I hope the D does.

BOID wrote:
I'm with CougarClaw on this. "Nah." Not only does Heaps have an incredible cast around him, but he is cool as a cucumber. It was once said of Ty Detmer, when he started a few games for the 49ers: (paraphrasing) Detmer could go out on the playing field with his pants on fire, and he would be just as unflappable. I think the same thing of Heaps. Sure, he, and others, will make some mistakes, while working out the bugs and jitters. No one is saying that he is a god. But I do like his confidence. He is also like Max Hall in his confidence, and that might just cost us a few games. What ever happens, Jake will give us one hell of a ride.



I think Texas is a toss up. But we will roll the Utes, and beat most of the other respectable FBS teams. TCU will not be prepared for us this year.

Ty's confidence was also sometimes costly. His TD to int. ratio was not good because, by his own admission, he always thought he could make it work by forcing passes where receivers were well covered. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn't. I haven't seen that in Jake. He not only makes good decisions like Ty, but he plays a little safer.

Great Post Sno. I have been thinking the same thing the last few weeks. Jake Heaps is still a true sophmore. He has plenty to learn still. And there are plenty of kinks that still need to be worked out. All the points you make are valid.



the Tights ends are still a huge question mark as are the receivers. we have the talent and skill and the end of last year to look at but there would have to be a lot of improvement between then and ole miss to beat ole miss at ole miss, texas at texas, and then utah and ucf at home.



I tend to error on agreeing with you that our expectations are too high. I keep teetering though. With what we have in place there seems to be real synergy and excitement between the coaches and players. If the execution falls into place on offense the sky is the limit. The skill is there, the chemistry is there but with a new offense, new coaches, and young players, our expectations may be too high. I still have hope though that the pieces fall together and I wouldn't be surprised if we had a special season though.



I was golfing with someone in the administration who has a lot of contact with Holmoe and others close to the team. He also observed a lot of summer drills and practices. He said that one guy in the administration came up to him a few weeks ago and just said something along the lines of " do you know how good heaps is? do you know that he might be better than anything we have ever had at byu?" He was giddy with excitement. Those in the department are really high on Heaps but it is stuff like this that just fuels the fire.



my heart says amazing season, my head says, whooooah, slow it down. I just really hope that they have an amazing fall camp and a lot of the question marks are taken care of before ole miss. i see losing to ole miss being a real possibility.



If i had to predict I would predict 9+ wins.

Mars wrote:


I still think the biggest Jake Heaps question is- Does he stay and play his Senior year, or leave early for the NFL? I wouldn't blame him at all if he did after the fiasco that was BYU football coaching last season.

That "fiasco" will be the greatest blessing in disguise in the last 20 years of BYU football. Mark it down.

bigbluepuma wrote:

I'm with CougarClaw on this. "Nah." Not only does Heaps have an incredible cast around him, but he is cool as a cucumber. It was once said of Ty Detmer, when he started a few games for the 49ers: (paraphrasing) Detmer could go out on the playing field with his pants on fire, and he would be just as unflappable. I think the same thing of Heaps. Sure, he, and others, will make some mistakes, while working out the bugs and jitters. No one is saying that he is a god. But I do like his confidence. He is also like Max Hall in his confidence, and that might just cost us a few games. What ever happens, Jake will give us one hell of a ride.



I think Texas is a toss up. But we will roll the Utes, and beat most of the other respectable FBS teams. TCU will not be prepared for us this year.

Ty's confidence was also sometimes costly. His TD to int. ratio was not good because, by his own admission, he always thought he could make it work by forcing passes where receivers were well covered. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn't. I haven't seen that in Jake. He not only makes good decisions like Ty, but he plays a little safer.

I agree that last year Jake played more safely than Ty or Max often did. I have a hunch going, however, that says that this young guy could go gun-slinger if things start rolling for him. I still think that he's a cool customer, remarkably so, for his level of Div I experience. I'm excited to watch him develop. And how about that Tanner Mangum? I sure hope that he can hang on to that edge during his mission break.