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Cougar recruits signing in |
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JaredLloyd | Wednesday, February 7, 2007, 12:08 am
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Darnell Dickson
Daily Herald
To recruit for football at BYU, Bronco Mendenhall and his coaching staff decided to get ahead of the curve.
Mendenhall took the head coaching job at BYU in December of 2004, after most of the recruiting for 2005 had already been done. So the 27 athletes in the Class of 2007 expected to sign today only represent his second full group recruited his way.
And what is his way?
“Our recruiting season hasn’t matched the NCAA’s,” Mendenhall said. “We finished our recruiting before the (2006) season started. Most schools are still recruiting for this season and our coaches are already addressing juniors.”
When the 2006 season began at Arizona on Sept. 2, 22 athletes had already made oral commitments to BYU. While other schools were courting prospects every weekend of the new year until the signing day, BYU held just one recruiting weekend in January.
“It was more of a celebration of the season and of their commitments,” Mendenhall said. “Over that weekend, we had just two who hadn’t committed already. One chose to join and we had one remaining offer extended hasn’t been committed.”
The late commitment was tight end Devin Mahina from Upland, Calif. The final offer was to Sacramento defensive end Christian Tupou, who said he loved his trip to BYU but ultimately chose USC on Tuesday.
Mendenhall said his recruiting plan is out of necessity.
“This is our core philosophy. We understand the unique requirements of BYU,” Mendenhall said. “Some schools just take who they want and some take leftovers. Our idea was to identify as soon as possible the athletes who meet our criteria spiritually, academically and athletically and address our needs.”
Mendenhall noted that the number of returned missionaries in the program will increase in this plan. Last year there were only a handful; this season, there are eight returned for winter semester and he expects more in the future.
“I’m not sure in BYU’s history there’s been the number of players leaving under this recruiting strategy,” Mendenhall said. “Our challenge is to maintain the level of play while nearly an entire recruiting classes cycles through.”
While most schools must wait two or three years to evaluate the effectiveness of a recruiting class, BYU must hold out for five to seven years because of the mission service.
“We’re losing a lot of players to missions,” Mendenhall said, “and we’ve addressed and acknowledge from the beginning as a recruiting strategy.”
So what does the Class of 2007 look like? Players like quarterback Jason Munns (Kennewick, Wash.), receiver Marcus Mathews (Beaverton, Ore.), defensive end Magnum Mauga (Grossmont College) and quarterback Cade Cooper (Snow College) are four-star recruits under Scout.com’s five-star system.
Running back J.J. DiLuigi led Canyon County (Calif.) to a stunning upset of powerhouse De La Salle for the California state championship and rushed for more than 2,000 yards.
There are 10 local recruits, including a third Reynolds brother, Houston, who helped lead Timpview to the Class 4A title in November and will join older brother Matt in the fall. Matt Reynolds returns from his LDS church mission this summer.
Of course, with so many early commitments, there’s always the possibility of losing someone at the last minute. Until a signed letter of intent is faxed to the BYU coaches office, nothing is set in stone.
Mendenhall will address the media this afternoon at LaVell Edwards Stadium after all of the letters of intent have been collected.
∫ Daily Herald Sports Editor Darnell Dickson can be reached at 344-2555 or by e-mail at
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