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PROVO — Of BYU football's 2014 signing class, Bronco Mendenhall said it "might be the strongest" the school has ever had. In all, the Cougars added 20 new players to the football program. The 2014 class is unique in a variety of ways to preceding groups of newcomers in Provo. Following are some of these characteristics and commentary about the class in general.
The class is more national than previous classes
Of the 17 players to sign with the Cougars, only four hail from Utah. By comparison, BYU had eight players from Utah sign letters of intent in 2012. Cougar coaches recruited throughout the country, with five recruits coming from the South (Alabama, Texas and North Carolina), seven from California, two from Arizona and two from Kansas.
Mendenhall said part of the reason his coaches recruited outside of the Beehive State was a lack of talent this season in the high school ranks in Utah. While this dearth of skill in the state may be coincidental, it is also possible that greater exposure provided by playing on ESPN almost weekly might be helping BYU coaches make headway into new states they had not been to before. It will be interesting to see if more national recruiting becomes the norm at BYU or if this year is an anomaly.
This class is more ethnically diverse
Along similar lines, this year's recruiting class is more ethnically diverse than many previous classes. In the past, Mendenhall has primarily recruited LDS players. With the LDS faith's relatively small representation in some racial groups, particularly African-Americans, it is not surprising that numerous previous recruiting classes under Mendenhall were fairly homogenous ethnically. This year's group has a higher percentage of African-Americans (some not of the LDS faith) while also tapping into BYU's rich Polynesian tradition.
Perhaps a major driving force for the increase in African-American players is wide receivers coach Guy Holliday. Before Holliday was hired, from mid-season 2010 through the 2012 season, BYU did not have an African-American coach on its staff. Since Holliday isn't LDS, he might be better at helping players from different backgrounds be successful in Provo. Likewise, the promotion of Mark Atuaia to running backs coach might help the Cougars attract Polynesian talent. If the Cougars can continue to attract a more diverse group of players, it could be a major step in taking the program to the next level.
Who will be the top achievers?
According to ESPN, this year's crop of players features three four-star recruits, including a junior college top 50 player in Devon Blackmon. Under Mendenhall, the Cougars have had mixed results with top-rated recruits. Arguably BYU's best defensive player of all-time, Kyle Van Noy, was a four-star recruit out of high school. So were Craig Bills, Bronson Kaufusi and Matt Reynolds. While these highly recruited players made (or are continuing to make) significant contributions to the program, there have been highly touted blue chip players who, for various reasons, did not match their potential in Provo. Most notably is current Kansas Jayhawks quarterback Jake Heaps.
While some Cougar newcomers failed to live up to their hype under Mendenhall, many have gone from fairly obscure recruits to stars. Cody Hoffman was listed as a two-star recruit by most recruiting services, and the only scholarship offer he received from an FBS school was from BYU. He went on to break every important BYU career receiving record. Likewise, Jamaal Williams was deemed only a two-star recruit by ESPN and now seems poised to become BYU’s all-time leading rusher. Only time will tell which players will live up to their billings, who will underachieve and who will be diamonds in the rough.
Needs were identified and focused on
Mendenhall identified the wide receivers and linebacker units as being the most in need of help. BYU is losing three of its top four wide receivers to graduation, including record-setter Cody Hoffman. Mendenhall and his staff added four wide receivers in this year's class. Three of these players (two junior college transfers and a third player transferring from UTEP) figure to make immediate impacts with their experience at the college level. The addition of three ready-to-contribute, short-term players may lend insight into the coaching staff's perception of the current wide receivers unit. Most of the returning players from a year ago are untested, and it is unknown how well Mitch Mathews and Ross Apo will bounce back from shoulder injuries.
The Cougars also added four linebackers to replace Van Noy and Spencer Hadley. One of these, Fred Warner, is listed as a four-star recruit by ESPN. With the announcement that Bronson Kaufusi will be switched to outside linebacker, it appears that the linebacker position will again be stacked for the Cougars.
BYU's actually getting 38 new players
With the unique element of the LDS mission program, the Cougars are actually adding 38 new contributors to this year's team. Eighteen recently returned missionaries are expected to report for fall camp. While many of these players have been forgotten about while serving missions, some generated a buzz before leaving. There are a lot of unknowns about players returning from missions, but Mendenhall has made it clear he is going to be stingy with redshirts from now on. That means many of these returning missionaries may be counted on to produce right away.
Conclusion
When recruiting classes arrive, it is anyone's guess how the players will turn out. Some players will excel, some will wallow on the bench for four years, and some will transfer or decide to quit. Add in the element of the LDS mission program and it may be years before this recruiting class turns out to be "the strongest" BYU has ever had. Dylan Cannon is a KSL contributor and can be reached at dylancannon14@gmail.com or his Twitter account @DylanCannon11.
