Bronco calls BYU's recruiting class "need-based"

BYU Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall announced the Cougars' 2013 recruiting class on Wednesday. BYU signed 26 players; 19 of whom are high school players, with the remainder from the JC ranks. In terms of offense and defense, BYU inked 12 players on offense and 14 on defense. In addition to the new signees, two mid-year enrollees and eight-scholarship players returning from their LDS missions will be joining the program.

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The biggest focus of this class was shoring up the offensive line. While the Cougars did their due diligence signing lineman out of high school, BYU focused on bringing in several junior college players to give immediate help to the offense.

"This past year, we had six players on the offensive line that had career ending injuries; four of which were in the two-deep," Bronco said. "So what our original recruiting was, and what it ended up being as the season went on changed dramatically...a lot of those players are junior college players; many of which were in the last two weeks."

Of all the offensive lineman to sign, the highest profile athlete was Brayden Kearsley from Aloha High School in Oregon. New offensive coordinator Robert Anae, who was instrumental in getting Kearsley to re-commit to BYU, was very excited at the prospect of working with the 6'5", 295-pound Kearsley. "My gut tells me it's going to be a lot of fun coaching that kid," Anae said.

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There was only one quarterback in the 2013 recruiting class. Billy Green, out of King's High School in Washington, has already enrolled at BYU and has been lifting with the team.

"He is really tough," Bronco said of Green. "He knows how to win football games, and he's passionate about being here."

Coach Mendenhall wasn't the only one impressed with the young quarterback. Offensive coordinator Robert Anae said "Billy Green's going to get reps with a college offense in spring ball with everything being brand new; he is going to be tested to the hilt. I kinda commend him for stepping into that challenge."

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There has been quite a bit of talk about the tight end becoming more of a factor in the new offensive scheme. Bronco alluded to that fact while discussing the signing of Mountain Crest TE, Moroni Laulu-Pututau. "He is an exceptional athlete; and how we used Pitta and Harline and that spot, this would be a similar type of player... maybe a slightly more athletic player to be slotted kind of in that realm."

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Defensively, BYU wanted to address the defensive front. The Cougars signed three lineman (Peoples, Utu and Taliauli), all of which are right around 300 pounds.

With the loss of two linebackers from last season, the Cougars wanted to find players that could fit come in and help fill the shoes of some guys that were core contributors to last year's defensive success. "I love out backers athleticism," Bronco said. "There are those cut in the mold of Brandon Ogletree, which would be like Chasen Andersen, who is coach Andersen's son, who's now at Wisconsin. He (Chasen) and I have a very special relationship, in that he tries with everything that he has and that he loves football."

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The best recruiting story however was regarding defensive back Johnny Tapusoa from Kahuku High School in Hawaii. Bronco relayed the story of being on an in-home visit at Shilo Te'o's home when a 13-year old kid walked in and sat down right next to him. "He (Tapusoa) looks up at me kinda like a puppy; is just waiting to do something.. He asked me if he could show me his highlight film...he told me someday he would play for me; and sure enough."

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While other institutions are focused primarily on developing their athletes for on-field performance, Bronco Mendenhall has other criteria he must follow to get the most out of his players. "I'm supposed to develop each young man spiritually; that is my first job," Mendenhall said. "That is what I'm asked to do. The second is to help them grow intellectually...the third thing is to make sure I develop character of young people. The fourth then is to help them to provide service to the world; then after that, I've been asked to be really really good at football."

Don't let that quote fool you into believing that expectations for the football program are low. Bronco said, "Being in the Top 25 is the minimum expectation at BYU."

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You can listen to the press conference audio from Bronco Mendenhall and Robert Anae by clicking on the links to the left in "Cougar Cuts."

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2013 BYU recruiting class

Chasen Andersen LB 6,0, 218 Logan, UT Logan HS

Josh Carter OL 6-5, 290 Tucson, AZ Eastern Ariz. College

Michael Davis WR 6-2, 180 Glendale, CA Glendale HS

Tim Duran OL 6-4, 290 Puyallup, WA Cabrillo College

Nathan DeBeikes* LB 6-2, 196 Thousand Oaks, CA Thousand Oaks HS

Garrett England* DB 6-4, 190 Salt Lake City, UT Skyline HS

Edward Fusi OL 6-1, 285 Corona, CA Mt. San Antonio CC

Rylee Gautavai LB 6-1, 200 Bountiful, UT Bountiful HS

Billy Green ^ QB 6-2, 196 Woodway, WA King's HS

Keegan Hicks OL 6-3, 285 South Jordan, UT Bingham HS

Brayden Kearsley OL 6-5, 298 Aloha, OR Aloha HS

Moroni Laulu-Pututau* TE 6-4, 190 Hyrum, UT Mountain Crest HS

Dallin Leavitt DB 6-0, 205 Portland, OR Central Catholic HS

Sam Lee DB 6-0, 180 Brandywine, MD College of the Canyons

Kai Nacua LB 6-2, 205 Henderson, NV Liberty HS

JonRyheem Peoples DL 6-6, 298 Rigby, ID Rigby HS

Trajan Pili LB 6-2, 225 Las Vegas, NV Centennial HS

Jordan Preator DB 6-0, 180 Plain City, UT Fremont HS

Addison Pulsipher OL 6-6, 260 Temecula, CA Temecula Valley HS

Thomas Shoaf OL 6-6, 265 Columbus, IN Columbus North HS

Talon Shumway * WR 6-3, 200 Highland, UT Lone Peak HS

Merrill Taliauli DL 6-2, 305 Salt Lake City, UT East HS

Johnny Tapusoa* DB 5-10, 195 Laie, HI Kahuku HS

Trenton Trammell ^ DB 6-0, 190 Oakland, CA City Coll. of San Fran.

Kalolu Utu DL 6-2, 285 Upolu, Samoa Compton CC

De'Ondre Wesley OL 6-6, 310 Pleasant Hill, CA Diablo Valley CC

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Photo courtesy of BYU Photo

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