What I have to say is not to find fault, but to find solutions.
So far, all I hear is the reasons why we can not make any changes from doing what once was acceptable and successful, but no longer is.
I hear no solutions to help bring our Cougars the needed help that they deserve.
When ever anyone suggest a possible change, they are trounced upon explaining why that change is not possible, yet they have no solutions of their own.
For those that see no need for change, they would rather continue with 3-12 or 3-13 seasons than to make any changes.
The worse part of that thinking is that all 3 wins came from teams ranked around 120 out of 130 teams. Worse than that, we let teams ranked around 100 beat us.
I am irritated by those that pick and choose the scriptures they choose to follow, and ignore the scriptures that indicate they are mistaken in the way they are exercising their beliefs. Instead of making necessary changes in the way we do things to those that are not in our fold, be it political, religious, or genetically different, we choose to believe that all that we do and say are the Lords will and all that they do and say, that do not agree with us, is against the will of the Lord. My, just how often must we blame the Lord for our own bias?
For every action, there is a opposite but equal reaction.
If we think that we in Utah, can interfer in California elections, (Prop 8) and think that those from California where USC, UCLA, Standford and Cal, find their home in the Pac 12, don’t care and will soon forget about it, then we are sadly mistaken.
While it is said that Holllywood, (near UCLA and USC) and San Francisco, (near Stanford and Cal) are two of the 3 main gay centers of the world, and we loudly and proudly, and self rightously let the world know that we believe that the LGBT community should not have the right to marry as we straights do, and that their chances of getting into the highest degree of glory in heaven is not as great as we straights, and that they, but not we straights, are an abonation in the sight of the Lord, we can’t expect them, the LGBT community to love us and want to help us get into any P5 conference anywhere in the USA and infact, that seperate but equal reaction will cause them to work as hard at keeping us out of P5 conferences as we worked hard at keeping them from having the opportunity to get married.
We try to make the LGBT community feel less worthy than ourselves, and than P5 conferences in those communities feel that they don’t want the added burden of BYU in their ranks with all the controversal bagage that BYU brings with them or all the controversal bagage that BYU will cause to follow them. Why bother with BYU if they don’t have to. It may be better not to expand than to have to deal with BYU. (Big 12)
If we tell P4-P5 players that they should be grateful to be accepted by BYU and not the other way around, than the response may well be, that they will go elsewhere at a place where there talents will be more appreciated. (BM)
Every P5 QB that has come to us, each has failed so badly that they could not achieve anywhere else. Broken spirit to prove that 3 star and less players are every bit as good and valuable as the 5 star, and in fact, 4-5 star players in the past, (BM), have sit on the bench, while far less talented players have been the starters or had much more playing time.
If we tell the world that we are more honorable because our honor code is more restrictive, than the reaction we received from those perceived less honorable Universities, with their more liberal codes of decency, may find fault and reason to call us hypocrites.
Every P5 team has a P5 conference and a vote as to let us in or keep us out.
The more we continue to sit ourselves up as the example to follow, thus indicating that no other university, be they ND, Boston College, TCU, Baylor, SMU or other university, being a Church owned University or not, has a chance for their revenge by keeping us out of what we so badly need in order to continue and be successful. Again, in other words, as we sew, so shall we reep.
Because of what we have sewen in the past, that which we now have, is not worth harvesting. We can change that if we act now and wait no longer to change that which should have never happened in the first place. Like some politions that we all know, are we too proud, or to correct, to say we are sorry and mean that we are indeed sorry?
We have to start taking very, very, very seriously the commandment that we do onto others as we would have them do onto us. When they do it onto us, we call it predgedist. When we do it onto them, we call it spreading the gospil truth.
One way or the other, we lose. We lose because we have too hard of a time controlling our own arrogance. We don’t want to change but we expect others to change. What does that say about us? ( the chosen correct ones?) Come on !!!
Is it arrogant to think that O N L Y LDS Head Coaches can be trusted to bring us an honorable football program? What does this tell the football world that we think about non LDS coaches? Could this be one of many reasons that we feel the disapproval of us, (Prejudice), from others? Is there a pattern why we feel disapproval or prejudice from others. Could at least part of it be our own fault, or are we too perfect to accept any responsibility?
Can’t we put faith in our Athletic Director to hire the very best coach in the Nation to come to Provo with the contract stating that the coach can do nothing that will bring shame or embarrassment to the University and than let him do the best coaching that he is known for. Why must we insist that our HC be LDS? Why must we insist that we pay him less than he could get anywhere else? Why must we make him have more terms and conditions and restrictions in his contract than any other place he would go?
Why do we continually think, that we save money paying $1million a year to a coach that if lucky, will bring us a $1 million bowl game at the end of the season, and flood our teams with new 0,1,2,3 star recruits.
Why can’t we see that a $8 million dollar coach like Urban Myers, like Nick Saben, is just as likely to get us a $15 million dollar bowl at the end of the season and flood our team with new 4-5 star recruits, and, get us into a P5 conference almost immediately without even waiting for the new TV contracts of waiting for the new P5 expansions. Does anyone think that ND would not be accepted in any confereence at any time that ND was ready to make the move?
Yes we do want 4-5 star recruits. Yes, we do want as many of them as possible to be LDS. We don’t have many, and those that are 5 star recruits, have learned from past history, that they are better off going to a P5 conference school like Utah, like UCLA, like USC, or any other Pac 12, Big 12, Big 10 or SEC conference team.
In the meantime, should we not acknowledge that non LDS athletes with 4-5 stars that could help us, if treated with respect, They could give us the chance to advance that others with 0,1,2,3 stars can not do?
Why should we force 4-5 star players or any number of star players, or 0 star players that are good enough to be accepted on the team, but are not LDS, to pretend to believe and have the same value system as LDS . Why should we force them to live the word of wisdom if they do not believe in it. (Okay, it’s a trade off at best. We want and we need the player. They want and they need to live by their own value system and not ours.)
Where is the compromise, Someone please come up with a compromise that works and that allows us to be successful and allows them to be themselves without pretending to be, something that they are not and that they do not wan to be?
Why can’t we let the NCAA rules and sactions, if any, be for our non member players, and let the member players decided individually on an individual bases, if they want to play under the NCCA rules or under the combination of both the NCAA and the Honor Code. Let that be the member choice. Let that be the non member choice. Let that be every football players choice. Perhaps those choosing the combination of both the NCAA and the Honor Code can have some kind of special recognition after the season. (Not during the season, but after the season).
If necessary, think of the University as two schools in one. The first school being the religious and academic Mormon schcool and the other being an all inclusive athletic school within the BYU community. If necessary, make the distiction. If not necessary, don’t make the distiction.
I have given many very unpopular suggestions and I have already heard from almost everyone why they won’t work and especailly why the changes are not wanted. I have yet heard one single suggestion from anyone on any site, about what we should do to make BYU a strong, proud, accomplished and polished football team again and not be the generation that lets the team die on the vine. I am 82 years old, but as long as I am alive, I will fight to keep our cougars strong with all the help I can encourage others to find for them. I am not able to do it myself, but you younger guys can if you only will. Please try to save our Cougars.
