Hard Is Good

By: Mitch Harper

Last year, at the Big Blue Bash hosted by the Salt Lake Cougar Club Chapter in downtown Salt Lake City, BYU Athletic Director Tom Holmoe spoke to the Cougar faithful.

Now the Big Blue Bash is a yearly event that takes place a week or two prior to every football season.  An event to get fans even more excited than they usually are for Cougar Football.  The 2010 edition of the event was an interesting one as it was in the midst of rumors swirling around the BYU program in regards to a potential move to Independence.

Holmoe addressed the crowd, he didn’t speak about what BYU’s plans for the future were.  But he did tell the people in attendance that night at the downtown Sheraton in Salt Lake that has left a lasting image of Holmoe on me and that was, “Hard is Good”.  It was an old analogy his father always told while growing up, and he always applied it to his life.  Holmoe went on to be a star defensive back at BYU in the early 80s and went on to have a career with the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL.

Why do I bring this up?  Reading tweets flow in, listening to sports radio, and reading stories online about the official declaration of BYU’s Independence today is that many feel this is going to be a hard course for BYU to travel.

What many people don’t understand is that this university is committed to achieving great things and is well organized on how they will approach this mission that seems so off-the-wall to the common athletic department.  BYU knew this would be hard, and there was going to be some ups-and-downs.  But this was the necessary move for the program right now.

This was not some knee-jerk reaction to another program’s move to a conference.  BYU had been researching this since 2006, and in 2007 after a TV dispute with the Mountain West Conference over distribution of the season-finale against San Diego State, BYU was working on a move to position themselves as a Football Independent.

BYU has always defied the odds.  People can’t fathom the archaic nature of BYU’s Honor Code.  Always asking how do they get anyone into that school, let alone win athletic events?  ESPN Magazine in 2005 did an article on Bronco Mendenhall talking about how he is embracing standards and the LDS missionary program.  ESPN the Magazine basically said it is not possible to have success while doing that, and it will a hard road.  Four 10+-win seasons speak for themselves at this point.

The way Mendenhall and staff approached recruiting when they took over in 2005, seemed crazy at first.  Getting commitments nearly a year or more before Signing Day?  Now it is the trend in College Football.  If you don’t have at least 75% of your next signing day class going into the football season, you are behind the eight ball.

This move to Independence is historic.  Today might not consist of some rally at a state capital, and that is just fine.  Today is day one of a historic journey that leads to roads of endless possibilities.  With each day passing by the program will continue to grow, and continue to excel on the athletic playing fields and in academics.

Going to the West Coast Conference for the majority of BYU’s other sports is a great move as well.  The WCC is a conference steeped in tradition and stability.  They haven’t had any additions or subtractions to their conference in over 30 years.  Had BYU went to the WAC for their other sports like originally planned, BYU could of been left without a conference for all their other sports.  The WCC is terrific in olympic sports, baseball, and of course men’s basketball with the likes of Gonzaga and St. Mary’s who have been some of College Basketball’s premier programs the past 10 years.  Who isn’t jonesing to be in Southern California in February for a weekend to take in some BYU hoops?  I’m excited.

BYU’s Declaration of Independence is a day to celebrate. If it feels hard cougar fans, embrace it.  Because the men and women in charge of this move are loving every minute of it.

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