BYU football: Kalani Sitake and the Transfer Effect

At this point, it’s no secret that Kalani Sitake developed deep relationships with recruits. Just take a look at the recent transfers joining BYU football.

With Tuesday’s news of Christian Folau’s post-mission transfer from Oregon St. to BYU, the count is now up to 14 players who have transferred to BYU football since Kalani Sitake took over as head coach.

While there are many factors that can lead a player to transfer schools, one common thread with many of these transfers has been the new coaching staff. That’s what unites all 14, the biggest change between their original commitment and their decision to transfer.

Which begs two questions: What if each of these transfers had originally committed to BYU football out of high school? Would the Cougars’ recruiting rankings have been any better?

There’s no quantifiable way to really answer the first question, but there is a way to answer the second.

The two biggest recruiting sites, Scout and Rivals, have both made their ranking formula for recruiting available (see both Scout’s and Rivals’ here).

So playing a little revisionist history, let’s take a look at how all 14 transfers would have affected BYU’s recruiting rankings.