BYU football: Don't blame the coaches for Cougars' struggles

[caption id="attachment_38282" align="aligncenter" width="4200"] (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images)[/caption]rn Although BYU football has struggled offensively this season, it's important to remember that most of these are not Sitake's recruits. rnWhen Kalani Sitake accepted the head coaching job for BYU football, he also accepted Bronco Mendenhall's current players and recruits.rnrnIn the first season of Sitake's era, the offense and defense ran very similar styles of those that existed during the Mendenhall era.rnrnThis season, Sitake has allowed his coaches to run more of their style of football.rnrnMost notably, the defense has switched from a 3-4/4-3 mix to almost an exclusively 4-3, meanwhile, the offense has switched from the spread to a pro-style defense. The switch had to happen eventually.rnrnThe only problem is, while the players on the roster are talented, they weren't recruited for these schemes.rn Changes to the play style rnWith defense, switching from a 3-4 to a 4-3 isn't a drastic change. Linemen still have similar assignments as do linebackers. Offensively however, the changes are drastic.rnrnIn the spread offense, players are expected to go fast and go hard. There are not a lot audibles, reads or huddles. The offense is generally designed to pick up short yardage and the passes are normally quick throws to open receivers. This means that blockers need to have stamina to keep up, however do not need to be very strong to hold up a pocket for over three seconds.rnrnThe pro-style offense is opposite in just about every way.rnrnWith a pro-style offense, half of the play is made at the line of scrimmage. Every play is designed to go through reads to find the best play and preferably a play that will go for a first down. Because of this, linemen need to be big and strong so they can block for a long time. Stamina is not a big issue, as they will have 30-35 seconds between plays to catch their breath in the huddle and then on the line as the quarterback makes audibles.rnrn[nextslide teaser="Typical Turnover Rate" slider="true" /]rnrn rnrn[caption id="attachment_38272" align="aligncenter" width="4200"] (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images)[/caption]rn The normal turnover time rnMost schools take about three years to adjust fully to a new system.rnrn Year one: New players are recruited while still in high school. The current players only know the old system and struggle in the playing style.rnrn Year two: The original recruits are freshmen and will probably redshirt. There may be five or six players in this group who see playing time. The other players begin to get the new system down, however the older players still struggle.rnrn Year three: The recruits are now sophomores. There may be six or seven starters from this group. The juniors and seniors on the team have now had two years to adjust to the new coaches, so everything is now adjusted. Players who can not adjust, get replaced by coaches recruits.rnrnBYU football is different. Many players who are recruited go on LDS missions. That means that you have to add another two years to the equation. The fact is, most of the players on the current BYU roster were recruited for Mendenhall's playing style. And they will be for the next two seasons. To give you an idea, there are still some recruits from Mendenhall's era that are still on their missions and have not even met Coach Sitake.rnrn[nextslide teaser="The Roster" slider="true" /]rnrn rnrn[caption id="attachment_38286" align="aligncenter" width="4710"] (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images)[/caption]rn BYU football's current roster rnCurrently, BYU football has 12 players who have been recruited out of high school by Sitake and are currently on the active roster (many more are on missions or are no longer with the Cougars). Of those, only three of them have even seen significant playing time this season: Chaz Ah You, Troy Warner and Aleva Hifo.rnrnAs far as transfers, 13 players have joined since Sitake has taken over. Of those, only Jonah Trinnaman has seen significant playing time.rnrnThat means that currently out of the 22 starters and perhaps 35 players who rotate constantly into the game, only four of them have been recruited to play the style they are asking to be played.rnrnTanner Mangum was recruited for a the spread offense. So were Tejan Koroma, Squally Canada, Matt Bushman and Austin Hoyt.rnrnAsking these players to play a different playing style is like someone asking you write with your bad hand. Yes you can do it. Yes practice will make it better, however it will never be the same as writing with your natural hand.rnrnDo I agree with the change? Yes. The change has to happen at some point. If Detmer waited another year to make these changes, Mangum would struggle even more next year and the Cougars would be going through the same painful struggles that we see in right now.rnrn[nextslide teaser="We've Seen This Before" slider="true" /]rnrn rnrn[caption id="attachment_38285" align="aligncenter" width="3000"] (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)[/caption]rn We have seen this before rnRemember when Lavell Edwards retired? The following year, Gary Crowton led the Cougars to a 12-1 regular season record.rnrnHis players were Lavell's recruits and players. The next three years were difficult as players struggled to adjust to the new system. Over the next three seasons, BYU football went 14-21 and did not go to any bowl games in that span. He was fired after that 2004 season and Bronco Mendenhall was brought in.rnrn Crowton never had time to see his recruits play for BYU. He was fired the year before players such as John Beck, Austin Collie, Jonny Harline and Jan Jorgensen had a chance to show how good they were.rnrnWould BYU football have found success with Crowton if he was given one or two more seasons for the transition to finish? Or would have the Cougars still struggled due to bad coaching? We will never know because Crowton was let go before the 2005 season.rn Cougar fans, just have patience rnThe process may take a few years. Maybe the Cougars can get it all fixed this season. However, if they do not, let the transition happen. Let Kalani Sitake's recruits become starters. Allow BYU to recruit a quarterback who is designed for the pro-style offense and linemen who are made for blocking for more than two seconds.rnrnIf all of this is able to happen, then we will really see how good the coaches are. The question is, do we have enough patience to let the process happen?rnrn

Lawless Republic

BYU football: Don’t blame the coaches for Cougars’ struggles

The normal turnover time

Newsletter

Your BYU Cougars.
Your Inbox. Every Day.