BYU football: Cougars land Harris LaChance, former USU commit

BYU football flipped a former Utah State commit, adding another player to the 2018 recruiting class. Here’s what to know about Harris LaChance.

BYU football hasn’t had great news on the recruiting front recently. But, hopefully this is a sign of better times, with the Cougars picking up another signee for their 2018 class.

Harris LaChance, who originally committed to the Utah State Aggies, is the newest member of the BYU football family.

LaChance, who played at Herriman High School (UT), was an all-state player with the Mustangs before graduating and departing on an LDS mission.

After his mission, USU didn’t have a fall scholarship available, so he re-opened his recruiting. Dick Harmon of the Deseret News tells a pretty funny story about LaChance mixing up the phone numbers for BYU’s Ed Lamb and Utah’s Justin Ena.

LaChance apparently called Ena – thinking it was Lamb – to announce his commitment to BYU football.

In a not-so-surprising turn, USU head coach Matt Wells was pretty unhappy with LaChance’s move. Maybe this is karma for the Joe Tukuafu hold.

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As far as LaChance’s skill set is concerned, it looks like he’s a really solid pick up for BYU football. He was a defensive end in high school, but will likely play offensive tackle in college. He stands 6-foot-8, and hopes to play at 280-pounds. He’s been training since he returned home from his mission in June, increasing his weight from 220-pounds to 260-pounds.

He had offers from UNLV, Utah State, Nevada and Hawaii while with the Mustangs, but LaChance told Harmon he also got some attention from Pac-12 schools.

Mike Empey has done a good job coaching the offensive line, and I think he’s got a great vision for the the big uglies. He stresses not just physical strength, but the mental aspects too. He wants big, nasty linemen that play with an edge.

So if he was interested in LaChance, that tells you enough about what the Cougars see in him.