BYU football: Time to bid farewell to the 2017 season and start rebuilding

BYU football’s horrendous 2017 season is over. Instead of agonizing over the past, it’s now time to look forward to the future for the Cougars.

It’s time to say goodbye to the 2017 BYU football season. And not a minute too soon.

In arguably the worst season in BYU football history, the Cougars have seen an abundance of injuries, penalties, turnovers, dropped passes, and missed opportunities.

It’s fair to say, we’re all relieved it’s over.

It’s time to start putting the pieces back together again. A rebuilding process now begins that hasn’t been seen for many years.

Every member of BYU football’s staff and team is under evaluation. Undoubtedly, Kalani Sitake will be back next year, but what he does in the up-and-coming months will determine how much longer he will be at the helm.

While a win in the finale against a terrible Hawaii team has given fans something to enjoy for a few days, it was not enough to justify current schemes and philosophies. Changes are already taking place.

As depressing as this campaign was, believe it or not, there are some positives going into the offseason that will help BYU football remedy the issues.

No false sense of security.

Too often, teams spend hours on things that only worked because of an opponent’s inferiority or missed assignment. Because of this false hope, they persist to develop something that will eventually be unproductive.

Many unsuccessful attempts were made to find effective players and schemes. Because of this, don’t worry about the program wasting any time on approaches that continually failed during the 2017 season.

Obviously, the hiring of a new offensive coordinator illustrates this point. Other coaches will work tirelessly to determine entirely new courses, which include both personnel and methodologies.

This should be promising news to Cougar fans. Although it may seem unrealistic, such corrections can bring about huge results in a small amount of time.

Look no further than the current season for proof of this. Michigan State, Notre Dame and Mississippi State went from losing records in 2016, to being ranked this year. In all three cases, a retained head coach was able to pull it off.

What adjustments are coming and how productive will they be? With a new play-caller and offense is coming to town, and many other unresolved issues to on the table, it’s impossible to know.

But take hope in the fact, that because of what happened this season, change is coming. Kalani Sitake is certainly attempting to make good on his promise that these problems will be fixed.

Returners.

There is no shortage of returners that had valuable game-time opportunities this season. In fact, the offense and defense will be stacked with former starters with invaluable experience.

Obviously, just because they played in 2017 doesn’t mean they’ll start, or even see the field next season. To know that these individuals will at least provide competition to those who might be taking their places, is reassuring.

Recruits.

Head coach Kalani Sitake is noted for being a great recruiter. This is part of the reason why he was hired in the first place.

With such a reputation, he should be able to put a positive spin on the situation that could entice recruits. He might take the approach that many positions are wide open for the taking.

To blue-chip recruits like Brandon Kaho and Merlin Roberson, the appeal of starting four years might be attractive. It’s debatable, but this offer may be on the table for every position this off season.

What an opportunity this provides for incoming freshmen and junior college transfers. There’s little chance players will ignore the opportunity available at the moment. Sitake knows that too.

Will BYU football be able to use these three positives to turn around the program? We’ll find out in the next few months.