BYU has its sights set on a deep coaching staff

Kevin Young is officially in the driver's seat, and Cougar Nation couldn't be happier. While it may be too soon to declare Young as the superior coach to his predecessor, this is a major hire that is setting a solid foundation for the program to come. Young's contract is in the ballpark of 7 years for $30 million, which is far and away more than BYU would ever consider in prior years.

With this hire, BYU has declared that it intends to devote resources to achieving the highest levels of success in college athletics. According to a report by KSL, Young passed on an offer from the Brooklyn Nets to coach the team for $5 million/year to accept the position in Provo. I never thought I'd see the day.

We aren't finished with the process, though, as Young's assistant coaching staff still needs to be determined. According to reports, BYU is targeting some high-profile names from their head coach big board to bring on in assistant capacities; namely, Chris Burgess and Barret Peery.

BYU's athletic department is tackling the coaching carousel like Michael Scott tackles pretzel day. While Dunder Mifflin's regional manager has his pick of sprinkles, caramel, chocolate, cotton candy, and more, Tom Holmoe and company had a slate of potential head coaches. But instead of choosing just one, Scott and Holmoe speak in unison: "Is there any way you could do... all of them?"

BYU is serious about building a winner in Provo--they're likely tired of seeing the stat that BYU has the most NCAA tournament appearances without a Final Four. After landing Young, to back him up with assistants who understand college hoops like Burgess and Peery would gentrify the bench to a degree never seen at BYU.

Maybe I'm a prisoner of the moment, but I feel that these reports have more merit to them than simply being the delirious hopes of fans drunk on hype. Logically, bringing these coaches onto the team in assistant roles could be a tall task. The sales pitch to these candidates would have to be built on the idea that this is the perfect time to buy low on the Cougars to see their stock soar.

Burgess and Peery would both be excellent hires for the head coaching role, but now that the head coach question has been settled, to bolster the coaching staff with these names could set BYU up for long-term potential unlike anything we've seen before.

But if we've learned anything from this offseason, it's that we can never predict the future. Whatever it may bring, go Cougars!

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