"It was a transition, but you learn to adapt to the culture around you," he says. "Some kids I played with never adjusted. There are some LDS kids who never adjust."

For Holmoe the answer is involving former players as mentors to give student athletes advice on personal issues, academics and life beyond football. He says similar programs, like one at the University of Miami, for example, are successful.

"It would be for all athletes, not just minorities," he says. "The mentors would be seen as someone to talk to, not as a coach."

President Harwell and Smith see a formal mentoring program as a huge step toward helping minorities adjust to life in homogenous Provo. President Harwell says two weeks after the allegations of gang rape surfaced he met with BYU head coach Gary Crowton and asked if his Genesis group could in some way help the team.

He has come to practice every Tuesday since.

"We wanted to give them someone to turn to that looks like them," President Harwell says. "They don't have anybody just to chat with. They need someone to back them up."

In the end, it comes down to personal accountability, running back Curtis Brown says. Crowton and other coaches constantly remind players of the Honor Code and the implications for breaking it. In some ways, Brown suggests, it is racist to think black players need help to live it.

"You have to make certain sacrifices to play college football anywhere," Brown says. "At some schools, maybe you sacrifice playing time. Here, it's the Honor Code, and if it takes you reading it every day until it's stuck in your head, so be it."

The Honor Code isn't a weakness for BYU's athletic department, Holmoe says. To him, it's the school's crown jewel. Visitors often tell him how impressed they are with the cleanliness of the campus and the appearance and behavior of the students.

As Coats, a BYU tight end says, "The Honor Code doesn't hurt you. It helps you become a better person. It's not like they're asking us to do things that would hurt us."

Holmoe is confident the proposed mentoring program will make it easier for students, regardless of race, to adjust to life in "The Bubble" and the world beyond.

"Does racism exist in our world? You bet it does. Is racism an issue in Utah Valley? Heck, yeah. Who am I to say these players didn't experience it? . . . There are two sides to it, but if it's an issue, if someone's complaining about being treated unfairly, we're going to investigate. I'm not just going to stick my head in the sand.

"We can get better," Holmoe says. "My vision for the future is we will have black, Hispanic, Asian, nonmember and LDS athletes here at BYU, and they will succeed."

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Contributing: Dick Harmon, Tad Walch; jhyde@desnews.com