BYU football: Cougars win recruiting battle over Mathews

Recruiting. It's the lifeblood of any college program. While every program differs on how they evaluate, value and then pursue future players for their programs, it is paramount in any coach's mind to attract the right players to their respective football team and then to develop that talent.

For the past eight years, I have intently covered BYU recruiting. I continually delve into how each recruit has fared from the day they enter the program until the day they move on for life after their BYU experience. Over time, I've gained a unique perspective into how BYU currently recruits, how their recruiting has changed, and what it takes to find success within BYU's unique football program.

Along with staying on top of the local prep recruiting scene, which has hit an all-time boom due to its overall talent in recent years, BYU has always attracted some of the best LDS talent nationally. While BYU used to win every in-state battle when I first started covering their recruiting, Utah has been able to make some inroads due to the tremendous progress they've made with their football program over the past decade.

Many Cougar fans are worried about how BYU could possibly compete with Utah on the recruiting scene after the Utes received their Pac-10 invitation. The full impact is yet to play out, but recently BYU received some indication that they're still in good shape in regards to attracting the top local talent.

Amid all the commotion over BYU attempting to go independent, Cougar coaches received some big news in securing the commit of offensive lineman Ryker Mathews of American Fork high school.

Mathews is a 6-foot-6, 270-pound left tackle who was being recruited heavily by both BYU and Utah, among other programs. Utah was on Mathews very early, providing him with his first scholarship offer. Mathews described his decision as a "horrible process" where he stewed over his decision as much as any recruit I've covered. One week it was Utah, the next week it was BYU. He was torn due to the superior aspects of both teams.

Mathews is no ordinary prospect. He has been invited to the Army All-American Bowl that showcases the top prep talent nationally.

Subsequently, his services were hotly contested by both BYU and Utah. Both schools engaged in multiple phone calls and visits to his school.

In the weeks following Utah's invitation to the Pac-10, I made some phone calls to Mathews and other uncommitted athletes to gain their thoughts on Utah's Pac-10 affiliation to see how it would affect their recruitment decision. While it was a big thing in some minds, the pervading thought from the athletes was, "not much."