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BYU football: Timpview's Crichton commits to play for Cougars

don't know | 2:16 a.m. March 30, 2008

I have never known much about football but I was wondering if some teams want some players, even if they know they might never play much, to keep them from signing with another school. Having a bunch of runners in the same year maybe five or six 6,it seems funny to bring in more. Just wondering.

SJ Bobkins | 6:40 a.m. March 30, 2008

Hate to see Pete Carroll who has ripped the state Div-A1 schools respective hearts out by stealing their top recruits (top kids in 2007 and 2008) away. Now So-Cal recruiting expects think Cottonwoods John Martinez is a done deal for the Trojans. And here comes Gary Crowton sticking his slimy head back into BYU's farm team. With so few can't miss prospects in Utah and the zillions of kids in large population, big time football states (Texas, Florida, Georgia, LA) can't he keep his hugely disliked self out Utah?
He is the Slick Willie of the collegiate ranks (Oregon writers gave him that name). We don't need one more silvery tongue devils promising the world our kids, who want all their lives to go on missions, to have Pete or Gary separate them from that dream. Pete claims he'll work around the mission, but the kids never leave knowing they can't come back, despite his promises.

Hawk | 9:02 a.m. March 30, 2008

Good football, good young men. What a combo. Go Cougars.

Comments continue below

Great advice SJ | 10:48 a.m. March 30, 2008

Hey SJ, maybe some kids in Utah have a dream to play college football on its biggest stage. Playing in the Rose Bowl or possibly the BCS Championship isn't going to happen in Provo or Salt Lake City (but of course you already know that). Maybe its the culture here that holds our kids back from becoming what they are capable of becoming and maybe, just maybe, all kids don't want to go on a two year mission.

Xavier and Crowton | 11:08 a.m. March 30, 2008

A kid like Xavier is headed from 4 stars to 5 as long as the big name recruits keep piling up. There are not that many 5 star players in the entire country and BYU only gets a 4 star player every few years and a 5 even less often. The safety from Timpview Bills is a 4 star recruit. He probably would have become a 5 had he not committed early and piled up the big names recruiting him.

It looks like Timpview and Snow College has taken the place of Ricks as BYU's farm team. Closer to home anyway. And I don't get why people continue to rip Crowton. He is a good man who decided on a strategy to recruit athletes rather than mission bound Eagle Scouts exclusively and yes it backfired but he never intended that. He is now just doing his job as one of the top OCs at one of the top universities. Are you going to rip Chow the same way when he uses his local ties to steal a 5 star recruit out of BYU's backyard?

Ernest T. Bass | 11:36 a.m. March 30, 2008

Why all the Crowton hate? Calling him slimy is very low class.

Scoobie | 12:22 p.m. March 30, 2008

Ref:Xavier and Crowton
Let's get one thing straight. Crowton was a not so welcome "inserted wannabe".... where Chow was the obvious Heir Apparent.......during an Atheletic Director transition that was and still is, not too highly thought of in these parts. Yes Crowton is a good man but his vision was not conducive nor was it complimentary to the Church's or Lavell Edwards vision regarding the missionary player. BYU just wasn't the place for him.........unfortunately, it should have been for Norm Chow....but thanks to a certain Athletic Director....well thats just the way it is water uder the bridge.....the bright side is that we have Brononco Mendenhall and a return to including an reserving space for the missionary player. We have a very good team going into the upcoming season and Mendehall has even given up the Defensive reins........All in all things are really looking up...........and Crowton as good as he might well be will never be in the same class as Chow.

Thanks Ernest | 12:32 p.m. March 30, 2008

Anybody close to the program knows some members of the athletic department wanted both Val Hale and Gary Crowton to fail. Even members of his own staff were happy to see him fail. Coach Crowton wasn't given the ability to hire his own staff, he had to take on most of Coach Edwards staff(many of them are/were lazy,complacent). I for one think both Coach Crowton and Val Hale handled their firings with class and our good people. Its easy to be critical when you don't know the whole story. But then again most of you wouldn't listen anyway.

Scoobie | 12:37 p.m. March 30, 2008

Ref: The Spelling Freaks

Yes I know it's Bronco not Brononco and under and not uder....thanks for your concern ...I corrected my own mistakes.

Crowton just fine! | 1:41 p.m. March 30, 2008

Gary Crowton is one of the top OC in the nation, I'm pretty sure he makes good money too! Why wouldn't he recruit the neighborhood he once lived?

Levin | 2:19 p.m. March 30, 2008

The worry about Crowton or Chow snatching up all the good BYU recruits out of Utah County is unfounded. A high school program getting attention from the defending national champions can only make the program get better. Kids and parents are more likely to work harder, if they think there is a good chance that LSU or UCLA might come knocking.

BYU, the hometown school, is then get "stuck" with a higher level of excellent players who, for whatever reason, didn't go to the BCS school.

BYU should just keep working on its own program, making it more attractive in all ways, both in fielding competitive teams and keeping the spiritual focus that attracts students from all over the world to come there.

Now, Bronco should absolutely after those top players, and do everything he can to get them to play at LES. But it really is not the worst thing when a Utah player goes to play for the national championship team.

Big Ten Country, IA | 7:45 p.m. March 30, 2008

I think BYU is discovering what it's like to play with the big boys. Recruiting is brutal and cuthroat. You win some you lose more but in the long run your team keeps getting better. I think coug fans should be proud of their program, it's really starting to make national noise.

PS. watch out for UNI!

re:don't know | 9:30 p.m. March 30, 2008

yeah there is some of that, but i don't know how prevalent it is cause you use up scholarships on kids who won't play. A good example is in the NBA with JJ Reddick, the magic don't play him, but won't give him up cause he is such a good shooter. I dunno though.

Scoobie | 10:18 p.m. March 30, 2008

Crowton was a much better hire than Chow would have been. There are reasons why he hasn't been named a head coach, notwithstanding being the top offensive co-ordinator in the country.

Scoobie | 7:28 a.m. March 31, 2008

Very few share your opinion and I'm very familiar with the actual situation. The then Athletic Director was the real problem...that's why his tenure was so short. I'm not taking anything away from Crowton ...he's a fine coach with his own style but he just didn't fit the mold and had we not had the problems in the A.D. Department at the time Crowton would not have been selected and Chow would have been in.
Chow's real problem is that he's so good that Head Coaches who seemingly are always portrayed by the media as the real understudies and Chow the master, fear for their jobs, so like Pete Carrol at USC they fire him........Pete's mighty lucky that Chow had a lot to do with Steve Sarkesian (a Chow Protoge) being there.

Focus on the topic | 8:55 a.m. March 31, 2008

Congrats Tui. It's a great place for you, and for your family.

Scoobie's right | 9:07 a.m. March 31, 2008

When long time Athletic Director Glenn Tuckett retired, a very obvious void was created in the Mens' Athletic Department. Although the two succeeding A.D.s, Rhondo Fehlberg, and Vale Hale, one of Rhondo's assistants, had business savy, they did not have a long time relationship with BYU sports.... as did Tuckett,or his predecessor Stan Watts and our present A. D. Tom Holmoe. Rhondo may have been a good Lawyer for the Oil industry but he was a disaster for BYU Sports.......He definately was not a people person........his handling of the Roger Reid situation ....( a nicer word than fiasco)......astutely testifies to that......It was because of his aneptness as a sports guru and his inability to deal with people that Norm Chow didn't get the Head Coaching job.......Vale Hale's term as A.D. was just an extension of Rhondo's.....thus he was the messenger boy and he inserted Crowton into the H.C. job.

No More Supposition | 9:46 a.m. March 31, 2008

Let quite all the supposition about ADs and coaches. It is unproductive to say the least. Felberg had as much of a "long time relationship" with BYU as Holmoe, although certainly neither had the type of long term relationships that Watts and Tuckett had. Each AD has been able to learn from what happened before him. I'm convinced Holmoe is a much better AD because of what his predecessors went through. Same with the coaches. Crowton is a great coach and an equally good man. His approach to the BYU program didn't work out and Mendenhall, to his credit, learned from that and took a different approach that has been (and I think will be) very successful.

Where's Stocton??? | 10:29 a.m. March 31, 2008

Ref: No More Supposition
Tui....welcome to the program!!!!
You"re right as much as many of us would have liked to have had Norm Chow. as a H.C...... we now have a very good coach in Broncho Mendenhall and a strong team going into the 08 season. Though I am one of the dislikers of the Fehlberg era, it is time to put it to rest....although it doesn't hurt to review history and hopefully not repeat it.

Blue Never Doubts | 10:26 a.m. March 31, 2008

Who cares what Crowton does?

Bronco will get the players HE wants, that WANT to be at BYU. If a player is swayed to go another direction, so be it. His heart is not fully committed to the BYU Legacy.

BYU will be fine for every recruit that decides to go elsewhere.

Go COUGS!

re: big ten country, IA | 12:46 p.m. March 31, 2008

There's a flaw in your wonderful logic. If BYU was in a BCS conference and had a chance to compete for BCS bowls and Championships then they'd be on a level playing field with the BIG 10, Pac-10, etc. schools as far as money and potential publicity for these kids goes. Then the mission and spiritual aspects for these top utah and LDS athletes would be the difference in their choice.

It would no longer be a choice between BYU for the mission, etc. or USC for the B(C)S. Then more of these 4 and 5 star recruits from Utah would be happier to stay local.

Yeah BYU! | 1:32 p.m. March 31, 2008

I'm glad the Y was able to get such a fine recruit. Whether he ends up going to BYU, or Utah, or any other school, I hope he remembers one thing - get a saleable education! You never know what might happen while in college (injuries), or if you will actually be drafted into the NFL, so please pick a field of study that can support you in the future.

Regarding the ADs | 4:12 p.m. March 31, 2008

I don't know . . . I don't really think Holmoe's a much better AD. I don't credit Holmoe for the Mendenhall or Rose hires, because those choices seemed so obvious that any fair thinking individual would have gone with them. On the other hand, I'm close to the volleyball program and I will never forgive Holmoe for what he did to Tom Peterson over the last year. There's no room for scapegoats at fair, ethical, and moral-driven universities, and Peterson was a scapegoat, plain and simple. Further, Holmoe's been smug and arrogant regarding the situation. I say we need more transparency.

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