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BYU football: Another missionary switches to play for Y.

The Riley Nelson fiasco smelled bad, this makes it smell worse. Notice the fishy made-for-the-press timeline and the timing of the press release. Is this supposed to make Bronco look good? NOT

Totally agree with FormerYLoyalist. I never liked Bronco anyways, but this is downright scummy. He oughta just let the missionaries serve their purpose in the field. If other schools want to play the dirty game of recruiting missionarires, oh well, but Mendenhall is disgracing BYU each new day.

BYU contacting missionaries or missionaries / family contacting BYU. It was evident with Nelsen and Malosi that their "camp" initiated contact first. Bronco has held to his word to leave missionaries alone unless contacted by them. Sorry utes and aggies - I know it hurts to see BYU win and now get second chances at recruits they may have missed the first time around, but you can't blame the Cougs -- anyone who is responsible for a program and winning would make the same decisions - totally within the rules and in compliance with the guidelines Bronco set up his first year as HC.
Here's to Manti joining the Cougars next year and Levi after that!!!!!!

How does this "fiasco smell bad"? The only thing that smells bad around here is your assertion that you were once a "Y loyalist". If you bothered to read the article you would have noticed that it was the athlete and his parents that pursued BYU, not the other way around. Some people, regardless of facts, are intent on remaining in ignorance.

More like: Bitter ute fan who has had a really bad two years.


Glad to have another Teo in the field. That family may be the 2000's version of the Atuaia clan.

To FormerYloyalist...PLEASE! Now what are you..REALLY!!! And to Mormon AGGIE. My daughter goes to USU and she thinks Riley did the smart thing. What, a college career with one of the worst teams in the country maybe winning a few games a year in a very weak conference or play for a prennial top 20 team that gets national exposure. If you think there is even a slight comparison you'd better check what they putting in the ice cream these days. GO HUSKERS!

Let the Yewt whining begin!!!!


Yes! I love the off seasons when BYU owns Utah.


By the way there are very few Utah fans left. Only BYU haters...

It appears fashionable to be skeptical to this whole recruiting thing. To everyone who thinks Mendenhall is pulling a fast one, I say shut up. The only facts you have are what's been reported. Besides, what is so strange about a good program attracting athletes? It's a good time to be a fan of BYU football again, but obviously it brings with it a healthy amount of venom and skepticism from the in-state rivals. Too bad! Deal with it!

Top 20 team every year huh? How is that Vegas bowl treating you zoobies???

Go Cougs!

I seem to recall, a few years ago, when a certain, Ben Olson, jumped ship during his mission. It seems BYU fans where apoplectic, and couldn't believe how someone could "break his word" and not, at least, be cast out into the outer darkness. But now, such behavior, is seen as almost virtuous! Very interesting.

Bottom line-- If BYU had finsihed the last two seasons with 4-8 records, no one would notice,
when these two kids changed thier minds. The
controversy is a sure sign BYU is back on track

The family said,

"Make no mistake about it. They didn't come out and talk about it to us. We sent an innocent e-mail to them first and never expected a response at all. Now that this has happened, we feel very blessed he received an offer."

See, this is not a made up quote made by specious fans of other football programs, this is an honest-to-goodness quote from the family. Complain, whine, moan, the kid (who is 19-20 years old) changed his mind. I wasn't happy when Olson left, but he made the decision based on what he felt was best. As does the program. How well your college football team does has no bearing on your eternal salvation.

So because your daughter says she thinks Riley did the smart thing, it's all good. Strange brew!

You people who find wrong in what has happened with these two athletes amaze me to no end. If BYU was losing, you would be paying no attention. In fact, you have paid no attention while missionaries, for many years now, have switched allegiances while on their mission. Many have NOT come back to BYU despite having signed to play in Provo. And some in the unknowing sports talk and sports writing world are sucked in to thinking something illegal has been done. You need to calm down, see the bigger picture, and recognize the truth. The truth is that, at the moment, BYU is a good place to be, especially for an LDS football player. In time, things will probably change as they always do. When they change, you can once again ignore reports of athletes changing their minds while serving a mission.

This really isn't a big deal, this kid had zero ties to UNLV, unlike Riley at USU. The only part of the article I thought was strange was how careful the author was about explaining who made the initial contact. He was trying way too hard to make BYU look innocent. Give it up, we all know BYU is no different than any other school in the country.

There is nothing ethical or moral about the NCAA rules. Their rules are to protect their assets. They don't want their best football players snapped up by the pros. They also don't want to have to pay more than the paltry scholarships they offer. So, who cares if Bronco contacted the players first or whatever. The change in these players choices has more to do with BYU's great football season than what they are doing as missionaries. And if an individual can get a better deal at BYU, i.e. more exposure, more playing time, then they would be stupid to not jump at the opportunity.

Look Larry, this has been rehashed several times, but a few distinguishing thing about what Olson did:

He stated in the press that he was coming back to BYU. Nelson and Te'o made no such public promises.

Olson waited until he was home to inform BYU of a decision that he and his family had made long before he was home. Now, I realize that Crowton's 'resigning' near the time of his arrival may have have had something to do with it, but by promising to come home all along, Olson left BYU high and dry to QBS. Nelson and Te'o are giving more than enough notice for USU and UNLV to recruit accordingly to fill the voids they're leaving in their positions.

During my mission, my companion (a well known college athlete) was being recruited and it really interfered with our work. For months, that is all he talked about and thought about. Even with investigators, he would talk about his options and would ask them what he should do. The most important part of being on a mission is to preach the gospel, but this recruiting issue really interferes with that. The Y should know better. I am really disappointed.

For Liberal Larry:

There was nothing dishonorable about Ben Olsen leaving BYU for UCLA. I know the guy and he had every right to go where he believed was the best place for him. We do live in America where you are allowed to change your mind. Conversation ended.