Comments about ‘BYU football: Cougars win recruiting battle over Mathews’

The recruit that BYU should be concerned about is not the one from Utah County and who is already an active Mormon with an active family life. The recruit that BYU needs to be concerned about is the one from California or Texas. Granted BYU is unique but if that kid feels he can get a similar atmosphere minus the restrictions of the Honor Code at say the U of U then that is where BYU may take the hit in the recruiting battle. Top LDS athletes have been choosing other universities more and more in recent years.

Just a thought.

Big article for a Scout.com 3 star recruit

I think there are a lot of kids who want the byu "experience" but you are high on Tahitian Noni if you do not think the Utes will be ripping recruits from BYU long term.

This is a perfect example of why those who can only see from a sports viewpoint and don't see things from the recruits viewpoint of how important the church / membership / environment etc are. Football is important but in alot of ways it is secondary. BYU will be OK and their recruiting will not change or be affected all that much.

I'm excited to see how independence in football goes, basketball should be fine, in fact the WCC should be just as good as the mnt with the addition of BYU.
I'm sure BYU has made arrangements for the 3or4 sports that aren't covered by the WCC.
All in all things should be better.

Thanks for a great article. The real issue is not the U, it will get some local kids. But, now the rest of the PAC-10 will be more familiar here. I think it will hurt the U more than the Y as the allure of being away from home, but still playing in the area takes its toll on those kids not all that enamored with the Y experience who were until naturals for the U. Should be interesting, as the Y plays all over the country and players see they can have a national audience as opposed to just regional exposure. Independence could be a real boon to the unique non-LDS athlete that seeks a high caliber football experience with out the constant pressure of pop culture Universities

He is going to be playing in the Army All-American game. I don't think the three star matters, if he is playing in that game. They don't just invite anybody.

Get used to results like this, Utah. Pac, Schmac.
LOL!!!!!

"Matthews and other uncommitted athletes to gain their thoughts on Utah's Pac-10 affiliation to see how it would affect their recruitment decision"

Wow, what a strange way trying to lure him to the idea of this pac10 affilation thought?

Welcome to COUGAR country and the INDEPENDANT!

Through this entire process BYU has proven to be selfish and self serving and I say that as one who is an active member. Really quite embarrassed with BYU's actions but congrats to this kid sounds like a great young man.

Isn't this old news? I read about Ryker Mathews going to BYU before the independence news broke out a couple of weeks ago.

Back in 1979, I was once heavily recruited by Cal, Stanford, San Jose State, Utah State and aghast.....BYU.
Andy Reid even visited my home, among others like John Elway Sr.
I digress and name drop which isn't to thump my chest, rather to make a point.
I wanted to go to Stanford where Jim Plunkett had played and John Elway Jr. was the Quarterback at the time.
Then I visited BYU. I was totally inactive at the time, but my older brother was parenting me at the time, and to get him off my back, and take a plane ride to beautiful Utah (which was known for amazing skiing).
As a side note, I did visit Utah State during the trip and Logan was gorgeous, but the partying was recruiting pitch.
BYU was SO different. And I say that with a capital D. It was the most awe-inspiring place I had ever been. Stanford and Cal were brick and mortar. BYU was a culture that changed my life.
I had a good senior year in HS playing football, then blew out my knee playing baseball.
Sports were over for me, but 31 years later, here I am

Would have loved to have him as a Ute, but don't begrudge him going to BYU. Don't know much about BYU's recruiting class this year, but I love Utah's and the success they are having in state. But, congrats to Matthews, getting a D1 schollie is a big accomplishment and wish him the best.

Dear nehu, 9:27pm

"Through this entire process BYU has proven to be selfish and self serving and I say that as one who is an active member. Really quite embarrassed with BYU's actions but congrats to this kid sounds like a great young man."

AND Utah leaving for 10+ Million is not selfish?

Get real...

In fact, I don't know what you do for a living, but if you'll leave your job tomorrow, I'll pay you
$1,500,000 a year...to do the same work.

Oh, right, that would be selfish of you and you would turn that down.

to @nehu. How is BYU being selfish and self-serving? You think it was fair and right for them to remain in the MWC, getting $1.33M per year and languishing on the mtn. channel while TCU was allowed to play on VS. and CBS-C for nearly all their home games because the mtn. isn't available on cable in Dallas/Ft. Worth? And what does being "active" have to do with it?

nehu, if you think BYU has really "proven to be selfish and self serving," and if you really are an active member, you perhaps need to study and ponder this more. Or perhaps be more careful about whom you heed. If you don't listen to every anti-Mormon with an axe to grind, or at least understand where their blind spots are when you do, then why not consider those who are bad-mouthing BYU right now in the same light?

BYU's independence had to be approved by the Board of Trustees. Think about that a bit. If you're a little slow, that means that this move will serve the church's purposes.

I love what RaininTime had to say about BYU being so different. That's just one of the reasons BYU is sometimes cited as being "the most hated team in America." That's another way of saying "least understood school in America." We're used to it - but it would be nice if at least active LDS who never attended BYU would give up their prejudices about the place. Is it perfect? Of course not. Is it truly great in many ways? Yes.

This is definiely old news, DNews doesn't keep up on recruiting that well.

Now the battle needs to be won for Harvey Langi, it's between BYU and Stanford from what I understand.

Congrats BYU, it was time to do something! Is it the right move, I think so but time will tell. As for recruiting one of the disadvantages BYU has had for years was good family people across the country that wanted their sons to have the BYU experience,decided against the Y because they would never see their son play. Now that has been overcome, I think you will see more outsiders coming to the Y because they will be on TV every week and traveling the entire country. Sure we will lose some to the U but we should pick up more than we lose. Now, it's time for the Y and the U to prove they belong with the big boys. Go Cougars and Utes.

Article quote: "In the weeks following Utah's invitation to the Pac-10, I made some phone calls to Matthews 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."

Doh!

I bet yewties won't like to hear that....

For Andrew J. Marksen:

Andrew, if an LDS kid doesn't want to come to BYU specifically BECAUSE of BYU's honor code, we don't want 'em.

Period.

And, no, yewties, we don't discriminate. We wouldn't want anyone of any religion if they don't like BYU's honor code.

BYU is different and, no, we don't shy away from that.

BYU needs to win these local recruiting battles. Utah can easily get comporable recruits out of state on players who want to play in the pac 12. If Utah gets the local players it hurts BYU much more than it would hurt Utah.

This recruit sounds like he wants to go to BYU even after the change in conferences. Hopefully he wont change his mind.

The real recruiting battle is for Harvey Langi. That one will say a lot about BYU's ability to keep local players and how players view the conference ch