My biggest concern with Coach BA is what his recruiting philosophy will be. Our top football accomplishments over the past 20 years have been a WAC Championship, playing in the MWC championship game, and finishing the season ranked in the top 25 twice. All of those have come with players recruited under the three pronged Andersen formula:

- Recruit the State of Utah
- Recruit Polynesians
- Establish a missionary program

I understand that BA is considered a great recruiter and his Arkansas State teams were built on players from Texas and the south. I worry that getting those players to come to Logan is going to be much more difficult than getting them to Jonesboro.

IMO, BA needs to hire someone on his staff that can help him utilize the Andersen recruiting formula. Here are some names to consider (admittedly, it may be tough to get some of them to leave their current jobs):

- Ikaika Malloe: Co-DC and D-line at University of Washington (only way to get him would be to make him DC)
- Chad Kauh'aha'a: Defensive line coach at UNLV
- Lewis Powell: Defensive ends coach at Utah
- Frank Maile: I just can't imagine he will stay
- Mark Atuaia: Running backs coach at Virginia
- Vic So'oto: Defensive line coach at USC (Probably not ready to be a DC)
- Kendrick Shaver: Safeties Coach at Washington State (would probably have to be our DC to get him and IIRC recruited mostly in the South when he was here)
- DJ Tialavea or Al Lapuaho: Current graduate assistants that might be ready for a permanent position

Don't forget current USU position coaches Bojay Filimoeatu (ILB) and Justin Ena (OLB). Although BA (and we) may be looking for a clean sweep? In addition, I haven't been overly impressed with our LBs this year so far, so maybe we wouldn't want to consider these two anyway?

I am sure he was told About this recruiting formula in his interview. I think he can follow it but also he needs to put his foot print on it as well. 32 + 6 I think he will do just fine in the recruiting Trail.

ShowMeAggie wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 9:36 am

Don't forget current USU position coaches Bojay Filimoeatu (ILB) and Justin Ena (OLB). Although BA (and we) may be looking for a clean sweep? In addition, I haven't been overly impressed with our LBs this year so far, so maybe we wouldn't want to consider these two anyway?

I have suggested having Bojay coach running backs just to keep his recruiting.

Winning 7 games a year at a G5 in the heart of SEC country tells me he likely can coach and recruit. He's dealt with the media and fan disparity. But, the question is whether he can recruit here. Every coach that has come in here, except GA and Wells, focused on out of state kids, almost entirely. It was almost as if that because they didn't have the local contacts, they let them go to BYU and Utah and focused on the areas they already knew. MISTAKE! They should not abandon areas they already know, but they need to work Utah and it's sister states hard. GA 1.0's plan was well conceived and well executed, and Wells carried it forward. If BA only gives lip service to 1. Recruiting Utah, 2. Recruiting Polynesians, and 3. Working the LDS missionary program, he wont' be here very long, and it won't be because of success.

I'm more curious than concerned. I assume that an experienced HC is capable to adapting to a new location and leveraging what that brings. I think someone in another thread mentioned that Arkansas was a talent-lacking state as far as high school recruits. I don't know if that is true, but didn't BA recruit heavily from Texas and surrounding areas? I'm curious as to how he will evaluate and, if appropriate, pursue Utah talent. This is going to be fun to watch develop!

BigBlueBlood wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 9:47 am

Every coach that has come in here, except GA and Wells, focused on out of state kids, almost entirely. It was almost as if that because they didn't have the local contacts, they let them go to BYU and Utah and focused on the areas they already knew. MISTAKE!

This sums up my feelings exactly. We have seen what happens when coaches put the focus of recruiting on California and/or Texas. We should still recruit in those and other areas, but we have to keep the three focus areas Andersen laid out in 2009.

I think I'm one of the few that feels this way, but I think the old formula's that proved successful might not apply anymore.
The missionary program and the poly-pipeline.... not sure they are still the cornerstone's of our identity.
I think there are different ways of getting us to where we want to go now. The world has shrunk and our minds need to open up a bit... think bigger.

Sl7vk wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 10:02 am

I think I'm one of the few that feels this way, but I think the old formula's that proved successful might not apply anymore.
The missionary program and the poly-pipeline.... not sure they are still the cornerstone's of our identity.
I think there are different ways of getting us to where we want to go now. The world has shrunk and our minds need to open up a bit... think bigger.

Oh man...I agree with this 100% soooo much...time to change, let a guy recruit how he does it...things are MUCH different....

splintorb wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 10:13 am

Oh man...I agree with this 100% soooo much...time to change, let a guy recruit how he does it...things are MUCH different....

I'm willing to have an open mind, so enlighten me. What do you see as being so different now than in 2018, the last time we were ranked? Also, are you saying that BA can be successful at Utah State by focusing his recruiting on the south?

Thanks, I'll hang up and listen.

Floppy Hat wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 10:19 am

splintorb wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 10:13 am

Oh man...I agree with this 100% soooo much...time to change, let a guy recruit how he does it...things are MUCH different....

I'm willing to have an open mind, so enlighten me. What do you see as being so different now than in 2018, the last time we were ranked? Also, are you saying that BA can be successful at Utah State by focusing his recruiting on the south?

Thanks, I'll hang up and listen.

I think the missionary program and the poly-pipeline were key to our success in GA 1.0 back in 2009. Back then our facilities stunk and we were quasi homeless when it came to conference affiliation. We didn't really have much to sell so we scrapped the best we can and found this formula for success.

We are now in a legitimate G5 conference with very good facilities. Utah and BYU are grabbing the best of the missionary and poly-pipeline and we can't be standing 3rd in line to pick up the scraps. By 2018, Wells had already largely abandoned what you described, and I think there really is no point going back.

Regionalism is fine. I'd like to grab the best kids from Idaho and Utah, but we aren't in a good position to do that. As such we present a much more compelling option to a kid from Texas or California that who's in state offers are worse than going to USU. Get the best player and if he's from Arkansas, who cares. If he's from Brigham City, that's great too.

Sl7vk wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 10:24 am

Floppy Hat wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 10:19 am

splintorb wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 10:13 am

Oh man...I agree with this 100% soooo much...time to change, let a guy recruit how he does it...things are MUCH different....

I'm willing to have an open mind, so enlighten me. What do you see as being so different now than in 2018, the last time we were ranked? Also, are you saying that BA can be successful at Utah State by focusing his recruiting on the south?

Thanks, I'll hang up and listen.

I think the missionary program and the poly-pipeline were key to our success in GA 1.0 back in 2009. Back then our facilities stunk and we were quasi homeless when it came to conference affiliation. We didn't really have much to sell so we scrapped the best we can and found this formula for success.

We are now in a legitimate G5 conference with very good facilities. Utah and BYU are grabbing the best of the missionary and poly-pipeline and we can't be standing 3rd in line to pick up the scraps. By 2018, Wells had already largely abandoned what you described, and I think there really is no point going back.

Regionalism is fine. I'd like to grab the best kids from Idaho and Utah, but we aren't in a good position to do that. As such we present a much more compelling option to a kid from Texas or California that who's in state offers are worse than going to USU. Get the best player and if he's from Arkansas, who cares. If he's from Brigham City, that's great too.

This is my favorite thread that I have read about the recruiting situation. Why is everyone so stuck in the past?? I honestly think it is out of fear of regressing back into the early 2000's again. Forget the past, move forward to something even bigger and better. Times have changed. There are many ways to build a great program, not just one. Even in Logan, Utah.

Sl7vk wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 10:24 am

Floppy Hat wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 10:19 am

splintorb wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 10:13 am

Oh man...I agree with this 100% soooo much...time to change, let a guy recruit how he does it...things are MUCH different....

I'm willing to have an open mind, so enlighten me. What do you see as being so different now than in 2018, the last time we were ranked? Also, are you saying that BA can be successful at Utah State by focusing his recruiting on the south?

Thanks, I'll hang up and listen.

I think the missionary program and the poly-pipeline were key to our success in GA 1.0 back in 2009. Back then our facilities stunk and we were quasi homeless when it came to conference affiliation. We didn't really have much to sell so we scrapped the best we can and found this formula for success.

We are now in a legitimate G5 conference with very good facilities. Utah and BYU are grabbing the best of the missionary and poly-pipeline and we can't be standing 3rd in line to pick up the scraps. By 2018, Wells had already largely abandoned what you described, and I think there really is no point going back.

Regionalism is fine. I'd like to grab the best kids from Idaho and Utah, but we aren't in a good position to do that. As such we present a much more compelling option to a kid from Texas or California that who's in state offers are worse than going to USU. Get the best player and if he's from Arkansas, who cares. If he's from Brigham City, that's great too.

This summed it up exactly how I feel. The only portion I don't agree with is that Utah and BYU get the best of the missionary and poly-pipeline because I would say that it goes major P5 conferences get the first pick here, lower end PAC12/BIG12 get next pick, BYU gets next, and we get the leftover from those areas. I agree 100% that I want to try to grab the best players in Idaho and Utah, but, they aren't coming to USU and they won't be coming to USU anytime soon. I'm fine with still recruiting the area and still picking up some of these kids, but I just don't think it nearly needs to be the focus it has been in the previous years.

GameFAQSAggie wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 9:42 am

ShowMeAggie wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 9:36 am

Don't forget current USU position coaches Bojay Filimoeatu (ILB) and Justin Ena (OLB). Although BA (and we) may be looking for a clean sweep? In addition, I haven't been overly impressed with our LBs this year so far, so maybe we wouldn't want to consider these two anyway?

I have suggested having Bojay coach running backs just to keep his recruiting.

Bojay hasn't really done a ton. If you want to keep assistants JUST on their recruiting merit alone. You keep Frank, Stacy and Roc Bellantoni. BUT I'm hearing that all the assistants are out the lone holdover may only be Zach Nyborg.

Sl7vk wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 10:02 am

I think I'm one of the few that feels this way, but I think the old formula's that proved successful might not apply anymore.
The missionary program and the poly-pipeline.... not sure they are still the cornerstone's of our identity.
I think there are different ways of getting us to where we want to go now. The world has shrunk and our minds need to open up a bit... think bigger.

It has changed since GA took over the program in Dec 2008. At that time Utah was a pretty much ignored recruiting area by anybody outside the state but the fact is that Utah also produces a lot of D1 football players per population. Now you see quite a few Pac-12 and SEC schools in particular come in and steal away top recruits from the state. Back in GA 1.0 a number of P5 level recruits fell to USU partly because schools outside Utah didn't recruit here.

I still like the base of our recruiting to be from the state of Utah but I don't think the number of MWC level players in the state are available to USU as there were 10-12 years ago.

Right now on the two deep roster I see 7 offensive and 5 defensive players from Utah (out of 33 on a roster of 97), a little over 25% of the two deep players are from the state of Utah and about 35% of the roster is from the state of Utah, so it's not like we are flooded with Utah players using the "formula"

I think Utah should still be the base of our recruiting but I don't think there are enough players in the state of Utah to field a MWC level program.

Sl7vk wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 10:02 am

I think I'm one of the few that feels this way, but I think the old formula's that proved successful might not apply anymore.
The missionary program and the poly-pipeline.... not sure they are still the cornerstone's of our identity.
I think there are different ways of getting us to where we want to go now. The world has shrunk and our minds need to open up a bit... think bigger.

You've made SEVERAL fantastic points in this thread my Aggie brother. Guys the Poly pipeline is NO LONGER a secret the rest of the college football world has caught on. 10 years ago when it worked so well for the Utah teams we reaped the benefits. Now EVERYONE recruits Poly kids. EVERYONE should be recruiting the Polynesian kids. The outgoing staff ROUTINELY shot down kids from Florida that attempted to commit in order to take MUCH lower rated kids from Utah. We have to broaden our recruiting umbrella and not be so narrow minded as a fan base.

I think many of you are pushing an all or nothing stance. I say recruit the best talent wherever it is, just don't give away or ignore the three cornerstones of our recruiting when our culture changed and we started winning. It's easy to say things have changed, but what has actually changed and how to do these changes justify giving up on those three areas? Are you saying that because we have better facilities we don't need local, poly or missionary recruits? "Thinking bigger," is the inclusion of those three areas. I argue that it's narrow minded to only just park yourself in Florida, Texas and California, like every other P5 and G5 team. Thinking out side the box is finding good talent where others may not be looking as hard, AND not conceding that good local talent only goes to the teams down south. It takes both, in my view. Utah itself produces a lot of good D1 talent.

Aggies22, can you please provide all the examples of the Florida recruits the previous staff "routinely" turned away in favor of lesser talent from Utah? I'm not saying it didn't happen, but this is a serious accusation of the current staff. In fact, your post states that the local kids they kept were "much lower rated," and you capitalized "much." If true, this is unacceptable and should be brought out.

Poly recruiting is fascinating to me. Is it really that shallow that Poly guys will only go to a place where they are recruited by a Poly coach? If this is the logic won't Sitake get all the best guys anyways? Where do we rank on the list?

I think when it comes to recruiting local players out of Utah, the areas where we are going to see the most impact are in the trenches (especially when it comes to Returned Missionaries due to the two year age difference), and then getting good safety/running backs and converting them to become linebackers (think the Vigil bros).

nobody (and i mean NOBODY) is advocating for a roster FULL of UT/ID/WY kids. Just suggesting that we don't ignore them completely. PAC12 teams (including the Ewets) will take maybe half of Utah's 20 highest rated kids...the rest will go to MWC-level programs (yes, that includes byu). For the 2020 class, the top 30 recruits were all 3* kids. Not shabby. Why not USU? We've dropped off recently, but for a few years there, we were neck-and-neck with BYU for the 2nd most desirable in-state program. With UTAH turning their eyes elsewhere, that leaves lots of pretty good Utah kids. All I'm saying is that we shouldn't just concede that we're going to lose ALL the 3* talent in the state to BYU (and other similar out-of-state programs). There's a million reasons why they should pick us over the boogers....

Sl7vk wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 10:24 am

I think the missionary program and the poly-pipeline were key to our success in GA 1.0 back in 2009. Back then our facilities stunk and we were quasi homeless when it came to conference affiliation. We didn't really have much to sell so we scrapped the best we can and found this formula for success.

We are now in a legitimate G5 conference with very good facilities. Utah and BYU are grabbing the best of the missionary and poly-pipeline and we can't be standing 3rd in line to pick up the scraps. By 2018, Wells had already largely abandoned what you described, and I think there really is no point going back.

Regionalism is fine. I'd like to grab the best kids from Idaho and Utah, but we aren't in a good position to do that. As such we present a much more compelling option to a kid from Texas or California that who's in state offers are worse than going to USU. Get the best player and if he's from Arkansas, who cares. If he's from Brigham City, that's great too.

I agree that Wells went away from the formula, especially ignoring Utah recruiting starting in about 2017 and I think that is part of the problem we have now. If you look at our two deep offense and defense heading into the 2018 New Mexico Bowl, we had the following players from the "3-Pillars":

Offense: Compton, Andrus, Iniguez, Ficklin, Ali'fua, Bowles, South, Raymond, Terrell (9 out of 21)
Defense: Wildman, Unga, Andersen, Leilua, Galeai, Lee, Te'i, Christiansen, Tamaivena, Gajkowski, Gunther, Ferguson, Nelson (13 out of 22)

That's 32 out of 43 or 74%. That's just a snapshot from our most recent "good" team. Those players were primarily recruited in 2016 and earlier when we were following the "3-Pillars formula". I'm all for letting BA do his own thing, but this is why I am reluctant to abandon this formula.

I think sometimes the need for a missionary program is misunderstood and needing to recruit missionaries. The truth is the coach needs to be willing to accommodate a young man if that is what he chooses to do. There are plenty of programs that won't. That will always be an issue that is more common in Utah than elsewhere

aggies22 wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 10:41 am

Sl7vk wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 10:02 am

I think I'm one of the few that feels this way, but I think the old formula's that proved successful might not apply anymore.
The missionary program and the poly-pipeline.... not sure they are still the cornerstone's of our identity.
I think there are different ways of getting us to where we want to go now. The world has shrunk and our minds need to open up a bit... think bigger.

You've made SEVERAL fantastic points in this thread my Aggie brother. Guys the Poly pipeline is NO LONGER a secret the rest of the college football world has caught on. 10 years ago when it worked so well for the Utah teams we reaped the benefits. Now EVERYONE recruits Poly kids. EVERYONE should be recruiting the Polynesian kids. The outgoing staff ROUTINELY shot down kids from Florida that attempted to commit in order to take MUCH lower rated kids from Utah. We have to broaden our recruiting umbrella and not be so narrow minded as a fan base.

Amen!

BigBlueBlood wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 10:50 am

Aggies22, can you please provide all the examples of the Florida recruits the previous staff "routinely" turned away in favor of lesser talent from Utah? I'm not saying it didn't happen, but this is a serious accusation of the current staff. In fact, your post states that the local kids they kept were "much lower rated," and you capitalized "much." If true, this is unacceptable and should be brought out.

To what end? I'm curious what the intent of bringing it out now would be? Thanks!

newhouse9 wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 11:23 am

BigBlueBlood wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 10:50 am

Aggies22, can you please provide all the examples of the Florida recruits the previous staff "routinely" turned away in favor of lesser talent from Utah? I'm not saying it didn't happen, but this is a serious accusation of the current staff. In fact, your post states that the local kids they kept were "much lower rated," and you capitalized "much." If true, this is unacceptable and should be brought out.

To what end? I'm curious what the intent of bringing it out now would be? Thanks!

No point at this point.

aggies22 wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 10:41 am

Sl7vk wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 10:02 am

I think I'm one of the few that feels this way, but I think the old formula's that proved successful might not apply anymore.
The missionary program and the poly-pipeline.... not sure they are still the cornerstone's of our identity.
I think there are different ways of getting us to where we want to go now. The world has shrunk and our minds need to open up a bit... think bigger.

You've made SEVERAL fantastic points in this thread my Aggie brother. Guys the Poly pipeline is NO LONGER a secret the rest of the college football world has caught on. 10 years ago when it worked so well for the Utah teams we reaped the benefits. Now EVERYONE recruits Poly kids. EVERYONE should be recruiting the Polynesian kids. The outgoing staff ROUTINELY shot down kids from Florida that attempted to commit in order to take MUCH lower rated kids from Utah. We have to broaden our recruiting umbrella and not be so narrow minded as a fan base.

If this is true (and I have no reason to doubt 22, especially on matters like this) we have our answer as to why our team took a nosedive.

I've been a proponent of not abandoning Utah recruiting, but nobody in their right mind would say we should take a worse Utah kid over a better out-of-state kid.

ShowMeAggie wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 11:13 am

Why not USU? We've dropped off recently, but for a few years there, we were neck-and-neck with BYU for the 2nd most desirable in-state program. With UTAH turning their eyes elsewhere, that leaves lots of pretty good Utah kids. All I'm saying is that we shouldn't just concede that we're going to lose ALL the 3* talent in the state to BYU (and other similar out-of-state programs). There's a million reasons why they should pick us over the boogers....

If we are currently not attractive to Utah kids, polynesians, and missionaries, we need to get back to that level. There will always be some of those kids that are set on going to BYU and so maybe we don't waste too much effort on them, but there are several that were coming here not that long ago.

aggies22 wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 10:41 am

Sl7vk wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 10:02 am

I think I'm one of the few that feels this way, but I think the old formula's that proved successful might not apply anymore.
The missionary program and the poly-pipeline.... not sure they are still the cornerstone's of our identity.
I think there are different ways of getting us to where we want to go now. The world has shrunk and our minds need to open up a bit... think bigger.

You've made SEVERAL fantastic points in this thread my Aggie brother. Guys the Poly pipeline is NO LONGER a secret the rest of the college football world has caught on. 10 years ago when it worked so well for the Utah teams we reaped the benefits. Now EVERYONE recruits Poly kids. EVERYONE should be recruiting the Polynesian kids. The outgoing staff ROUTINELY shot down kids from Florida that attempted to commit in order to take MUCH lower rated kids from Utah. We have to broaden our recruiting umbrella and not be so narrow minded as a fan base.

This is where I am. Keep recruiting Utah and Polynesians, but we have to adapt or die. I am excited to see what Anderson and co can do in the Southeast recruiting wise.

I want to add that I think that the cfb paradigm has changed a bit with the "formula". The transfer landscape has changed things. USU should put a big focus on transfer IMO. That's an area we can bring in more talented/higher recruited kids that are looking for more playing time or whatever it may be.

Roy McAvoy wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 11:51 am

I want to add that I think that the cfb paradigm has changed a bit with the "formula". The transfer landscape has changed things. USU should put a big focus on transfer IMO. That's an area we can bring in more talented/higher recruited kids that are looking for more playing time or whatever it may be.

If we want to have a winning season next year, we have to recruit half a dozen immediate contributors from the transfer portal or JC ranks.

Roy McAvoy wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 11:51 am

I want to add that I think that the cfb paradigm has changed a bit with the "formula". The transfer landscape has changed things. USU should put a big focus on transfer IMO. That's an area we can bring in more talented/higher recruited kids that are looking for more playing time or whatever it may be.

Especially with the one time transfer immediate eligibility rule going into effect next month.

Madmartigan wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 11:53 am

Roy McAvoy wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 11:51 am

I want to add that I think that the cfb paradigm has changed a bit with the "formula". The transfer landscape has changed things. USU should put a big focus on transfer IMO. That's an area we can bring in more talented/higher recruited kids that are looking for more playing time or whatever it may be.

If we want to have a winning season next year, we have to recruit half a dozen immediate contributors from the transfer portal or JC ranks.

Agreed. I've said this several times in several threads.

Roy McAvoy wrote:I want to add that I think that the cfb paradigm has changed a bit with the "formula". The transfer landscape has changed things. USU should put a big focus on transfer IMO. That's an area we can bring in more talented/higher recruited kids that are looking for more playing time or whatever it may be.

BUT THERE ARE EXAMPLES OF THAT NOT WORKING OUT SO WE SHOULD ABANDON IT COMPLETELY


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

aggies22 wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 10:41 am

Sl7vk wrote: ↑

December 11th, 2020, 10:02 am

I think I'm one of the few that feels this way, but I think the old formula's that proved successful might not apply anymore.
The missionary program and the poly-pipeline.... not sure they are still the cornerstone's of our identity.
I think there are different ways of getting us to where we want to go now. The world has shrunk and our minds need to open up a bit... think bigger.

You've made SEVERAL fantastic points in this thread my Aggie brother. Guys the Poly pipeline is NO LONGER a secret the rest of the college football world has caught on. 10 years ago when it worked so well for the Utah teams we reaped the benefits. Now EVERYONE recruits Poly kids. EVERYONE should be recruiting the Polynesian kids. The outgoing staff ROUTINELY shot down kids from Florida that attempted to commit in order to take MUCH lower rated kids from Utah. We have to broaden our recruiting umbrella and not be so narrow minded as a fan base.

To these points look at who is getting the top Utah players even. It isn’t Utah and BYU. Recruiting has become a national focus and Utah Polynesians are no longer hidden from the top programs.