[Jim Vanderhoof]

I would make Jay Hill a priority for DC. I think he comes back home for equal or more money. BYU will not be outbid!! He is worshipped in Provo. Their donors won’t let that happen. He would have taken the Utah State job if it wasn’t for transfer portal and NIL. Tough to win at USU without a large NIL budget. He will get some lucrative offers next year from G5 to P4. If the Utes bounce back this year and are successful it makes it much easier to promote within. Swan and Shah are excellent candidates and are loyal to the program.

[DataUte]

I think the revenue sharing and oversight of what we can call endorsement deals (Deloitte) will help bring some of this under a little better control. Collectives and just people giving cash to hand out will not be allowed the same it has in this wild west version of NIL. Direct pay for play will have to go back under the table.

[DataUte]

I like internal/family culture, but it’s nice to get coordinators with experience at this level. Someone with the same style for the personnel we have, recruiting chops, etc. If it’s a perfect fit, sure, hire from within, but sometimes fresh ideas are welcome.

[Jim Vanderhoof]

Utahs success teamed with BYUs lack of national notoriety has been eating at their fans for many years. Getting in the Big12 put them back on equal footing with us. Suddenly $$ starts playing a major factor in team success. The theme has changed from “we won’t allow pay for play” to “we won’t be outbid”.

Suddenly getting non-LDS and top LDS recruits is a priority and crucial for their success. $$ can overcome some of the honor code and strange college atmosphere stigmas. Donors are stepping up to make it happen.

The more success they have the more money will flow. Now we are caught trying to keep up with the “Jones” or “Smiths” should I say. Our donors are more community minded and less athletics. Their donors are more about winning and the church notoriety from athletics. We can’t and won’t win a bidding war for players. Unless the rules change or the church authorities don’t like the direction of the churches flagship school I don’t think we can compete at a same $$$ level. Just my two cents.

[Ute Dub]

Listen, I don’t care for BYU and its often arrogant culture, but your short argument is riddled with logical fallacies.

1) Argument from ignorance, and begging the question. “I have no doubt they have a giant chest of untaxed revenue.” So, churches are tax-exempt and receive tax-exempt donations. If they receive revenue, this is taxed and is not “untaxed,” as that would be illegal. Your use of nomenclature suggests something illicit or devious.

2) Hasty generalization and non Sequitur / False Case. The conclusion that churches are hoarding untaxed funds to pay college athletes doesn’t logically follow from influencer expenses. Could you please provide us with the dollar amounts the LDS Church spends on social media influencers? Using that logic, I could say anything, such as, “Considering the amount the church subsidizes for missions…or spends on church buildings. It does not logically infer that they have any interest in spending on college athletes, which I believe is what you are inferring.

I might like to see your complaint of “untaxed” revenue applied equally to Universities and their sports revenues. After all, isn’t the state and federal funding to the university directly hitting your paycheck as a reduction or as a liability through the national debt, whereas Joe Shmo’s donation to a church does not affect you directly?

[DataUte]

Athletic dept expenses are carefully kept separate. There could perhaps be some underlying infrastructure paid through CES (Church Education System) funds the board approves, but even facilities, etc. are not paid from church funds.

[2008 National Champ]

Is there anything less interesting than two fanbases arguing that they each have the bigger inferiority complex?

[Utegator]

I agree and its unfortunate that Utah fell flat on its face the first 2 years of major NIL changes in college sports.

[SLC-UteFan]

Deleted.

Didn’t like what I posted.

[BeachUte]

I mean, this changes nothing considering we’re looking at a year where BYU very likely will out-recruit Utah.

I’ll also point out that in the MWC era, the difference between Utah and BYU recruiting-wise was generally only a few spots – not as dramatic as we’ve seen from Utah in the Pac-12 era where they were out-recruiting BYU by a lot.

Just look at some of the classes:

https://247sports.com/season/2010-football/compositeteamrankings/

In 2010, Utah finished 42 and BYU 33, so a year where BYU actually did out-recruit Utah.

But I get it, different websites had different numbers but it goes to my point that the difference between the two was much smaller than the difference between the two post move to the Pac-12 for Utah.

That’s the major difference here. Utah was, by all accounts, on a different level than BYU for 13 years before the Cougars joined the Big 12. How does their being on more equal ground now impact the rivalry?

Well during the Pac-12 era, Whittingham went 8-1 vs BYU – a head-to-head that shows just how dramatic the gap became between the schools.

But Whittingham vs BYU in the same conference? He’s 3-4. (wins in 2005, 2008 and 2010, losses in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2024).

I don’t see why it’s such a crazy question to ask if we’re possibly reverting back to that era where Utah doesn’t have much of an advantage over BYU anymore. Because when they’re on equal ground, the rivalry has been pretty even (from 1993-2010, Utah was 11-7 and 11-8 if you add last year, when they were again members of the same conference)… not a dramatic difference and that includes the awful Crowton years. My point is that we could be entering a new cycle where the rivalry shifts in BYU’s favor a bit more.

I mean, it feels like it already has, no? Utah’s last win was what, six years ago?

[Author]

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