[HeyyyUguyyys]

I don’t mean to be low self esteem sports guy, but what’s drawing this guy to Utah again? So far all I know is that he is a Texan with no Utah ties, a blue chipper who has his pick of any national championship contending program and can probably all but write his own NIL check 🤔. I guess I should be flattered that we can give the kid more leverage at the negotiating table with Texas later.

[HeyyyUguyyys]

It’s hard to paint college football coaches in a sympathetic light given how well compensated they are these days, but I absolutely feel for them when it comes to recruiting. It was a tough gig before NIL, transfer portals, conference realignment, growing player entitlement, etc. It has got to be near impossible though now for these coaches to know what to say to the player vs the parents vs the high school coach vs the kid’s agent. You throw in the fact that Utah is a non-elite program that hasn’t responded particularly well to the NIL era in a state with little to no sex appeal to a high school kid outside of Utah.

I don’t see how they couldn’t go back hard to the “diamond in the rough mentality”. Even that approach seems like it would be harder than ever given how much exposure most of these athletes get even in high school. There are going to be so few of them that could realistically make a meaningful impact your program, but go under the radar. I keep trying to convince myself that this is all going to be just fine, but it’s a tricky sell these days.

[HeyyyUguyyys]

Looks solid off the bounce. Gives effort on D. If he can shoot the three, we may have something here…

[HeyyyUguyyys]

Don’t forget CALIMAN. The original troll bot

[HeyyyUguyyys]

My plans consist of failing miserably yet again to get back the beach body of my 20s despite a valiant effort. I will put my swim suit on for the first time, look in the mirror and see my muffin top and B cup and say f#*% it while I toss my protein smoothies and kale salads for a cheeseburger and an IPA. Honestly can’t wait.

[HeyyyUguyyys]

You bring up a lot of good points and are probably right on all accounts. NIL drives so many of these guys decisions, but the irony is that the money that a true blue chip player is going to make on NIL is pennies compared to the second NFL contract. Rookie contract, life changing, second contract, generation changing. A mature kid with that potential would see this and direct all of their decisions toward that goal. You could argue that there isn’t a better place than Utah if that was his goal. Like you said – proven system for offensive line development, early exposure, very seasoned coaches. Sounds like more of a springboard to an early high draft pick than being buried in the depth chart at Texas would ever be.

[HeyyyUguyyys]

I go back to something I said a few weeks ago which is that throwing all of your resources at the portal is both the answer and the problem. History has proven, for me at least, that I get more out of my experience as a fan when I know who I am watching. The human element of the game is a massive part of my fandom. Like the old Seinfeld bit, I’m not interested in just rooting for laundry, even if it’s winning. What seems clear to me is that the status quo has almost no hope of keeping me as a passionate fan because of this fact. Either we are bad at playing the portal game and we lose, or we get good at playing the portal and we win with players I don’t know. I hang on because I know that change is on the horizon and I am holding out hope that the changes pull this out of the fire.

[HeyyyUguyyys]

The BYU factor is definitely a real thing for me, which has been very surprising. Growing up, the season was largely defined by whether or not you beat BYU and you spent most of the year paying your dues with lesser games waiting for that game. I couldn’t have imagined a world where Utah and BYU didn’t play and then it happened and it was… kind of awesome. Didn’t expect that. Now that we are back together, I don’t look forward to the game at all. Too much emotion. Too much baggage. Too many arguments and debates that are inevitably along for the ride and really detract from the game for me. I don’t know if BYU fans feel the same, but I imagine they do.

[HeyyyUguyyys]

Lots of good thoughts on here about NIL, effects of the Big XII transition and such, but this comment gets at the heart of it for me. The idea of putting on a red shirt, going to the game, eating some good food and passively enjoying the action while leaving emotion aside with everything I can’t control is not the way I have consumed Utah football for decades. The NCAA and these players are asking me to “fall in like” with the team when I have been borderline obsessed with the team in the past. When’s the last time the “let’s break up, but promise we will stay good friends” actually worked? Let’s start with never and go from there. My wife doesn’t get why recent changes are such an issue, which makes perfect sense. She has never been able to tell me who the fourth string safety was recruited by or what the 3rd string running back’s 40 time is. I’m just worried for the future, that’s all.

[HeyyyUguyyys]

I know I’m supposed to down vote you, but let’s be honest that was pretty funny

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