BYU Football Coach - the 2022 Preseason

-- Welcome to yet another virtual shot at bringing BYU glory

Spencer Hansen is back to coach BYU! In my first stint in Provo I was canned after a couple underwhelming seasons. I glommed on to an offensive coordinator position at at SJSU before Tom Holmoe came to his senses and brought me back. My second attempt for the Cougars was ramping towards a national championship before ... well you know, either the 10-year old PS3 disc failed me or the digital version of the 2nd coming stalled all football operations. Moments after chaining Utah to cement blocks and throwing them into Jordan river, the game -- and my career alongside it -- was over.

Fast forward a couple of years and Reddit led me to a game called Football Coach College Dynasty and wow what a game. Suddenly I was rehired at BYU for stint 3.0; take that Robert Anae! This time the computer coaching template puts me in the body of a 54-year old offensive wizard who specializes in a balanced spread. He is a motivator, superb at developing talent, but not much of a recruiter. I think of him as a bit of an offensive Bronco Mendenhall.

For my first coaching decision I must pursue an offensive coordinator, and I'm debating between Emiliano Mueller (a young German who is raised in my same offense; does he know Jurgen Klopp??) or Darnell McKenzie, who would be my best recruiter on the team. I'm intrigued by the German but hire Dominic. Recruiting is everything, and theoretically can complement my weakness. Jimmies and Joes ya know.

At defensive coordinator the choice is easy. Axel Pittman is young, talented, and experienced in nickel defenses, perfect for the pass happy Big 12. In addition he is a level 9 at development, and a level 6 at recruiting (out of 10). None of my other options are anywhere near that neighborhood. His playcalling leaves something to be desired, but I'm willing to roll the dice.

One of my first offseason moves is to relocate Roger "Human Joystick" Henderson from our crowded WR room to our struggling RB room. This bumps his rating from a 72 to a 73 -- wow I'm a genius -- equaling the talent level of our presumed Starter Ronald Rahman Noodle. (Yes I added the noodle. There's an obvious NIL deal available to this man - someone make it happen.)

My top two players are on the offensive side of the ball: 96-rated LT Nathanael Yung (who I've never really liked because of the non-Young spelling of his name) and 93-rated WR Grant Barry (who I've liked because one of my best buddies growing up was named Barry). In a surprise to me, the next 6 most talented players on the team are defenders. All DL and DBs -- so linebackers are the weak spot? I guess I'm not like Bronco afterall.

My most improved player is sophomore Hudson Wolfe, who jumps from a 72 to a 79. A couple more offseasons like that and he'll be following in the footsteps of Brady Christensen, Blake Freeland, Kingsley Suamataia and apparently this Nathanael Yung fellow. Freshman Kade Burt doesn't improve a dash during the winter break. I don't want to start my career in a heartless fashion but I'm not sure a team with my aspirations has room for a two-star, 5'9" WR who doesn't take the offseason seriously. Pass me the scissors.

In February I huddle with my staff in Garden City, our cabin hideaway acting as our winter war room. It's time to lay out the pieces of our offensive and defensive game plan. We know on offense we'll be a spread attack, but the question of how pass-heavy we'll be lingers as our first debate. OC McKenzie wants to pass, while in theory I want balance after being burned too often with a horrible passing game in my prior coaching stints. Ultimately this is an easy one for me to yield on: our WR room is loaded, so it only makes sense we tilt more towards a passing team this year. Our effective playcalling level -- a measure of how close our scheme aligns with our coaches talents -- is a robust 8.3. At least I think that's robust, I assume this is a measure out of 10. (I later find it's out of 13, whoops)

Like Bronco, I'm inclined to have a dual-threat at QB but unfortunately our starter is more Kedon Slovis than Jaren Hall, so we agree to run our QB minimally. Like Kalani I preach that we will be aggressive on 4th downs. On defense I yield all decisions to Axel Pittman. Our effective playcalling level on that side of the ball is only a 5, compared to our 8.3 on offense.

My expectations, as laid out by Tom Holmoe in the first year of the “new” Big 12, are to win seven games. It seems reasonable, but my out of conference layout isn’t breezy. I start the season at Georgia Tech, then face Ole Miss and Wazzu (of the Mountain West lol) for my other out of conference foes. I face Arizona and Utah who start the season ranked 25th, and 26th. All that said, my team is not trash. We are ranked 29th overall, predicted to have the 41st best offense and the 24th best defense. With luck, my new coaching emphasis on offense could boost us past that 41 estimate and suddenly we could be a pretty potent team. We shall see.

I check out my team dashboard and find my roster is populated with 22 4-stars. Hmm. Maybe this game will be on drugs like the last game, only this time in my favor? I don’t want a free ride though and much of my talent is upper classmen. I’ll need a strong recruiting performance in my first year to restock the cupboards. My star in the making is TE Wesley Gilbert. He’s my highest paid youngster at about $1MM in NIL deals as a sophomore. His hometown is First National Bank, Alabama. Man, I love the stuff these games come up with. He holds an 85 rating and has A+ potential. I am senior laden at offensive line, defensive line, and linebacker and will continue to focus recruiting efforts in those directions. I notice we have three guys over 90 on the defensive side of the ball!

While I like our team, I fear I will disappoint my wealthiest donors this year. Booster Jay Santillan, who made his name in boating of all things, wants a linebacker to earn all-conference honors. That’s possible, but also the only position where I don't have a 90+ defender. Booster Cooper Javed wants a cornerback to become an all-american. Umm, is he aware of BYU's history at corner? Booster Jeffery Delacruz hopes for 23 rushing touchdowns on the season. Given running back is our weakest spot on the team I’m gonna guess that’s unlikely as well. Then there's Booster Trey Xiong of crypto fame; he's my kind of donor! He just wants me to beat Utah, and will pledge $4.5 million to our coffers should we succeed. I note that I have no female donors. Is this game sexist?

In an expected but still disappointing turn, the new Big 12 is podded. As many expect and fear in real life, BYU is linked with Utah and the Arizonas out in the west. In the east it’s UCF, West Virginia, Cinci, and Iowa State. The south is the Texas division with Baylor, TCU, Texas Tech, and Houston. The north has Oklahoma State, Kansas State, Kansas, and Colorado.

I think our Quarterback room is ok. We have an established though underwhelming starter in Rafael Wagner. He’s a junior, rated 81 overall, but the backup nipping at his heels is Randy Delossantos, a redshirt freshman who has A- potential and a 78 rating. He arrived in Provo from Illinois as a rather ho hum 68-rated recruit, but he has worked his butt off. He’s put on 20 good pounds of weight and improved his accuracy from a 71 to 89. If we gave him the starting nod this year could he continue to up his rating by 4 or 5 per year? Could he be in the 90s as a junior? It’s a temptation but I want to follow the LaVellian style of quarterbacking – let the understudy wait for his time. We’ll roll with Wagner and see what happens.

I’m feeling Tuiaki-ish when I increase my defensive line rotation from 5 to 7, my hope being that I can develop a couple of underclassmen.

 
Our summer recruiting focus is to replenish the cupboards at OL and LB. It wouldn't hurt if we could find a talented RB to supplement that position group. Unfortunately there's barely a 3-star RB interested in me, let alone a 4-star. 3-star Chance Tolbert is an interesting potential DL diamond in the rough. 

One of my highest ranked recruits is a cornerback whop pits me versus the rival Utes. Scouting reveals he's an A- in man-to-man coverage and a F in zone coverage (Axel Pittman's preferred modus operandi). Do I keep spilling points on him or give up? Even if he is a square peg in the round hole that is my system, isn't that better than handing the Utes a potential star?

4-star TE out of Minersville(?) Utah Rowan Heard has everyone on his radar. Ohio State and USC lead for his services, but my scouts reveal he’s a bit of a stinkweed, dropping from a 71 rating to a 65. Am I really about to abandon a 4-star recruit from my own neighborhood? Yes, yes I am and wouldn't you know it but I guess I am Bronco afterall!