-- Losing the rivalry will hurt a lot less than losing Zach Wilson
Imagine you just displayed one of the best halves of QB play against your rival that your team has seen in the last 12 years. Imagine over the last 7 meetings your team has scored totals of 16, 10, 21, 13, 28, 19, and 13 against Utah and meanwhile you led your team of ragtag freshman to 20 in the first half alone. Imagine in just one half you tossed two perfect TDs, were one yard short of a 3rd, you ran for 64 yards, threw for 137 yards on 11 hits against 5 misses, and completely frustrated a defense that has mauled your team for two decades straight. You're 19 years old, you're playing against the team you loved your whole life, and you're rolling.
What does it feel like, after a half like that, having your coach bench you? What does it feel like to have the coach look you in the eye and say, "Thanks for getting us this lead, you played great and all but we've got a much better chance of winning this game if we go with our 4th string running back and our amazing defense that allowed Jake Browning to complete 92% of his passes a few weeks ago.11. The same Jake Browning who'd get benched a couple of games later, lol.Thanks for your efforts bud."
Imagine the same coach who preaches aggressiveness in the media all week raises the white flag on a key 3rd and 9 late in the game. Imagine on the game deciding play your coaches give the ball to a running back who was behind a converted linebacker on the depth chart, to run behind an offensive line that on the final play of the Boise game couldn't block 4 with 8 men in to protect. Imagine in the post game your coach says he ran that insane play because he was afraid you would throw an incompletion. Imagine you lose to your rival because your team can't execute an extra point. I wonder what that feels like.
Imagine leaving high school early, working all summer, only to sit for half a season behind a lame duck QB who hands the ball off to the other team. Imagine leading a game winning drive on the road against Boise State only to have your coaches intentionally run the clock out on themselves, one week after doing the exact same thing against Northern Illinois in their second to last drive. Imagine leading a 9-play drive against Boise that started at your own 24 and got to the Boise 7 only to see the coaches pull you for a QB who hasn't seen a single snap all year on a key goal-line play.
I cannot think of a reason Wilson should have any belief in his coaching staff. That's a problem because Wilson is loyal to football, not BYU, and believe me when I say that is not meant as a criticism. All great players care more about the game than the colors they wear on their jersey. It's clear Wilson loves football more than anything. How do we know that? Because he was willing to play for:
1) a team he grew up hating
2) a team who won 4 games the year prior
3) a team who basically ignored him the entire recruiting cycle
4) a team with so little returning offensive talent that it started and frequently relied on a freshman TE, two freshman WRs, a freshman RB, and three freshman offensive lineman
He chose that path because he didn't care who he played for, he just wanted to play. It's this mindset that makes me believe Zach Wilson will transfer from BYU this offseason. And the sad part of all this is that based on what I've seen from BYU's leadership, he should.
From running a fake punt on 4th and 19 ... to having 9 men on the field after a timeout ... to encouraging Taysom Hill to gain weight at the expense of his speed ... to running practices that Matt Bushman described as less intense than the baseball team's ... to employing a Strength and Conditioning program that churns out more injuries than first downs ... to confusing position switches ... to ignoring junior college recruits ... to building a culture of caring more about congratuling opponents than being angry about losing ... to throwing coaches and players under the bus ... to showing a prevent defense against Cal while Cal was trying to run out the clock ... to playing cold guys in key moments ... to allowing two different quarterbacks in two years to complete over 90% of their passes ... we now have three years of ample evidence that this coaching staff is as clueless as it is reckless.
Of course, the interesting thing is you can make the case that the same mentality of loving football more than anything which was responsible for Wilson choosing BYU in the first place could be the same mentality that compels him to stick with the team and coaching staff despite the fact that it belongs on the high school level.
But having a stupid head coach is one thing. Having a coach that doesn't trust you, that takes the ball away from you when you're the one responsible for the lead in the first place? That is so afraid you'll throw an incomplete pass that he'll call a run up the middle with a 4th stringer into the strength of the opposing team when the game is on the line? That's a different issue altogether, and one that cannot be overlooked if you love the game. BYU's coaches have decided not to trust Zach Wilson. Why should he trust them?
The message the coaches sent over the weekend was that their job isn't to win football games, it's to avoid getting fired and while those goals are congruent, they're not identical. A coach who is worried about losing his job plays the game like Kalani did Saturday: he takes no chances, he risks nothing, he avoids doing anything that would draw extra attention his way in the aftermath. As a result, the blame is shifted to the players, their mistakes, injuries, and other things outside of the coaches control. Afterall, if you miss an extra point at the beginning of the game why try and make up for it by going for two later when you can conveniently blame the kicker instead?
Zach Wilson deserves better. I hope BYU finds a coach who believes in him this offseason, but if not, I wish him the best wherever he turns up.
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