Nitty Gritty:
Criddle: “One thing we’re going to talk about is Trey Dye, he is going to play this next season and is helping Mitchell Juergens improve in that slot receiver position.”
Criddle: “I feel like Christian did a great job showcasing the slot receiver and helping Mitchell Juergens stand out.”
Criddle: “I was impressed with Trey Dye’s fearlessness, he played great competition in Texas, but he was breaking arm tackles, making guys miss, and especially not dropping footballs.”
Criddle: “Coach Anae said that there will be more sets this year involving Trey Dye, so know I’m wondering if he’s going to contribute more to the running game or the passing game.”
Jorgensen: “It would be hard to rotate Dye and Juergens because of the limited number of touches that position gets. It will be interested to see what Coach Anae does.”
Jorgensen: “You don’t need to be able to have that top end speed to be successful in college, you need to be able to make people miss and break tackles so you can get that extra 2-3 yards.”
Jorgensen: “One thing you want to do when you have two players who are very similar is open up the position, one guy will elevate his ability and take advantage of it.”
Jorgensen: “I thought Leslie was the MVP of the receiving core last year, who steps up and takes his position this year?”
4 o’clock Hour:
Criddle: “If you don’t know who Brendan Bailey is, you need to check yourself before you wreck yourself.”
Criddle: “He’s a 6’7″ forward who can play the wing as well.”
Jorgensen: “Let me tell you a guy who’s going to be breathing a sigh of relief: Thurl Bailey.”
Jorgensen: “I have seen Brendan play a little bit, he’s a premier player in Utah. Right now he wants to play the 3, but I think that he will be a very talented stretch 4.”
Jorgensen: “Not only can he score from the perimeter, but he’s very talented in the post and I think that’s a weapon he needs to use more.”
Criddle: “BYU has a battle going against Utah for Bailey, especially with Utah’s Sweet 16 run. Charles Barkley said that Utah has an NBA guy in Coach K and that makes a difference.”
Jorgensen: “Utah going to the Pac-12 has been huge in helping the Utes take that step forward.”
Jorgensen: “When BYU and Utah were both in the Mountain West, I would put money that BYU would get the best in-state recruits.”
Jorgensen: “I think that where Frank Jackson goes will impact where Brendan Bailey goes, and vice versa.”
Cougar Insider Report:
Criddle: “Chad Ford says of Kyle Collinsworth, ‘Kyle Collinsworth isn’t an elite athlete but at 6’6″ he has great size for his position.'”
Criddle: He also adds, ‘While he hasn’t been talked about as a first round pick, I could see him being a sleeper in the second round.'”
Criddle: “An elite athlete is able to drive in the lane, elevate on one lane and finish at the rim.”
Jorgensen: “I think one reason he struggled against Ole Miss is because he dinged up his knee and wasn’t able to finish.”
Criddle: “Travis Hansen was an NBA guy and he had a lot to say about Kyle Collinsworth’s athleticism.”
Dick Harmon Interview:
Harmon: “It amazes me what Christian Stewart does for BYU, here’s a kid who came and walked on to a school where he didn’t have a scholarship and he’s out there yelling at guys, telling them what routes to run, and it turns out he missed two classes so he could help out.”
Harmon: “Football isn’t a money thing for Stew, he plays because he loves it. He has a lot of connections in the finance world where he’s going to be very successful.”
Harmon: “This is my 40th or 41st spring ball covering BYU professionally.”
Harmon: “One thing you need to take into account during spring is that the team you are watching then, is very different then the team you are going to see mid-August.”
Harmon: “I also get the sense that this team is sick of having kids who make boneheaded mistakes and there is a concerted effort by players to step forward and say ‘Enough is Enough.'”
Harmon: “The staff seems the same as to what I have seen in years past, Anae is lucky to have Taysom so he can help go out there and make plays.”
Harmon: “Taysom is looking good, we just don’t quite know if he has the explosiveness to do what he has done in years past.”
Harmon: “A lot of people don’t realize this but the strength coach can go out and run practice during the offseason.”
Harmon: “When you have a guy like Coach Wintrich coming in, you’re going to see more improvement in the offseason.”
Jorgensen: “How much do you think the defense would’ve changed if Coach Mendenhall was running it all year?”
Harmon: “There were some injuries on that defense and that is an impact, you end up having to put guys in there who are lacking experience.”
Harmon: “Last year, I saw a lot of guys who let a lot of things slide, if Bronco was in charge [of the defense] he wouldn’t have let it happen.”
Harmon: “I’m not surprised that Collinsworth is being seen as a sleeper pick, you look at the triple doubles and he could’ve had 7 or 8 in the blink of an eye. His biggest weakness is that outside shot.”
Jorgensen: “Coach Mendenhall has ‘it’ and I believe that it’s not something that you can easily replace.”
Brian Kehl Joins the Program:
Kehl: “It makes me wonder if the NFL did this whole Veterans Combine just to employ this new technology. In some cases, it may have ruined these guys careers.”
Jorgensen: “Right, why didn’t they run it both ways?”
Kehl: “Our good friends Vic and Harvey spent a lot of time working on drills that weren’t even used at the veterans combine.”
Kehl: “A guy at my size who runs a 4.4 but goes out and looks lost in drills gets a look, solely because of his 40.”
Jorgensen: “If I could go back and do it, I would spend more time practicing my 40 because everything else is a waste of time.”
Criddle: “They are more concerned with your measurements, like how big your hands are and how long your arms are, than they are with your bench.”
Kehl: “Bench press doesn’t make you a good football player.”
Kehl: “The fastest 40 for a running back at the combine was a guy who ran a 4.7 after he ran a 4.39 coming out of LSU.”
Criddle: “One thing that bodes well for Vic and Harvey is that they were heavier guys who ran as good, or better times.”
Kehl: “I don’t know why they didn’t call it a veterans combine, only 15 of those guys qualify as veterans. Most of them were picked up and cut in camp.”
Kyle Chilton Interview:
Chilton: “This was a fantastic season, with Tyler breaking the scoring record, Kyle with the 6 triple-doubles, and the winning streak to make the dance was awesome.”
Chilton: “It also helped to have role players that stepped up like Skyler Halford and the development of Corbin Kaufusi.”
Chilton: “Corbin went 4 years without playing competitive basketball, came home from his mission and made the transition quite nicely.”
Chilton: “Where Corbin was at the end of the season, compared to October was incredible.”
Chilton: “It was amazing to see how Kyle came back from the ACL injury, the time table and the way he played this season.”
Chilton: “BYU used to be called ‘The Youngsters'”
Criddle: “The irony. This was before they started using the RM argument.”
Chilton: “The team has a lot of potential next year, you return Corbin back. Kyle Davis is a transfer who will help us big time and we will have Jamaal Aytes playing Forward who we expected to have last year but he was injured. Then at the guard spots you have Kyle Collinsworth who played very well, Chase shot very well and we return Nick Emery from his mission.”
Criddle: “Would it be wise for Collinsworth to try his luck and try to play at the next level?”
Chilton: “I would love to see him back personally, he didn’t have a huge opportunity to improve last year but if he gets a full offseason to work out, I would love to see where he could go.”
Chilton: “Jimmer could’ve left after his junior year but he made a lot of improvement between his junior and senior year and it made a huge difference.”
Criddle: “What is the role of Frank Bartley this year? He was slow in his progression, Coach Pope took him under his wing and he gained a lot of confidence until he had that rough stretch. I think he’s an elite athlete but want to know what your thoughts are.”
Chilton: “There are a lot of minutes opening up at the guard spot, he plays good defense and is a great athlete but he is going to compete for playing time and continue to progress.”
Jorgensen: “Tell us what’s next with Tyler Haws.”
Chilton: “This time is when players sign agents as they prepare for the combine. After that they go to individual team work outs. I hear he has potential to be picked in the second round and whoever gets him will be really lucky because of his work ethic, he’s always putting extra time in the weight room and in the gym.”
Travis Hansen Soundbite:
Hansen: “We are both big guards who create a mismatch, Kyle can finish very well at the rim.”
Hansen: “I would say I’m a little bit better athlete, I could defend very well because of my athleticism where Kyle does so because of his length. I also shoot a little better but he’s a better point guard.”
Hansen: “He needs to go and make somewhere between 30 and 50,000 shots this offseason to improve from the outside.”
Hansen: “Once he gets that shot knocked down, he’ll definitely have an opportunity to make money in the league.”
Jorgensen: “Kyle Collinsworth just set the record for the most triple-doubles, I don’t want to put words in Chad Ford’s mouth but by saying he isn’t an elite athlete, he is saying he isn’t a good athlete.”
Random Thoughts:
Criddle: “Some of Jan ‘The Latter-Day Saint’ Janimal’s favorite phrases: Sneaky athleticism, deceptively athletic, not an elite athlete, and white athleticism.”
Jorgensen: “High IQ, he’s a coach on the field.”
Criddle: “That’s one thing that was brought up about Notre Dame transfer Chris Badger, even though he’s running with the 2’s he’s coaching up the 1’s.”
Criddle: “I trust my hand stopwatch more than I do the lasers at the NFL Veteran’s combine.”
