News and Notes:
Dickson: “I am not Ben Criddle, he told me today that he was going out of town on a ‘business trip’.”
Logan: “I have another double header today, I was on BYUSportsNation earlier this morning, man I’m tired but love talking Cougar Sports.”
Dickson: “BYU got another commitment for their 2016 class Atunaisa Mahe out of West Jordan.”
Dickson: “Mark Pope named Chris Burgess as his assistant coach at UVU.”
Logan: “I can’t remember the details but I know that Harvey Unga called to tell Coach Reynolds that he wanted to go to Utah and Coach Reynolds received it well and was very professional. He called and did the same thing to the running back coach at Utah and he was yelling at him and that helped Harvey make up his mind.”
How We See It:
Dickson: “I remember when I worked in Nebraska, it was during the time that the B1G decided to add Maryland and Rutgers. It kind of took us to surprise. The decision to add these teams wasn’t because they were good in major sports, but because it would help the B1G expand East.”
Logan: “Boise is a team that has good talent, they have guys getting drafted, going to the NFL, but outside of that, they don’t bring much.”
Logan: “The only thing that fans can really look at is wins and losses, but there’s so much more to it than that.”
Logan: “At the end of the day, BYU has to look good to the nation with their facilities, schedules, talent, and revenue.”
Logan: “When all that is pieced together, then it makes it so conferences will give them a look when conference expansion comes.”
Dickson: “Do you think too much success could hurt BYU to go to a P5 conference? A lot of these teams may see that and get nervous.”
4:30 Segment:
Dickson: “I went to BYU and back at that time, BYUTV didn’t have a lot of means. Our equipment wasn’t the greatest, so I decided to go into Print Journalism.”
Dickson: “Do you feel like sometimes you can’t speak your mind because BYUTV’s intent is to make BYU look good?”
Logan: “I had some teammates who didn’t really have much of an idea of what was going on in the real world. I would have to tell them, ‘You see that dark alley, don’t go down there!'”
Logan: “I think my name comes along with BYUTV or even ESPN960 because I’m on the show sometimes.”
Logan: “This is the last class of guys who were there when I was a senior and sometimes I’m like ‘Come on guys, this is your last shot.'”
Logan: “As an analyst you have to actually go and break down WHY they lost opposed to saying ‘This sucks, that sucks.'”
Logan: “There’s been once or twice where I’ve been told to maybe ease up a little bit, the Miami Beach Bowl was not one of those situations.”
Logan: “If I’m Tejan Koroma I would go and look at that tape and see which of my teammates were there and didn’t defend me and kick their butt.”
Dickson: “Kai was already bleeding by the time that he punched the guy.”
Dickson: “The journalist in my wants them to just announce the punishments, but I understand that they are handling it internally.”
Logan: “The difference between ESPN 960 and BYUTV is that BYUTV is literally an extension of BYU where this is just a show that covers BYU.”
Cougar Insider Report:
Dickson: “It’s reported that Tom Holmoe will officially announce the schedule and potentially the bowl game tomorrow.”
Logan: “The schedule is known, but now it’s official. The other thing that people are excited about is the bowl game.”
Logan: “I like the exposure the program gets. If BYU is on on a Friday or Thursday night, they will be the game that everyone will be watching.”
Logan: “I’m gonna be auditioning to see if I could be the sideline reporter so I could travel to some away games.”
Dickson: “Two possibilities for BYU’s bowl game are the Las Vegas bowl and the Hawaii bowl.”
Scott Pierce Interview:
Pierce: “I’m President of the critics association, so being in those meetings is sometimes a hard room.”
Pierce: “It used to be very difficult to find a BYU game on TV, it is night and day how easy it is to watch a game now.”
Pierce: “It’s not always best for the fans in the stands, but BYU has been very flexible for days and times that games are on ESPN.”
Pierce: “BYU has schedule one really crummy home game a year that can be broadcast on BYUTV.”
Pierce: “ESPN was very open to how much they enjoy their relationship with BYU. They had nothing but good to say.”
Pierce: “I don’t think people in Utah County appreciate what BYUTV does. They get it mixed up with Channel 11 a lot.”
Pierce: “There’s a lot of teams in the country who wish they could see their teams as much as BYU fans can see their teams.”
Russell Tialavea Interview:
Tialavea: “These guys have been training me for interviews the last two days.”
Tialavea: “I’m glad that Criddle’s not there right now, it makes the interview a lot easier.”
Tialavea: “I gained a great appreciation during my time at BYU. I’ve always wanted to be in a position where I can give back.”
Tialavea: “I worked as the academic learning specialist before this. I helped the guys learn their roles academically, develop social skills. Now I also help with player development, alumni relations, and helping players transition into the real world.”
Tialavea: “When I was a player, if I had to walk into Bronco’s office it was because I was in trouble. This is a new environment.”
Tialavea: “I left BYU as a completely different person. I learned a lot and applied all the lessons I learned there to my life.”
Tialavea: “I want to help these freshman transition into the job so they can understand how to succeed at BYU.”
Tialavea: “This year our DL should be a lot better. They have a lot of experience coming back.”
Tialavea: “When I played we had Romney Fuga, Ziggy, Eathyn, and me. They were really talented.”
Tialavea: “Before Ziggy tried out for football, I played some basketball with him and he would jump out of the gym.”
Logan: “I remember I was so upset with you after you left on your mission before your senior year!”
Tialavea: “When I came into BYU I was rough around the edges. I always intended to serve a mission but as I got playing I didn’t want to leave. As I was around the program and the guys I got a prompting I wanted to go. When I told Bronco I wanted to go on a mission he started crying and I knew he was happy for me.”
Bryan Kehl Interview:
Kehl: “For some reason, when you hit 30 teams just don’t have the same interest.”
Kehl: “If that doesn’t work out I guess that I’ll have to find a day job or something.”
Kehl: “My agent is trying to make something work but nothing yet. I thought I would’ve played last year, but I didn’t. It’s hard to try and be patient.”
Kehl: “I was able to play 6 years but was never able to establish myself the way I wanted. A lot of the time it’s about luck and timing.”
Kehl: “The NFL is a full fledged business, the only level of football that’s left that is pure is high school.”
Kehl: “There are a lot of times where the better player gets cut because he’s too expensive.”
Kehl: “Alani is the only guy I expect to get drafted, but I wouldn’t be surprised if some of these other guys ended up having a better career.”
Kehl: “Different players games translate to the next level different ways. Look at Curtis Brown and Jonny Harline.”
Kehl: “If Alani was two inches shorter or twenty lbs heavier, his prospects would completely change.”
Kehl: “I think that if Paul Lasike can get a role on special teams than he would be able to stick around. He needs to get in the right system.”
Kehl: “Leslie really surprised me at Pro Day, I think he has a great chance. If anything he needs to catch with his hands, not his body.”
Kehl: “If 20 teams have contacted Jordan, they’re more than likely going to try and get their name in the hat for free agency.”
Kehl: “It’s like recruiting a guy, they’re pumping them up so they can get interested to pick that team after the draft.”
Kehl: “When I finished at BYU in ’07, our 3 starting DB’s ran 4.7’s. These guys were all walk-ons and earned scholarships.”
Kehl: “This past year these guys are running 4.4’s and 4.5’s and are 10 times the athletes but made a lot of mistakes.”
Kehl: “The guys I played with studied our defense, then studied the offense of the other team so they were prepared.”
Logan: “I feel that Howell got a lot of blame for players being out of position. There’s only so much you can make a player do.”
Kehl: “At the end of the day, coaches coach and players play.”
Kehl: “Richard Sherman, the best DB in the league runs a 4.6 and he is prepared and knows what the offense is going to do.”
Kehl: “He goes after his craft like a professional and goes to work.”
Kehl: “Effort beats talent a lot.”
Logan: “I thought I was good until I went to the CFL and the AFL. I was grateful for Coach Mendenhall on the way he prepared players.”
6:30 Segment:
Dickson: “I saw Alani play against Jake Heaps in College Football. There were 14 D1 guys on the field and I thought Alani was the best.”
Dickson: “As an NFL scout, one of the first things looked at is height, weight, speed.”
Dickson: “Going and watching Ross play in HS he was on another level. There was no one on the field that could hang with him.”
Logan: “See the thing about Ross is that he has all the measurables, but he doesn’t have the tape to justify it.”
Random Thoughts:
Dickson: “If these guys aren’t interested in working hard to get better than they are going to struggle.”
Logan: “I had a chance to talk to Coach Mendenhall this week and he said that he expects his players to put in the work to make themselves one of the top teams in the nation.”
Logan: “When we had Coach Omer, there wasn’t a ton of accountability so a lot of it was up to the senior leaders.”
Logan: “For the most part, the coaches were out recruiting so we didn’t interact with them a lot.”
Logan: “It’s a crazy weekend, it’s my birthday, there’s Mayweather vs. Pacquiao ‘The Fight of the Century’, the NFL Draft, and the Avengers.”
Dickson: “Thursday night I’ll be going to the Avengers, Friday I’ll be taking my daughter out to dinner for lunch, and Monday we are taking off to Disneyland.”
