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BYU Quarterback Recruiting Update, BYU QB Battle Prediction and More in the Monthly Mailbag
Today, we're starting a new series here at Cougs Daily: the monthly mailbag. Our readers asked questions on social media and we answered. Thanks to everyone who submitted questions! As of right now, our site can only embed tweets, so any questions submitted on Facebook or Instagram will not be embedded. Let's dive right in.
1. Update on BYU quarterback recruiting?
Question: What's the latest on BYU quarterback recruiting? - Tyler, Instagram
BYU's quarterback recruiting plans took a turn when Grady Adamson committed to Georgia Tech. Adamson had been on BYU's campus twice and there were many reasons to believe that he was BYU bound. Then his recruitment suddenly shifted when he got an offer from Georgia Tech. Just over a week later, Adamson shut down his recruitment and committed to Georgia Tech. BYU was locked in on Adamson, and up to that point, Adamson appeared to be a part of BYU's future plans.
Now, BYU has offered just two quarterbacks that aren't committed to other schools: Leo Hannan and JP Mialovski. Hannan doesn't appear to be particularly interested in BYU and Mialovski doesn't seem like the guy that BYU will take in 2025.
That's why we believe that quarterback that BYU will sign in 2025 still hasn't been offered yet. BYU will start from scratch during the Spring evaluation period to identify its new top targets. There are a few names to watch during the Spring and Nolan Keeney is at the top of that list. Keeney is a quarterback from Portland who is a member of the church. He holds offers from Boise State, Houston, Nevada, Utah State, and San Diego State.
The 2025 class needs not only a quarterback, but a quarterback that can become a starter over the next few years at BYU. If BYU offers Keeney but he plans to serve a mission, they will need to sign another quarterback that can play right away.
Going back to Grady Adamson. Adamson was firmly part of BYU's future plans. Now that he's no longer an option for BYU, the Cougars could take a quarterback from the transfer portal if it's the right fit. I know, Aaron Roderick said BYU wouldn't add another transfer quarterback. But things change. Additionally, BYU already has too many quarterbacks. A quarterback or two would need to leave to make room for another quarterback.
2. BYU QB Battle
Question: Thoughts on who will be our QB this Fall? - Isaac, X
Aaron Roderick announced that BYU's quarterback battle will extend into Fall camp. If the season started today, we believe Jake Retzlaff would be the starting quarterback. He had a head start already with his knowledge of the playbook and the continuity with the wide receivers, and he has maintained that lead throughout Spring camp.
Retzlaff needs to clean up the catastrophic turnovers to win the job. If he does that, suddenly BYU's offense will be much improved vs last season. If he wants to take BYU's offense to the next level, he needs to make the easy throws consistently. Retzlaff will make high-level throws. He did last year. His touchdown to Chase Roberts against Oklahoma, his deep throw to Kody Epps against Iowa State, or his deep post to Keanu Hill against Oklahoma State are good examples. If he can consistently make the layups, then the floor will be raised and he can still access his high ceiling.
Could Gerry Bohanon change that with a full Summer in the program? Certainly. But first and foremost, he needs to have complete control and knowledge of the offense. Until he does, beating out Retzlaff will be an uphill battle.
An underrated storyline in this quarterback battle: Retzlaff has two years left and Bohanon only has one. There's a substantial risk to having a revolving door at quarterback. If Retzlaff becomes a serviceable starter, he answers BYU's questions at quarterback for two years. If Bohanon wins the job, BYU is once again scrambling to find a quarterback for 2025. Bohanon needs to be heads and shoulders better than Retzlaff to justify giving him the starting job. If it's close, it makes more sense to let Retzlaff take the reins.
Basketball Investment and the Pressure on Kalani Sitake
Question: What does the Kevin Young hire mean for pressure on Kalani? - Isaac, X
This is a really interesting question. It was reported that BYU gave Kevin Young a seven year, $30 million dollar deal. That makes Young one of the highest paid coaches in college basketball. That level of investment is atypical for a BYU athletics department that has always errored on the side of financially responsible.
Does his contract put pressure on Kalani? Yes and no.
The Kevin Young hire sent a clear signal: BYU cares about athletics and they want to win. So in that sense, every coach in the athletic department is under some level of pressure, including Kalani.
On the other hand, barring total disaster in 2024, Kalani Sitake's job is safe. Going 5-7 last year was not great, especially after BYU started 5-2. But the transition to a power conference takes time. What needs to happen in 2024 is incremental growth. If BYU gets blown out of four conference games again, that's not a great sign. But what if BYU is mostly competitive throughout the season and ends up at 6-6? That's progress, and more than enough to believe that Kalani has this ship steering in the right direction.
Basketball Updates
It's been fun to watch the interest in BYU basketball grow over the last 12 months. Frankly, the interest level in BYU basketball was low during the WCC era. That's not an opinion, that's based on thousands of data points that we have after writing articles about both football and basketball. Football is king. It's still king and will always be king at BYU, but people care about basketball more than they have in a long time. We got a lot of basketball questions so we'll knock them all out in one section.
Question: Update on Jaxson Robinson's NBA decision? If Robinson stays in college, BYU's willingness to bring him back with NIL? - Craig, X
I don't expect Jaxson Robinson back at BYU. I expect him to declare for the NBA Draft. If Robinson decides to return to college, however, the transfer portal is the safest bet.
However, perhaps Kevin Young can pitch his NBA past to Robinson. If Robinson really wants to develop one last year before testing the NBA waters, is there a better place than BYU to be developed? Young has coached up some of the best players in the NBA and he knows exactly where Robinson needs to improve to make himself a better prospect.
On the NIL front, BYU would certainly be willing to invest in bringing a guy like Jaxson Robinson back.
Question: Has Marcus Adams committed to another school? - Craig, X
As of this writing, he has not. Adams is a unique circumstance given the death of his Father earlier this year. Getting close to home looks to be his top priority, so he'll probably end up at a school in California.
Question: Thoughts on Saunders and Hall? - Craig, X
The most important recruits for Kevin Young this year. Hall and Saunders are critically important to BYU this year and beyond. Continuity is a major advantage in this era of college athletics and BYU only has six scholarship players set to return in 2024.
As of this writing, I like BYU's chances to retain Hall and Saunders. However, anything can change in the NIL era. All it takes is one offer to change a kid's mind.
Question: How bad is it that Sanders and Khalifa weren't at Kevin Young's press conference? - Dillon, X
Generally speaking, not a huge deal since the hire was made quickly and players could have had other things going on. Obviously, it's not ideal but it's not insurmountable either.
Aly Khalifa wasn't in attendance because he was on his way to visit Louisville. We know how that went - Khalifa committed to Louisville.
I'm not aware of Saunders being on a visit like Khalifa was.
Question: What do we know about assistant coach prospects at this point? - JFloyd, X
I'd expect the first hires to be made over the next few days. Since Coach Young is with the Suns until the playoffs are over, so BYU needs hire assistant coaches quickly to help with the transition. Robby McCombs first reported BYU's interest in Brandon Dunson. That seems like the most sure bet at this point.
I believe BYU will make some sort of run at Utah assistant Chris Burgess and UNLV assistant Barrett Peery.
After that, maybe BYU retains a coach like Nick Robinson and taps into Young's large network.
