6 Big Things We Learned From BYU's Roller Coaster Recruiting Month

The most important recruiting month of the year is officially in the rearview mirror. It was a roller coaster of a month for BYU on the recruiting trail. On one hand, BYU missed out on some of its top targets. On the other hand, BYU responded by reeling in a series of coveted recruits in Blake Wong, Uhila Wolfgramm, Kyle Nabrotzky, Peyton Higginson, and Lakepa Satuala.

In this article, we'll cover six big things that we learned from BYU's turbulent recruiting month.

1. BYU's recruiting class is not going to rank highly...and that's ok

As of Monday evening, BYU is up to 14 commits in the 2027 class and one of those commits is kicker James Thorley. Thorley doesn't have a rating. Therefore, only 13 of BYU's 14 commits count toward the Cougars' team recruiting ranking.

Recruiting rankings factor in both the quality and the quantity of commits. Once a class reaches 18 or 19 commits in a single class, the impact of class size generally caps out. BYU's class is still small enough that the team ranking is being weighed down by only 12 commits.

BYU ranks just 63rd in the 247 recruiting rankings after having a top 25 in December - and that's ok.

With the introduction of the five-for-five rule, combined with a large group of missionaries that are scheduled to return for the 2027 season, BYU has only a few spots to fill in 2027.

It's not a coping mechanism to say that quality matters more than quality, especially for BYU this year. And as far as quality goes, BYU's class is full of quality commits. BYU ranks second in the Big 12 in average rating behind only Texas Tech. Perhaps most importantly, 13 out of 13 commits have multiple competing FBS offers, and 11 out of 13 have multiple competing P4 offers.

In this recruiting class, BYU has beat out the likes of Ohio State, Michigan, Oregon, Texas A&M, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, USC, Washington, Wisconsin, Texas Tech, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Alabama, and UCLA to land its top targets.

BYU is adding a lot of quality players to the program.

2. BYU took some big swings without backup plans

As you look across BYU's recruiting class, one thing is clear: BYU put all their eggs in one basket at certain positions without backup plans. Typically, schools will have backup plans at every position. If target A commits to another school, they will quickly move on to target B, or in many cases, target B will already have an offer. That wasn't the case for BYU, and it's partially because of what we just discussed: BYU doesn't have many spots to fill and some really talented players in the pipeline. Therefore, BYU could take big swings and risk striking out at a few positions.

Allow us to illustrated the point.

BYU really only targeted one quarterback: Brody Rudnicki. When Rudnicki committed to Cal, the Cougars didn't have another quarterback to turn to. Why did BYU put all its eggs in the Rudnicki basket? Because they could. Having Ryder Lyons on board and scheduled to return in January allowed the Cougars to take a big swing for Rudnicki without a backup plan.

Quarterback is not the only position that deployed this strategy, either. In fact, it paid off for BYU in the recruitment of Blake Wong. Wong was the only wide receiver that BYU targeted in this class. BYU prioritized Wong, made it clear that he was a priority, and landed a commitment. BYU could go all in on Wong because in the wide receiver pipeline are young, talented wide receivers like Legend Glasker, Jaron Pula, Terrance Saryon, and Graham Livingston.

At tight end, BYU focused on Christian Hanshaw who committed to Michigan. The Cougars could afford to swing and miss on the American Fork High School product, because waiting in the pipeline are talented tight ends like Brock Harris, Ty Goettsche, Ryner Swanson, and Parker Ord among others.

It's not a coincidence that the three positions groups where BYU went all in on certain recruits are also positions that have very healthy pipelines: quarterback, wide receiver, and tight end.

3. There were some painful misses

While it's true that BYU has landed some really quality players, it's also true that there were some misses that BYU would really like to have back. First and foremost was the miss of four-star Bode Sparrow. The Cougars had a lot of momentum in Sparrow's recruitment when he decided to commit to Oklahoma.

Brody Rudnicki is also another player that BYU would have loved to add to the quraterback pipeline.

There were some other misses that didn't garner as many headlines, but they were players that BYU would have liked to add.

One surprise was the commitment of Corner Canyon standout Manase Brown. Brown took official visits to Fresno State, ASU, and BYU. It looked like a two-team race between BYU and ASU. Then, Brown surprised a lot of folks when he committed to Fresno State. Fortunately for BYU, the tackle position was fortified a few days later by the commitment of Kyle Nabrotzky.

Missess happen on the recruiting trail, and BYU is never going to land every target. However, since BYU's recruiting pool was smaller in 2027 than it's been in previous classes, the losses felt more impactful.

4. BYU's official visit strategy might have cost them a shot at some of their top targets

The last several years, BYU has tried to get all of its top targets on campus during the final official visit weekend in June. When BYU is able to schedule their top targets for that weekend, it's a big advantage. BYU has the chance to make the final impression before they make their college decisions.

In this class, however, it might have cost BYU a chance at landing some of their top targets. For example, four-star Elyjah Staples was down to two finalists: BYU and Cal. Staples had a BYU official visit scheduled, but he took the Cal visit first and committed after the visit.

Four-star offensive lineman Isaiah Bertola was another BYU priority target. Bertola, like Staples, was scheduled to take a BYU official visit. However, he committed to Cal after an official visit.

Perhaps getting the last official visit isn't as important as getting a player on campus whenever they can. BYU got Blake Wong on campus in the middle of the week, but they made a big enough impression to land him over Ohio State who got Wong's final official visit.

Bode Sparrow took his final official visit to BYU and still picked Oklahoma. Same goes for Brody Rudnicki. There's enough data points to suggest that a different strategy might be best in future years, at least for some prospects that have other official visits on the books to other finalists.

5. BYU's close rate on official visits is still high

Despite the handful of misses, BYU's close rate on official visits is still high.

In June, BYU hosted more than a dozen of its top targets on campus. At least 11 of them arrived on campus as uncommitted prospects. Of the 11, 9 have announced their college decisions. 6 out of 9 chose BYU and 3 did not (Bode Sparrow, Brody Rudnicki, and Manase Brown).

If BYU can get a recruit and his family on campus for an official visit, the Cougars have a shot to land a commitment.

6. There's no recruiting drop-off with BYU's new defensive staff...in fact, they may have upgraded

When Jay Hill was at BYU, his staff elavated the caliber of recruits on the defensive side of the ball. When Hill left and took Jernaro Gilford with him, it was unknown whether BYU would be able to maintain the same level of recruiting on defense.

Fast forward to today and we have learned that there has been no drop-off with the new defensive staff. In fact, BYU might have upgraded with the hiring of Lewis Walker as the cornerbacks coach. There's a real argument to make that this is the best defensive line class of the Kalani Sitake era. You could also argue that it's BYU's best cornerback class as well.

If the 2027 class is any indiciation, you can expect the defensive talent will continue to get better under Kelly Poppinga.

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