A thoughtful email from [Name Redacted] on many a BYU subject

I received this letter from my good friend and fellow BYU jihadi [Name Redacted].

Zach,

I have been a BYU football fan my whole life, but I really took off my freshman year, the year of Sark and 14-1. I still think if Washington and BYU play 10 times that year, BYU wins 8 or 9 times. Anyway. We struggled through the Crowton years, which melded on-the-field idiocy with a few choices off-the-field incidents, the most psychologically damaging of which was the color switch and the introduction of tan as a major thematic....sorry, I need to go take a Xanax. Ok, I'm back. I was also initially an unapologetic fan of Bronco Mendenhall. My brother met him at Marriott School thingie and came away super impressed by him. But then he makes the awful Jamie Hill decision, which was only saved by making the good Jamie Hill decision.

Sorry, I'm getting off topic. I don't want this to turn into a screed. My point in wanting to write is to ask, what the deuce is going on with Doman, Bronco and Riley Nelson? Some of the quotes we're hearing from Bronco's mouth are not just "funny ha-ha" but "funny weird", which combined with the situation about Riley being allowed to play when logic and good sense (not mention, heaven forbid, a desire to win the bleeding game) dictate otherwise, and the comments from James Lark, make me seriously question his judgment. And you know, I already questioned Doman's judgment, but to be fair, most of that is because his playcalling makes NO SENSE. He runs the option to the short side of the field on 3rd and 8. Who does that? Oh, that's right, someone like Crowton who throws bubble screens to a 5'9" white kid who runs a 5.4 40, being blocked for by a 5'11' white kid who weighs 160. I never, EVER get a real sense that Doman is, you know, trying to matriculate the ball down the field.

Frankly, if you look at all of the brilliant new crop of offensive minds, Kelly, Holgo, Art Briles, etc., they are constantly moving the ball downfield. Even their dink and dunks, the 3 yard throws, the 5 yard throws, the jet sweep (and here I am mostly thinking of Holgo) are done at full speed, with a clear intent to get the ball to the playmakers, downfield, in space.

I don't see that with BYU. And I realize that part of it can be the talent level; that is, that BYU's receivers are running the same routes that WV or Baylor runs, but they just are fast or talented enough to find the space. But doesn't that excuse kind of sound hollow in a year when you have Hoffman and Apo? Not to mention Friel.

I realize: a lot of this is just my own personal preference for how an offense should be run. But shouldn't we be doing better, considering the offensive talent that we have? I lay that underachieving on coaching in practice, and schematics/philosophy. I don't honestly know what Doman's philosophy is. Playground? It's depressing me. And of course, the question arises, how much of it is Bronco telling Doman what to do, how much Doman's own doing, etc? I get this feeling like there's a whole lot more to the story.

Anyway, thanks for letting me vent

[Name Redacted]