Dave feels he has been handed a second chance at life, I can’t imagine how these “close calls” can change a person but I imagine he will cherish everything a little more now, and have greater perspective. For him to get through an intense surgery with all hands on deck and then later be declared cancer-free was incredible, one of the more amazing things I’ve ever heard. It was not looking too good a week ago.

Let’s start with registration. I would say that the special treatment of student athletes begins and ends here. Athletes get priority registration because of their unique schedules. For football you have to have all your classes done by 2pm and then you can start taking night classes at around 7pm. Other sports have different practice schedules, but the university gives you the opportunity to work your schedule around your athletic commitments.

How do the teachers treat the players? I only had three teachers at BYU that really even cared about BYU football. One of them was the Mens Volleyball coach. But I never had a teacher give me something I didn’t earn because I was a football player. In fact there were multiple times where being an athlete actually worked against me.

It has been interesting to talk with friends in the NFL about players and their school work. I have come to the conclusion that BYU is the only school playing by the rules. 90% of the guys in the schools represented in the NFL have guys who don’t do a lick of school work their entire college career. And then we as football fans wonder why the players are always in trouble and why so many college football players end up working at McDonalds. I am so glad that the academic standard at BYU is by the book and demands that the players get their own education while at the school.

When we play away games we usually leave BYU around noon the day before. So on Saturday games we rarely miss class. On the occasional Thursday game you could miss classes on Wed and Thur. Usually teachers are good about helping you out and working with you to turn in assignments that may be due. Football is the best sport to play when it comes to travel because 90% of the time we will miss only 1 hour of school if any (keep in mind we always finish by 2pm and most classes are either M-W or T-Th). The sports I feel bad for are basketball, baseball, etc where you go on road trips that last a week or more and you have to take your school work on the road with you. The closest football comes to this is Bowl Week. At the bowl games we have a room set up with computers and academic advisors to help the players wrap up their school work and finals.

Coach Mendenhall’s standard for the team is a 3.0 GPA. Any player who falls below that has to meet with academic advisors to ensure that they are going to class and turning in their assignments. In order to stay eligible you have to maintain at least a 2.0 GPA and pass 15 credit hours in between seasons. For someone to not be academically eligible is beyond me. There are enough easy elective classes you can take to boost your GPA and passing a class is all but guaranteed if you just show up to class.

In conclusion, I get tired of hearing that athletes get special treatment at BYU. The reality is that we really are put at a disadvantage. We are competing in the classroom with students who had near perfect GPAs coming out of the high school who set the bar high for teachers at BYU. Then we take 4-6 hours of study time a day to play a game.

The players have a lot of fun in 7 on 7 as it is almost like a controlled, more advanced pick up game. The Defensive Captains and Offense Captains call the plays and it is all about calling what you think is the most effective to beat the other team.

It is important to work on different situations, so we usually runa few series of “Coming Out” meaning the O is inside the 10 yard line. We run the majority of our drives in the open field, 50 going in. And then we always end with a Blue Zone period with the offense on the 20 going in.

We don’t play 4 downs to get 10 yards because to be honest it is a scenario the Offense should win every time. When the Offense doesn’t win it means either the D played amazing or the O really laid an egg. To make it more fair we say the O has 3 downs to get 20 yards. Inside the Blue Zone it is 4 down territory. The offense gets a point for scoring a TD and the D gets a point for not allowing a TD and 2 points for a turnover. At least that is how we used to run it.

Thanks for coming by and visit often!

The supervisory job falls onto the shoulders of Coach Omer and his staff as well as the Leadership Council, which is comprised of one player from each position group. These are the guys the coaches will go to if they want to know how a particular player is doing during the summer.

As far as workouts go there are 3 workout sessions every day M-F so the players can work it into their school/work schedules. Coach Omer and Justin McClure over see these workouts and chart players progress. In the evening the players come back for 7 on 7, or Line Drills for the OL and DL. At this point Coach Omer can not be involved and must leave the field. The basic rule is that there is not allowed to be any footballs out when a coach is present.

During the 7 on 7 period the Leadership Council Member sets the Depth Chart for his position. These sessions are short and so we only run 1st and 2nd Team guys with a rare 3rd Team segment.

It is true that the coaches offices look out over the practice field but a lot of times these throwing sessions are held in the Indoor Practice Facility (IPF). Even when they are held outside coaches spend the spring recruiting and then they get some time off for family, then it’s time for fall camp. So they really don’t have the option of looking in on the guys.

In the end it is on the players to prepare. This is the most crucial part of the year. Players just spent the last three months busting their butt, and they will lose it all if they don’t train with the team during the summer. A lot of All-American potential has fallen by the way-side because guys take the summer off.

I wrote an entire post dedicated to the players preparation last season and I will not repeat it, but I do want to offer a few tid-bits from the Coaches Point of View.

It is impossible to approach a football game without having first scouted out your opponent to find out 3 very important things; what they like to do, what they are good at doing, and what they are not good at doing. It then becomes the job of the coaching staff to take that information and devise a GAME PLAN that will address those areas.

The problem for the fan is that there are two meanings for the term Game Plan. The first definition is, Creating new plays or schemes designed specifically for one opponent and to be used exclusively in that game alone.

Examples of this type of game planning are when teams (BYU included in ‘04 and ‘05) will only put 2 D Linemen in the game thinking “We can’t sack the QB so let’s play a ton of Pass Coverage so there is no where to throw the ball. Another example is Tulsa’s game plan against us in ‘07. All the trick plays and shenanigans were designed specifically for us. They could not run their normal stuff against us and expect to win the game.

This kind of game planning is the kind that Coach Mendenhall is not going to partake in. His stance is that he will not ruin the integrity of what we do, by changing everything week to week to out smart the opponent.

The second kind of game planning is what our coaches preach to us as players and that is, Take what you do best and adapt it to the opponent in order to neutralize their strengths and attack their weaknesses. Basically, find the plays within our system that will work best against what the other team does, and then spend the week of practice perfecting the execution of those plays.

Every week we tweak our alignments, coverage, routes and blocking just a little in order to gain a competitive advantage over our opponent and to sure up any perceived weaknesses.

To sum it up, our coaches get to the office around 6:00am each morning and are game planning until meetings start at 2:10pm. Then it is on the players to EXECUTE the game plan.

Last Season: Without question Fui stepped in, took over Manase’s role and executed that role 100%. From an execution stand point there was absolutely no drop off without Manase because Fui was so spectacular and unselfish. Fui also brought a lot of energy and excitement to the fans with his hard-nosed, all-out style of play. This was a little different than the energy Manase brings. Fui excites the fans who get the stadium pumped, which in turn pumps up the players. Manase fuels the players around him directly. Once again though I think these qualities benefit the team equally; so no drop off there. The biggest downside in my mind is the leadership presence that Manase had on the Offensive side of the ball. This is not to take away anything from Fui’s leadership, but Manase was the main constant in the transition from the John Beck Offense to the Max Hall Offense, and most players looked to Manase to really set the tone for practices and games. Manase never says much, he just goes about his business and brings the rest of the team with him. At times last year our offense was a little too arrogant and laxidasical and I believe Manase would have changed that. Number one game he would have changed? TCU. Though we may not have won that game with Manase, he would have at least made sure that our O did not get blindsided the way they did.

This Season: It is all about leadership!  I hope that Manase will step in right where he left off.  When guys come back from disciplinary time off sometimes they have a tendency to shy away from the leadership role.  I see Manase stepping in, going about his business the way he always does and keeping the Offensive Egos in check.  With him back there and with a hopefully new attitude on that side of the ball, I think we will see a more potent and capable offense this year.

-Markell Staffieri

What a great day for Austin! Sure he was the 20th WR (19th if you don’t count Pat White as a WR, Miami isn’t) taken in the draft when he should have been about 6 or 7, but he is going to have a great opportunity. Think about it. He is going to have the best QB in the game throwing to him. Tell me that Peyton Manning is not going to make Austin Collie look absolutely amazing.

What is Collie’s Role?

Peyton Manning finally got his Wes Welker. Indy already has there “deep guys” but I think Austin can contribute right away as a possession receiver for them. I am so pumped for his opportunity there.

Fui Vakapuna: 7th Round (215th pick) - Cincinnati Bengals

This is a really interesting pick for BYU. But Let me just say, who more deserving than Fui to get drafted. The guy has been through a lot in his career, and yet still managed to succeed and catch the eye of the NFL scouts. I am stoked for Fui and think that he will have a great career, just like Fahu Tahi’s, in the NFL.

This pick is interesting in that Dan Coates is on the Bengals and plays a Fullback role for them occasionally. Mainly he is the 3rd TE in a big running package, so hopefully this won’t affect our other cougar brother. Dan is a good enough all around TE, with two seasons of experience, that I think they will end up being teammates for the next couple years.

Ray Feinga: UDRFA - St. Louis Rams

I am not going to lie; I have no idea how to compare Ray to the OGs already in St. Louis. All I know is that Ray is good. He is one of the best guys I ever played against, so I don’t see why he shouldn’t have a great opportunity there in St. Louis.

Dallas Reynolds: UDRFA - Philadelphia Eagles

Dallas is going to do awesome. I remember the guys the Eagles brought in last year to play C/G and I know for a fact that Dallas is better than those guys! It was an interesting draft for Dallas because he has played all 3 positions on the OL, starting in every game he ever played in college - Most of any player that was graduating this year. After reading Parcells and Irelands (Miami Dolphins) quotes yesterday about “liking to draft big school guys who start a lot of games” I am surprised they didn’t pick him up. Back to my point, teams gave Dallas a mixed bag of evaluations and scouting rankings had him really low, because they didn’t know how to grade him.

That’s the stupid NFL. You have an incredibly versatile player and instead of his stock rising through the roof it plummets because he can do too much. Go figure.

Travis Bright: UDRFA - Dallas Cowboys

Perfect fit for big Travis Bright! The Cowboys and Titans just love to get BIG HUGE ENORMOUS human beings to be on their front lines, and you don’t get much bigger than Travis, hence the nickname “Baby Elephant”. Although now I would probably call him a Bull Elephant. Travis is big and strong and he will move people out of the way. The Cowboys are traditionally a big run team and he will be perfect for that.

David Nixon - UDRFA - Oakland Raider

This is tough for me because I love Dave and I love the Chargers. It’s like having your best friend tell you they’re playing for the U. But, no doubt about it, I will be rooting hard to D. Nix! I think he may have the best opportunity of all the guys to make the team and contribute right out the gates. First of all, rookies get their chance by playing ST and Dave can do anything. Although I don’t think he has ever played ST in his career, he is so athletic and quick; he can cause a lot of problems for the opposition. Second, Dave is an outstanding LB. He will run circles around those guys in Oakland.

Markell Staffieri

Before the 2007 season we played golf and went on a whitewater rafting trip in WY. All these trips and time away from football with the guys help you to appreciate each other more and learn more about one another. We do a lot of team building activities during fall camp too, but you the coaches are still around and it has the “it’s part of fall camp” stigma to it, so it doesn’t quite go as far as going out on your own and forming these bonds.

After morning lifting sessions guys go out to breakfast with each other. It seems like it’s a new spot every summer. Started out at Magleby’s Fresh, then to Kneaders, then this little country joint on University. Pretty much anything that is all you can eat is fair game.

The great thing about the 7 on 7 during the summer is that because it is completely voluntary and there are no coaches it was way more laid back and it gives guys a chance to joke around and talk trash in a fun environment that is also competitive. Yeah it is still football, but there is not the normal pressure or feel of when it is mandatory practice.

By Markell Staffieri

From now until the start of Fall Camp there are no mandatory workouts. About 70% of the players treat this time as mandatory and hold each other accountable for getting the work done to prepare for the season. What the other 30% don’t realize is that these next few months are the most important of the season. All that hard work they just put in will go for not if they don’t continue to build on it.

Players will lift and run just like they have been doing and about half way through the summer they will start to throw the ball around in their on 7 on 7 drills. In 2006 and 2007 we filmed a lot of these drills with our own cameras so we could sit down together and watch how things were going.

Although it is important to keep to the workout schedule and keep working hard it is equally important this time of year to get out and get away from football a little. You need to have that one hobby or two that you can focus on outside of football to keep your mind off the stress. For me that was hunting, fishing and waterskiing. Everyone has their things.

By: Markell Staffieri