Analysis: BYU uses ‘unique style of recruiting’ to build 2024 signing class. Will it pay off in the long run?
BYU will sign a 2024 football recruiting class that ranks in the mid-50s overall and somewhere in the lower half of the new 14-team Big 12 in the 247sports.com composite team rankings when the dust settles in early February.
But head coach Kalani Sitake and his staff aren’t apologizing for what appears to be a slightly above average group, when viewed from the team rankings perspective. He reiterated on Wednesday that BYU believes it can win with its “unique” way of attracting talented players.
“Everyone is going to the one thing that they can sell the most, and that is the money. We have way more than that. There are way more layers than that here. That’s not the focus. We are never going to be a program focused on money as the attraction.” — BYU coach Kalani Sitake
“They came here for the right reasons,” Sitake said of the 25 or so additions to the program who signed the first day of the three-day early-signing period, a collection of high school prospects, junior college transfers and two players from the transfer portal — Weber State linebacker Jack Kelly and former Pitt punter Sam Vander Haar.
“We have a unique style of recruiting, and it is different than what I think everybody else is doing,” Sitake continued. “We have gotten into some battles (in) recruiting and I am glad we were able to come out with a great result.”
Indeed, the Cougars won more recruiting battles with fellow Power Four schools than in recent memory, beating the likes of Utah, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma, Texas Tech and even USC for some prospects.
There were a couple of surprises Wednesday, too, that had not been previously reported, adding some excitement and intrigue to a day that in the past has not been all that exciting for the Cougars.
Most notably, Wednesday brought the surprise (to some) signing of former Bingham High three-star defensive end Viliami Po’uha, who is still on his church mission. The 6-foot-3, 260-pounder is the son of first-year BYU defensive line coach Sione Po’uha, and had signed with Utah before his missionary service when his father worked there.
“Phenomenal mom,” quipped BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill. “I don’t know about the dad. He is a question sometimes. Vili is going to be a great player. He’s got size and athleticism that fans will be excited about.”
Another last-minute acquisition was three-star Timpview receiver Tei Nacua, the brother of former BYU players Isaiah, Kai, Samson and Puka Nacua.
“Obviously we are excited about anybody with the last name of Nacua,” said BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick. “It goes without saying that this is big to get Tei to join us.”
As was mentioned in this Deseret News article previewing the start of the early signing period, the gems of BYU’s 2024 signing class to date are Laguna Beach, California, tight end Ryner Swanson (the only four-star recruit in this BYU class, per 247sports.com); Hutchinson (Kansas) Community College defensive lineman Danny Saili (who flipped from Texas Tech); Herriman linebacker Ephraim Asiata (son of former Ute RB Matt Asiata); and Therrian “Tre” Alexander III, a cornerback from Georgia who had ACC and SEC offers and had no ties to BYU before his recruitment began.
“I feel really good about (the mixture of high schoolers, juco transfers and transfer portal additions), considering what our needs are, and what we have done last year in building on that,” Sitake said. “The most important thing is they are all a great fit for what we want to do as a team here. … There is a lot of potential here, and also a lot of potential to play right away.”
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Sitake said the Cougars will “still have a few surprises in the next little bit, any time from today until signing day in February,” and Roderick noted that there are still some openings for more offensive players, in particular a veteran quarterback from the transfer portal.
“Yeah, there is a good chance we will bring in one quarterback from the portal. We plan to. The (quarterbacks) room is pretty full right now, but we are going to bring in one veteran player,” Roderick said. “We feel like if we bring in one veteran player and mix that with the guys we have now we will be set.”
In that regard, a well-traveled QB to keep an eye on is former Baylor and South Florida signal-caller Gerry Bohanon, according to multiple sources within the program.
Roderick relayed some other news Wednesday, saying that receiver Keanu Hill and offensive lineman Brayden Keim, who both walked on Senior Day after the 31-24 loss to Oklahoma, plan to return in 2024 and that Hill has been moved to tight end.
Hill “fights to keep his weight down,” Roderick said, after noting the Texan struggled with a “stress fracture-type injury” all season. “He is 6-4, 225 to 230 pounds on any given day. We felt like with our depth at wide receiver, why fight it? Let yourself get up to 235, 240. He is already one of our best blockers on the team, at any position, so we feel like moving him to tight end just makes perfect sense.”
Roderick also said that returned missionary Joe Brown will be awarded a scholarship and could be ready to play soon.
“Just rewatched his film while he was gone and felt like he is as good as anybody we were recruiting,” Roderick said. “So we are going to be smart with those spots at offensive line. We are well-stocked at receiver, tight end, running back right now. Don’t see a whole lot of change there moving forward.”
The fourth-year OC said the “most important recruiting” the staff did the past few months was to retain its own players. As of midday Wednesday, only a handful of players had entered the portal, the only key contributor being defensive end John Henry Daley, who signed with Utah, and the latest being defensive back Quenton Rice, who has battled injuries and never saw significant playing time.
BYU signed no fewer than nine defensive linemen, although several will go on church missions first.
“There were so many good defensive ends in the state of Utah this year, and this was just a knockout class,” Hill said. “It definitely was an emphasis. We should have monster, just athletic, nasty D linemen here at BYU. I think this class is a great start to where we are heading. … We do need to be more disruptive in the D line. We know that.”
In totality, the theme Wednesday from Sitake, Hill and Roderick was that BYU probably will never be able to attract top-flight, five-star prospects like Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Oregon and Texas — schools which had compiled the top-five recruiting classes as of Wednesday. But the school supported and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will use other methods to compete in the ultra-competitive world of college football, changed dramatically in recent years by name, image and likeness (NIL) legislation and the transfer portal.
“Everyone is going to the one thing that they can sell the most, and that is the money. We have way more than that. There are way more layers than that here. That’s not the focus. We are never going to be a program focused on money as the attraction,” Sitake said in a Hamlet-like final soliloquy.
“Everything I have mentioned from the opening statement to now is about people. And that’s our currency. We have enough to take care of our players here. We also know that there are way more valuable things than just cash,” he continued. “The value of mentoring and the value of leadership and camaraderie and fellowship, to build yourself spiritually, mentally and physically. We have all those things.”
Will those things and another middling signing class translate into more wins in the Big 12?
Cougar Nation is about to find out.
