It was November 17, 2001. The sun glared none the brighter for a 5:00 PM kickoff at Lavell Edwards Stadium, leaving its usual shadow over the northern bleachers. The stands shook with the tension of 66,000 fans, 2,000 over capacity. BYU’s offense took the field halfway through the fourth quarter. They trailed 21-10. Yet, there was no panic in quarterback Brandon Doman’s eyes. Doak Walker hopeful Luke Staley lined up beside him, ready to show the world that BYU Football was not out of the national picture just yet. Four minutes later, Staley rumbled into the endzone from 30 yards out to put BYU ahead for good, 24-21. There was life in Provo, Utah. There was hope, and higher expectations than any season since 1984.
Circumstances soon changed. In 2001, the curtain fell. The illusion was up. Brigham Young University was no longer a player for the biggest stage of college football.
Two weeks after stunning Utah, a 12-0 BYU team began preparations for their final game. Visions of a major bowl appearance flashed in their eyes. Under the highest of stakes, and despite a season-ending injury to Staley, they had passed week 12’s road test against Mississippi State of the SEC. The Cougars were included in the argument for America’s top team. That would not last through mid-December.
Only days before taking on the Rainbow Warriors in Hawaii, BCS officials informed Coach Crowton that BYU would not be considered for one of their esteemed bowls. At that time, the Bowl Championship Series hosted the only bowl games deemed as truly meaningful. Without the possibility of a meaningful bowl game, there was a certain hollowness to the Cougars’ perfect record. There was no longer the opportunity for a better bowl destination. Chances at the BCS payout were dashed. When a perfect record would award them no more than if they lost out, the football team was left to rely on internal motivation to close out the year. With that in mind, the Cougars were blitzed in their final two games, and finished the season 12-2.
Since BYU’s glory years in the 1980s, the program had always felt they were competing for something more. They could compete in high-stakes national matchups, and they could even play for a national championship. In 2001, the powers-that-be said they were wrong. Even a perfect record would not grant them access to the big stage. Their lofty goals were a thing of the past, and games lost some of their meaning. That lack of purpose would show in their next three seasons, each of which culminating in losing records. If they weren’t competing for national recognition, the team needed something more. Enter Bronco Mendenhall. Temporarily.
When Bronco was promoted to head coach before the 2005 season, he brought a new sense of meaning to the program. He hung banners trumpeting virtues of tradition, spirit, and honor. Firesides were held during each road trip, boosting team spirit in both fans and players. When starting play as an Independent, without an aligned conference or standings to play for, Mendenhall held up the team values as motivation. In a BYU magazine feature, Bronco elaborated that his mission was “about drawing young men to this program who want to be here, who want to represent these things with passion and who would play to a different level because they are representing these things.” Even with a lack of tangible rewards, there was always a reason for full effort. Bronco brought meaning to the program when they weren’t playing for national championships, conference championships, or even widely recognized bowl games.
Before the 2015 season concluded, Bronco Mendenhall announced that he would be leaving Brigham Young University to coach at the University of Virginia. When he left, Bronco took with him the mantras and values from over a decade of BYU football. The team would need to instill a new sense of purpose and meaning behind their play. New coach Kalani Sitake would need to build and maintain his own ideals.
On the backs of Taysom Hill and Jamaal Williams, BYU finished Sitake’s inaugural season with 9 wins and momentum to spare. Then, the wheels fell off. In 2017, Cougar football endured its worst season in decades, finishing with a 4-9 record and more lopsided losses than wins. Losing games is one matter. Losing your dignity is an entirely separate one. The team struggled just to compete. While certainly not intentional, a certain amount of pride and passion was missing at Provo’s gridiron. The struggles were strikingly similar to those in 2001. It appeared that the players had lost their sense of purpose. It doesn’t end there.
Since 2017, the team all too often shows up outmatched and uninspired. Too often are those also games playing as the odds-on favorite. It’s true that the direction of BYU Football has improved. Their improved record each year supports this. Yet, several games a season present this struggle. In 2018, those games included blowout losses to Washington and Utah State, as well as lackluster efforts against California and Northern Illinois. In 2019, a promising start was derailed by losses to the struggling Toledo Rockets and Southern Florida Bulls, then topped off by a letdown against the Aztecs of San Diego State. These inconsistent showings of below-average play harken back to the Hawaii game 18 years ago, when BYU’s search for meaning appeared as a blip on the radar which grew to a full-on lockdown.
Entering another game day against the 2019 Rainbow Warriors, BYU football appears to again be lost in a vacuum of meaning. Following 2001, playing for a national championship became all but a pipe dream. Following 2010, playing for conference championships and premium bowls was also a recent memory. Bronco Mendenhall’s departure in 2015 also saw the departure of his vision for purpose and spirituality to each game. With those higher motivations expired, the program must still answer what the kids are playing for. It doesn’t need to be any one of the previous motivators, but it does need to be something.
For Kalani Sitake, a driving motivation has been the mantra of family, and playing for their brothers on the field. At the most recent media day, Kalani stated that “We are all about family here, and we sell that hard.” Yet, families fight. Families break up, and families don’t always achieve their goals without collective values. At present, there are few transparent goals, and little vision to unite such a large and diverse family unit. Little else other than winning. During the aforementioned media day, Fesi Sitake stated his belief that “as long as we win and score points and are entertaining to watch, we are always going to be able to get a good majority of guys who are high-profile players who want to be here, and we aren’t going to have to fight too hard to get those guys.” Unfortunately, this isn’t always true. Even with improving records each year, recruiting without a clear vision for the program remains steadily inconsistent.
Following the 2019 season, the answer to BYU’s search for meaning remains unclear. When the Cougars showed up to play road games against Toledo, South Florida, and San Diego State, they showed neither urgency nor motivation. That will likely only continue without a change, especially considering Independence-related conundrums which include one-destination postseasons, plus a carousel of opponents without notable matchup histories.
Sitake received an extension late in the season, and it was well-deserved. The positives he offers outweigh the negatives, and he has the program on an upward trajectory. Now that Sitake has his extension, and to take the next step forward, it’s time to bring consistency back to the playing field. It’s time to set transparent goals. It’s time for him and his staff to project their vision to players, recruits, and the fanbase.
It’s time for BYU Football to complete their search for meaning.
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