Does TV exposure = recruiting success - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

Judge Smails · 11-08-2007, 10:35 PM

If I concede fewer casual football fans will see BYU this year than in say, 2004 (and I will) does that mean recruiting will suffer.

I'm putting words in their mouths, but here's the 3 hypotheticals I see the "killing recruiting" crowd using to make their point:

Hypothetical #1:

Recruit is sitting on the sofa one Thursday night, flipping through channels, dials up ESPN to catch us playing Notre Dame, and thinks, you know, I'm not going to go to Oregon St. Damn, that BYU looks like a great place to play. Mom, get me Gary Crowton on the line, pronto.

Now, I'm not sure if a study could be done, but I'm guessing there's exactly zero people on the current roster who had this experience.

Hypothetical #2

Recruit in say, California says, "I'm not sure if I want to play at Oregon St or BYU, but my parents won't be able to see me on TV unless I go to Oregon St. I'm going with the Beavers".

Yes that's a possible scenario, but with a major flaw - that being the kid's parents will probably be able to see MORE BYU games than Oregon St games from California via CSTV and VS.

Hypothetical #3

In general, recruits are less aware of BYU because they aren't on ESPN on Thursday nights. This lack of awareness costs us a recruit or 2 a year, who if they had caught a quarter of BYU football would have perhaps had us on their radar screen.

This is plausible, but I just don't think it happens. 99% of our recruits are aware of BYU, not because of TV, but because it is a church school. The other 1% are not choosing BYU because they're familiar with us. They're choosing BYU because a high school coach or a JUCO coach has a connection with someone from our staff or our staff was tipped off to go check out a kid or they're teammates with an LDS recruit.

Will we EVER lose a recruit because of the mtn. I suspect it will probably happen, but it's less than many of you portend. If the mtn lives out its 14 year life and never gets on the satellites, I suspect BYU's talent makeup will change VERY little from what it currently is.

11-08-2007, 10:35 PM	#1
Judge Smails Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 211	Does TV exposure = recruiting success If I concede fewer casual football fans will see BYU this year than in say, 2004 (and I will) does that mean recruiting will suffer. I'm putting words in their mouths, but here's the 3 hypotheticals I see the "killing recruiting" crowd using to make their point: Hypothetical #1: Recruit is sitting on the sofa one Thursday night, flipping through channels, dials up ESPN to catch us playing Notre Dame, and thinks, you know, I'm not going to go to Oregon St. Damn, that BYU looks like a great place to play. Mom, get me Gary Crowton on the line, pronto. Now, I'm not sure if a study could be done, but I'm guessing there's exactly zero people on the current roster who had this experience. Hypothetical #2 Recruit in say, California says, "I'm not sure if I want to play at Oregon St or BYU, but my parents won't be able to see me on TV unless I go to Oregon St. I'm going with the Beavers". Yes that's a possible scenario, but with a major flaw - that being the kid's parents will probably be able to see MORE BYU games than Oregon St games from California via CSTV and VS. Hypothetical #3 In general, recruits are less aware of BYU because they aren't on ESPN on Thursday nights. This lack of awareness costs us a recruit or 2 a year, who if they had caught a quarter of BYU football would have perhaps had us on their radar screen. This is plausible, but I just don't think it happens. 99% of our recruits are aware of BYU, not because of TV, but because it is a church school. The other 1% are not choosing BYU because they're familiar with us. They're choosing BYU because a high school coach or a JUCO coach has a connection with someone from our staff or our staff was tipped off to go check out a kid or they're teammates with an LDS recruit. Will we EVER lose a recruit because of the mtn. I suspect it will probably happen, but it's less than many of you portend. If the mtn lives out its 14 year life and never gets on the satellites, I suspect BYU's talent makeup will change VERY little from what it currently is. __________________ Oh yes, I have spread my seed.