HB Arnett’s

801 372 - 0819

hbarnett@fiber.net

1391 West 800 South – Orem, Utah 84058

Vol. 33, Issue 30 – February 18, 2013

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Expect Relapse against SMC and GU

PORTLAND THE PERFECT PRESCRIPTION FOR WHAT AILS BYU

BYU Basketball was suffering with a headache of a two game losing streak.

No problem. Take one Portland pill for instant but temporary relief.

BYU did just that by swallowing and shellacking Portland 86-72 in Provo Saturday night.

It’s surprising what a good pill and a bad basketball team will do for the overall health of a struggling team like BYU.

Tyler Haws reasserted himself as the main guy on the BYU offense with 28 points against the Pilots. Haws found himself pain and pummeling free against Portland. His shot was back and the defensive hugging and mugging against Haws of recent WCC teams wasn’t.

Brandon Davies played like a true post against Portland. He added 23 points.

Don’t expect Portland to be a one-pill wonder cure for the Cougars.

BYU will get a prescription refill with Utah State coming to Provo on Tuesday. Expect the Cougars to play like they are on Percocet against the Aggies. BYU and Cougar fans should be feeling no pain after this game is over.

Utah State is the team in need of pain killers more than BYU. They have lost three of their starters to injuries from the beginning of the season and it shows. They will play hard and will be prepared. That is the hallmark of a Stew Morrill coached team.

Unfortunately, Percocet eventually wears off and the pain returns unless the root cause of the malady is corrected.

BYU’s basketball maladies will once again be exposed later this week by the two best teams in the WCC. The Cougars will be in Moraga to face Saint Mary’s on Thursday and then host league kingpin Gonzaga in Provo on Saturday.

If you are one of those who think BYU can beat the Gaels and Bulldogs, you need to cut way back on your personal Percocet.

The Cougars still have no cure or answer for Matthew Dellavedova of St. Mary’s and the entire Gonzaga team.

I’m not taking Percocet in predicting that there is a very real possibility that the Zags could take the whole thing this year in the NCAA tournament. They are that good, that deep and that well coached.

Meanwhile as BYU basketball fans, hopefully will get another Portland pill in the WCC post season tournament and we can all feel better as the season concludes and wait for next season.

BYU Serious About Toolson

Dave Rose and BYU offered Jake Toolson a scholarship a couple of weeks ago.

That’s old news concerning the 6-5, LDS junior from Highland HS in Gilbert, AZ.

The breaking news is Toolson has moved from a prospect to a priority on BYU’s recruiting radar since that offer was extended.

That observation is made because of the fact that three BYU coaches were at Highland early last week to watch Toolson and his Hawks team practice. It wasn’t just any three BYU coaches. It was Rose himself, Mark Pope and Terry Nashif.

If you are wondering about the sudden upsurge in urgency to get Toolson on the dotted line next November when he will be a senior, here’s my take.

Toolson has primarily played out of position on his high school basketball team. He is the biggest guy on the squad and has played inside most of the time.

He also was on a very ordinary Utah Select AAU team out of St. George that limited his exposure and opportunities to shine before college coaches during spring and summer evaluation periods.

It wasn’t until Toolson started to play on the guard line late in this current high school season that things changed. That was when Terry Nashif happened to be in attendance at one of those “guard” games against Dobson HS that BYU’s recruiting radar started pinging.

Dave Rose subsequently followed up with a personal view in a game against Red Mountain and the recruiting rush was on.

Rose, upon offering Toolson a scholarship, reportedly told him that they had him previously pegged as a small forward, but now realized that he could play the off guard and a little point if needed.

Toolson had and has offers from Arizona State, Boston College and Utah State and interest from Stanford, but it was the potential of a St. Mary’s offer that also put some urgency in BYU coming to the table with paper and pen in hand.

Randy Bennett, the head coach at St. Mary’s, has big time Arizona coaching connections. His dad is a legend in the state. Bennett likes Toolson and Toolson reportedly likes Bennett and St. Mary’s. Bennett reportedly has told Toolson that he thinks he could be the next Matthew Dellavedova for St. Mary’s.

That of course might have just been recruiting hyperbole, but it presented BYU with a problem. With St. Mary’s legitimately in the picture with Toolson, Dave Rose would have a major public relations problem if Toolson indeed is the next Dellavedova and playing in Moraga instead of Provo. The way I see it, BYU and Rose wouldn’t be able to live down an LDS player mistake if Toolson was beating BYU wearing a Gael uniform.

It would be reminiscent of the J.C. Carroll recruiting mistake. In case you forgot BYU misevaluated the LDS guard from Evanston and passed. Carroll signed with Utah State. Of course Carroll came back to haunt the Cougars as an Aggie for four years.

This is now a moot point because BYU has changed their mind about where Toolson’s best position will be in college and now are offering on talent alone, not potential public relations problems with fans and boosters.

This one will be interesting to see how it shakes out. Rose, Nashif and Pope also made a stop to check in on Payton Dastrup while in Arizona. The 6-9 post man is out Mountain View HS in Mesa and also already has a BYU offer on the table.

Both Toolson’s and Dastrup’s teams were beat in the first round of the state playoffs on Thursday, and if I understand the Arizona HS playoff system, their seasons are over.

GETTING HAWS SOME HELP

While guys like 2014 prospects Jake Toolson, Payton Dastrup, Dalton Nixon and TJ Haws are prime recruiting targets for BYU, but because of LDS missions they are at least two to four years away from making any kind of impact for BYU on the basketball court

Tyler Haws needs help next year.

You can expect more of the “Hug and Mug” defenses that WCC teams are playing on Haws. Any good coach would be foolish to not employ a defense that is working.

Officials are just not going to call every foul which means that teams that are physical and aggressive and have any kind of depth are going to continue to beat Haws up.

The only antidote available for BYU’s Dave Rose and Haws is to get some more offensive firepower that opponents have to respect and guard.

If Dave Rose continues to run his up tempo offense with emphasis on three point shooting, it will only work when he has three point shooters.

BYU will have a better and more physical inside game next season with two freshmen, Eric Mika and Luke Worthington.

Red or Black

They will return Matt Carlino, but he is like placing a red or black roulette bet in Las Vegas. You take your chances. You win or lose. There is no in between. Sometimes you get awesome shooting and good guard play and other times you get an out of control guard whose outside shooting barely draws iron.

Rose thought he was improving the team’s outside shooting this year with juco transfers when he bet red but came up dead with Agostino Ambrosino and Raul Delgado.

Both guys may end up being something next season, but I’m not betting on it.

What I am betting on is that Rose will return to the juco circuit and try and find another shooter.

There is some rumbling that the Cougars are taking a hard look at 6-1, Skyler  Halford of Salt Lake Community College.

Halford leads the Bruins in scoring this season. He prepped at Timpanogos High School in Orem, and then walked on at Utah State. After an LDS mission he is back at SLCC.

Halford, from Orem, would certainly fit into Dave Rose’s current recruiting radius of 15 miles. If BYU offers and he accepts the offer, BYU would feature Utah County HS players, Tyler Haws, Eric Mika, Josh Sharp, Nate Austin (all from Lone Peak HS), Ian Harward (Orem HS), Skyler Halford (Timpanogos HS), and Raul Delgado (Springville HS). And if Bronson Kaufusi returns for another season, he is from Timpview HS in Provo.

Take a lesson from Gonzaga

Who said this?

"It was a problem for the first couple of years. You have this 7-foot guy who wanted to hang out on the perimeter."

It wasn’t Dave Rose talking about Nate Austin, but Gonzaga head coach Mark Few talking about current WCC player of the year candidate Kelly Olynyk.

The seven-footer who looks destined to be an NBA lottery pick if he comes out this season or next, was content to play on the perimeter and jack up three point bombs in his first two years at Spokane.

As a junior, he redshirted and rebuilt his body and game and come back as a potential money machine with his inside presence for the Zags.

Click here to read a nice story on Olynyk and his transformation from a Nate Austin type  player to a potential NBA lottery pick.

All of which brings up Austin and BYU. With two legitimate, but young post guys coming on board next season in Eric Mika and Luke Worthington, could BYU redshirt Austin for a year and let him get bigger, stronger and meaner inside.

After a redshirt year, Austin could return and replace Mika, who will be gone on an LDS mission. The Cougars could then have Worthington as a seasoned sophomore, Austin as a hopefully bigger, tougher legitimate inside post presence as a redshirt junior and incoming freshman Isaac Neilson returning as a true freshman after a mission to Alabama.

Just a thought, but it certainly worked out extremely well for Olynyk, Few and Gonzaga.

Whew, What a Relief...BYU Hires Final Two Football Coaches

Bronco was cutting it close.

With Spring Football drills set to begin on Monday, March 4, the LDS Church Quorum I belong to was passing around a sign up sheet last week for one day volunteers to coach BYU quarterbacks and receivers.

I signed up for April 1 to coach quarterbacks.

Then I realized that would be April Fools Day and no Cougar quarterback would take me seriously.

Before I could correct my mistake and change dates, BYU and Bronco announced that they had actually hired two full time offensive assistants to fill out the offensive staff.

My 15 minutes of potential fame and footwork for quarterbacks has faded into the sunset. Now instead of becoming a coaching legend, my sign up sheet legacy will forever be tied to the Lindon Cannery instead of leading BYU quarterbacks to fame and fortune.

Canning peaches is not an easy job. Neither is canning coaches.

With the announcement of Jason Beck and Guy Holliday as the final two coaching hires to replace the departed and dismissed old offensive staff, Bronco Mendenhall signals that it is time to move on.

Nobody knows if the new offensive staff will produce improved results. Only time and a few games under their belts will tell that story.

What we do know is the story and history of the two newly hired coaches.

Here is the official release by BYU:

PROVO, Utah — BYU head football coach Bronco Mendenhall today announced Guy Holliday and Jason Beck have been hired as assistant coaches. Holliday will coach receivers and Beck will coach quarterbacks.  

“I’m excited to have Guy and Jason join our coaching staff,” Mendenhall said. “Guy is an experienced wide receivers coach who promotes tough and physical football and has great relationships with his players. He excels in the role of mentoring young people.  Jason is an intelligent, poised coach who understands quarterback play and is a great teacher of young men. He is extremely passionate about our football program and the mission of the university. We are fortunate to have both of them at BYU.” 

Holliday comes to BYU with 22 years of coaching experience, including 16 seasons coaching receivers. He has helped 21 players advance to the NFL, including 20 at wide receiver.  He has also coached tight ends, quarterbacks and running backs and served six seasons as an offensive coordinator during his career.

“I’m excited about this opportunity,” Holliday said. “BYU has an outstanding history of football excellence and also academic excellence. I look forward to embracing the spiritual elements of BYU and helping young men be successful.”

Holliday spent the last five seasons at UTEP as the wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator. The Miner passing attack was one of the most prolific in school history during that period, averaging just over 3,000 yards each year.  As a Miner, Holliday produced some of the program’s top receivers in Jeff Moturi and Kris Adams. Morturi (06-09) finished his career with 170 receptions, 2,527 yards and 26 touchdowns while Adams (07-10) finished with 144 catches, 2,657 yards and 30 touchdowns. Both rank in the top-7 among UTEP’s career leaders for each category.

He spent the 2007 season working with wide receivers at Cornell University after five years in the Southeastern Conference at Mississippi State as the wide receivers coach. With the Bulldogs, Holliday coached All-SEC receiver Justin Jenkins, who recorded 62 catches for 882 yards and nine touchdowns as a senior in 2003. Jenkins went on to play in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles and Buffalo Bills.

Holliday spent three years from 2000-2002 at Western Michigan University, coaching wide receivers two years and tight ends one season. The Broncos had three all-conference receivers and one all-conference tight end under his tutelage. He served six seasons as an offensive coordinator, three at Alabama State and three at Tuskegee University, while also coaching quarterbacks, receivers and running backs. He started his career coaching running backs at Clark-Atlanta University for one season.

Holliday earned a bachelor's degree from Cheyney University of Pennsylvania in 1987 and has three children — Justin, who is currently a wide receiver at UTEP, and daughters Schyuler and Christi.

A former Cougar quarterback and offensive intern on the coaching staff, Beck returns to Provo with six years of coaching experience, including stints at Louisiana State University, Weber State University and Simon Fraser University.

“I’m excited to return to BYU. It is a special place for me and my family,” Beck said. “I greatly respect the vision and standards Coach Mendenhall sets for the program, and I’m looking forward to being part of his staff. BYU has a great legacy at the quarterback position. It is both a great honor and challenge to live up to the legacy that has been established. I’m looking forward to the opportunity.” 

In 2012, Beck was hired as the offensive coordinator at Simon Fraser located in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. SFU is the first and only member of the NCAA located outside of the United States. Beck turned an offense that ranked last in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in total offense, passing offense and scoring offense in 2011 into the league’s No. 1-rated attack in all three categories (440.4 yards, 306.3 passing yards, 34.3 points per game) during the program’s first year as a full NCAA Division II member in 2012. The team nearly doubled its total touchdowns scored, going from 28 to 52, and more than tripled its passing TDs, jumping from nine to 28.

Beck served as quarterbacks coach at Weber State in Ogden, Utah, for three years from 2009-2011 under head coach Ron McBride. Under his tutelage, Wildcat quarterback Cameron Higgins set school records for most career passing yards (12,274), most career touchdowns passes (98), most career total touchdowns (105), most career pass completions (935) and career passing efficiency rating (144.5).  Higgins completed his career as one of the most prolific players in Big Sky Conference history, ranking No. 1 in passing touchdowns, No. 2 in total touchdowns and No. 3 in total offense.

Prior to Weber State, Beck served the 2008 season as an offensive intern at LSU working with quarterbacks under offensive coordinator and former BYU head coach Gary Crowton on Les Miles’ staff in the SEC.  He also assisted with quarterbacks as an offensive intern on Mendenhall’s staff at BYU in 2007 with Robert Anae as the offensive coordinator.

As a player at BYU, Beck served as the backup to All-American quarterback John Beck from 2004-2006, including a redshirt year due to an injury suffered his junior season. He totaled 553 passing yards and 28 rushing yards, including 305 yards on 20-of-28 passing in his lone start in a 38-0 victory over Utah State his senior season.

Beck transferred to BYU from College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, Calif., where he led the COC Cougars to an 11-1 season and Western States Conference Northern Division title as a sophomore. A unanimous first-team All-Western States Conference pick, he led COC to a No. 1 ranking in California and No. 4 national JC ranking, throwing for 2,052 yards while completing 77.5 percent of his passes. He also added 430 rushing yards. Recently hired BYU offensive line coach Garrett Tujague was the COC offensive line coach during Beck’s year in Santa Clarita.

A Junior College Academic All-American, Beck spent his freshman season at Ventura College after prepping at Hueneme High School in his hometown of Oxnard, Calif.  Before starting college, he served a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Denver, Colo., from 1999-2001.

Beck earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in communications from BYU in 2006 and 2011. He is married to former BYU soccer standout Jaime Rendich, and they have a daughter, Peyton.  Jaime was a four-year starter and All-American midfielder/forward during her BYU career from 2002-05.

Here are a couple of links and videos of Holliday and Beck from their previous employment

Holliday- UTEP WR Coach talks wide receivers

More Holliday coaching on the practice field. Start at .56 mark on video

Jason Beck introductory interview and philosophy at Simon Fraser

SFU sad to see Beck go

Winning, Losing and Leaving in July

Steve Cleveland beat Bronco Mendenhall to it.

The former BYU basketball coach has been called to serve as an LDS Mission President in Indianapolis. As with most new presidents, he and his wife will report to Indiana in July of this year.

Cleveland will be leaving behind for three years what looked like a very promising new career as a basketball color commentator locally for BYUtv and regionally for the ESPN networks.

In the winning and losing departments, BYU teams did both this past week.

In baseball, new coach Mike Littlewood split his first four games as the Cougar head guy. It appears that things have changed dramatically for BYU baseball under Littlewood, but one thing remains constant for the Cougars. They still need more quality pitching.

In four games played this weekend at Lubbock, TX, BYU split with Northern Colorado, winning 9-0 and losing 6-4 on Friday. The came back on Saturday with a 5-3 win over Northern Illinois before losing to Texas Tech 5-1.

In softball the ladies lost more than they won this past week. While participating in a competition in Las Vegas, BYU beat Hawaii 4-2, lost to Oregon State 7-3, lost to Louisiana Monroe 6-5, beat Cal State Fullerton 4-3 and lost to Portland State 5-3.

The BYU men’s volleyball team split two matches in California on Friday and Saturday. The Cougars were beat by Pepperdine 2-3 in Malibu but rebounded for a nice 3-1 win over USC the following night.

The women’s basketball team picked up two wins this past week with a 65-42 win over Santa Clara in a game played in Provo. They also blew out Pepperdine 67-44. That game was at Malibu.

Television Timetable

BYU vs. Utah State (MBB)

Tuesday, Feb 19 at Provo

Tipoff: 7:00 pm Mountain Time

TV: BYUtv

BYU vs. Portland (WBB)

Thursday, Feb 21 at Provo

Tipoff: 7:00 pm Mountain Time

TV: BYUtv

BYU vs. St. Mary’s (MBB)

Thursday, Feb 21 at Moraga

Tipoff: 9:00 pm Mountain Time

TV: ESPN2

BYU vs. Pacific (MVB)

Friday, Feb 22 at Provo

Start: 7:00 pm Mountain Time

TV: BYUtv

BYU vs. Gonzaga (WBB)

Saturday, Feb 23 at Provo

Tipoff: 2:00 pm Mountain Time

TV: BYUtv

BYU vs. Stanford (MVB)

Saturday, Feb 23 at Provo

Start: 7:00 pm Mountain Time

TV: BYUtv

BYU vs. Gonzaga (MBB)

Thursday, Feb 28 at Provo

Tipoff: 9:00 pm Mountain Time

TV: ESPN2

BYU vs. Creighton (Baseball)

Friday, Mar 1 at Provo

Start: 3:00 pm Mountain Time

TV: BYUtv

BYU vs. Creighton (Baseball)

Saturday, Mar 2 at Provo (Doubleheader)

Start: 1:00 pm Mountain Time

TV: BYUtv (Both Games Televised)

BYU vs. Loyola Marymount (MBB)

Saturday, Mar 2 at Los Angeles

Tipoff: 9:00 pm Mountain Time

TV: ESPNU