By Jared Lloyd
Football is turning into a family affair at BYU.
That”s going to be particularly true in the Cougar trenches of the present and future. At least, that will be the case if things go as evidenced on Football Signing Day last Wednesday.
“I”m very excited about the recruiting class,” head coach Gary Crowton said. “Most of it was geared to the front seven on both sides of the ball.”
Although many familiar names came through the fax machine on Wednesday, the biggest name wasn”t one Cougar fans knew from the past.
OL Ofa Mohetau, the top high school offensive lineman in the country, doesn”t have a brother or a father who beefed up the Cougar line. He”s not related to any of the coaches.
So how did his family ties affect his decision to come to BYU?
“Ofa didn”t want to go to the big-name schools,” high school friend and teammate Detrick Mays said. “He liked the idea of being in a little town, close to family. It”d be impossible for him to come back to Texas every time he got a little homesick, so he wanted to be where he had family nearby.”
Cougar fans might spruce up the houses of those relatives, if Mohetau becomes the player many believe he will be. Some analysts have listed the signing of Mohetau as significant as last year”s signing of highly-touted QB Ben Olson.
Mohetau was the biggest national name, but the Cougar coaching staff was almost as excited with the signing of local defensive end Brian Soi.
“To me, Brian is a young guy who has a change to play early,” Crowton said. “He”s a local kid who has the chance to make a quick impact for the team, defensively.”
Soi lives near BYU and is finishing up at Timpview High in Provo. The ability to play for a big-time program close to home made BYU an attractive location for the 6”4″, 295-lb end.
Soi will be joined on the line by another name well-known to BYU supporters. Cougar fans can expect to see the defensive line buoyed up by members of the Denney family for the foreseeable future.
“I play same position as my brothers,” recruit Brett Denny said. “My brothers have had so much success at BYU that I just told myself, ”Why I can”t I do the same thing?” I always think I can do what they”ve done and better. There”s a strong tradition of BYU football players in the family.”
Brett plans on redshirting this fall before leaving on an LDS mission next winter, following advice given to him by his older brothers.
“I could leave in the fall,” Brett said, “but I saw how much better it was for my brother to leave in the winter. Coming back in the winter and having the off-season to prepare is a lot better, training-wise.”
Though he won”t be playing in LaVell Edwards Stadium on game day, Brett is looking forward to working out with older brother John.
“I”m sure he”s going to push me pretty hard,” Brett said. “But it”ll be weird to play with guys that are so much older. John”s always been so much ahead of me. He had left for BYU-Idaho before I ever really even started playing football. Now we”re going to be working out together.”
Another family connection also might directly affect Brett. John Denney is the Cougar long snapper and worked a lot with kicker Matt Payne. Now Brett, who also does long snapping, is looking forward to working with Matt”s younger brother, Mitch, who also signed with the Cougars on Wednesday.
Recruits with names like Denney, Reynolds, Payne, and Ah You are easy to place with their respective family members, but what about Philip Niu?
No, Niu isn”t a name that fans should remember from the past, but Niu does have a tie to a famous BYU football player. He”s the first cousin to former Cougar and NFL star, Vai Sikahema. Niu has already completed a church mission and actually planned on heading back to Colorado State, but a spot opened up at BYU and he took it.
“Niu wanted to come to BYU, but I didn”t have a scholarship for him,” Crowton said. “Alex Farris decided to go on a mission and all of a sudden I had an opening. The door opened for him and he decided to come here.”
Signing day for football made family bonds readily apparent, but other sport benefit just as much from getting players with those connections. Men”s basketball has Ricky Bower, Austin Ainge and Marc Roberts; baseball has Tim Law; and women”s volleyball has Karina Puikkonen, just to name a few.
