This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

It has been more than three months since BYU last announced an addition to its future football schedules. For the first four or five years of football independence, the announcements came quickly and regularly, but there seems to have been a lull the past couple of months.

Smoke? A sign that BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe believes the Cougars may be joining a conference soon?

Not really.

In Holmoe's roundtable discussion last Friday, I asked him why there haven't been any new announcements, while acknowledging that he's obviously been a busy man the past few months, hiring a new football coach and serving on the NCAA basketball tournament selection committee.

"I think we are scheduled out pretty thick for a number of years. I feel good slowing down for a bit. At this point in time, my work with Dave Brown at ESPN has put us in a position to where we don't need to schedule way out into the 20s. But some of those games that we have scheduled beyond 2020 are a reflection of continuations of games that we might be playing this year, or next year, or the year after. So I am not really looking to do series that start in 2020. But if I get a good one, I will. There is one that we are working on right now that could be a fun one."

Before I could ask Holmoe for a clue, or a little more info on that series that could "be a fun one," someone else asked him a question and it was off to another topic.

Dang.

Later, I was able to ask Holmoe whether the series with Notre Dame is dead.

"It is dormant," he said. "They made a decision to schedule over our remaining game. We will see how that goes. We have contract protections. So, Notre Dame is a great university and our fans love that game, so I will be a little bit more patient to try and see if we can make something of that. I kinda have a kitchen cabinet of people I trust and know. Right now, [they tell me] it is probably worth hanging onto for a little bit.

It is out there anyway. We weren't going to play them for awhile. When something happens upfront that is going to affect the future, it gives you three years to talk about it. We will talk about it when it gets a little bit closer."

Notice that Holmoe referred to the agreement as "our remaining game."

David James of KUTV astutely asked Holmoe for clarification, because the original agreement announced when BYU also announced its football independence was for six games — four in South Bend and two in Provo. To date, two games have been played in South Bend, and none in Provo.

Holmoe clarified that the second half of that agreement (two in South Bend, one in Provo) will not happen. That part of the agreement is dead.

"I would say that the second two-for-one is off the table. But we do, definitely, need to clear up the first contract. And let me restate this for those that don't understand. Notre Dame had a scheduling agreement with the ACC. For them to do that changed things for them. So that could happen to us. I would be pretty hypocritical to think that I am going to hold them to the fire on something that was really good for them. We have played them twice out there. They need to return this game. But the second series of three games, I understand that [cancellation]."

It is interesting to note that Holmoe said a scheduling agreement "could happen to us" that would cause BYU to have to cancel or buy its way out of some games.

Smoke?

Maybe.