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Provo • Because of a season-ending injury in fall camp, a redshirt year, and a two-year church mission, senior offensive guard Jason Speredon has been affiliated with the BYU football program since signing with then-coach Gary Crowton more than seven years ago. The Granger High product has seen a lot of players come and go, including quite a few who did not make it to the end.
"Hard to say why some guys don't last," he said. "Every case is probably unique, probably different."
Whatever the case, the Cougars have a fairly high attrition rate — as do most programs in Division I college football — and one that threatens to bring NCAA scrutiny and potential reduction in scholarships, if not slowed. The loss of players before they graduate or their eligibility expires has also affected the team's on-field fortunes, many believe.
As they struggle through the worst season in coach Bronco Mendenhall's six-year tenure with a team that's young and inexperienced at several key positions, the 4-5 Cougars have to occasionally wonder what might have been.
For instance, what if highly touted recruits such as defensive tackle Matangi Tonga, defensive backs G Pittman and Shiloah Te'o, and running backs Harvey Unga and Seta Pohahau were still around? Would they have been the difference between a poor season and a good one?
Mendenhall's not sure. But he believes the team's attrition rate is "about average," based on other places he has coached at.
"We track it pretty closely," he said. "Players leave for various reasons — sometimes academically, sometimes socially, and sometimes kids just don't want to play anymore."
The latest casualty is junior O'Neill Chambers, a highly touted receiver from Harmony, Fla., who was kicked off the team a few weeks ago. He's the eighth member of BYU's 2008 signing class of 23 players who likely won't make it to the end. He's the 10th if you count two players who signed but never enrolled.
An analysis of Mendenhall's first five recruiting classes (2005 to 2009) shows that about five players per year don't make it, not counting players who signed but never enrolled (usually due to academic deficiencies).
Only four players who signed in 2005 didn't make it, or haven't made it, and one was due to a career-ending injury (Stephen Covey). The attrition rate has gradually gone up, although coaches seem to have done better in 2009. Of the 23 players who signed in 2009 (many are on church missions), only one is no longer part of the program, former Northridge running back Peni Maka'afi.
"We try to do the best we can to predict how a student-athlete will do, I am sure like everybody else does," said BYU recruiting coordinator Paul Tidwell. "There are so many different variables and things that factor into it. I think that's the case especially here more so than some other places. There's all kinds of things from homesickness to academics — I would say that's probably the biggest one, academics."
There's also the honor code. BYU's strict list of behavioral and grooming guidelines always seems to claim a player or two per year, such as last spring when the all-time leading rusher in school history, Unga, ran afoul of the honor code and was denied re-admittance in time for the 2010 season.
"I think coaches do a great job of letting guys who are coming here know what the honor code is, and what it is all about," Speredon said. "And they know what they are getting into. But when they get here, maybe it is not as easy as what they thought, and they can't live it. I am sure that has happened once or twice."
Lately, the Cougars have brought in some junior college transfers who haven't panned out academically. Highly regarded juco transfers such as Bernard Afutiti and Jessie Taufi never saw the field because of academic ineligibility, and eventually left.
"We don't want anybody to fail, so we are looking at the academics real closely," said Tidwell, a former head coach at Snow College. The aforementioned cases "don't happen very often. But they do occasionally."
Mendenhall acknowledged last summer that the football program's Academic Progress Rate (APR), a metric established by the NCAA to measure teams' performance in moving student-athletes toward graduation, had slipped from 947 in 2007-08 to 910 in 2008-09, and said he wasn't happy with that.
A perfect score is 1,000 — which BYU's men's basketball team has achieved three times the past four years — and schools may be penalized if over a period of years they fail to achieve an average APR score of 925, which is equivalent to a 50 percent graduation rate.
Speredon said BYU classes are "really, really tough to pass," regardless of one's major. "Nothing is easy here," he said.
"BYU is a great academic institution," Tidwell said. "We don't ever want to downplay that because it is such a great asset to the university, and for our kids. We see it as an advantage — not a disadvantage."
Tidwell said BYU coaches occasionally miss on a player's talent level or ability to play Division I football, but never run a player off because of that. He said that's why getting potential recruits to participate in summer football camps is so important.
"It is a great indicator to have them here for a week or even two or three days, and look at their skills and talents," he said.
"Summer camps are a huge indicator, and a lot of times kids that do come to our summer camps and play, we don't miss on those guys very often."
drew@sltrib.comTwitter: @drewjay —
What happened to?
Former BYU football signees who left the program early, and why
Signed in 2006 (20 signees)
Player Reason he's gone
DT Matangi Tonga Suspended in 2007 after legal issues, left team; now playing for Houston
OL Rick Wolfley Quit team prior to fall camp 2009 to concentrate on school work
S Michael Moore Chose to stop playing football during freshman (redshirt) season after injury
QB Sam Doman Redshirted in 2006, transferred to Oregon following year, now a TE
CB Tico Pringle Snow College product left program in fall of 2006
Signed, but never enrolled
LB Nate Moncur Injuries kept Bountiful product off the field
Signed in 2007 (22 signees)
Player Reason he's gone
DB G Pittman Left in October 2008 due to academic problems
S Gary Nagy Suspended in 2007, left program after 2008, currently in U.S. Air Force
CB Brannon Brooks Left team after seeing limited action in 2008, transferred to Utah Valley
DT David Angilau Suspended indefinitely in 2008, transferred to Snow College
WR Ryan Kessman Suspended freshman season, transferred to Montana
QB Cade Cooper Snow College product transferred to Oregon, then SUU
Signed, but never enrolled
WR Scotty Ebert Academically ineligible, attended Snow College
DE Star Lotulelei Academically ineligible, attended Snow College, now plays for Utah
Signed in 2008 (23 signees)
Player Reason he's gone
DT Bernard Afutiti Juco transfer never got eligible academically to play
OT Jessie Taufi Juco transfer never got eligible academically to play
RB Malosi Te'o Left team last summer after position switch, currently attending BYU-Hawaii
S Shiloah Te'o Kicked off team after 2009 arrest on suspicion of DUI, now playing for Oregon State
DB Garrett Nicholson Redshirted in 2008, left midway through 2009 due to academic issues
LB Masi Tuitama Redshirted in 2008, played on scout team in 2009, left program prior to 2010
RB Jerry Bruner Redshirted in 2008, transferred to Washington State, then left WSU
WR O'Neill Chambers Kicked off team for repeated violations of team rules in October 2010
Signed, but never enrolled
RB Seta Pohahau Academically ineligible, now at College of San Mateo
WR Jake Murphy Transferred to Utah after returning from church mission last summer
Signed in 2009 (23 signees )
Player Reason he's gone
Peni Maka'afi Redshirted in 2009, no longer enrolled at BYU —
Ranking of BYU's recruiting classes under Mendenhall
2005 • No. 53 (2.17 avg.)
2006 • No. 46 (2.32 avg.)
2007 • No. 42 (2.70 avg.)
2008 • No. 57 (2.56 avg.)
2009 • No. 43 (2.71 avg.)
2010 • No. 22 (3.04 avg.)
Source: Scout.com —
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