Frisco, Texas • Smith Snowden saw the blowback his former teammate Keanu Tanuvasa took for bolting from Salt Lake to Provo this offseason.
As fans struggled to comprehend how one of Utah’s best players could make the move to the school’s biggest rival, Snowden understood the hurt. But he also couldn’t help feeling compassion for the defensive tackle.
“If that is what he believed was the best for him, good for him,” Snowden said. “There is no bad blood. He was a brother. We sweat together. We bled together.”
Maybe there was a little bit more behind Snowden’s compassion, too, since he can relate to what Tanuvasa’s going through.
Snowden found himself in a similar firestorm this offseason, caught between the two fan bases.
BYU reportedly pursued Snowden, encouraging him to make the move from Utah to the Cougars.
Wednesday at Big 12 Media Days, Snowden confirmed he was recruited to leave Utah for BYU in the offseason.
“It wasn’t directly to me,” he said. “BYU wasn’t the only school [to reach out]. It is kind of what the name of the game is with the transfer portal.”
Snowden was never in the transfer portal. But the junior didn’t feel as though BYU tampered — or illegally reached out to him.
By NCAA rule, a team cannot contact a player directly unless they have entered their name into the transfer portal.
“I wouldn’t say it was any tampering type thing. It was more [through] agents,” he said.
Snowden has been uniquely indoctrinated into the dynamics of the Utah-BYU rivalry. His father, Will Snowden, played at BYU.
Ultimately, Snowden felt staying at Utah was a better fit for him.
“It has never been bad blood with them,” he said. “I just felt my best opportunity was to finish it off with the Ute boys and leave a mark at Utah.”
Since BYU and Utah entered the same conference, the rivalry between the two fan bases seemingly intensified.
“For sure,” Snowden said, agreeing with a smile.
BYU took two players from Utah in the offseason, including Tanuvasa and tight end Carsen Ryan.
But Snowden picked his side — even if he understands those who left.
“I think BYU-Utah went six years without playing each other. With having such a big rivalry, it is kind of weird not to play your rival,” he said. “Being able to have that in-state rival where you play them every year, it is exciting.”
It comes with a little extra drama, too.