BYU fans a split on this. Did the BYU legend deserve to get fired. Let's look at the arguments on both sides of the coin.
He should have stayed:
1. Injuries. BYU played 4 quarterbacks in 2018. They had injuries at every single offensive position. Nobody wins under those circumstances.
2. His Recruits: The players he had to use were not guys he recruited for his system, but Bronco Mendenhall leftovers
3. Schedule: It was brutal.
4. He's a legend: You just don't fire a legend.
Counter Arguments to he should have stayed:
1. Injuries are a part of football. BYU has been through this before and still found a way to win. The 1992 Aloha Bowl season is a prime example of this, where Tom Young, who started the season 4th on the depth chart at the start of the season, started the bowl game and BYU lost because of two missed field goals. The guys down the depth chart need to be ready to start.
2. Once you accept the job, the guys on the team are "your guys". In college football, if you don't have the guys you want, hit the junior college ranks and get the guys that fit your system. You don't have to wait for them to return from missions.
3. Yes, the schedule WAS brutal when you looked at it from the beginning of the season. You can argue that Mississippi State and Wisconsin were probably unwinnable games for the Cougars. However, Utah barely became bowl eligible. Boise State is having a down year. LSU lost games that they should have won. This was a long-shot, but a winnable game.
4. There is a long list of 'legends' who have not successfully made the transition to coaching. Micheal Jordan, Magic Johnson, Bart Starr, Larry Bird and many others. Ty Detmer is not alone. In fact, this field is crowded with names.
Here is the real case against Detmer:
1. Performance. BYU's offense was simply dismal. Seven of BYU's 13 opponents had their best defensive game against BYU in 2017
Portland State--Held BYU to 20 points. Their next best defensive outing was against Montana State, who scored 30. The Vikings were winless in 2017.
LSU--BYU was the only team the 8-4 Tigers shut out.
Utah--Held BYU to 13 points, the same point total the Colorado Buffaloes where held to.
Wisconsin--BYU was the only team the Badgers kept out of the end zone.
Boise State--BYU scored 7. They held both Utah State and San Diego State to 14, their next best defensive games.
East Carolina--Had their best defensive game against BYU. Their next best outing was the 20 points against Cincinnati
UMass--Had their best defensive game against BYU. Two teams, Tennessee and Old Dominion scored 17 against the Minutemen.
Other teams that had better than average defensive outings against BYU
Utah State--Scored 2 defensive touchdowns against the Cougars
Hawaii--The 30 points the Warriors allowed were one of their better defensive games. Only the Wyoming Cowboys and the FCS Western Carolina Catamounts had worse offensive outings.
UNLV--had a better than average defensive performance against BYU
San Jose State--Gave up 41 points to the Cougars. This was their 4th best defensive game of the season.
Fresno State and Mississippi State had average defensive outings against the Cougars.
But in no game of the 2017 football season did BYU's offense do better than average against anyone's defense. Not one. The tally. BYU played 13 games. 7 teams had their best defensive game of the season. 4 other teams had a better than average defensive performance. 2 teams had an average defensive performance.
2. Tanner Mangum's career.
Tanner's 2017 was by far worse than the 2015 season where he filled in for Taysom Hill after he left in the Nebraska game. His raw QBR in 2017 is half of what is was in 2015, under Bronco Mendenhall and Robert Anae. Half.
Arguably, Tanner Mangum's 2017 season was a career killer. I would not blame him if he transferred and played somewhere else in 2018.
3. It's not just the quarterback. The entire offense was dismal. The offensive line play was bad. Receivers couldn't catch the ball, even well thrown balls. The running game was absent except against UNLV and Hawaii. The only good passing game of the season was against San Jose State.
5. Stats do not lie. BYU was near the bottom in the NCAA in nearly every single offensive category:
Completion %--104 out of 129 (Some of those that are lower are teams like Army, that do not throw the ball very often.)
First Downs--105
Fumbles Lost--70
Interceptions--Tied for 125 with 3 other schools. Only San Jose State threw more interceptions.
Passing Offense--91
Passing Yards Per Completion--110
Red Zone Offense--119
Sacks Allowed--Tied for 65 with 8 other schools
Scoring Offense--123
Tackles for Loss Allowed--5 (The bright spot on the BYU offense. Likely indicates, when compared with the other stats that the play calling was ultra conservative.)
Time of Possession--108
Total Offense--118
Turnover Margin--118
4. It can not be argued that the entire team was as bad. The defense could have been better in some games. BYU was 48th in total defense. With a better performance from the offense, the defense gets more rest, more time to talk about strategy, and gets a better performance. With an average NCAA offense, which scored 27 points in 2017. BYU gets 5 more wins assuming their opponents score the same number of points. They also give LSU a game. BYU's losses would have been to LSU and Wisconsin and Mississippi State. East Carolina and Utah State score fewer points because there are fewer opportunities for them to score.
BYU also was near the top of the NCAA in fewest penalties per game.
How about special teams. It was a mixed bag. BYU was 22 in Kickoff Return Defense. In net punting, BYU was 12. BYU was 122 in kickoff returns. But there are a lot of touchbacks in Provo.
5. BYU becomes irrelevant if they string together seasons like this. Wisconsin scheduled BYU to improve their strength of schedule. BYU did not hold up their end of the bargain. Wisconsin went undefeated in the Big 10 and should be number 1. How can anyone get through the Big 10 schedule undefeated and not be number 1? One of the reasons they are not. SOS. A 9 win BYU team, and Wisconsin has a better shot at the national championship provided they beat Ohio State. They definately would get a few more #1 votes.
Teams have schedule BYU not because they are a pushover, but because they improve their rankings. If BYU becomes a pushover, their independence experiment is a failure. If the MWC does not take them back (and why should they), where do they go? Conference USA? Sun Belt? Big Sky?
6. Attendance. BYU's attendance was below 50,000 for the last two games of the season. They need to give fans a reason to show up. This year's BYU team did not.
Not relevant arguments:
Ty Detmer won the Heisman Trophy, he deserves a shot. Having been on the short end of a few such arguments with my boss, this is completely irrelevant to the argument. No one can rest on past accomplishments and expect to maintain their employment. In fact, this is probably why he lasted until the end of the season. If it had been someone else, he would have been gone after the Utah State game.
BYU doesn't pay enough and can't get anyone better. The truth is that there are coaching staffs in the NCAA who don't make as much as BYU's coaching staff and are doing much better. We do not know how well Ty Detmer was paid. According to some estimates, BYU and UCF pay about the same. UCF is 11-1 this year. 10-2 Toledo, less than half. Better performance at BYU means that coaches look to Provo as a stepping stone and will come.
They don't have to win the National Championship every season. However, 6 wins is not an unrealistic expectation. That is all that had to happen this year. It did not.
