No one knows what the future holds for college sports. Just a few years ago, there was no transfer portal and paying players was the NCAA’s most severe violation. The situation changed rapidly. There are active players in the portal and student-athletes benefiting from NCAA/NIL rulings.
The decision to stay in the game isn’t necessarily an easy one for BYU, which is sponsored by the church.
“I hear two different voices, neither of which is correct, but I hear them often. On the one hand, it’s, ‘We have to be like Texas and Alabama. More money, more facilities, Higher salaries, and we need to chase them,” said Elder Clark Gilbert, commissioner of church education for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This week’s “Y’s Guys” podcast.
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“On the other hand, there are people who love the BYU Cougars but say, ‘Elder Gilbert, we are the Church of Jesus Christ on earth.'” We value repentance and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Masu. We help poor people around the world. How can you spend so much money on a game? ”
BYU sports are big business. It costs a lot of money. It also generates significant and much needed equity capital and exposure to justify the investment, as long as it is done the right way.
“There are a lot of things out of our control, and with House reconciliation and NCAA negotiations underway, we have to work within that,” Elder Gilbert said. “But if it turns out that the only way to stay in this situation is to walk away from our values, that will be the end of BYU athletics. This is not going to happen, because ( Because we’re committed to it, from the board of directors to the commissioners to the presidents to the athletic directors to the coaches. We have an exceptional culture here and I don’t think anything like that will happen. I’m sure there’s no other place like it.”
Elder Gilbert cited the built-in church structure designed to keep BYU, athletics and academics from drifting. Responsibility rests with the Board of Directors, including the First Presidency.
“All binding decisions go through (BYU) President Shane Reese to me and then to the entire board,” the elder Gilbert said. “No one else can bind the university, not Tom Holmoe (athletic director), not our donors, not our coaches.”
The commissioner reiterated that no tithes will be donated directly to support BYU athletics.
“This is both a good thing and a bad thing. The good thing is that we are using tithing money for the core activities of the Church,” Elder Gilbert said. “The bad thing is that this could lead someone to say, ‘Great, you can do whatever you want.’ But governance is still universally tied to the Church Board of Education. ”
There is no “outside” money when it comes to compensation for coaches like soccer coach Kalani Sitake and new men’s basketball coach Kevin Young.
“The coaches’ salaries are internally funded. Despite all the rumors and all the speculation, they are not funded by donors,” Elder Gilbert said. “They are funded by athletics and athletics revenue and are completely under the control of the university.”
“We don’t have debt financing. When you look at the state of Washington, which has $250 million in debt, the face of the conference has changed. How are they going to pay for it?” Elder Gilbert said. “We don’t do that at BYU. We don’t do that at BYU athletics.
“We remain steadfast in our honor code, church support, and standards of dress and grooming,” Elder Gilbert said. “We also retain the ability to act independently, including who we hire and who we admit to our schools. All of this protects us from drifting. One of the biggest ways to do that is by hiring the right people.”
Although Young turned down a high-paying NBA opportunity to take the BYU job, fans know he and his staff have a roster of high-profile athletes, including NBA prospects Egor Demin and Cannon Catchings. I watched it build rapidly. When it comes to NIL management, the church is leaving it up to BYU.
“The church isn’t going to take into account the amount or the new students. That’s the university’s job,” Elder Gilbert said. “But we lay out some principles: We can never become a place where the culture is pay-to-play. If it wins, we’ll be ruining everything at BYU.” It’s tempting, (but) if they’re not fit for the job, we’re going to figure everything out.”
BYU football’s 7-0 start and No. 11 national ranking captivated millions of television viewers on Fox, ESPN and BYUtv. The Cougars play UCF on Saturday (1:30 p.m., ESPN). The Big 12 pays BYU millions of dollars in media rights fees, providing unprecedented exposure.
Prior to the game against Arizona (October 12), CBS, ESPN and FOX aired an article about Jake Retzlaff, the only Jewish quarterback in college football, playing at BYU. In terms of the church and campus environment, Retzlaff’s message was valuable.
“It’s not just that he’s Jewish, it’s not just that he’s at BYU,” the elder Gilbert said. “Indeed, his experience with faith here has been transformative.”
Elder Gilbert said BYU is not just looking for TV time for the team, but the opportunity to provide a product that reflects the church’s values.
“Saturday viewers have millions of viewers. In this business, we call it ‘earned media.’ You’re not buying advertising, you’re getting attention by what you’re doing,” Elder Gilbert said. “That’s really great, but again, if it doesn’t reflect our values, it doesn’t matter.”
Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com.
