Speaker 1: If you're listening to Cougar Sports with Ben Kretel, and
it's time for cruping the Cougars and inside look at
the latest news on the recruiting trails surrounding Cougar athletics.
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let's get out to the hotline. Welcome in one of
my favorite guess we got the big man, Brandon Huffman
of two four to seven Sports.
Speaker 2: Brandon, how the heck are you, buddy?
Speaker 4: Oh?
Speaker 3: Just living the gym out of these days?
Speaker 4: Ben? How you doing?
Speaker 1: Love it man, appreciate you hopping on. I'm doing fantastic.
We're in November. College football season is in full effect.
For getting in the basketball season, high school playoffs and
state championships are being handed out. We uh, I know
you took a nice trip out to Salt Lake City
to get eyes on these local talents, so I want
to delve into that.
Speaker 2: But what's this time of the year like for you
there at two four seven?
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's crazy because you're dealing with a lot of
the schools that with a crazy coaching carousel. You're dealing
with a lot of the schools that are, you know,
getting close to making a new hire, and what does
that mean for the current commits? What does that mean
for commits to other schools? Will they circle back? So
you're tracking that, tracking who's going where. Then the late flips,
the guys that have been committed to a school for
the year today, a quarterback from the Bay Area had
been committed to Vanderbilt for fourteen months, two weeks before
sunning Day decides to commit and open things up. So
a lot of flip watches going on right now, as
well as the coaching carousel watch. And we haven't even
gotten into the portal which is opening for D two
and D three right now. We'll be opening in January,
so we still have that whole crazy part of the
season to cover.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I just saw recently with the James Franklin hire, for instance,
that all these Penn State recruits and commits are going
to be taking an official visits to Virginia Tech this
next weekend.
Speaker 2: The chaos is already ensuing.
Speaker 4: You got Virginia Tech who's got one coach on the field,
the interim head coach is coaching, while the new head
coach who won't coach a game until next August, is
recruiting guys and bringing guys in for official visits, and
he's replacing his good friend and his former DC. I mean,
if that doesn't kind of speak to where college football
is at in twenty twenty five, I don't know what does.
But that's the kind of craziest. I mean, you got
the whole ole miss situation. If Lane Kifton is gonna stay,
is he going to go? They may need an answer
and what does that mean for ole missus recruiting class.
And so there's so many dominoes in play with the
coaching changes that are even in addition to the already
crazy nature of the final weeks until signing day.
Speaker 2: Crazy times.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about the crazy times here at Salt Lake City.
You got to see some good football and good football players.
Speaker 2: How was your trip out the SLC oh.
Speaker 4: It was fantastic. You know, Blairry and Goulah, who I
work with, had been covering that event for years and
had been raving about it, and so I was excited
to get out there. And the weather could not have
been better. It was perfect. It wasn't too cold, it
wasn't too hot, it was just like kind of the
right weather, and then you got to see some great action.
Speaker 3: You got to see, as I put.
Speaker 4: It this week on our podcast, the guys that I
wanted to see really dominate did. And you when you
go to an event like that and you see six
games and you see, you know, commit to every power
for conference and then to the PAC twelve and the
Big Sky, you want those playmakers to make the plays.
And that's what I was treated to. The guys that
I went to go watch, they did their thing. But
then even other guys that maybe weren't as high on
the radar, they did their thing as well. So that's
what it was great to have, you know, six games
over two days and great teams loaded with talent. It
wasn't like you were just going to watch one guy
on the team. You know, some of these teams had
double digit Division one guys and so I definitely got
my money's worth. I will be back for future semi finals.
It was everything that Blair had hyped it up to be.
Speaker 1: And then some who was most impressive to you in
your trip out here out of the recruit that you
got eyes on.
Speaker 4: I would say obviously Keenan Pula had the play.
Speaker 3: Of the weekend.
Speaker 4: But if we're going from the beginning of the game
to the end of the game, without question, it was
little Petti Moulwalla. And this is the second time this
year I got a chance to see him. I had
seen him earlier in the season in Boising Factor against
when Orion played Rocky Mountain and he had fifty three
and a half sacks in that game. He was awesome
on Thursday and then also had a touchdown catch. But
what a menace he is going to be for offensive
linemen in the Big twelve. They're just gonna have a
hard time figuring out a way to block him because
he's so crappy's so technically sound. He's got a great motor,
he's got quickness off the ball, he's got that length.
I would say that, you know, from the beginning of.
Speaker 3: The game to the end of the game and everything
that he did in between, it.
Speaker 4: That Lopetti was probably my favorite player last weekend.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he was.
Speaker 1: That's a really nice pickup for b Yu. I don't
think realize how good he is.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And I think that you know, he was a
little bit overshadowed at times by other guys in the
state that probably had a lot of the early attention.
And then you know, I wouldn't say he had like
the most dramatic recruitment. I think he visited Stanford. I
want to say he maybe visited cal. I know he
visited UCLA Utah, but BYU, you know, it's kind of.
Speaker 3: An unremarkable recruitment in terms of he just didn't bring
a lot of attention to it.
Speaker 4: He just went out there and you know, make the plays.
And I think you know, there was a lot of
excitement about Rider Lions committing in the spring, and you know,
where were they going to stand with some of the
other top targets that he kind of flipped under the radar.
But now you look back and you see how he's
jumped up in the rankings, and you see what he's
done on the field this year, And now that's one
that you look at that you could call it a
sneaky good pickup, but I think it's not sneaky good.
I think it's an outstanding pickup.
Speaker 1: I'm looking at the top ten recruits in the state
of Utah for two four seven, pretty much all of
our four star and I think Kenny Poola is like, right,
there knocking on the door of a four star. He's
at number ten, behind Mata Ali, Benjamin and Jared, his brother.
Speaker 4: Yep and Ken just actually moved out to a four
star in twenty four to SEVENS rankings on Wednesday himself.
So again, it's a very strong year in state, a
lot of really good talent and a.
Speaker 3: Lot of different positions too.
Speaker 4: I think that's what's probably you know, you and I
have talked about for years, where it's not just lineman.
Obviously there are skill position players. There are players everywhere
outside the trenches that are worth recruiting. But then you
still got the guys that are in the trenches that
are worth recruiting. So it's very across the board positionally.
I think in Utah in this class, when.
Speaker 1: You look at the commitment, Celessi Moa is at Tennessee
or he's going to be. He committed to Tennessee, Broadcrris Babma,
Lutalo to b YU, Trading Bezinger, Iowa, Easton, Tufa, Sson
Topflexcuse me usc Heleiman Casuga Texas A and m Lopetti
uh is at b YU and then Jared, Matali and
Kennon all going to Utah, Tayden right outside the top ten,
Titan Kaawa, Alabama, then Legend Adam Bywater, Graham Livingston all
to b Yu Kai Meza Cal A nice mix of
of of of different teams, different uh, different positions.
Speaker 2: It's pretty diversified.
Speaker 4: Well, and that's four different power for conferences, he said,
you know with Kai going to Cal, that gives him
the acc You've got the two SEC quarterbacks. I mean,
when was the last time that the state of Utah
had two quarter up two players maybe going to the SEC,
let alone two quarterbacks going to the se see two
top ten teams. I mean a week ago that was
the number three and the number four teams in the
country and their quarterback commits came from Utah. And that
doesn't even take into account you know, arguably the best
quarterback in Utah, who's going to Iowa to the big ten.
So yeah, I mean how often does Iowa dip their
toes into the water into the state of Utah. And
so that's what's probably the most impressive thing is that
the geographical diversity the recruiting classes in the twenty twenty
sixth class and then you still have Utah and BYU
getting there the line share of the in state kids,
and then Utah State there's a couple of kids good
on that list that Utah States getting that are really
impressive pickups too. So I think that again just speaks
to the ability and the talent of the state of
Utah and the depth of the state as well.
Speaker 1: Who's the most underrated UH in this class? Do you
think in twenty twenty six, is there a most underrated
prospect in this class?
Speaker 4: Then? You know I have this everybody's properly rated, right,
nobody's one.
Speaker 2: Everyone, No, But if.
Speaker 4: There's a guy that I would say, you know, has
probably played out played his ranking, it's probably two of
the kids that are. I mean Kawa Akana and Isa Gailier,
you know, going to b Yu and Utah respectively. I
think what they've done in the last two weeks especially,
I was at the like I said, I was at
the game against Rocky Mountain and Issa had a kickoff
return for a touchdown. I think he did that yesterday
as well in the state championship game. He scored the
first touchdown for aorum last week. And then Kaway, you know,
he had some health issues earlier in the season. It
took him a while to get going, but when he did,
he had over one hundred yards receiving four orum last week.
So those are two guys.
Speaker 3: That I think, you know, definitely could have been in the.
Speaker 4: Conversation for four stars as well with the double digit
guys already in the state. And those are two guys
that I think, you know, b Yu and Utah got
to be giddy that they're getting, you know, to come
in and being that they could be rated higher, which
could make you know, some of those guys in this
day and age cost them a little bit more. But
two guys that I think you know have a great
chance about playing where they're when they get to college.
Speaker 1: How would you grade by us pickups in the state
comparative to other schools that are recruiting against them right now?
Speaker 4: Well, I mean it's fantastic because you can get a
brock here as you get a bot Mulatalo, you get
you know, the upgrade with a low petty and with
an atom bywater. I think what was looking like a
good in stat place because class becomes a great in
state class, and I think you know, to get those
to get a pass rusher, everybody's looking for pass rushers.
Everybody's looking for defensive linemen to get, you know, a
tight end. In the modern era, you're seeing the tight
end becoming such a huge part of a passing offenses.
You know, that's big. To get a linebacker with the
versatility that Adam Bywater has, you know, that's big with
a with a kawe. You know, his positional versatility. He
could be a really good saky, he could be a
really good receiver. He even kicks. I mean, you're getting
guys at different positions of needs, and I think that
that's what you know makes it so well. It's not
like you're just focusing on one position and you're getting
all the best linemen in state. You know, you're getting
a good player at this position, a good player at
this position. Now you go to the other side of
the ball, you're getting a good player at that spot,
a good player at that spot. And that's what you
you know, you want to be able to do.
Speaker 3: I think that's something.
Speaker 4: That you know BYU and Utah have done such a
good job over the last decade of really keeping those
top kids in state. And yeah, you know you lose
a kid likes Ce. Let's say to Tennessee, and it's
understandable you're not going to keep every kid, especially if
you look at California. How many kids from California lead
the state altogether. I think Bye in Utah of all
the states in the western part of the country, do
the best job of keeping the local kids home when
the sport's never been more transient than it is right now.
Speaker 1: Do you feel like there's any flips that could occur?
H we're in November, ride we're going to get into
December here. Do you think any flips could occur? Any
of these prospects that are in the top twenty that
are currently committed to certain schools they flip to an
in state school here along the loast that front.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean PJ Taki Talkie is probably going to
end up at Utah when it's all said and done.
He was a to b Yu, so I mean he
did de commit I S so I wouldn't necessarily call
him a flip, even though he may end up at Utah.
I will say that, you know, if you're you're gonna
see flips, it'll be like the Matadi Benjamins where they're
committed to a school outside the region and then decide
at the end of the day, I want to stay
closer to home. But the one that I would say
keep an eye on the most right now would be
Eastern Tasa. And that's mostly because I know, you know,
he has been pursued by both Uyu and Utah despite
his commity USC after he had decommitted from Washington. He's
the one that I still taught all the way up
until signing day that one's not a done deal for USC.
I know USC is fighting like tooth and nail to
hold on to him, But he would be the one
that I would say circle, just because I know how
hard BYU and Utah are trying to get him to
stay in state. And you know, with the success that
he's had at Corner Canyon the last couple of years,
and obviously Corner Canyon's had quite a few players that are.
Speaker 3: Choosing to leave the region.
Speaker 4: But with Eastern, I could see, you know, the closer
gets the signing day, the more the the heartstrings could
help BYU in Utah, but USC is definitely worth the
you know, putting up a fight to keep him.
Speaker 1: What do you make of players who are committed elsewhere
wearing a different schools football gloves like a.
Speaker 2: Lot it was made of. I don't know if you saw.
Speaker 4: There's Oh I thought, believe me.
Speaker 2: Okay, Jari knet we're online, Yeah.
Speaker 1: Jeri knned Pula, we're wearing BYU gloves. And so look,
there's been buzz around the Poola twins for a long time.
And and they were at they were committed to UCLA,
they decommit, they commit to Utah. Are they are they
still getting recruited right now? Are they still maybe open
for business? Is Brett Yormark likes to say.
Speaker 4: In twenty twenty five, nothing is done even when the
papers are signed. You know, we thought last year with
guys that were committed to a school and signed with
the school and ultimately ended up the way that it's
so easy to transfer to get out of it. And
they're no longer signing national lewners of intent. They're citing
intent to enrolls. It's so much easier to get out
of those than the old days. So I've always believed
the subscribe to the adage, watch what they do, not
what they say, to let that be an indicator. By
no means am I saying that people should read into
the gloves. But it.
Speaker 3: Definitely.
Speaker 4: They're both committed to Utah, they're playing on the field
at Utah and they're wearing the arch rivals gloves. You know,
maybe there is.
Speaker 1: Did you raise your eyebrowsers will be like oh or
is that right? Like?
Speaker 4: Eh, you know, I mean, I'm used to I've been
doing this long enough where I'm used to guys wearing
gloves from one school, a you know, a skull cap
from another school, a talis in the third school, and
socks from before school. It's never Hey, I'm going to
be committed to this school and I'm going to wear
the gloves of their rival while I'm playing on the
campus of the school I'm going to. That kind of
added a little extra dimension of spice to it.
Speaker 2: No doubt about it.
Speaker 1: Brandon Hoffman two four seven Sports a Recruiting Insider covers
all things on the around the country for two four seven.
Speaker 2: What have you been writing about?
Speaker 1: What are some of the features that we can find
that you've written about over the last week.
Speaker 3: Granted, yeah, it's actually been kind of fun.
Speaker 4: You know, we're getting to that time of year where
you're kind of trying to assess, you know, what is
recruiting like in twenty twenty five. I just did a
feature on Air Force and Troy Calhoun and how he's
recruiting in twenty twenty five at a service academy in
the era of the transfer portal and nil when they
don't have that to offer. And then I just did
a piece yesterday on Callan Stanford how Ron Rivera and
Andrew luck leave the NFL to go back to their
alma maters at a time where there's never been more
of a need for oversight in leadership. Yet they're navigating
a conference that they didn't play in or coaching when
they were collegiate players and now see their school on
the other side of the country and trying to make
sense of where it's at. While one's trying to hold
on to his quarterback that everybody in the country's going
to want, and the other one's trying to hire a
coach at his alma mater. So you know, we're getting
to that.
Speaker 3: Time of year where hey, we're dealing with the transfer.
Speaker 4: Portal, well, dealing with NIO, We're dealing with guys signing
and not necessarily signing because that's the best fit for
what they do from a football standpoint. It's the best
tit for what they do from a resources standpoint, And
you know, with guys committing earlier and earlier in the year,
we're still getting to that crazy season. We're like, hey,
just because guys committed six months ago does not mean
at all that they're sticking with that school. So we've
got two weeks of craziness. We've got signing days, signing
what four.
Speaker 3: Days after the regular season.
Speaker 4: Ends, and then you got the playoffs, So there's still
plenty of content cranking out these days.
Speaker 1: Last thing I got for your little rivalry talk as
we were talking about the pool of twins, as by
You now officially caught up to Utah. You tied a
head start of over what thirteen years now in the
power force. Status is by you officially caught up?
Speaker 2: Do you think?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it's fair to say that they're pretty
even in how they're recruiting. And I think that, you know,
Utah maybe doing a little bit more national recruiting than
BYU does, just in terms of intentional targeting of guys
in Texas and guys in Florida, which Utah has been
doing for some time. But I think, you know, it's
certainly fair to say that they're pretty even in their recruiting.
It certainly was a stretch there where Utah just about
god everybody they wanted in state, and then BYU has
done a really good jug the last two or three
classes of kind of turning the table. So I think
that they're they're certainly on equal footing when it comes
to recruiting. And I think it's, you know, just adding
another dimension to a robbery that's so loving and caring
towards each side.
Speaker 1: Love it branded best way to support you. How you
do it for all of our listeners.
Speaker 4: Twenty four to seven sports is where you want to be.
Follow me on Twitter or ex whatever we're calling it
at Brandon Huffman. All kinds of information and stuff rolling
out these days.
Speaker 1: Love it man, you do fantastic work. Love hearing from you.
And oh you know what twenty twenty seven, Real quick,
twenty twenty seven. How's the twenty twenty seven class shaping
up for BYU?
Speaker 2: Is it too early to talk? Twenty twenty seven?
Speaker 4: Hey, I'll tell you what they had. Getting Utah at
home this year was great for them. They had a
huge recruit week. In that weekend they had trading Messenger
who or sorry, guys, got Buddy Sparrow trading's the quarterback
to twenty six. But Buddy Sparrow is there. Crew Jones
who helped his team win a state championship yesterday there
at Ridgeline. He was there so many of the twenty
eights in class in the state.
Speaker 3: It's a very good twenty seven and twenty.
Speaker 4: Eight class in the state of Utah, and Yu had
almost every one of those guys at their game against Utah.
So to get that win against in state foe was
certainly well. But we'll start to see the twenty sevens
ramp up here in the next month or two.
Speaker 1: Love it, Brandon, We salute you, We appreciate you always
doing fantastic work.
Speaker 2: Thanks so much for hopping off for a cruit the
cougar segment.
Speaker 4: Thanks a lot, Ban, We'll talk to you there.
Speaker 1: Go follow Brandon on X and make sure you're supporting
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