1 00:00:00,960 --> 00:00:03,839 Speaker 1: You been called to listen to the missionary moment here 2 00:00:03,879 --> 00:00:06,919 on Cougar Sports with Ben Kretel, Crittle's catching up with 3 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:09,400 all the Cougar athletes that are serving the Lord with 4 00:00:09,439 --> 00:00:12,400 all their heart, might, mind, and strength here on your 5 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:14,960 Cougar Sports Insider Radio Network. 6 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:20,000 Speaker 2: Literally my favorite segment of the show, Welcome Back Cougar 7 00:00:20,039 --> 00:00:22,120 Sports one to three, nine ninety point three Esbon the Fan. 8 00:00:22,199 --> 00:00:26,000 I'm in Crital broadcasting from our Vanderwilth Studios Vanderwelt dot Com. 9 00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:29,000 We're gonna get into a missionary moment. Here're gonna welcome 10 00:00:29,039 --> 00:00:32,399 in former BYU great four time Super Bowl Jampie, the 11 00:00:32,399 --> 00:00:37,200 greatest athletic director in BYU athletics history, Tom Homo here momentarily. 12 00:00:37,240 --> 00:00:38,840 And this segment's going to be brought to you by 13 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:42,520 Odeon Men'swear Odeon menswear dot com. If you're looking to 14 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:44,479 serve the Lord with all your heart, my minding straightwall, 15 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:47,679 looking good, feeling good, and having the proper range of emotion, 16 00:00:47,759 --> 00:00:49,759 I'm telling you we got to get you an elevate suit. 17 00:00:50,439 --> 00:00:53,200 I know Ronald has a few elevate suits. I know 18 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:56,119 Brett Always Bring the Hammer has some elevate suits. I 19 00:00:56,119 --> 00:00:58,479 know Vic Cram has elevate suits. We got in elevate 20 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:02,920 suits too, John Beck and many others. 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Brother? 32 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:35,159 Speaker 3: How are you doing? Band? 33 00:01:35,959 --> 00:01:39,200 Speaker 2: I'm doing good, man, Well, I'm doing awesome. I'm glad 34 00:01:39,239 --> 00:01:41,799 you're doing well. Called to serve? But brother, how does 35 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:43,560 it feel man? To get that mission call? 36 00:01:45,359 --> 00:01:49,120 Speaker 3: It feels great. Llourie and I are super excited, but 37 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:53,319 we realize it's like kind of starting the season. You're 38 00:01:53,359 --> 00:01:55,200 super excited, but you know there's a lot of work 39 00:01:55,239 --> 00:02:00,519 ahead and they'll be challenges and trials. And great moments, 40 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:03,439 but we're looking forward to it in a big way. 41 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:08,039 Speaker 2: You went through obviously as the AD and many of 42 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:12,319 your administrative and professional roles the Refining Fire as a 43 00:02:12,439 --> 00:02:17,360 coach right being in the limelight, dealing with all manner relationships, 44 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:21,719 managing relationships, whether it's players, parents, donors. There's a lot 45 00:02:21,719 --> 00:02:26,639 of stress over that awesome career that you had professionally. 46 00:02:27,159 --> 00:02:30,400 Now you're jumping into a very unique role as a 47 00:02:30,439 --> 00:02:34,599 mission president. But I feel like all of this Refining 48 00:02:34,639 --> 00:02:37,120 Fire you're built for this. Now it's gonna be a 49 00:02:37,159 --> 00:02:38,120 cake walk for you. 50 00:02:38,159 --> 00:02:43,639 Speaker 3: Brother, No, please, no, I mean I think that there 51 00:02:43,639 --> 00:02:47,080 has been many opportunities for me and my wife through 52 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:51,199 our experience in athletics, to meet a lot of people, 53 00:02:51,719 --> 00:02:54,960 to visit a lot of places, to have ups and 54 00:02:55,039 --> 00:03:00,919 downs and wins and losses, and experience so many different emotions. 55 00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:05,199 And I'm sure and we're sure that that will follow 56 00:03:05,319 --> 00:03:08,319 that as we do this work in the mission field, 57 00:03:08,879 --> 00:03:12,360 that will go at it and attack it in a 58 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:16,479 similar way. But it's quite different. But I'm very excited 59 00:03:16,599 --> 00:03:21,159 to be able to work with great people of that 60 00:03:21,319 --> 00:03:24,439 Bay Area. I love the diversity there, I love the 61 00:03:24,479 --> 00:03:27,120 people there in the seventeen years I was there, I 62 00:03:27,240 --> 00:03:30,240 got to meet a ton of different people from different 63 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:34,919 areas of that bay But it's work, and I'm super 64 00:03:34,919 --> 00:03:37,199 excited to work with the missionaries that are coming to 65 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:40,639 San Francisco and Oakland from all over the world to 66 00:03:40,719 --> 00:03:46,400 be part of the Gospel message, bringing the Gospel message 67 00:03:47,439 --> 00:03:48,319 to the Bay area. 68 00:03:49,159 --> 00:03:52,159 Speaker 2: Yeah, how special is it to go back to the 69 00:03:52,199 --> 00:03:56,520 Bay Area and serve the people of that geography and 70 00:03:56,639 --> 00:04:00,400 serve with those missionaries as well well? 71 00:04:00,759 --> 00:04:04,719 Speaker 3: If I just it's overwhelming to think about it right now, 72 00:04:04,759 --> 00:04:07,719 because it's such a wonderful place and a place where 73 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:11,039 I tell people it's the Homo family roots. That's where 74 00:04:11,039 --> 00:04:14,680 our children were born, and that's where our children were raised, 75 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:18,879 and that's where we saw them grow in the Gospel, 76 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:24,000 and that's where we saw so many people just experiencing 77 00:04:24,079 --> 00:04:26,720 life to the fullest. And we have a chance to 78 00:04:26,759 --> 00:04:30,680 go back there now and certainly in a way different capacity. 79 00:04:31,319 --> 00:04:35,879 But if this is the location that the Lord wants 80 00:04:35,959 --> 00:04:37,439 us to go, that's where we're going. 81 00:04:37,959 --> 00:04:41,439 Speaker 2: Let's go love that. When do you guys enter the 82 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:45,839 MPC and start your training if you will. 83 00:04:46,879 --> 00:04:50,240 Speaker 3: That begins towards the end of June and there's a 84 00:04:50,279 --> 00:04:54,959 few days of pretty quick training. I think it's like 85 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:59,439 four days, but very very special training, and then we're 86 00:04:59,519 --> 00:04:59,879 off to the. 87 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:03,839 Speaker 2: Do you know how many missionaries you're going to be 88 00:05:04,879 --> 00:05:11,519 administering to, managing and ultimately serving in that geography with. 89 00:05:12,759 --> 00:05:16,759 Speaker 3: There's right now currently in the Oaklan, San Francisco Mission 90 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:21,720 one hundred and seventy seven. But there's a great influx 91 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:26,560 of missionaries coming into the field nowadays, and they expect more, 92 00:05:26,759 --> 00:05:32,600 especially with new change in missionary age for young women sisters. 93 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:35,680 So with that being eighteen, they look back to when 94 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:38,240 they change the age for young men and there was 95 00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:41,040 the influx that was rather strong at that time, and 96 00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:42,720 anticipate the same with young women. 97 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:48,279 Speaker 2: How many different languages will you also be overseeing there 98 00:05:48,319 --> 00:05:49,160 in that geography? 99 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:52,000 Speaker 3: Now this doesn't mean that Loren and now will be 100 00:05:52,079 --> 00:05:56,279 speaking these languages, but there are eleven different languages in 101 00:05:56,319 --> 00:05:56,800 that mission. 102 00:05:57,600 --> 00:05:59,439 Speaker 2: We expect you to be fluent at all eleven once 103 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:00,519 you get back your teaching. 104 00:06:02,079 --> 00:06:04,959 Speaker 3: I have hard enough time with English. 105 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:08,600 Speaker 2: That's crazy, man. No, it's a very diverse, as you know, 106 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:14,639 diverse population and uh, and I can't wait to see 107 00:06:14,639 --> 00:06:16,759 how you manage it. All like, who have you been 108 00:06:16,839 --> 00:06:20,360 leaning on as mentors in this process? I don't know 109 00:06:20,439 --> 00:06:23,319 all the process that goes into this, and and uh, 110 00:06:23,439 --> 00:06:25,759 you know, you know obviously you were waiting for that 111 00:06:25,759 --> 00:06:28,079 that mission call you were called to serve, But who 112 00:06:28,079 --> 00:06:31,639 have you been leaning on for mentorship in this process? 113 00:06:33,439 --> 00:06:36,720 Speaker 3: The spirit? And I laugh at that, but that is 114 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:39,959 so true, Chrid, I'm telling you there. You know, I've 115 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:44,240 I've have a lot of friends that have served as 116 00:06:44,319 --> 00:06:48,160 mission leaders. And you know, I think everyone that's grown 117 00:06:48,199 --> 00:06:50,240 up in the church. I didn't grow up in the church, 118 00:06:50,279 --> 00:06:52,439 but I'm an older guy, so I've been around it 119 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:56,240 since I was twenty eight, you know how it is. 120 00:06:56,279 --> 00:07:02,360 But the formally, formally the church has mentors that help 121 00:07:02,480 --> 00:07:07,519 the incoming mission leaders to begin that process and transition 122 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:11,759 from whatever career you've been into the mission field. And 123 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:14,959 then I think informally, I have a lot of super 124 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:17,959 close friends of mine who have been in the field. 125 00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:21,079 And you know, some of the council I've received, at 126 00:07:21,160 --> 00:07:23,560 least so far as you know, this is something that 127 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:28,959 you have to do with your heart, with constant player 128 00:07:29,959 --> 00:07:34,160 every day. It's not something that I'm going to run 129 00:07:34,480 --> 00:07:37,800 the San Francisco or the Oakland San Francisco mission. Like 130 00:07:37,839 --> 00:07:40,480 I ran in the athletic department. It's two different things. 131 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:44,000 Maybe there's some skills and attributes that I've picked up 132 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:47,360 along the way that might help. But on a daily basis, 133 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:49,560 I think it's important to follow a spare. 134 00:07:50,079 --> 00:07:53,759 Speaker 2: Tom Holmo, former b YU great football players, four time 135 00:07:53,839 --> 00:07:58,160 Super Bowl champion and the greatest athletics from BYU Athletics history. 136 00:07:58,199 --> 00:08:02,240 Here on your UTAI ESPN Radio network. Tom, on our show, 137 00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:07,959 we discuss, you know, the ambassadorial tool that is athletics, 138 00:08:08,839 --> 00:08:12,319 the missionary tool that is athletics. I think you've been 139 00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:15,920 impacted personally. I know your conversion to the church and 140 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:20,879 to Christ maybe came later on after your BYU career, 141 00:08:20,920 --> 00:08:24,439 But what role did that maybe locker room and all 142 00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:28,120 the touch points at BOU play in your conversion? And 143 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:31,720 how would you say BYU Athletics plays a role in 144 00:08:31,759 --> 00:08:34,559 that ambassadorial mission that the church has. 145 00:08:35,279 --> 00:08:38,559 Speaker 3: Well. I was baptized been when I was twenty eight, 146 00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:40,679 and I was in the off season right before my 147 00:08:40,799 --> 00:08:43,799 last year playing with the forty nine ers, But the 148 00:08:43,879 --> 00:08:48,120 influence came along before that. I actually had some really 149 00:08:48,519 --> 00:08:52,240 really good friends in high school that were like maybe 150 00:08:52,279 --> 00:08:55,480 seven to ten members of the church that this is 151 00:08:55,519 --> 00:09:00,799 in southern California, Los Angeles area that were great examples 152 00:09:00,799 --> 00:09:02,399 to me in high school. And I start to feel 153 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:05,240 their example back then. And then when you come to 154 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:09,000 BYU as a student athlete, if your eyes and heart 155 00:09:09,039 --> 00:09:11,440 are open to it, you're going to feel a lot 156 00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:14,480 of things. And those things are the spirit and the 157 00:09:14,559 --> 00:09:21,320 sweet service that is around everywhere. And so I think 158 00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:25,080 that it's pretty much. I think it's a lot similar 159 00:09:25,279 --> 00:09:28,200 now to when it was a lot of great member 160 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:32,639 missionaries that are trying to express their love and their 161 00:09:32,639 --> 00:09:35,399 feelings about the Savior. But one of the things today 162 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:40,240 now is with technology and the ability to communicate so 163 00:09:40,440 --> 00:09:45,559 much more efficiently and effectively, the message gets out a 164 00:09:45,559 --> 00:09:48,440 little more. And I think that in the world of athletics, 165 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:52,039 you see that when you see someone like this year 166 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:55,720 football Bear Bachmeyer, who's not a member of the church 167 00:09:56,240 --> 00:10:00,679 but handles himself so well. He's such a great young man, 168 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:04,000 and the way he communicates with his teammate, it's the 169 00:10:04,039 --> 00:10:06,919 way he serves in the community, the way he expresses 170 00:10:07,039 --> 00:10:10,519 just his love for people. He's not even a member 171 00:10:10,639 --> 00:10:14,360 of our faith, but he is a great, great individual 172 00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:18,879 that represents BYU and in so doing, it's a light 173 00:10:19,679 --> 00:10:22,720 that shined on bringing me on and the church. And 174 00:10:22,799 --> 00:10:26,080 so I think that that was around a long time ago. 175 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:29,720 You might not have seen it because it really didn't 176 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:34,759 get out beyond the watch front too much. But now 177 00:10:35,279 --> 00:10:38,879 if you can have teams that people want to see 178 00:10:39,279 --> 00:10:41,759 and they feel something when they watch those teams and 179 00:10:41,799 --> 00:10:45,559 they listen to their players, that's a beautiful thing that 180 00:10:45,639 --> 00:10:49,759 you can have an athletic program and teams that play 181 00:10:49,799 --> 00:10:53,279 and compete and do a great job on the court, 182 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:56,559 on the field, in the pool, on the track, and 183 00:10:56,720 --> 00:11:01,960 also represent just living a good life. So people will 184 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:04,240 see them and respect them and they kind of want to 185 00:11:04,279 --> 00:11:06,679 follow them. And for that it opens up a lot 186 00:11:06,679 --> 00:11:09,039 of doors. It opens up a lot of conversations around 187 00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:09,440 the world. 188 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:14,200 Speaker 2: Well, you bring up some awesome points in these anecdotes 189 00:11:14,679 --> 00:11:18,759 I've done. I've delved into, you know, these former players 190 00:11:18,759 --> 00:11:20,840 that have come to b YU and been impacted by 191 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:27,000 the church and by all of the teammates and things 192 00:11:27,039 --> 00:11:29,679 that nature guys like ty deppm Er, you know former 193 00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:32,360 b YU Great Heisman Trophy when it ended up converting 194 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:36,039 to the faith, teammates of mine, setteel Lay and Curtis 195 00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:38,399 Brown and many others. You can go down the list. 196 00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:40,960 I think Robbie, if I'm not saying it wasn't Robbie 197 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:43,799 Bosco came to be YU, not as a member. You 198 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:47,919 have this list of individuals that came to b YU 199 00:11:48,039 --> 00:11:53,120 for football, and it was more than just football that 200 00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:55,360 that impacted them. They were obviously very successful in the 201 00:11:55,399 --> 00:11:58,240 football field, but they ended up you know, convert into 202 00:11:58,279 --> 00:12:00,399 the faith and maybe even changing their life lives in 203 00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:06,480 many ways. So when you evaluate that dynamic and maybe 204 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:08,600 the role that the locker rooms play, like, what do 205 00:12:08,639 --> 00:12:11,279 you ponder, like, what do you think about when when 206 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:14,159 you hear of these these stories of I think Fosterri 207 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:17,360 just got baptized, uh in the church that you discrastulated. 208 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:18,960 There's there's all these stories and I'm like, man, like, 209 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:22,320 what is it a person that's individual that's experienced it himself. 210 00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:23,960 And I know it was when you were twenty eight, 211 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:26,799 but you you had these these core experiences at BYU. 212 00:12:26,879 --> 00:12:28,639 What do you think about when you hear about all 213 00:12:28,639 --> 00:12:29,200 these stories? 214 00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:33,960 Speaker 3: Well, I think there's two things. One is when our 215 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:38,879 coaches and our teams, our players recruit young men and 216 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:42,279 young women. Cod when they recruit these people that have 217 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:45,559 to fit, then you got a chance for anything great 218 00:12:45,559 --> 00:12:49,759 to happen, you know. And usually there's been times when 219 00:12:49,799 --> 00:12:53,039 coaches have how did an opportunity to get maybe someone 220 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:57,360 that's a higher, better player, but they know right from 221 00:12:57,360 --> 00:13:00,320 the recruitment that's not a good fit. And I think 222 00:13:00,399 --> 00:13:02,879 By has done a very good job through the years 223 00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:06,519 of recruiting to fit. And I think that's a big 224 00:13:06,559 --> 00:13:09,440 part of it is you have, you know, a critical mass. 225 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:12,000 With football, there's one hundred twenty five the world, one 226 00:13:12,039 --> 00:13:14,679 hundreds about now, one hundred and one hundred season, one 227 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:17,320 hundred and five players on the team. And when you 228 00:13:17,360 --> 00:13:19,600 get one hundred and five people that are you know, 229 00:13:19,799 --> 00:13:24,759 similar not they're not always similar in every respect. They 230 00:13:24,799 --> 00:13:27,480 have a lot of diverse ideas and stuff. But when 231 00:13:27,519 --> 00:13:29,159 you come in a locker room and you and you 232 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:33,720 bring it all together for one unifying force, and that's 233 00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:36,720 to be successful together, you can share a lot of 234 00:13:37,080 --> 00:13:39,840 ideas and a lot of love, and you can serve 235 00:13:39,879 --> 00:13:43,240 each other in great ways, and that's that's pretty special. 236 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:48,399 But I think that the thing that is the most 237 00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:52,519 important is that I've always said that when you recruit, 238 00:13:52,639 --> 00:13:55,240 there's three people, three kind of players you have to get. 239 00:13:55,919 --> 00:14:00,639 One is that you have to get the core members 240 00:14:00,639 --> 00:14:03,759 of the church. Those are like the blue bloods, the 241 00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:07,440 legacy people that their parents and grandparents and aunts and 242 00:14:07,519 --> 00:14:11,519 uncles and their brothers and sisters. They know what BYU is, 243 00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:13,879 they know what the church is. They have a strong 244 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:16,759 testimony of the Gospel, and they come to BYU and 245 00:14:16,799 --> 00:14:19,600 they're going to lay it all on the line. That's 246 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:23,519 one you have to have. That is your core, is 247 00:14:23,559 --> 00:14:26,360 that those legacy kids. The second is you have to 248 00:14:26,399 --> 00:14:30,639 have you have to get the greatest LEDs players. And 249 00:14:30,679 --> 00:14:33,159 if you see our national championship teams and the teams 250 00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:36,879 that go really far, they get the best players in 251 00:14:36,919 --> 00:14:39,720 the country that are members of the church in every sport. 252 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:43,759 And the third is then you go outside and you 253 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:47,440 find people that are not members of our faith that's fit. 254 00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:51,240 And you just nailed off about five or six plus 255 00:14:51,279 --> 00:14:54,279 the great ones that and I could do that in 256 00:14:54,360 --> 00:14:58,039 every sport. And when you put those three together and 257 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:00,960 you have that balance, I think great things are going 258 00:15:01,039 --> 00:15:03,399 to happen. And if you look at the teams right now, 259 00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:07,440 the coaches and the administration, Brian Santiago and his people 260 00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:09,960 and all the head coaches and assistant coaches and the 261 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:12,320 team members. That's what they got right now. 262 00:15:13,399 --> 00:15:16,279 Speaker 2: Tom I wrote an article at casel dot com a 263 00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:18,159 couple of years ago, and I asked the question, is 264 00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:19,799 BYU athletics a missionary tool? 265 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:19,960 Speaker 3: Now? 266 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:23,840 Speaker 2: I have debates with people within the faith and outside 267 00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:27,799 of the faith about this, those that are BYU fans 268 00:15:27,799 --> 00:15:31,879 and not BYU fans. And I always look at it 269 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:34,919 from the perspective of Okay, well, if BYU Athletics is 270 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:37,720 aligned with the mission of the school and then the 271 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:41,080 and then the mission of the Church of Jesus Christ 272 00:15:41,039 --> 00:15:43,360 and latterday Saints, I think it is an ambassadory, a 273 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:45,879 tool for good and a missionary tool for good to 274 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:49,399 promulgate and share the positive fruits of the faith and 275 00:15:49,399 --> 00:15:52,320 and to a certain extent human eyes and maybe normalize 276 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:57,519 Latter day saintdom in the modern era. But there are 277 00:15:57,519 --> 00:16:01,600 those that don't feel that way. They don't like maybe 278 00:16:01,639 --> 00:16:07,320 the form and fashion that maybe Athletics operates. Uh, they'll 279 00:16:07,399 --> 00:16:10,039 kind of poke holes at the you know when whenever 280 00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:13,080 b why you fall short of their own standard? See 281 00:16:13,159 --> 00:16:15,320 I told you so. We'll get the the see I 282 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:18,960 told you so type of deal. And so it is 283 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:22,679 a it is an interesting dynamic, you know, trying to 284 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:27,480 wend your way through you know, the the the mission 285 00:16:27,519 --> 00:16:29,879 of of of the church and mission of the of 286 00:16:30,039 --> 00:16:32,799 the school and and what the mission of athletics is 287 00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:35,440 supposed to be. But I just want to get your 288 00:16:35,480 --> 00:16:41,240 perspective on that alignment and how b y U Athletics 289 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:44,519 is is going forth with that. And I know you 290 00:16:44,519 --> 00:16:46,360 you had your vision and what you executed, and I 291 00:16:46,399 --> 00:16:49,639 know you know Brian's executing his vision. But from your perspective, 292 00:16:49,679 --> 00:16:51,000 how does it all align together? 293 00:16:52,519 --> 00:16:56,080 Speaker 3: It aligns up perfectly. I mean that we make no mistake. 294 00:16:56,159 --> 00:16:58,919 We don't hide from the fact that we need to 295 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:03,480 be aligned with the church athletically. First of all, when 296 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:06,480 I was first hired at BYU as the athlete director 297 00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:10,119 of President Cecil Sanmuelson sat me down in his office 298 00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:13,559 and said, look, if you are not aligned and don't 299 00:17:13,599 --> 00:17:18,519 align the athletic department with what's going on from Salt 300 00:17:18,599 --> 00:17:23,279 Lake City, the church leadership and that comes through all 301 00:17:23,359 --> 00:17:26,359 the presidents and the administration of BYU. If you don't 302 00:17:26,359 --> 00:17:29,240 align yourself of that, you're on your own Tom, You're 303 00:17:29,240 --> 00:17:32,079 gonna have a hard time, but if you do, then 304 00:17:32,119 --> 00:17:34,920 good things will happen. You'll follow those blessings. But we 305 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:38,119 don't try to hide that fact. I think that we, 306 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:41,640 like I said, we recruit to that fit. We try 307 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:44,920 to get the strongest and the greatest and the best 308 00:17:45,319 --> 00:17:48,559 Latter Day Saint student athletes that we can find. When 309 00:17:48,559 --> 00:17:51,759 you have those young men and young women going out 310 00:17:51,759 --> 00:17:55,559 on missions and coming back, you get this injection of 311 00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:58,880 the spirit which is so strong, and that helps the 312 00:17:58,880 --> 00:18:02,519 locker room that you talk about, Grid and it really 313 00:18:02,599 --> 00:18:05,720 renews that locker room on a regular basis, and you 314 00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:08,599 have young kids coming in and then as you can 315 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:11,519 see this football team this year, there's quite a few 316 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:15,839 members are players on the team that are not members 317 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:19,400 of our faith. But they came here knowing what the 318 00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:21,359 rules were and they were going to live up to 319 00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:26,319 a certain standard and they love that. And if you 320 00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:29,200 go in that locker room, you know that the brotherhood 321 00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:34,480 on that team, there was no guarantee or no didn't 322 00:18:34,519 --> 00:18:38,759 make them have to be joined the church or had 323 00:18:38,799 --> 00:18:42,119 come to Seminarrea or anything like that. The thing was 324 00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:46,480 come and give us with the best you God, Bay 325 00:18:46,519 --> 00:18:49,960 of the rules and sitting with the team and will 326 00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:52,480 all help make each other better. And I'm going to 327 00:18:52,559 --> 00:18:55,319 tell you that a lot of those players on the 328 00:18:55,359 --> 00:18:58,200 team that are not members of faith have added to, 329 00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:03,640 not taken away distracted, They've added to a shiny example 330 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:05,559 of that by athletics is right now. 331 00:19:06,519 --> 00:19:09,920 Speaker 2: Love that perspective. Couple last questions before we let you go, 332 00:19:10,039 --> 00:19:14,319 Tom Holmo here on ESP and the fan. I converse 333 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:16,400 with those of the faith as I mentioned, and those 334 00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:19,480 that have attended in our alums of b YU and 335 00:19:19,519 --> 00:19:21,680 one of I call them the kingdom builders, and I'll 336 00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:24,400 preface I'll kind of preface these like the kingdom builders 337 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:29,680 don't believe athletics builds up the kingdom. They only believe science, academia, music, 338 00:19:30,559 --> 00:19:36,200 moral spirituality, those ethical theological tenets or what build up 339 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:40,759 the kingdom? Proselyining athletics, Why do even spend money on athletics? 340 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:45,119 It doesn't build up the kingdom? Do you ever have 341 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:48,039 the did you ever have those conversations with those individuals 342 00:19:48,079 --> 00:19:51,519 that just didn't believe that we should invest at all 343 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:55,559 in student athletes or athletics and that it should just 344 00:19:55,599 --> 00:19:57,960 go away, like maybe b YU Hawaii or b y 345 00:19:58,039 --> 00:19:58,400 u Idah. 346 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:03,559 Speaker 3: Well, you know, I don't really agree with what you 347 00:20:03,759 --> 00:20:07,480 call the builders. I don't believe that. I don't really 348 00:20:07,559 --> 00:20:10,960 have a lot of people over my years that would 349 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:13,759 come to me and have that discussion. I believe that 350 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:17,359 all people are children of God, have our having Father. 351 00:20:17,839 --> 00:20:21,440 And if you have that light in you and you 352 00:20:21,519 --> 00:20:23,759 want to make the world a better place, and you 353 00:20:23,799 --> 00:20:27,720 want to show love and build your neighbor and build 354 00:20:27,759 --> 00:20:30,480 strong families, then people are going to look at that 355 00:20:30,559 --> 00:20:33,880 and go, yeah, I like that, that's what this is. Well, yeah, 356 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:36,519 you can do that at by football. You can do 357 00:20:36,599 --> 00:20:41,559 it at UCLA music if you want. You know, people, 358 00:20:41,599 --> 00:20:44,440 it's all about people and the spirit that they have 359 00:20:44,599 --> 00:20:46,960 in them and the willingness they are to share that love. 360 00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:51,519 So if it's just so happens that it's an athletic 361 00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:57,920 program or an athletic team at BYU that is helping 362 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:00,960 people maybe open up their heart a little bit and 363 00:21:01,039 --> 00:21:04,960 their mind to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, so be it. 364 00:21:05,759 --> 00:21:11,319 But you know, we don't necessarily expect that every time 365 00:21:11,319 --> 00:21:14,039 we score a touchdown someone's going to get baptized. It's 366 00:21:14,119 --> 00:21:16,960 just that you got these guys want to play ball, man, 367 00:21:17,119 --> 00:21:21,279 you know that. But they are fiercely competitive on the field, 368 00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:24,480 and then when they step off the field, there's a 369 00:21:24,519 --> 00:21:28,920 certain spirit about them that is doing everything they can 370 00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:32,519 to help and assist other people and build their own 371 00:21:32,559 --> 00:21:35,640 lives and look for a better life for themselves, for 372 00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:37,240 their family and the people around them. 373 00:21:38,079 --> 00:21:42,400 Speaker 2: How do you think your experiences in athletics will will 374 00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:47,119 help you in this next niver as a mission president, Tom, You. 375 00:21:47,039 --> 00:21:50,000 Speaker 3: Know, I'm not really sure. I just look at every 376 00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:53,440 experience that I've had in every phase of my life 377 00:21:53,839 --> 00:21:57,119 where there's just challenges. We all know that we're going 378 00:21:57,200 --> 00:21:59,640 to have them. We're all going to have trials, but 379 00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:04,279 we all have faith that if we stay on the 380 00:22:04,319 --> 00:22:08,440 path and we live our life according to the principles 381 00:22:08,839 --> 00:22:11,519 and the doctrine the love that we believe in from Christ, 382 00:22:11,920 --> 00:22:14,640 that things are going to turn out okay. And so 383 00:22:14,839 --> 00:22:18,599 I'm not going to go into this with a predetermined 384 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:21,240 idea of how it's going to go. I'm just going 385 00:22:21,319 --> 00:22:24,319 to go into it with the principles of the Gospel 386 00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:27,640 that I've learned and a faith in Jesus Christ, who 387 00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:31,480 we will preach, and then just love those Missonaris to 388 00:22:31,559 --> 00:22:33,400 do the very best that we can do together. 389 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:37,279 Speaker 2: Well, I'm excited for you, Tom. Congratulations to you and 390 00:22:37,279 --> 00:22:40,759 your wonderful wife, your family as you thrust in your 391 00:22:40,799 --> 00:22:43,079 sickle with your MC they're in the Bay Area, It's 392 00:22:43,079 --> 00:22:45,160 going to be awesome to watch from a far last 393 00:22:45,160 --> 00:22:50,480 thing for you. I love the Kilani culture and I 394 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:55,880 view the Klonia culture as an extension of your culture 395 00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:58,960 that you instituted as a leader, as well as the 396 00:22:59,039 --> 00:23:01,920 Lavelle culture. Right that and in Kilani has his own 397 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:04,440 spin on it, right his love and learning and humble 398 00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:06,920 and hungry, etc. And I think that culture is winning out. 399 00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:10,359 Culture is everything. As you know, as you've led and 400 00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:14,000 you've been led. How cool is it to see, for instance, 401 00:23:14,039 --> 00:23:18,880 this offseason, in the in most recent offseasons, Klanni retain 402 00:23:20,039 --> 00:23:22,960 pretty much his entire roster, you know. I mean there's 403 00:23:23,079 --> 00:23:25,759 guys that leave, but a lot of guys that are 404 00:23:25,759 --> 00:23:28,960 in the two D they just love playing for BYU 405 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:31,039 and they love playing for Kolonie. How special is that 406 00:23:31,119 --> 00:23:31,559 to watch? 407 00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:36,559 Speaker 3: It is super sweet. I know Kilani as a friend, 408 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:38,720 I know him as a competitor, I know him as 409 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:41,599 a leader, I know him as a saint. And by 410 00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:46,400 the way, Colonia Sintaki served in the California Oaklands, a 411 00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:50,519 Francisco mission, so we've already had a little discussion about that. 412 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:55,680 But he is an extraordinary leader because he's humble and 413 00:23:55,759 --> 00:23:59,960 because he is assertive and he has he's goal oriented, 414 00:24:00,559 --> 00:24:02,440 and he has a great amount of love to give. 415 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:07,000 And I think that when I see young players or 416 00:24:07,039 --> 00:24:09,519 people coming in for the first time to meet him 417 00:24:09,799 --> 00:24:11,319 or to be part of the team, whether it's a 418 00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:15,200 recruiting trip or they've committed to the team and they're starting, 419 00:24:15,839 --> 00:24:18,519 I think a lot of people say, I like what 420 00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:22,839 he's teaching. I want to be like that. I want 421 00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:27,160 to do what he says we should do to be successful. 422 00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:32,279 And that's leadership, that's mentorship, but it's also love and 423 00:24:32,359 --> 00:24:36,279 he teaches that all the time. Now you've seen the 424 00:24:36,359 --> 00:24:40,200 pictures from the sideline. We call own his love fire. Well, 425 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:45,599 I think that fire. People like that, and it's just 426 00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:50,440 part of his personality that he is going to dream 427 00:24:50,839 --> 00:24:54,319 and he's going to set goals to achieve them in 428 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:58,359 life on the field, and his spiritual desires to do 429 00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:00,880 all he can for his family. Clown, You've got a 430 00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:04,920 lovely family, and I can assure you that's the most 431 00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:06,359 important thing in his life. 432 00:25:07,359 --> 00:25:11,119 Speaker 2: Tom Home, Old Ladies and Gentlemen, I always appreciate our time. Tom. 433 00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:15,240 Congratulations once again, inspired by your words today and then 434 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:18,720 excited to watch you get out into the mission field. Brother. 435 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:23,000 Speaker 3: Thank you Glen. It's great to be a part of 436 00:25:23,039 --> 00:25:29,279 the band of brothers that was coined by coach Bendon Hall. 437 00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:33,720 But that goes backwards and forwards and as one football 438 00:25:33,759 --> 00:25:35,799 lump to another, Goku's. 439 00:25:35,559 --> 00:25:38,720 Speaker 2: Appreciate you, Tom Home, Old ladies and Gentlemen, former b 440 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:42,839 YU great, four times Super Bowl champion and also the 441 00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:47,519 greatest athletic director in BYU athletics history. I've said this 442 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:52,079 many times, and obviously we're celebrating his mission call. But 443 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:56,559 as the greatest athletic director in BYU history, you know 444 00:25:56,640 --> 00:25:58,640 you're only You're only as good as the HighRes that 445 00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:00,920 you make. If anyone's been in a sort of executive 446 00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:04,920 administrative role where you're having to hire people or delegate 447 00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:09,680 to people to make key decisions and govern certain silos 448 00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:13,559 of a business or of an entity, man Tom was 449 00:26:13,599 --> 00:26:16,839 inspired to hire Dave Rose, the greatest basketball coach all 450 00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:20,319 time in BYU basketball history. Bronco men In Hall was 451 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:23,920 hired right, ushered in. I believe the second best aaron 452 00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:28,119 BYU athletics history up to this point. He hired Kilani Sataki. 453 00:26:28,119 --> 00:26:31,680 He was a visionary. In hiring Kilani, he took BYU 454 00:26:31,759 --> 00:26:36,440 into independence. That was a visionary move that helped BYU 455 00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:43,519 finally earn through objective data points. Okay, a viewership as 456 00:26:43,559 --> 00:26:45,480 an independent B way's like one of two or maybe 457 00:26:45,519 --> 00:26:48,279 three teams that could truly be successful as independent. He 458 00:26:48,359 --> 00:26:51,119 had that vision and had that faith that it would 459 00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:53,440 work out. I thought that was Some people say it's 460 00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:55,160 a gamble. I'd say it was a vision that he had. 461 00:26:55,440 --> 00:26:59,400 He was able to persevere too. Through COVID. If you 462 00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:03,799 guys don't remember, everyone was canceling, Everyone was fearful, everyone 463 00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:07,839 was fear mongering. Tom entered into that space and said, 464 00:27:07,839 --> 00:27:11,640 we're gonna go forth with faith, We're going to execute 465 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:15,720 safety protocols, and we're gonna play football. And they did 466 00:27:16,519 --> 00:27:21,039 and they had tremendous success in twenty twenty because of that. 467 00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:25,599 In my opinion and obviously his career as a player, 468 00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:31,440 he's he's the best eighty and BYU athletics history appreciate him. 469 00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:34,200 We gotta get him an odeon suit Ronald the three 470 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:36,519 Man Weaver. We got to get him a stretchy suit 471 00:27:37,039 --> 00:27:40,279 for his mission there in the Bay area. Something lightweight. Yes, 472 00:27:40,279 --> 00:27:44,039 he valuable and provides great range of motion for him. 473 00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:46,519 All right, let's go to break. Please, don't go anywhere 474 00:27:46,519 --> 00:27:49,559 more to get to on a beautiful Monday, January twelfth 475 00:27:49,640 --> 00:27:51,640 edition of Cougar Sports. That segment was brought to you 476 00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:54,759 by Odeon Men'swhere Odeon Menswear dot Com. Whether it's for 477 00:27:54,799 --> 00:27:57,799 the mission field, it's for business or for church where 478 00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:01,759 church you know in Dever's head on over to Odeon 479 00:28:01,839 --> 00:28:04,960 Men's Where along the Wasatch front. They got three brick 480 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:08,119 and mortar locations utilized the Cridal fifteen coupon code. You 481 00:28:08,119 --> 00:28:11,559 get fifteen percent off fifteen percent off online or in store. 482 00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:13,200 Let's go to break, don't go anywhere more to get you. 483 00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:15,880 This is Cougar Sports on one oh three nine ninety 484 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:17,359 eight point three ESPN