BYU Football Highlight Former Players In ‘Prepared For Greatness’ Recruiting Campaign

PROVO, Utah – Recruiting is and always will be the lifeblood of college sports. It’s no different at BYU despite some of the challenges the Cougars face in trying to land blue-chip recruits.

For BYU football, the lack of conference affiliation or the school’s honor code could be big turnoffs for recruits. But who focuses on the negatives while recruiting? Always highlight the positives on the recruiting trail.

BYU boasts a lot of positives and is still a program that many young athletes dream of playing for. But for the athletes that don’t know much about BYU, what can separate the Cougars from the pack?

How about professional success beyond just the NFL?

Social media will be an important piece to #BYU’s recruiting efforts under Ah You. Wants to have more impressions on social media. Ah You thanked #BYU’s creative team that included @BroberDave and @Kiywii for helping with execution.#BYUFootball @kslsports

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) May 11, 2020

BYU Director of Recruiting Jasen Ah You was hired in May and he told the assembled media via a Zoom call when he was introduced that social media impressions were going to important for his recruiting department going forward. Especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic where face-to-face interaction with recruits isn’t happening and everything has gone the virtual route.

So to bolster the social media impressions and to make unique recruiting pitches via fancy edits, the BYU Football twitter account has been posting graphics the past two months that highlight former Cougar gridiron stars and the professions they succeed in today. The graphics are titled, “Prepared For Greatness.”

𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒏𝒐𝒘? 🎓🏈
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Adam Hine – Running Back – 2011-15 pic.twitter.com/UdMPNWwIBT

— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) May 8, 2020

It started in May highlighting former BYU running back Adam Hine who is a recent Dental School Graduate at the University of Utah in the class of 2020. From there BYU has been showing many other former players who have found success in their careers after football.

Each graphic has the tag line at the bottom that reads, “The BYU experience lifts and prepares you to achieve greatness on the field and in life.”

U.S. News ranks BYU as the 77th best for National Universities in 2020. Forbes named BYU the best value college in America back in 2019. Highlighting these metrics is the creative approach BYU has to utilize in recruiting to land recruits who aren’t as familiar with BYU.

Senior cornerback Chris Wilcox didn’t know anything about BYU until he was recruited by the Cougars in 2016. But he was blown away by the education opportunities at the school. He ended up signing with the Cougars and is now a graduate heading into his final year in the program.

𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒏𝒐𝒘? 🎓🏈

Brandon Doman – Quarterback – 1998-2001 pic.twitter.com/U5ozVYxVU9

— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) May 11, 2020

Other players that BYU has highlighted on their “Prepared For Greatness” campaign include former quarterback Brandon Doman who is the Co-Owner and President of Weigh Safe which measures tongue weight.

Former center Sete Aulai is a special agent for the Utah Attorney General’s Office and works with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒏𝒐𝒘? 🎓🏈
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Sete Aulai – Offensive Line – 2005-07 pic.twitter.com/SwQncZbhEf

— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) May 13, 2020

ESPN analysts, radio hosts, Nike employees, CEO’s, and international sales directors are included as well. It’s an impressive group. Will it pay off in recruiting? That’s yet to be determined.

But BYU has to turn over every stone and highlight the positives that come with their university in order to land top-flight talent. Because many would tell you the BYU experience is unlike anything else and that is something that the Cougars have to embrace as they battle for talent on the recruiting trail.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12-3 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.