What the Nation Doesn't Know about BYU's 2016 Football Team

As the 2016 college football season creeps closer and closer, many national experts have weighed in on how they think BYU will do against a difficult schedule.  Most predictions put the Cougars finishing the season with a record some where between 5-7 and 7-5. At first glance it really isn't hard to be less than optimistic about BYU this season. A completely new coaching staff with new schemes and nuances and perhaps the most difficult schedule in school history are seen largely as negatives against BYU's chances at anything much better than a winning percentage above 50%. My prediction of the BYU season is far more optimistic than most. Here is my completely blue goggled run down on why I believe BYU will far exceed the expectations of most of the experts.

New Coaching
It's true that Kalani Sitake has never been a head coach before.  It's true that offensive coordinator Ty Detmer has never coached in a college football game before. And, yes it's true that over all this new staff is quite inexperienced when it comes to coaching FBS football. But I believe that BYU's new coaching staff will turn out to be more of a positive than a negative on the outcome of BYU's 2016 season.

There is no secret that over the past at least two seasons (and possibly longer) a sense of staleness crept into the BYU football program under coach Bronco Mendenall and his staff.  Since athletic director Tom Holmoe announced the hiring of Kalani Sitake shortly after the end of the Las Vegas Bowl many have said that a tangible energy has been pumped into the football program. Cougar fans everywhere are excited to see Sitake and Detmer back in blue.

Perhaps the one of the most important members of this new staff is also one of the most unheralded ones, former SUU head coach Ed Lamb.  He is the only member of BYU's current staff with any experience as a head coach at any college level. In 8 years at SUU Lamb accumulated an overall record of 45-47, which might not seem all that impressive until you consider the circumstances under which he did it. In 2008 Lamb took over an NCAA Division 2 program at SUU that had been wallowing in mediocrity for decades.  Within four years Lamb elevated the Thunderbird football program to heights previously not imagined in Cedar City including a Great West Conference championship and even more importantly an invitation to move up to NCAA Division 1 FCS competition in the Big Sky Conference. Over the next four seasons Lamb led SUU to two FCS playoff appearances and their first ever Big Sky Conference championship. He accomplished all of this while competing against conference opponents whose budgets and facilities far exceeded SUU's. Indeed Ed Lamb has proven himself as high caliber coach with a reputation of being able to do more with less, which is exactly what BYU needs.

BYU's QB Situation
BYU finds itself in rare circumstances, boating two quarterbacks who have proven that they are winners at BYU in Senior Taysom Hill and Sophomore Tanner Mangum.  Last week Taysom Hill was named the starter, which came as no surprise to most of Cougar Nation.  Hill is an explosive athlete with elite speed and a nose for open space making him a dangerous and viable running threat that defenses must respect. He has shown improvement year by year as a passer, and many involved in fall camp have stated that he has yet again become more accurate and efficient this year. The only thing that stands between Taysom and a great senior year is the possibility of injury (he has had three season ending injuries at while at BYU).  It is true that it would be painful for BYU fans to watch Taysom go down to injury again, but at least Cougar Nation can take solace in the fact that if he does an elite and proven back up, Tanner Mangum, is waiting in the wings.A major injury to Taysom Hill doesn't necessarily derail the hopes and dreams of the BYU football team.

Experience
There may be a lack of experience on the coaching staff, but there will be no lack between the sidelines, as the Cougars return 15 starters (7 offense, 8 defense) in 2016. If that's not good enough for you, just wait, it gets better. 2 of the 15 returning starters won't be starters this year. Tanner Mangum (2015 starting QB) will stand as back up to 5th year (or 6th, or 7th year...whose counting anyway?) Senior Taysom Hill and last years starting running back will likely be listed after Jamaal Williams (who returns to the program after a 1 year hiatus) on the depth chart. So in reality BYU returns 17 starters which means at any given time up to 82% of the players on the field could have starting experience.

By no means do I think BYU will run the table in 2016, but I do think BYU will do better than many have predicted. There are some questions surrounding the team, but with the above mentioned factors, I believe that BYU just may have more answers than a lot of people are giving them credit for.