Both said leading up to BYU's first B12 season that they had been through the P5 transition before and that increasing depth and strength would be important.

Both said after BYU's first B12 season that they needed to improve their strength, size, and toughness even more to compete in the Big12. Roderick said he coached in the Pac-12 for a number of years and the physicality of the Big12 is far greater than what they were used to in the Pac 12.

Whittingham ignored them even after getting pushed around by a still-Independent BYU team in 2021.