BYU was a lot easier to recruit against pre-NIL and as an independent.

Like it or not, it's easier to recruit against a team that left the MWC a few years earlier and is still playing a MWC/C-USA/AAC schedule.

Anderson and Wells also had an administration that skewed a little too far toward the good old boys side of the spectrum; they were willing to sweep a lot of stuff under the rug and take on some players with spotted pasts. The pendulum has since swung to the complete opposite side; they now have a nutty President who is unqualified and way over her skis, a fairly lefty (for Utah) administration, and an athletics department that is rudderless and under the microscope.

And what's Utah State doing now? Jumping conferences, as if, by association, they will shine brighter in the (very dim) reflected glow of Washington State and Oregon State. They're dysfunctional, in a conference of losers and unwanted teams that will still run through Boise State, and simply lack the support to pay much more than what BYU pays its coordinators (especially with a buyout looming).

And I say all of that as an Aggie fan. They suck, and I would want no part of them right now—especially if I had a good thing going and was a hot name where I already was.