Jeff Hansen calls it like he sees it and what the recruiting guru for 247Sports.com has watched over the last week has been eye-popping. When Adam Bywater, a prized linebacker from Salt Lake City, chose BYU over Utah on Monday night, he continued a hot streak that has the Cougars sizzling.
“There were four or five guys on the board that had decisions this past week, and BYU pulled off a clean sweep. They picked them all up,” Hansen told the “Y’s Guys” podcast this week. “Bywater wasn’t a layup for BYU. Utah went after him hard. BYU had to go win the battle and they did.”
With Bywater, BYU’s 2026 recruiting class is ranked No. 21 in the nation and No. 1 in the Big 12 by 247Sports — the highest such ranking for the Cougars since there were rankings.
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It also shouts the significant progress BYU has made after just two years as a power-conference program, and especially in recruiting battles against rival Utah, whose 2026 class is currently ranked No. 51.
“BYU is winning most of them. Just about every recruiting battle when BYU and Utah are going head-to-head, BYU is winning right now and I don’t know if that’s going to change in the immediate future,” Hansen said. “I think BYU has a lot of momentum. They have a very similar pitch in terms of development. I think BYU has a lot of advantages in terms of fan base and NIL.”
The Cougars aren’t beating the Utes in every case, but they are winning more than they have since BYU went independent in 2010 and Utah went to the Pac-12.
“Utah is going to get theirs, for sure. They are too good of a program not to,” said Hansen. “There are names on Utah’s recruiting list that BYU would love to have, but…
Source link : https://www.deseret.com/sports/2025/07/15/byu-football-recruiting-compared-to-utah-utes-recruiting/
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Publish date : 2025-07-16 03:00:00
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