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Show 6 November 2010 DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE For some coaches, picking sides hasn't always been easy The Holy War has only local significance Bubba Brown STAFF WRITER Growing up, Utah football offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick was a fan of all things Ute sports. His father, who played football and ran track for the Utes, took Roderick to Utah basketball and football games throughout his childhood, ensuring his allegiance formed on the crimson side of the Utah-BYU rivalry. However, when Roderick became an All-American junior college receiver at Ricks College, his beloved Utes didn't come calling. Instead, it was Utah State, New Mexico and BYU that showed the most interest in recruiting the former Bountiful High athlete. Roderick ended up at BYU, starting at receiver and kick returner in 1997 and 1998 before spending three years as a graduate assistant for the Cougars. "It was real simple," Roderick said of the decision to play football for the rivals of the team he grew up loving. "BYU recruited me, Utah didn't. It was an easy choice. BYU was the best team that recruited me, by far." Seven years after his playing career concluded, Roderick at last got the opportunity to become a Ute when he was hired as Utah's wide receivers coach, a move that Roderick said was a natural fit, even after spending all that time on the other side of the rivalry. "Coming back to Utah was great," Roderick said. "This is home, and I love it." As far as experiencing both sides of the rivalry, Roderick is not alone among Utah coaches. Defensive coordinator Kalani Sitake and head coach Kyle Whittingham played at and graduated from BYU. Sitake had a standout career with the Cougars, starting at fullback for four years, and even becoming a team captain in 2000. But when he was offered a position on Utah's staff to coach linebackers in 2005, he wasn't about to let his former Cougar allegiance get in the way of what he called, "a chance to come T iose in Utah know how important the Utah-BYU rivalry is. However, few outside of the JAKE Beehive State are aware of the Holy War. BULLINGER The Holy War might not be the most publicized rivalry in the country, but is it one of the best? There are some aspects of a Notre Dame's struggles—with typical rivalry that the Holy War teams other than Utah, that is. can't provide. For one, automatic Utah and BYU don't command the Bowl Championship Series berths eyeballs that USC or Notre Dame have never been at stake, and do, so both teams will need to be until recently, the teams were good for the game to receive more afterthoughts in the big-bowl attention. Finally, the game isn't in a conversation. Unlike the Red River Shootout between Texas and football hotbed. Although football Oklahoma, the winner of the Holy in the state is beginning to make War is not likely to earn a trip to a a larger footprint, Utah can't BCS game. compare with Texas, California Because the rivalry has ocor Florida for football attention. curred in the Mountain West and Football is life in the southeast and Western Athletic conferences, it Texas. Utah can't make that claim. has not had much importance on a However, the rivalry does have national scale. The Holy War simsome unique features that bolster ply can't stack up to rivalries such its case. as "The Game" between Michigan The first is religion. The game and Ohio State, which is loaded is called the Holy War for a with more than roo,000 fans and a reason. Although there are many sea of media coverage. players who are members of The The second element working Church of Jesus Christ of Latteragainst the Holy War is the lack of day Saints on the Utah roster, relinational clout the teams possess. gious tensions still add an element BYU has spent time on the naof flare to the game. Comments tional radar, but until 2004, no one such as Austin Collie's after the cared about Utah's success outside 2007 game simply don't occur in of the state. If a rivalry is to be other rivalries. considered one of the best, the The rivalry also has family teams involved must be consistent ties. This is what truly makes the players on the national scene. rivalries special. Many households This will be more of an issue in Utah support both a red- and with the teams severing their a blue-blooded family member. conference affiliation. In order Families can be torn apart by the Holy War rift. for a nonconference rivalry to be relevant, the teams involved must So how does the Holy War be two of the most prestigious stack up? Although the game lacks in the country and consistently national significance, its unique good. For example, the USC-Notre aspects make it one of the best Dame rivalry is one of the best in and most passionate rivalries in history, but few have paid much the country. attention to it lately because of j.bullinger@chronicle.utah.edu 1 StaffWriter TANER PASAMEHMETOGLU/The Daily Utah Chronicle Head coach Kyle Whittingham is one of the most beloved people at the U, even though he is a BYU alumnus. work for a good program at a good school for a good coach." "It was a job," he said. "I was just looking for an opportunity to coach. I had a sister that came here, and an older brother that played here at Utah, so we were really familiar with both schools. It wasn't like the rivalry thing, where it had to be one or the other. My family's been involved with both schools." Even as a player, Sitake tried not to get caught up too much in the rivalry, which made his transition from BYU to Utah easy. "I didn't have a bunch of hatred or anything like that," Sitake said. "It was a rivalry, and you wanted to win every game, and it was competitive, but other than that, I had a lot of friends that were playing here, and my older brother was playing here." The story of how Whittingham ended up Utah's head coach has been well chronicled. After an all-conference playing career as a linebacker for BYU, followed by ro years as Utah's defensive coordinator, Whittingham was offered the head position at both Utah and BYU. After agonizing over the decision for days, Whittingham accepted the job at Utah, spurning his alma mater in the process. As unusual as it might be for the top three coaches on a major college football team to be graduates of its rival, Sitake said that's part of what makes the Utah-BYU rivalry unlike anything else in the country. "All of it carries over," he said. "That's what I think makes the rivalry so good." bubba@ chronicle.utah.edu After realignment, Aggies and the Beehive Boot will be left behind mid the conference realignment shuffle and chaos of cheduling for the 2011 football season, a rivalry was lost in the process. No, not the rivalry between Utah and BYU. Even though they will no longer be playing in the same conference, they plan to continue meeting each other annually. Although the Holy War will continue to be played for the foreseeable future, BYU and Utah's other in-state rival, Utah State, has been left in the dust, along with the Beehive Boot—the trophy awarded annually to the Utah team with the best record StaffWriter against its instate foes. Originally conceived as a cornpetition between the four football programs in the state—Utah, BYU, Utah State and Weber State—the Beehive Boot never came to fruition. During the past four seasons especially, the BYU-Utah-Utah State rivalry has steadily diminished, if not disappeared altogether. It's true that Utah State's football program has struggled since 1997, the last time the Aggies defeated Utah, 2114. However, because it's a smaller instate rivalry, it has allowed for other non-athletic competitions such as the annual Bleed Red blood drive between the Aggies and Utes. Although the universities will still be connected through these activities, the rivalries on the field are sure to disappear. After the decision for a two-year game "hiatus" between Utah and Utah State and now with the conference realignments, it remains unlikely that there will be a Utah-Utah State or BYU-Utah State game scheduled in the foreseeable future. It's a shame to be losing these annual games, when you consider with 109 meetings between Utah and Utah State and 87 between BYU and Utah State, the matchups are two of the oldest in the country. The Aggies were even beginning to show a bit of resilience against their bigger in-state rivals, putting up a valiant and surprising fight in a 37-17 loss to Utah in 2008 and pulling off a 31-16 win over BYU on Oct. 9. Considering Utah will have fewer nonconference games to play in upcoming seasons and with BYU on the agenda for at least the next two years, it is unlikely the Aggies will have the opportunity to fill one of Utah's three spots for nonconference games. Pair that with the Cougars' drive to prove they can stay afloat as an independent, after the end of their agreement through 2012, Utah State is far down the list of teams BYU will want to place on its schedule. BYU and Utah will face the Aggies again in 2012, it's unknown whether either team will continue the rivalry. It seems the Beehive Boot is destined to go the way of the dodo, but to be honest, will anybody really miss it? Not likely. k.price@ chronicle.utah.edu PRICE continued from Page 4 / rivalry was unimportant because there wasn't really a conference championship on the line. The sense of rivalry in the Utah-BYU series lies in a sense of tradition. For example, consider how many families are multi-generational alumni of either school. Such strong ties strengthen the emotional investment a fan puts into the rivalry, and that investment will remain the same regardless of whether teams play as independent or part of the Pac-to. A large part of the Utah-BYU rivalry is rooted in the religious ties of each school. Those ties won't be broken just because of conference changes. The change will likely intensify the religious aspect of the rivalry, because a conference championship will no longer be the primary focus of the game. Other rivalries throughout the country continue to flourish, even though the teams no longer compete in the same conference. The Florida-Florida State, GeorgiaGeorgia Tech, Colorado-Colorado State and South Carolina-Clemson rivalries are all played as nonconference games. The Holy War will now join the ranks of these great rivalries that have stood the test of time, as well as the test of conflicting conference schedules and affiliations. k.price@chronicle.utah.edu f 1. Love money? Our average sales agents make S 15 an hour. That may seem like a lot, but like we said, around here it's just average. Come work for Progrexion and show us that you're well above "average." 0- Why you'll love us: 0- Flexible hours (PT/FT) Convenient location Medical /dental (FT) Excellent pay 0- To learn more or to apply: Or visit us online to apply: 1-800-353-8954 progrexion.com/employment |