Brigham Young University’s Honor Code office. WTF?

Every year in early fall the smell of fresh cut grass, Kenny Chesney’s The boys of fall  blasting in headphones across america, and tickets are purchased for college football. The summer months, and temperatures, are coming to an end, and football is upon us. It’s the best time of year.

For Every BYU football fan, the months of June and July are almost as big of roller coaster as the actual season. This is the season where we learn which football players have been kicked off the team because of honor code violations. Now, these young men know what they’re signing up for when they sign with BYU.  It’s no secret that you can’t have premarital sex, drink alcohol (or coffee), you can’t participate in recreational drugs, and you have to live by a strict Latter Day Saints code.

This year we learned that Ula Tolutau,  Joe Tukuafu, and Jeremiah Ieremia were dismissed from the team on Media Day. To BYU’s credit, they’re no longer giving details of what the violation is anymore. We all remember the horrific Brandon Davies indecent in 2011 where they basically told the entire world.

This problem is becoming a major concern. I stand by the honor code, but is it really an honor code when their is an office for snitches to go to? Isn’t honor between you and your ecclesiastical leader? Francis Bernard is the perfect example of this. The officer who was at his apartment brought up the honor code when he was citing him. I don’t know if the officer ever turned him in to the Honor Code Office, but just the fact that he could, is a major problem. And the neighbor who was recording the whole thing, is the reason the Honor Code Office is in existence.

The Honor Code Office. I know it seems like I’m against the honor code… I’m not. Plenty of schools have some type of honor code they ask their students to live by. Only BYU has the office for “reporting” of honor code violations. Tico Pringle is a prime example of other people tattling on an athlete.

Pringle was accused by an ex-girlfriend of pressuring her to have sex. Pringle, who was married at the time, denied these allegations. The honor code office took her word for it, and they suspended Pringle for their bowl game that season. No investigation, no he said she said, just a report and a suspension. Pringle left the program. Tell me how that is fair or just?

The list goes on and on, Keilani Moeaki, Harvey Unga, Reno Mahe, etc… BYU should keep the honor code, and get rid of the office. At no point should I be able to walk into the office, make a completely fabricated statement about a student, and the office suspends said student. Illegal offenses will be taken care of by the police, it will be public record, the office isn’t needed. Personal offenses will be taken care of by the coaching staff, and their leaders. Will there be students who take advantage of this? Of course, but don’t we wouldn’t you rather a few students take advantage of this compared to railroading innocent ones?

BYU keep the honor code, but please get rid of the office.

Starbucks, barbershops, and playoffs.

I’m usually the guy on the hill saying we need the entire story. I don’t ever want to jump to conclusions. However, with this nightmare of a situation facing Starbucks there’s no need for me to hear anymore. Your employee called the police because they’re afraid of black people. Don’t give me that crap about no loitering in Starbucks. As an author, I’ve witnessed many of times people setting up a home entertainment system inside one of their establishments just so the moods right so they can write their shitty screenplay that’s going to make them millions of dollars  There’s a The Office episode where Micheal Scott makes everyone put a index card of an ethnicity on their forehead and they have to guess what they are.  That seems like the type of training that Starbucks has set up for their employee’s. But then again maybe i’m giving Starbucks too much credit.

I don’t think race-relations are as bad as Social Justice Warriors wants us to believe. For the most part, if you’re polite, friendly, and loving to anyone, you’re going to get that reciprocated to you. There are some wack jobs out there in the Alt-right movement, and the SJW movement. Both are bat-shit crazy, and we should distance ourselves from them. But come on employee of Starbucks, you were scared that two black dudes were going to rob you.  You panicked, called the police, and they took the two men out in handcuffs.

So, the police… What the hell is their deal there? Why on this green earth did you put them in handcuffs, and escort them out of the store. I always try and defend the men in blue. They’re hero’s who put their lives on the line everyday. But these two men were obviously cooperating with the police.  Why were they handcuffed? Be better.  You’re giving good cops a bad name.

Onto a lighter topic. Lebron James is suing Nick Saban for stealing his barbershop show. If you haven’t watched it, Lebron talks sports in a barbershop. I like the show. It’s fun and entertaining. The University Alabama, and Saban. decided to do a show where they sit at a barbershop and talk sports. Was it a rip-off of James show? Yes. Is it something that James should sue over? No. Now that that can of worms has been opened, some jabroni from Michigan is suing James claiming that James stole the idea from him.

What’s the moral of the story? Lebron should’ve kept his mouth shut, people (including myself) would’ve continued to watch his show, and let Alabama’s version fade away. Which it would’ve because only Alabama fans care about what Alabama and Saban have to say. Now James has two lawsuits he’s dealing with, a horrible cast of teammates, and he lost a first-round game in the playoffs for the first time in 21 games.

Speaking of the playoffs, I hate that the OKC Thunder decided to turn on the switch and be a damn good team. Of course they’re playing the Jazz. Westbrook is going to get his, Paul George, also known as Playoff P, worst nickname of all time, is going off, and Steven Adams always pushes Rudy Gobert around. Thanks a lot Thunder for saving your best for the Jazz. If this series keeps going like game one did, i’m gonna have to re-watch the American Pie series.  Then I’ll write about how funny the first two are.

Parents… you’re stupid, and your kids aren’t special. Deal with it.

I was born, raised, and live in Utah. I love it. We have some of the greatest things to offer. Four very different seasons, so we can enjoy golfing in the summer, hunting and fishing in the fall, snow activities galore in the winter, and baseball, lacrosse or any other sport you could imagine in the spring. The beauty of the state is beyond anything anyone can imagine. The Red-Rocks and slot canyons in Southern Utah, the arches in Moab, the mountain ranges in downtown Salt Lake, and the forest of blue-spruce’s up north.

I love this state. But why is it that our youth are killing themselves at a higher rate than the national average?  Every 8.5 our of 100,000 youth will commit suicide in Utah. Why do we have crazy-ass soccer moms popping pills by the hour to cope with life? Why are our children living in their parents basements until they’re in their mid-30’s?

We have weird people living here, who want to be special. Here is a secret i’m going to let you in on. You’re not special. My childhood I followed my dad around the house and yard when I was five years old because he was my hero. When I got in my preteen years, I had four best friends around the neighborhood, and we raised hell. We doorbell ditched, we rode ATV’s on the hill by our house’s, we chased girls, we played basketball at the park, there wasn’t a minute of our free time that we weren’t outside. When I was in high school, I played every sport that I could.  I fell in love with football, and it’s still a major part of my life, and I went to every party, game, or school event I could. It was a good life, a happy life, but I wasn’t anything special. Look at my report card.

That’s a major problem in society. We have parents who think that their child is the best thing since sliced bread, when in reality they’re just another fish in the pond. The helicopter dad who thinks his son is better at sports than he really is, is setting his son up for failure. If he isn’t getting the playing time his dad thinks he deserves, the dad doesn’t tell him to work harder, or listen to the coach, he tells him it’s everyone else’s fault. He isn’t teaching his son accountability. If he doesn’t reach his dad’s lofty and unrealistic expectations, he thinks he’s a loser. Listen I’m sure you were Bo Jackson in your prime, but let your kid live his life, with his friends, on his team. He’ll be happier and more prepared for what’s about to come. Don’t live in the past Uncle Rico. Enjoy the present.

Then there’s the “I don’t want to life a finger, so i’m going to let the iPad parent my kid” type of parent. If you’re that parent, stop that shit right now, and pay attention. I was at a park playing baseball with my boy (who by the way loves electronics, and it’s a daily fight to get him to play only 30 minutes a day) I was throwing him pitches, he was swinging the bat. We were laughing. But the odd thing was, we were the only people at a park on a 65 degree spring day. As we we’re cleaning up, another family came up and started playing on the playground. But that Mom had her head burred in her phone the entire time. No interaction with her children except to say, “Be careful” every five minutes or so. She may not have been a strung-out junkie, but she’s just as addicted to that phone. She didn’t have track marks, but she hadn’t been out in the sun for a long time either. An albino alligator has a better tan than she did. I’m not going to say that’s just as bad, but jeez get a life. Get them off electronics. I understand it’s part of today’s culture.  Let them play their video games, but don’t let it run their life or yours.

When it’s all said and done, I wan’t my kid to look back and say, “Dad was a dude who cared about me.” That’s all. When I look at my kids life I want them to know they’re special to me. I don’t want them to think they’re a failure because they didn’t live up to some stupid standard. I was a good football player, I have the awards to show it, my dad couldn’t have gave rats arse about how good I was. He was just happy to see me doing something I loved. I wasn’t special, I didn’t achieve great academic success, It took me SEVEN years to get a teaching degree in English (That I let lapse a long time ago). But I’m happy.

So maybe you do have the next Lebron James as a kid, even though he’s 5′ 9″ , can’t beat a sloth in a race, and can’t dribble, but let him discover how good he is not you. Because remember, no one gives a rip about what your kid is doing.

 

 

 

OJ Simpson is bone chilling.

Listening to OJ Simpsons hypothetical confession from 2006 that aired this week has to be one of the more eye opening interviews I’ve ever watched. OJ Simpson talked openly about how a murder would’ve happened if he did it. Here is a small snippet of what he said,

“As things got heated, I just remember Nicole fell and hurt herself. And this guy kind of got into a karate thing. I said ‘you think you can kick my ass’.  I remember I grabbed the knife, I do remember that portion, taking the knife from Charlie and to be honest after that I don’t remember. I think everything is covered… would have been covered in blood,” Simpson said.

Remember this is all hypothetical Simpson would repeat many times during the interview. There’s plenty of evidence that you can research that points to OJ Simpson as being the murderer of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown. Fivers on the knit cap found at the murder scene match materials found in OJ’s Bronco.  The police found a glove that matched another bloody glove found at Nicole Browns house at behind OJ’s air conditioner. I’m not here to convince anyone of OJ’s guilt. I’m convinced he did it. I’m also convinced that Mark Fuhrman is a racist who planted evidence against OJ. Fuhrman ruined any chance at a conviction with his awful actions.

However, I don’t need the court of law to tell me OJ did it. When you listen to his interviews, when you look into his eyes, when he laughs about all the hypothetical blood that covered the hypothetical dead bodies, it sent shivers up my spine. What’s awful about it all is the racial divide it has brought still 24 years later.

I don’t care if OJ did it or not. I’ve never met the guy, I’ll never meet him, so as far as I’m concerned, he’s just another rich person who paid the right legal team to get him out of a murder charge.

IF you haven’t watched the interview here it is. Tell me that it doesn’t send chills up your spine.

 

In my opinion, he stops talking hypothetically and uses the term “I” many times when describing what happened. If there was any doubt in your mind that he may have did it, this maybe something that will change your mind. Granted Simpson served many years in prison for an armed robbery he later committed, and by all accounts, his life looks to have taken a major turn for the worse since 1994. He had acting roles in major movie’s, was the spokesperson for Hertz, and was beloved by everybody. Now… the only time you hear about him is connected to the murders, and he’ll never be a star again. What say you? Do you think he did it?

Trigger word… GUNS

I usually write about sports, coaching, or my journey of writing books. (Bring the Heat) still being queried and shopped.) Today, I’m going to do something I swore I’d never do.  I”m going to make this a political blog. Remember we can disagree politically without thinking the other person is evil. That’s lazy, and isn’t helpful.

The Disturbing video of President Donald Trump saying that police should take guns from Americans first and deal with the consequence’s later should alarm every single American. Whether you’re for gun control or you’re 2nd amendment defender, this is scary.

The President wants to take guns because he thinks he can. That’s not passing legislation on gun laws, and that sure isn’t protecting the 2nd amendment. What about locking down schools and making them a safer place, so some maniac can’t come in and hurt our children? Trump wants to raise the legal age to purchase an AR-15 to 21? Then raise the age of the people who can join the military from 18-21. Our children can fight for our country, but can’t purchase a gun?

I’m all for having stricter background checks to purchase any weapon, but can we put to bed the lazy narrative that Semi-automatic weapons are automatic weapons. Semi-auto guns means one trigger squeeze = one bullet. We ask our students to educate themselves on wars, algebra, and prepositional phrases, but we can’t ask ourselves to learn a few things about guns?

Mental illness is a big problem in the United States. We need better background checks just for that purpose, but gun free zones aren’t the answer, and neither is a President deciding to take guns without cause. To the people who think it’s a good idea to for the President just to confiscate your weapons whats next? Our land? Our food? Our freedom?

If the President wants to ban bump stocks, high capacity magazines, and anyone with mental illness from having a firearm, that’s fine. I’m in favor of all that. But we need to be careful of the amount of power We the People give anyone. Because there will be a time that someone else is in charge that you don’t agree with.

In the 1950’s physical education classes taught rifle shooting in schools. I don’t ever remember reading about someone going on a mass shooting using the rifle they received from school. When I was in junior high, we had archery shooting in class. Nobody ever let arrows fly towards another human.

To be clear, I think some gun reform is necessary, but it needs to be done legally and lawfully. I can’t go around stealing other people’s property, and neither should the government. Far radicals on either side of the table they are never going to agree on this issue. However, if we as a society can, we’ll be much better off.

 

BYU new OC Jeff Grimes run game history.

The wait is over for BYU fans.  Who was going to replace Ty Detmer?   Jeff Grimes is BYU new offensive coordinator, and it has many Cougar fans excited about the future.  Who is Jeff Grimes though?  He helped lead one of the nations top rushing attacks in the country the last few years as LSU Tigers Offensive line coach and Run game coordinator.  Let’s take a deeper look at how he’s done durring his time as a run game coordinator (RGC).

Grimes has been a RGC for 3 different schools over 9 years. 2001-2003 Arizona st Sun devils 2007-2008 Colorado Buffalo’s, and 2014-2017 LSU Tigers.   He’s coached NFL RB’s Leonard Fournette He’s also coached future NFL prospect Derrius Guice.  In his nine seasons as a RGC,  he’s had five seasons where running backs rushed for over 1,000 yards.  Let’s dig a little deeper into the numbers

His first year at ASU 167.1 yards per game. Delvin Flowers ran for 1,042 yards and 11 touchdowns.  In 2002, the Sun devils had three Runningbacks rush for over 300 yards. Not huge numbers but Grimes offensive line was consistent

His next stop as a RGC was with another P5 program the Colorado Buffalo’s. He was a part of Dan Hawkins staff.  His first year in 2007 The Buffs produced a very solid 1,949 rushing yards with an average of 144.2 yards per game.  They found the endzone 19 times that year on the ground.  Their leading rusher was Hugh Charles who went over a thousand yards with 1,058 yards that season.

The next year in 2008 the Buffs continued their strong run game accumulating 1,525 yards on the ground with an average of 124.5 rushing yards per game. They scored 10 TD. Rodney Stewart led the Buffs with 622 rushing yards that year.

On to LSU where Grimes had his most success as a RGC. His teams simply dominated up front and in the run game.  In 2014 the Tigers Rushed for an astronomical 2,919 yards. 224.5 rushing yards per game, and the Tigers rushed for 25 touchdowns that year. Leonard Fournett led the team in rushing with 1,034 yards

In 2015 the Tigers went over 3,000 yards rushing 3,363 to be exact.  256.8 yards per game, and 36 yes that’s right 36 touchdowns.  Leonard Fournett led the team with 1,953 rushing yards and 6.5 yards per carry.  This is an incredible feat to rush for this many yards in a 13 game season.

2016 the Tigers didn’t slow down.  with 2,796 rushing yards and 233.2 yards per game.  The Tigers had not only had a massive season they had 30 rushing touchdowns.  This team can simply pound it. Derrius Guice led the tigers that season with 1,387 rushing yards.  Oh yeah that guy Leonard Fournett had 847 yards.

Last year in 2017 The Tigers dominated again .  2,529 rushing yards, 210.8 yards per game and 25 touchdowns.  Guice led the team again with 1,153 yards rushing.  They’re good.  BYU fans saw that first hand.

When it’s all said and done,in my opinion, BYU hit a homerun with this hire. It’s not the flashy pick.  BYU won the press conference last hire when they Hired Ty Detmer.  They made the right hire with Jeff Grimes.

Blair Redd

Detmer legendary player, Not a good OC

BYU fired legend Ty Detmer.  Not only is he a legend, but he is THE man.  He’s the schools only Heisman trophy winner,  beat #1 Miami, and held numerous NCAA records.  He played 14 years in the NFL for heavens sake. His accomplishments as a player are out of this world.  Leading to many BYU fans to call him Ty Freaking Detmer.  However, that doesn’t make one a good coach.

If you want to buy into the fact that he was the scapegoat of a bigger problem, fine I’m not here to argue that point.  What I will say is he led one of the most inept offenses in the history of the program. His total offense was 124 out of 130 in the NCAA.  His offense only scored 20 points on a Portland State team.  PSU gave up 43 points per game to FCS opponents.   That’s only one game right.  Working out the first of the year kinks.  Well BYU only scored 10 points against UMass on senior night.  Umass gave up 31.8 points a game this year.  The list goes on and on.  Losing to East Carolina, Utah State.  Not crossing the 50 yard line against LSU.

He never led the offense the way it needed to be led.  The first game against PSU 6 running backs got carries.  Two RB’s is ideal.  Three is the max.  But he let 6 get carries.  IF that was the Running backs coach’s decision, he needed to pull him aside and tell him that is too many.  Squally Canada had a monster game against UNLV, and then only gets 11 touches against UMass.  That’s not a good game plan.

Taysom Hill last year and Tanner Mangum this year looked like completely different quarterbacks under Detmer than they’ve looked their entire careers.  That’s not to say Detmer is the sole reason for that, but he does bare part of the responsibility.   Detmer’s play calling wasn’t the problem.  He’s an X and O’s genius.  Something else along the way hindered him.  I don’t know what it was, but something had to be changed.

Detmer is the GOAT when it comes to QB play at BYU, but being the GOAT doesn’t translate into FBS coaching.  Injury’s hampered him for sure.  He was down to his fourth string QB and 7th string RB the final game of the season.  That’s tough for anyone to overcome.  He was set up to fail from the jump.  He went straight from HS football coaching in Texas to major OC BYU.  No positional coaching experience, no GA experience, No experience at all.  That’s BYU’s fault for giving him too much too soon.  Can Detmer be a great Offensive Coordinator? Yes he can.  But he’ll have to go the route former University of Utah star Brian Johnson has gone.  Take a QB coaching job, and earn his way up.  But if he doesn’t want to he doesn’t have to.  He can always coach HS football in Texas and guide hunts on his ranch.  That sounds like a way better life, than coaching football anyways.

If you want to defend Detmer because he’s a legend, that’s fine.  But really ask yourself if he was the right man for the job.

 

Living Life

I’ve legit had some fantastic days outside of the big events obviously.  My wedding, my children being born, etc…  I’ve been excited to be an author of two books.  I’m hoping eventually that will lead to me being a full time author one day.  The marketing aspect of it all is the most difficult. Joe Rogan often speaks about a human not suppose to be locked up all day, and I truly believe that.

That’s one of the main reasons I love to coach High School football.  I get to be outside with some amazing kids, coaches, and friends.  I’m stressed out more, but I’m also happier if that makes sense.  I’m outside living life.  I’ve recently started taking my son duck hunting.  This is an awesome thing to share with my boy.  The younger generation has so many options for entertainment, that it’s nice to get out in the outdoors and show them their’s  other options out there.

As the long cold winter hits, and i’m forced to be inside longer, that’s no excuse not to go out and build a snowman, go tubing, or skiing.  That’s also a reason I’m thinking about getting more involved in some horse ranching. What better way to make a living than Working with horses and writing books?

All in all with all of the technology that is at our fingertips, (many of it fantastic and useful) be sure to live your life.  Go camping, fishing, hunting, play sports.  All of this will make you a more balanced and happier human.

And Remember buy my book. Tortured Blues available on Amazon.

 

Purchase Tortured bluespurchase my book

Better website than before

I decided to change my latest manuscript from past to present text.  After reading and re-reading it, I decided it was best for my character to tell the story as opposed to reliving the story.  It’s been much more difficult than I could’ve ever imagined, but it will lead to better writing overall.  Also this is the first blog on my new website http://www.blairredd.com  I”m hopeful that I can consolidate all of my works on this page.

I’ll be bringing weekly blogs from writing, coaching, sports, and all of my other interests in life.  I’ll try and stay away from my family, but sometimes they’re too cute not to blog about.

This next book is some of my finest work, but the marketing will always be my downfall.  I’m not good at it, but it’s almost more important than the actual writing.  Tortured Blues was and still is a good book, but it’s hardly been seen by anyone.

Thanks for taking the time to read, and for the continued support.

Blair Redd