No more walkons

When BYU opens the 2008 season, the corners and on the field and their backups will not be walk on players, although one did begin his career that way.

Scott Johnson, who is shuffling in and out with the first defense, received a scholarship this past January and it was retroactive to the previous semester. G Pittman, Brandon Bradley and Brandon Howard were all on scholarship when then enrolled as freshmen.’

Leftovers from the weekend notebook on the corner position:

It is a good sign for Johnson that he’s considered a starting corner and has earned the respect of Jaime Hill and his teammates because he has done so without his connections, which are plenty.

Johnson’s father is an accomplished hand surgeon, who does specialty work for the athletic department. His grandfather is Carl Bacon, who played a key role in the fundraising effort, for LaVell Edwards Stadium when it expanded to 65,000 back in the 80s. At the behest of athletic director Glen Tuckett, Bacon was the key figure in getting boots on the ground to build the expansion and loges, which at the time was a significant step forward in the athletic program.

Back in those days, Tuckett had to fight a real battle to sell the university on this expansion. The academic representatives on the faculty believed it was a waste of money and would send the wrong message. They also believed the emphasis on sports was out-of proportion with other university priorities.

It was Tuckett and Bacon who made a case for not only the expansion, but BYU taking the lead in the conference and region in facilities, that an enhanced football program and stadium would not only bring in more positive recognition to the school but the community would benefit, so would local businesses as revenue for food, lodging, gasoline and commerce would grow. These men saw a vision of what a bigger stadium would mean to drawing in Notre Dame, USC, Penn State and other schools and it would make a difference.

Eventually Tuckett won out, he made his case, and Bacon went to work getting the money and work went forward. It should be noted the stadium was completed without all the money being raised, which was an issue with the Church, which likes its facilities paid for. This remained a challenge to pay off the note in subsequent years.

But the proof is in the pudding, so to speak. The stadium expansion allowed BYU to leap ahead of other regional programs and it helped with not only recruiting but recognition nationally as one of the best sits in the NCAA to watch a college football game. Big name schools came, there have been great games, and this vision and effort helped push LaVell Edwards and his program forward at a critical time of growth and national recognition leading up to 1984.

Bacon has also served as the chairman of America’s Freedom Festival at Provo, an annual Fourth of July celebration that draws half a million people. He was also just released as the president of the Provo LDS Temple.

So, Johnson may deserve a crack at starting as a matter of politics. But it far more gratifying as an observer, and to his family, to watch him earn a key role by his efforts. Nobody handed him this chance, he worked for it, just like he did when he played at Timpview High with quarterback Mike Affleck.

And that’s the rest of the story. For the record, Johnson did not connect the dots on this for me or speak of his link to the past, that’s on me.

I asked Johnson if it made a difference to have Jaime Hill as coordinator so far. He answered, yes.

“I think just overall it puts him in a position where the defense is on the whole page instead of just correcting the secondary. Instead of having all the positions to correct, the can work more collectively now, do it all together,” said Johnson.