After weeks of speculation, BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall announced at his weekly press conference that Jake Heaps would be transferring from the BYU football program.
This is the second top-tier blue-chip quarterback to leave the program in the last seven years, with Ben Olson transferring out of the program in 2005 to UCLA.
It was clear after the Utah State game with the gushing of Mendenhall over Riley Nelson that Heaps was losing favor quickly in the eyes of the coaches and his teammates. Nelson replaced Heaps in the second half of that game and led the Cougars to a last-second win over the Aggies and the rest is history.
While no one will publicly admit it, the team clearly played harder around Nelson than it did around Heaps.
Whether that is an indication of Heaps' immaturity or lack of leadership, it will never be known. But when it became clear Heaps had lost the support of his coaches and teammates, his spot was carved out on the sidelines for the season.
Heaps leaves an incomplete legacy at BYU. The hype for his arrival on campus was unprecedented and Heaps simply did not deliver on expectations. After a solid freshman year, Heaps was expected to have an extraordinary sophomore season. BYU passing records were going to fall left and right and Quarterback University was going to be back.
With very inconsistent play, poor early-season play-calling and a tough front-loaded schedule, Heaps simply did not deliver. Some will say the system failed Heaps, a three-time state champion who boasted a 40-2 record in high school, but Heaps just did not play up to expectations at the college level.
The bottom line is Heaps made poor decisions time after time this season. He missed open receivers with regularity, struggled with his confidence in the pocket, stared down his receivers, and the list could go on and on.
He was given every chance to succeed and simply did not. His offensive line was a very solid group that will produce multiple NFL linemen, one of which could go in the first round in 2012. His receivers were all coming back and the defense played fairly well this season.
Heaps will be remembered as a bust in Provo for years to come. While that is not fair, Heaps could have written a much different story with more consistent play.
Hopefully Heaps will land in a solid FBS program and get one more shot to live up to his talent level and skill set. He seems to be a nice enough guy who always has the right things to say. However, talk is cheap and hopefully his future play will do the speaking for him.
Colorado Rapids Chicago Fire Washington Capitals Western Mass Pioneers
No comments:
Post a Comment