Where are they now?
AP Photo by Douglas Pizac
This man has been a force in the comments section of the blog and continues to provide insightful and emotional comments. Thanks Markell, and keep it up!!!
“Who Am I and What Am I Doing:
My name is Markell Staffieri, formerly #36. Right now I am living in San Diego, CA working as a partner with my father as a financial planner, managing small pension plans and investments, as well as doing life insurance for our clients. It is a job that I never knew I would love this much. It is just the two of us so it is easy to schedule time with my family. Plus I am within 30 minutes of both my brothers, so Saturday football parties are fairly common.
Most notably is my recent induction into the Father Club. My first child, and son was born on Sept 30th, 2008. He was 6 weeks early, but like a cougar he is a fighter and is doing great!
My Current Connection to the Program:
My current connection to the program is trying to find games on TV. I never realized what all the fuss was about. Now I am on the other side trying to find a way to see the games, I have more than a few opinions to share with Craig Thompson these days.
I have tried to stay away from calling a lot of the guys on the team this year, because I feel like I have had my time in the sun and they don’t need me being just another guy asking all the same standard questions. I have stayed in touch with some guys I consider close friends, Jan Jorgensen, Terrance Hooks, Matt Bauman and Harvey Unga. However, most of my connections to the program are through players I played with, John Beck, Judd Anderton, Kelly Poppinga and through this blog, Quinn Gooch. I much prefer talking with comrades that chat rooms because these guys have a different perspective and I trust that they are speaking from experience, not from the arm chair. I like the fact that I can have intelligent conversations on the blog. Plus having had Quinn call the coverages behind me for two years I know he is on top of things and has a great feel for and knowledge of the game.
My Favorite Moments at BYU:
SUPER GAMES! (At least the fun ones, like water polo and soccer) I miss the locker room. I loved showing up at 1:00 and just hanging out with the guys before practice. I had 2 plays that really stick out in my mind as memorable. The first is my fumble recovery at New Mexico Coach Mendenhall’s first year as HC. We were in a tough one and they were driving. The QB ran the ball and it just kind of came out after he slipped out of a Justin Carlson Maddux tackle. I had spun off a block and when I turned around I saw the ball just laying there with no one around about 5-10 yards from me…it seemed like a mile. I dove on it and then some more Cougars joined me. I love watching the film clip and seeing Justin in the background doing some kind of marching man celebration. Then it was the great effort by Matt Allen on my favorite BYU play of all time, Beck to Allen on the 10 yard out/comeback. The 2nd play was on a 4th and inches against Wyoming, Cameron Jensen and I went over the top and stuffed the QB on a sneak. It did not impact the game in any way, shape or form, but it is my favorite play at BYU for two reasons. 1) I loved playing with Cameron and my junior year we were supposed to be the dup in the middle, but I ripped my hamstring of the bone before the season started. To make that play with him meant the world to me. 2) It was a perfect demonstration of how Cameron and I liked to play in any sport at any time and that is to not let the opponent succeed no matter what the situation. I don’t like conceding anything to my opponent whether it matters or not. There is a great picture of this stop that was in the paper and hangs in my son’s room. Cameron will point out that his vertical was higher (which it was on that play) but I like to point out that it is my helmet who is hitting the QB’s helmet, stopping his momentum. Wink wink, Cam.
Finally I will miss the firesides. I got the chills every time we stood together and sang Army of Heleman. No accomplishment on the field ever outweighed the feeling I had standing in that group of guys and singing that song.
My Opinion of the Current State of the Program:
I am very optimistic, but also very nervous at times. It is great that the team is getting so much recognition early on in the season. I think that the program is in great hands with Coach Mendenhall. I was a little nervous while attending the Washington game that the defense didn’t really know what was going on but they have answered my doubts, and not because of the shutouts. I have seen them take charge of their assignments and play within the system (See Quinn’s notes on the Tulsa game). I am a little reserved in that I think that offense is a little non-chalant at times and that worries me. I would also like to see more receivers get the ball thrown to them. I may be a little biased because John is my brother in law, but I also had to play defense against him for 3 years and the hard thing with him is that you “Thought” you knew who he was going to throw to and then at the last second he would hit his 3rd or 4th read. I want to see Max look off Dennis and Collie when there are 3 guys around them and hit Mike Reed, who in my opinion is the most under-appreciated receiver in the conference. Or he can hit Ashworth or Chambers when Reed is not in. This is the thing that frustrates me the most about the team right now. In order to win against teams like Oklahoma, USC and others with the talent to match up man for man with LB on our TE and RB we will struggle unless Max hits his 2nd, 3rd, 4th reads. ***THIS WAS ALL WRITTEN BEFORE THE TCU GAME***
Post TCU comments: My opinion does not change, it has only grown stronger. Our defense has struggled with the run all year, something they haven’t done in the last 3 years. Throw out the avg/play rush yards because our standard is under 100 and we are not doing that. What I have in bold is what I think has been, and was the biggest problem at TCU. Mike Reed did not get thrown to until half way through the 3rd quarter. In the mean time Pitta and Collie repeatedly had balls thrown to them when there was help over the top and the guy underneath was running the route for them. Max threw it to the defender and hoped that Pitta and Collie would make some miraculous pass. Now I can’t fault Max entirely for this. I fault mostly Coach Doman. This has been a tendency for Max from day one at BYU and Coach Doman should have it fixed by now. Also I fault Anae in that he should be calling some plays where a slot or z receiver are the primary targets. If I were a D coordinator I would put a CB and a S on Collie and a CB and a S on Pitta and two LB on Unga and let the rest of the receivers do whatever they heck they wanted…(See TCU game plan).
How Have I Seen the Program Change:
This is the topic of the decade for us Cougars who lived through the Crowton and Mendenhall era. It is one that pains me to talk about sometimes because of all the flack Coach Crowton gets. This is something that I speak about with John Beck often. I was glad to see Quinn put some thoughts down on this but I did not get to read the whole thing. I would like to take the opportunity to voice my own two cents. Coach Crowton is a major reason why I went on my mission! He is a great man and a great coach. Coach Crowton may not have been the most successful head coach, but he is an amazing coach. He is not the only one who brought in a few bad eggs to the program. Some of those many may consider the “worst” guys were there when he inherited the program. When I first got to BYU in 2001 (Crowton’s 1st year, probably did not have 1 person on the team that year that was his recruit) I was a little disappointed with the type of guys that I was surrounded by. I thought that BYU would be different, but the lockerroom was like any other lockerroom in the country. When I came back from my mission for the 2004 season the team was different. It was not where it is now, but Coach Crowton had done a lot of good in getting more of the right people on the bus. The biggest difference in the program has been the fact that now the right people are in the right seats. But don’t forget that a great majority of the players on this team and last years were recruited by Coach Crowton. Yes, the same guys that stand and sing Army of Heleman, are the same guys that Gary Crowton brought on board. So why the change? Coach Crowton was a very spiritual man inside one-on-one, inside his office, or in the hallway. Coach Mendenhall has taken the next step and has been very vocal about the spiritual demands that come with being a BYU football player. That is the change I have seen. I am grateful for the change in head coaches. I agree with what Quinn wrote that it is what needed to happen in order to get the right people in the right seats. I wish Coach Crowton could have stayed as the OC (Not to take anything away from Anae, this would have been before I even knew Coach Anae). Most of all I am grateful that I was able to finish my career at BYU on such a high note, and I have both coaches to thank for that.
Expectations for the Season:
WIN OUT! I think that Utah has a very explosive offense and they will test our defense. What I would like to see is the defense finally stop a running QB when we play Utah. We have struggled with that more than anything over the last 4 years and that, I believe will be the difference in the game…that and stopping Casteel who always plays up against the Cougs. It is not over for the Cougs, not by a long shot. TCU is a very good football team and their only loss was to then No.1 Oklahoma. If our only loss is to them we could climb back up in the polls in the next 4 weeks and still have a shot at a BCS bowl. We had some talk about BCS last year with a 2 loss team. Stranger things have happened.
For the first time in a long time I feel that we were out physicaled at TCU. (I don’t know if that is a word, but that is how I feel). We need to reestablish ourselves as a physical team. When I was in Philadelphia a LB from Kansas State told me he talked to his friend from the Pac 10 who said that BYU had a reputation out west for beating people up and just hurting the other team physically. We lost that at TCU and need to get it back quick.
I thought that the TCU game would define our season. Now I feel that how we respond to this butt whooping will define our season.
I am still proud as ever to be a Cougar. I bleed blue and I will see you all at the bowl game!
Expectations for Upcoming Seasons:
We need a QB. I know what you all are thinking, Max is a Junior. If you want my opinion (THIS IS PURELY OPINION, I HAVE NOT TALKED TO ANYONE ON THE TEAM ABOUT THIS, SO DON’T JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS) Max Hall, Austin Collie, Harvey Unga and Dennis Pitta, all leave next year for the draft (Get while the getting’s good, in their mind) Then we lose our entire O Line. We better get a GREAT QB to make plays with a young O Line. Coach Mendenhall has a way of getting it done though. In 2005 we were young, but he helped us believe in ourselves and in the system and we turned a program around.
I am optimistic that this train will keep rolling. We won’t get our NC shot this year, but it is not out of reach in the very near future!
PS in 21 years the Cougs will have the most dominate LB in the country…Just a hunch!”
Your take on Crowton was a side I had never heard or thought about, thanks for sharing.
I second Andy’s thoughts. Thanks for sharing that about Crowton.
Quinn,
this blog (aside from some news articles) is just about the only thing worth reading about the BYU football present and past. Great job!
Staff or Quinn….
FWIW, I always thought there was a lot more to the Crowton era then what was portrayed. I have to admit, I really like watching his offenses play on saturdays. Say what you want, but the guy is a great OC.
Knowing the guys on the team, do you think we will be able to stop a running QB? Let me just preface this by saying that I am not asking you to be negative towards any certain person. I am just curious if you think it is inexperience or maybe we are just a little undersized at LB.
Thanks for taking the time and giving us all our Cougar fix…
I love these past player features. I’m as grateful as anyone that Bronco is here, but I always thought Crowton would start to pull out winning seasons if we just gave him a little bit longer. In 2004 my wife and I wrote a letter telling him we believed in him and that not all opinion was against him, and I’m glad we did because he was forced out of the program soon after that. Hopefully it helped him leave Provo with not too bad a taste in his mouth.
Anyway, thanks for all the insights, Quinn and Markell!
Hey Markell/Quinn,
First of all, thanks for all you guys are doing to give us the meat we are craving. I have at several times in the past year heard different references from Bronco about the “fly wheel,” and noticed that Markell mentioned “the bus” and getting people in the “right seats” in the bus. Is it mandatory that players read books such as “From Good to Great?” Are there any other books that Bronco has suggested the players read? I am hoping that Bronco writes a book about his implementation of different management theories into the Cougar program. Do you think that will happen?
Brett,
Coach Mendenhall does not ask us to read any books, but he has quite a library in his office and at his house. I enjoy reading and so I have borrowed about a dozen books from him to read. All with their own motivational message. He always kind of knew what I needed to hear and when and would give me the according book. The first one that I would recommend would the “The Traveler’s Gift.” The next one would be, “The Christ Commission.”
I could see Coach Mendenhall writing a book about his experience at BYU. I don’t know how soon that will happen. He may find that once he is done coaching he will have a lot of free time with his family, and he’ll not want to give that up.
Cnation,
As I said before this has been our Achilles heel for a while now. However the good news is that in the past we have only had to be good enough to NOT LET THE QB BEAT US. An example of this from this year’s team would be Washington. They did just enough to not let Locker beat us with his feet (although that was a little too close for comfort).
I remain optimistic that our front 7 will be able to get the job done. Jan, Denney, Dulan, Tialavea, Doman, AhYou, Bauman, Nixon, Clawson…Those are some good players, some of them GREAT! They will figure it out and come together nice.
Trust in the system, do your part to the best of your ability and history has shown us that you will find success.
This blog is a great read. It is refreshing to come to a BYU sports site that refuses to foster a culture of negativity. I really enjoy these “Where are they now” features.
I’m wondering if one of you guys can comment on the play of the inside backers. It appears, from an arm chair point of view, that the difference in stopping the run the past three years versus this year is the work of those two key positions. It just seems the current inside guys don’t have, or haven’t yet developed, that instinctive edge. No one wants to criticize the current guys, but can you even teach instinct? Or maybe there’s another explanation to us not being able to handle the direct snap to the WR?
Markell fantastic job and I am glad you are doing great and that you love your new career. You brought “it” to this board the same way you always played your position. Never afraid or timid to bring it.
Hey Staffieri,
Thanks for the time and insights. I remember your injury and cannot believe the recovery you made. I’m glad your home life and career are going well.
Good to hear we’re going to have a great LB in 21 years.
He’ll have a challenge beating my sons records in 12 years.
All I have to say is, I’m originally from Washington, grew up a Huskie fan until I realized BYU had a football team in high school. I’ve been died in the whool ever since. My spouse is a BYU graduate and we have indoctrinated our children well.
Not a lot of good football is coming out of Washington right now.
GO BYU!
Your insite on Crowton confirms what I always believed. Some of the negativity surrounding him blames him for the bad decisions that some of the players made. I heard Coach Crowton make the comment (multiple times) in interviews that the reason Ben Olson did not come out to play in the second half of the Utah state game was because he was affraid that if he were wildly successful, that Ben may make the decision not to go on a mission. Crowton (in the same interview) said that he had promised Ben’s mother that he would do everything that he could to encourage Ben to go on his mission and he wanted to keep that promise. I like Crowton, he is a good man and a good OC, I have wished him well since his departure. I was happy to see LSU win the NC specifically because of Coach Crowton.
Having said that, I knew BYU would pummel Oregon in the vegas bowl because Bronco always had Crowton’s number defensively.
Mac,
I may have to leave that one to Quinn for two reasons 1) They are my buddies and I don’t feel comfortable evaluating them…2) I couldn’t evaluate them fairly because my only access to the games is the TV version and you can’t tell what is really going on from the limited angles.
Quinn gets a copy of the game film which shows every play from a sideline view and an endzone view. He will have a better look at where the holes and fits are.
The one game I saw live (Washington) I was only frustrated with a few pre-snap reads where I felt the offense tipped the play. I was hoping they would recognize those. Then just a couple missed assignments in the pass defense (But the tough thing there is that I don’t know what the game plan was. I was only looking at the signals coming in from the sideline. Maybe they were playing the coverages a little different that game)
Why aren’t the inside linebackers able to handel the direct snap?
Good question, first of all they are being forced to fill a whole that is two trucks wide. It is a hard enough tackle when the back doesn’t have room to make a move. Also the help side players were getting cut against TCU. That meant that it was a one on one tackle with a very athletic “QB” against a LB. That match-up isn’t one that is good for our defense.
Everyone needs to remember that there are numerous players that screw up when there is long yardage gained. D-line needs to play their gaps, which will allow the linebackers to play theirs.
Personally I think the linebackers need to play with more down hill mentality. They aren’t sticking their noses in their, they need to start filling holes like Mack trucks instead of Mini Coopers.
Matt Bauman, Matt Ah You, Shawn Doman are all capable players. They are undersized but they have the tools neccassary to be successful. They need to prepare better so they can rely on their instincts, and less on their knowledge. I hope that make sense. The more you study the game/opponent the more familiar things become on the field. They will than simple find themselves in the right places.
Markell,
It was great to read your post and get some added insight. Personally, I feel that with Hooks out, you and Cameron gone our run defense has dropped off sharply. Not to rip on Bauman and Doman too much, but they can’t compete at the same level as you and Cam did. Hopefully Hooks can get it going with his knee and all.
Dustin had four knee surgeries this year, so it has been real rough for him. Bryan came to see him while he was at Primary Children’s hospital. Which was awesome. Dustin sure misses you guys and wished you could be here for his birthday again. Any suggestions on who could step in for you guys this year? With all of my BYU umpire buddies gone and there not being a BYU group playing, my in roads to the players has decreased dramatically. I did run into Nate during the half time of the USU game. He is another great guy.
Take care and let me know your thoughts on getting someone to join in on Dustin’s birthday. It’s only a couple of weeks off.
Tom,
First off, Tell Dustin to hang in there. Sorry he is not doing so well in the injury department. I know how rough that road is.
Glad to hear that Bryan stopped by. He is so great about doing things like that.
Second, I would say get in touch with PR Guys and ask them to set something up with Jan or Wayne Latu. Both of those guys would make the time to help anyone out. Although now that I think about it Wayne has a lot on his plate. Nixon, Bauman, they are great with things like that too.
Finally, I would love to see more Terrance when he is back to full strength. Terrance is not afraid to stick his nose in there and hit anyone really hard. He will be a good physical change-up.
Markell,
Thanks for the thoughts. I like to hear people give the credit that is due Crowton. This is such a great thing Quinn has put together and I hope the rest of you guys continue to stay active with your comments. Miss watching you play man and cant wait to watch your boy in 21 years be the best linebacker in school history. Keep making those stars!!!
I will call Mike Middleton and see what he can do in setting something up for Dustin.
What impact do you think BYU having played weak opponents prior to TCU had on them being so out of synch against TCU? I am not saying BYU did a poor job of getting UCLA and UW on the schedule, as who knew years ago that this year they would be so bad.
I just wonder if paying teams like USU and D2 programs end up hurting us when it comes time for playing tougher opponents. Especially if the real goal is to win at home be MWC champions.
Markell,
One more question about the Dustin deal. We recently met Terrance at a football camp the local league put together. He seems like a real great guy. If Mike were to set-up something with Nixon & Hooks, do you think Terrance would feel weird if that evening they put on a fireside with some of the other LDS players that came? Even if Terrance didn’t want to speak. It’s a ward deal, not at the Stake level. However, last year about 30 of our youth came. You guys set the bar pretty high when you did the same in Sunday School a couple of years ago.
With my family and extended family being very inter-racial, it’s nice not to just have us pale white guys there
Thanks,
I just want to thank you guys for the insights and taking the time to enlighten us fans. You’re doing a huge service. If anyone from the school happens to suggest you water down your opinions, please stick to your guns. The benefit of your keen analysis far outweighs any sort of ramifications an administrator might imagine.
Tom,
Terrance would be fine with a little fireside deal.
As to the schedule. It is all a matter of how you approach the game. If BYU treated the TCU game like they did the UCLA game it would have been a different outcome. Against UCLA we were out to prove a point. We should have blown them out twice last year and we ended up with a loss and a close win. We wanted that game to be a statement and it was. I think they treated TCU like…ever since we’ve been here there has been so much talk about TCU, we’ve never lost to them, what’s the big deal? Then David hit Goliath square between the eyes and the players didn’t even respond, they just kind of took it and didn’t want to prove a point anymore.
Kell–
I’ve been bragging to your brother about your posts on here and this is the best of the bunch so far. Even though you were a Falcon early on, I was excited to cheer for you at BYU and I miss seeing you out there this season. I know that Matt has the MTN, but you and your brothers are always welcome to come check out the games in San Clemente on my slingbox. Hope to see you up this way again soon!
GD
PS-Quinn, this blog is by far the best that I’ve seen as far as providing a “PhD” in football-ology! Thanks for the education!
Staff – That play against Wyoming was the highlight of that whole year in my opinion. I know it came against a poor team in a game that was already won but it showed such determination and refusal to let down that you just had to watch it and be amazed.
I think that is the passion Quinn has been looking for. Hopefully now that the national media attention has gone away we can re focus and that passion will return.
Thanks for the website and for all of your comments.
I thought the defense would miss you pretty badly, and they do.
I don’t think that anyone leaves early though.
Thanks for the thoughts on Crowton. It completely gave me a whole new vision of who he is as a man and coach.
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