Where are they now? Nate Meikle

So fall of ‘07 I’m sitting at football practice and Greg Wrubell, the KSL play-by-play commentator, approaches me and asks, “Nate, have you ever thought about getting into broadcasting?  James Dye can no longer do the sideline reporting due to his business pursuits and we need someone to take his place.  We’d pay for your trips to every game, give you a little extra money as payment for your services, and just ask that you don’t miss a single game.  You’d be watching the game from the sidelines and would just talk about what you see happening from field level.”

So you’re telling me I can make a little money watching my friends play football?  Not to mention the free vacations with my wife every fall?  It’s not all gravy though.  Try and interview Coach Mendenhall at half time of TCU when we are losing 23-0.

Aside from my one day a week KSL gig, I am working with a real estate development company in Utah County.  Anyone in need of the best Class A office space in Ut County, with freeway frontage, give me a call☺

Reading Markell’s post inspired me to write about one subject that many fans don’t know a whole lot about - Coach Anae.

Having played slot receiver at BYU, I spent the better part of two years with Coach Anae as he was my position coach.  I had more contact with Coach Anae over my career than any other coach.  All the defensive sissies (Quinn, Markell, the General☺) talk about how hard it was to play for Coach Mendenhall running pursuits, but they never had to sit in meetings with Coach Anae and take a mental beating like only he could dish out.  Only when you deserved it though which I can respect (some coaches have bad days and they take it out on everyone).   Nothing inappropriate, nothing I can’t repeat, just the most demanding coach I have ever played for - and one of my all-time favorites.

Some coaches tell you, “If you get your hands on the ball, you better catch it” all the while recognizing that if the ball’s a little high, or a db’s on your back, you’re probably not going to.  Not so with Coach Anae, he means what he says - and keep dropping balls and you’ve just wasted the last three years of your life cause you’ll never see the field again.  The effect is that you expect more of yourself and play at a ‘higher level’ than you ever have before.  That is unless he breaks you down first. But if Coach Anae can break you down in meetings, how do you expect to deal with the pressure of game day? (That being said, some guys get injured which is different than getting broken down.)  Lots of coaches say lots of things.  When Coach Anae says something, he means it.  I don’t know if I’ve ever met a tougher person in my life.  I’ve seen coaches throughout all my years of athletics get nervous and intimidated by other teams.  Coach Anae has never been intimidated by anything or anyone in his life.  If Coach Mendenhall is Moroni, Coach Anae is Teancum - at least I thought so the night we played SDSU in 2005 when he just about took that javelin the SDSU coach was throwing around and shoved it into his heart.

I’d be living in a high rise in Dubai if I had dollar for every time I heard someone criticize Coach Anae.  Is he a perfect O Coordinator?  No.  Is he one of the best in the country? A resounding yes - especially considering he’s only been at it for 3.5 years.  The critics say “He’s too predictable, he’s not creative enough.”  I say ask the D Coordinators he’s faced the last three years and they’ll tell you differently.  I’m not saying he’s flawless, but I am saying lets not pull another Norm Chow.  He understands that creativity comes at the cost of inconsistency - that he must strike a fine balance.  As Coach Mendenhall said last week, “The easy thing to do (when you’re struggling) is go out and create a new play.”  The numbers from the last three years speak for themselves:

BYU National Rankings
2005: 13th Total Offense, 24th Scoring Offense
2006:  4th Total Offense, 5th Scoring Offense
2007: 25th Total Offense, 47th Scoring Offense
Avg:  14th Total Offense 25th Scoring Offense

Southern Cal National Rankings
2005: 1st Total Offense, 2nd Scoring Offense
2006: 21st Total Offense, 18th Scoring Offense
2007: 29th Total Offense 34th Scoring Offense
Avg: 17th Total Offense 18th Scoring Offense

Some of you are saying Southern Cal plays tougher teams.  I’m saying Southern Cal has better athletes.

Coach is also Smart (that’s right a capital S).  His Ph.D. suggests it and getting to know him over two years confirmed it.  And the guy has an imagination like you wouldn’t believe.  One of my favorite activities each day was telling Cam, Kayle, and Dustin the daily metaphor Coach used to get his point across.  I’m not saying they were dirty or inappropriate.  I am saying they were effective and hilarious.

In closing here’s hoping that the 2008 BYU team does something that no BYU team has done in over a decade - lose only one game.  Let’s not forget we still have the best WR in BYU history, one of the grittiest QB’s to ever play the position, one of the most athletic TE’s in a long line of great TE’s, and one of the most physical, talented RB’s we’ve ever had the pleasure of watching - just ask Steve Tate.