Beware of out-of-state recruiters chasing Utah talent. Oklahoma and Michigan just upped efforts

Recruiting Utah’s high school talent got tougher over the last six months.

Not only do the local college coaches have to protect I-15, but they must battle recruiters off I-35 that goes through Texas and Oklahoma as well as I-94 out of Detroit to Ann Arbor.

This summer, Kyle Whittingham, Jay Hill and other members of their former Utah-connected staff moved to Michigan and kept their Utah recruit contacts. But now Oklahoma coach Brent Venables has decided he wants a part of the Utah-California pipeline and just committed the No. 1 and No. 3 ranked high school recruits in the state.

Venables also just hired a former BYU defensive lineman away from a two-month stint at Fresno State to be part of his recruiting staff in Norman. This came just days — if not hours — after Brown got Corner Canyon offensive lineman Manase Brown, the No. 5-ranked player in the state’s Class of 2027.

BYU held off Oklahoma late Wednesday night for the No. 2-ranked player in the state, edge rusher Uhila Wolfgramm from Spanish Fork. It was a major get for head coach Kalani Sitake and defensive line coach Sione Pou’ha, who were in the Tongan islands during Wolfgramm’s decision as Oklahoma’s staff was pressing until the final hours.

“Coach Venables did a great job recruiting Uhila and built a relationship with him. He is very personable and is a Christian and cares about his players. He is known for building relationships.”

Meanwhile, Whittingham’s staff has committed the No. 6- and No. 8-ranked players in the state, Kamden Lopati, a quarterback from West High, and Christian Hanshaw, a tight end from American Fork.

It used to be that Utah, BYU, Utah State, Weber State, SUU and Utah Tech had to worry about Oregon, USC, UCLA and Washington. They still do.

But Michigan and Oklahoma have entered the harvesting act in a big way. Touting their Big Ten and SEC barks, they are getting results.

Oklahoma picked off Utah’s No. 1-ranked (247Sports) player, Bode Sparrow, just over a week ago. He decided to play in the SEC and was following the No. 3-ranked player, Orem’s Krew Jones, to Norman.

According to family members and Maple Mountain coach Harry Schwenke, both Sparrow and Jones were working Wolfgramm over to join them. While they were not especially close, they had met during some football camps and the Oklahoma topic began to take root.

Wolfgramm said his decision came right down to the wire, a pick to go to BYU taking place at 1 a.m. the day of his public announcement over the Internet.

Oklahoma, a 6-2 sixth-place finisher in the SEC last season, had a 10-3 overall record and lost to Alabama in the first round of the CFP after the Tide rallied from down 17-0 to score 34 of the next 41 points and win 34-24.

You could say the Sooners are looking for defensive help from the likes of Jones and Sparrow after that one.

The hiring of Brown from Fresno State is interesting.

Obviously, the Sooners got a Polynesian connection in Brown, who was at Northeastern State as a defensive line coach in Tahlequah, Oklahoma after spending the previous season at Garden City Community College in Kansas.

Brown announced it himself on X Thursday, posting photos in Oklahoma gear with the caption emphasizing the grind, competing for championships, building relationships, and “Boomer Sooner.”

His new bio highlights his role in the recruiting department as Scouting Coordinator, with Polynesian flags and hashtags like #OUDNA #HardToKill.

For the Cougars, Utes and other Beehive state staffs, they’ve always held out hope that these locals that leave the state to test their beaks with other brands will return in the future.

This happened with Brown when he signed to play with Nebraska in 2001 out of Granger High School. He transferred to BYU, where he played three years and was an All-Mountain West Conference tackle.

On the BYU side, this is what happened with projected Big 12 all-conference linebacker Cade Uluave, who just transferred from Cal after leaving the state out of high school at South Jordan. Same for Oregon transfer tight end Roger Saleapaga, who prepped at Orem High.

Sometimes guys do come home, like Cougar basketball’s Kentucky transfer Collin Chandler.

Meanwhile, the battle is on.

These recruiting wars are going to get interesting.

More choices for the local kids.

More work for the local college recruiters to protect turf.