Dylan Collie shares his BYU recruiting experience, his thoughts about the new offensive coaches, and his excitement to join the team

Courtesy BYUCougars.com

While the BYU Cougars are conducting Spring practices and laying the groundwork for the 2018 football season, one player that many are expecting to be an integral part of this year's team is missing: Dylan Collie. The graduate transfer is still in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in Hawai'i. Although he is physically separated from the team by thousands of miles, Collie isn't letting that stop him from having the mindset that he is already part of the team.

Collie is busy finishing his application to BYU's Master's of Public Administration program and finishing the other necessary preparations to arrive in Provo with his wife the second week of May. Amidst these activities, Collie was still gracious enough to answer a few questions for Blue Cougar Football.

A big reason why Collie already has that mindset is the established relationships he has with several members of the team. He has already spent one year at BYU in 2012. Other members of that recruiting class included quarterback Tanner Mangum and Butch Pau'u.

"I've talked to Tanner a few times," Collie explained. "Me and Butch had a good conversation after the game last season when we played them."

Another member of that 2012 recruiting class was Morgan Unga. After spending that season together as teammates, Unga and Collie became members of another team. They both served their two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Virginia Richmond Mission.  

"Obviously, I am closest with Morgan Unga," Collie pointed out. "I think that has been made clear for a lot of people, and our experiences together on our mission, and the friendship we had before and then what it led to on our mission getting to serve together."

Unga and Collie didn't just serve in the same mission, but they were in the Missionary Training Center (MTC) together and were companions in the field for a significant amount of time.

"We served in the MTC together and served as companions for the last six months of our mission," Collie added.

Speaking of the group of guys he already knows, as a whole, Collie said, "Those guys are guys who I feel understand me as a person, understand what I have been doing the lasts three years. They're just glad to have me back, and more so, I'm glad to be back with them. You get guys as quality and nice as Austin Hoyt. It is easy to get back in the rhythm with knowing that these guys are after the same goal as you are and that is to be as successful as possible in this program."

Another reason why Collie has already gotten into the mindset that he is part of the team is the unique connection he has with new offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes. It has been well documented that Grimes was the offensive line coach at BYU from 2004-06. Those three seasons, Collie's brothers Austin (2004) and Zac (2005-06) played for the Cougars. They have given their younger brother glowing reviews of Grimes.

"That was a big thing," Dylan Collie said. "When he got hired, one of the first things that both my brothers Zac and Austin said, 'He is a great coach, and he's a guy you could trust; a guy that knew what he was doing.' He was one of their favorite coaches from their time at BYU, and that he was a good hire."

Source: @23Collie on Twitter

The endorsement of Grimes by his siblings was nice, but that alone wasn't going to be enough to get Collie to return to BYU. Grimes and wide receivers coach Fesi Sitake went out to Hawai'i and made their recruiting pitch, which according to Collie was not the usual message. 

"It was obviously a little different than most," Collie explained. "It wasn't, 'This is what we are going to do to amaze you and show you how great our campus is and how great our school is.' It was more so of pushing where I truly belong. You know coming from them from the very get go they knew and do believe that this is where I belong.

"And the message that I got from Coach Sitake from the very beginning about the impact I could have in the locker room and most importantly on the field and what he wanted to accomplish. I think it was a place that made complete sense. To hear and to see that push and to see the clear plan, especially that Grimes had, and the staff that he's hired and the trust that he has with them you'd think that they'd been together for a long time."

That feeling about the coaching staff was very important for Collie. In his situation, he has only one year at his new school to add to his resume before attempting an NFL career. Some people would consider it a negative that this is Grimes and his staff's first year together, but Collie has considered that notion, and found plenty of reasons not to worry about that. 

"These guys have been around the block for a minute, and they've called plays and they've been in an environment with big time college football," Collie began. "This is just a step in their journey where they all wanted to end up, and now that they have that here, they have a fight and a grind that I think is hard to match. To be able to feel that, to have that conversation with Coach Roderick about being back at BYU for him and the fire he has, we really share a mutual agreement and an attitude in the way that we played and the way that he coaches. I can't wait to be a part of all those guys with Coach Sitake in the wide receiver room to be able to have a guy who has already run two offenses. When you get a guy who understands the entire offense and then he comes in and has the chance to focus on one receiver, or one group, that's huge. People don't understand what that does for a position. I'm just blessed and grateful to be a part of it."

Speaking of the offensive staff Grimes has assembled, Collie said, "Everyone else that came after [Grimes] seemed to be lined up just right with what I was looking for and what I needed."

Vanderbilt and Wake Forest were two other schools interested in Collie's services. When it came down to making a decision, Collie realized BYU could offer him everything that those schools had and more.

"When I had the opportunity to go on those visits and see those different places," Collie recounts. "To say that I wasn't impressed and that it wasn't exciting would be an understatement. Especially going to Vanderbilt. I absolutely loved Wake Forest--great campus, everything like that. I really could see myself fitting in and absolutely loved the coaches at Vanderbilt. Those guys have it together. I think that program is in great shape and going great places, but when it came down to it, and I looked at all that and I saw all that and I saw really the same things that I see at BYU.

"Then you add the factor of being able to use the resources that I have out there, including my brother and get that opportunity to get extra work with him as I ultimately prepare for the next level. I don't think there is a person I trust more that will get me ready in terms of the knowledge, the mind set, and things like that for the next level than what Austin can do. Being close to my dad and my brother Zac, it really, ultimately, came down to that comfort and that ability to kind of be in a place I already knew. To be in a locker room where I am familiar with a lot of the guys, and a place where I knew it wasn't going to take a lot of time to build relationships and rapport because I do have a relationship with a lot of the guys in there. I trust the coaches, I trust the players, and that's comforting for a guy who can be there only seven months."

As pointed out earlier, that seven month time frame does not give room for Collie to participate in the on going Spring practices. Nevertheless, he is working diligently to stay in peak physical condition.

Courtesy hawaiiwarriorworld.com

"I'm surrounded by people out here, and utilizing the resources that I have out here," Collie noted. "Physically, I'm not going to miss a beat. I'm doing nothing but progressing out here. I work out with guys who are the best of the best that Hawai'i has to offer. Everyone from a guy named Darin Yap at Tactical Strength, [he] takes care of all the physical, and Kenny Patton at Patton Performance, who is working on the speed aspect of it.

"The group of guys that I get to work out with. To be able to work out with my quarterback Drew Brown who is transferring to Oklahoma State to be their quarterback. Damien Packer who played safety at Hawai'i and graduated a few years ago; he's the anchor behind my work, my work ethic. When my wife is at work, he is the one that makes sure that I'm accountable and doing everything that I have to to prepare myself for this season so that I don't skip a beat."

There is also a mental side to football. While not taking anything for granted, Collie is confident that he has the mental ability to make up for this lost time.

"As for the mental side of it," Collie continued. "I like to pride myself on the fact that football is football, and a playbook is a playbook. There's no doubt in my mind that after I've learned three different playbooks and three variations of offenses, I'll pick it up fairly fast--faster than most. The mental side, I am not worried about that. I trust Coach Grimes. I trust Coach Sitake. I trust Coach Rod that they're going to be able to take care of me. To take care of all the questions that I have, so that when that time comes in June when we start doing 7-on-7s, I'm not going to be far behind at all."

Once he is around the rest of the team, a lot of onlookers are hoping Collie can provide some leadership to a receiving corps that was lacking that intangible last season. Collie recognizes he has some qualities and experience that could help in this regard, but he doesn't plan to come in and try and take over the group. He also recognizes that some of the existing players are growing and filling that leadership void.

Collie assessed the situation in these words, "At this point, we are on our way to having grown men, and guys who are full of love for the game, and are mature--that's an automatic that you get from BYU. I've played in 36 Division I college football games, and I have had an impact, I think, in a majority of them. I'm almost 25 years old. I'll be one of the only seniors in the room.

"I'm just grateful for the chance that I am going to have to come in and bounce off of what other guys have started, and just to add an extra element. I don't plan on coming in and being some vocal, vocal human being that's trying to get everyone's attention. I'm just going to do what I know best, naturally, and that's to work my butt off and make sure that I am doing my job. What that's done for me in the past is it's brought people along. The opportunity to be in there and be with those guys and to share what I can, if they want it.

"I know guys like Micah Simon have already done a phenomenal job at really setting the pace this season. He's a guy that, I believe, is a great receiver. I know him the best out of all the receivers. I'm looking forward to getting to know the other guys and getting to build a rapport with them. just to see and hear what Micah has already done, and to be able to talk to him just during spring and this little bit with the new coaches is dang impressive for a kid who is 20-21 years old. I'm just glad to be a part of it and hope that I can bring an aspect of maturity and age that has been missing a little bit."

He may also want to try and help recreate the atmosphere that the receiving corps had when he redshirted in 2012. When asked about learning by association with BYU's all-time receiving leader Cody Hoffman that season, Collie wasn't able to separate one individual from the rest of the group.

"Both Cody and Ross [Apo], that entire receiving corps, from the moment I walked in, they were guys who wanted to take me under and help me out to be the best player that I could be," Collie recalls. "When I think of Cody, it's hard not to think of Ross. It's hard not to think of JD [Falslev]. It's hard not to think of Brett Thompson, Skyler Ridley, Dallin Cutler. When it comes to the beginning of my college career, I don't think, I know it was meant to be that I was meant to be around Mitch Mathews, Kurt Henderson, those types of guys because they helped shape me to be not only a better football player, but in their own ways, to be a better person.

"Cody is one of my closest friends. I still talk to Cody on a regular basis, or I try to at least. When I think of that corps, or I think of that room, I think of every single person in that room and what they did. Cody Raymond even. I could go through that room and point out every single guy, and that was, pretty much, six years ago.  All those guys made me a better football player, and a better person."

Getting back to those NFL aspirations that Collie has, he truly believes that BYU can help him get to the NFL. A big reason why is the schedule that BYU has put together as an independent.

"You talk about a group of guys who have been through it," Collie began. "A program that has put guys out on a regular basis. The schedule that they have to offer. What [Athletic Director] Tom Holmoe has done as scheduling as an independent. People can say what they want, but to be able to put yourself in a position to play games at Wisconsin, to play games at Arizona, to have Cal in Provo.

"This is college football. College football is college football. There are a few teams that separate themselves off of different ethics and different values, but ultimately, every game you are going to get top tier athletes no matter where you play. It's just about how you play.

"I know that through the schedule, through the coaches, through the staff, through the environment, most importantly, to be around friends, to be around family who have confidence in you, who believe in you. I know that BYU is going to do the job that I am looking for. My plan is to do what they need me for. That's a common trust I have with Coach Sitake and Coach Grimes and we're ready to make something big out of it."

One way BYU has already helped Collie prepare for the NFL, as well as benefited him the last three season's in Hawai'i, is playing on the Scout team in 2012 against the many NFL caliber players on BYU's defense.

"I can honestly tell you," Collie said. "That I go into every single game that I have played in my college career, and if there is ever a shadow of a doubt, what I think of is that I have done it against the absolute best defense, in my opinion, one of the best defenses ever to do it. That defense in 2012 and what they have been able to accomplish at the next level, I would like to think that I was productive against them every single day. If you ask any of them, they will tell you that I got them better. To be able to know and have that confidence that I was up against those guys on a regular basis that means a lot for my confidence. Then what I can do on the field, especially in a system that is productive, that is balanced, that is able to make plays, that is one big thing I learned. The confidence that no matter how big you are, that all that really matters is if you have that mindset and that skill set."

In a recent radio interview with ESPN960 in Utah, BYU fans were able to get an update on Austin Collie's current profession. He is working with Canary Concussion. Dylan provided a brief update on the rest of the family. Zac has been working in commercial real estate in California since he graduated from BYU about a decade ago. The patriarch Scott works for a company called Quest, and also continues his passion to train receivers through his start up Receiver Tech.

The Editor appreciates all feedback. He can be reached via email at bluecougarfootball@gmail.com