PROVO, Utah — Mario Puzo once wrote that a man with a briefcase is more powerful than many men with guns and knives.
That was true this month for BYU's athletic program.
The think tank that hatched and executed BYU's move to independence did so with remarkable intensity and secrecy, often working around the clock. Plans took a dramatic twist when the Mountain West Conference scuttled BYU's plans to partner with the Western Athletic Conference. This required a quick switch to the West Coast Conference and a new agreement for BYU's nonfootball teams. As all of this was going on, BYU continued a collaboration with corporate partner ESPN.
Phone calls, contracts, memorandums, rechecks of contracts, financial records, budget reviews, more contracts, rewriting of contracts, reshuffling of contract language and more rewriting of legal pacts were highlights that could have made for a plot in a John Grisham novel.
At the end of August, BYU had already announced schedules with Notre Dame, Texas, Central Florida and several WAC schools for football dates, and it took a matter of days — normally something that takes months if not years.
Since "Independence Day" last Tuesday, BYU has received calls from six schools wanting to talk schedules.
The "BYU team" included some brainiacs, and athletic director Tom Holmoe said he took up the "caboose" in that department. Holmoe, however, had forged relationships with ESPN executives, and the WCC commissioner worked with Holmoe in broadcast relations when Holmoe coached at Stanford.
The team? University president Cecil Samuelson, an LDS general authority and former professor of medicine and dean of the University of Utah Medical School, led the team. Advancement vice president Kevin Worthen, described as one of the brightest minds at the university, assisted. Worthen used to be dean of the J. Reuben Clark Law School, a Fulbright scholar and clerk for Supreme Court Justice Byron White.
Samuelson and Worthen deployed the talents of university council Steve Sandberg, who Holmoe describes as a magician at turning legalese dominoes around quickly and efficiently with the conferences and ESPN executives.
Gesturing above his head as if moving panels, Holmoe said Sandberg moved contract paragraphs around like chess pieces, always on deadline and under pressure.
In a month of decisive action, Holmoe completed commitments to vacation in Alaska and Hawaii but kept a cell phone glued to the side of his face.
"It was touch and go at times," said Sandberg. "But what Tom said earlier, that it was good to have friends, is what it came down to. There are a lot of good people out there, a lot of good institutions, a lot of good ADs, presidents, and what it came down to is management trust."
Sandberg said Holmoe can be very grateful to a lot of people behind the scenes supporting him and athletics.
"The university has a good relationship with a lot of entities, and Holmoe was a huge part of that with those he knew, but so was BYU with its relationships," said Sandberg.
How crazy did it get?
"Don't ask my wife," said Sandberg. "It was crazy. A lot of late nights. I still made all my kids' soccer games, but I was taking phone calls on the sidelines."
Sandberg said Holmoe described it best at last week's presser when he said, "It was fun, hard, terrible, great and done."
A key was a partnership with ESPN.
"They are a fantastic institution," said Sandberg. "I have great respect for Dave Brown (ESPN vice president of programming) and his entire team. From top to bottom, lawyers included; that institution is phenomenal."
So, a week after the Cougars have taken this step, they've received national attention with both praise and criticism. Many have called it gutsy and cutting edge, while others refer to BYU as delusional.
Whatever it may become, it wasn't done with a roll of the dice by a few fellows with an interest in sports, guys who thought it was neat or nifty to have control of the strings for a few days and put a poker in the fire.
It was done in a star chamber with briefcases and legal pads, men used to working with client-patient privileges and people used to saving lives or personal or corporate fortunes were the ones who orchestrated BYU's move to independence.
It took place in one of the worst economies in recent U.S. history, where many businesses are failing. It was done as a matter of survival and fiduciary accountability for university assets.
Now, it's a matter of execution.
e-mail: dharmon@desnews.com