Neither Tom nor I like to announce things until we have signed contracts in hand, but the circumstances today, when my personal integrity was attacked, led me to believe it is important to let people in the state know our future plans. – Utah AD Chris Hill
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah athletic director Chris Hill released a statement Tuesday afternoon indicating that a contract is on BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe’s desk to extend the football series between the schools beyond an agreement to play in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Hill said the yet-to-be signed contract, which Utah officials sent to BYU on July 30, includes games in 2019 and 2020. He also noted that tentative dates have been discussed for 2021 and 2022.
BYU associate athletic director Duff Tittle confirmed to the Deseret News that Holmoe and Hill have agreed to a football contract extension for 2019 and 2020. Tittle noted that the contract is being finalized by legal counsel at both schools, and that specific details will be announced when the contract has been signed.
The series is currently on a two-year hiatus.
Hill’s decision to reveal the new information came in the wake of what he described as “inflammatory statements made today by a local radio host toward me personally in regards to the Utah-BYU football rivalry and I feel it is important to shed some light on the topic.”
Hill said that he has talked to Holmoe on several occasions about future scheduling.
“Neither Tom nor I like to announce things until we have signed contracts in hand, but the circumstances today, when my personal integrity was attacked, led me to believe it is important to let people in the state know our future plans,” Hill said.
The statement explained Hill’s stance on why Utah opted to take a break from playing BYU.
“The message I have received loud and clear from Utah season ticket holders is that they support our decision to take a two-year hiatus from the BYU rivalry in order to play Michigan at our place,” he said.
The Sept. 3 opener with the Wolverines, Hill added, is proving to be quite beneficial to the Utes.
“The Michigan game is attracting more national publicity than we’ve had for maybe any non-conference home game in our history,” he said. “There is a tremendous excitement surrounding the game from our fans. We anticipate it will also draw the largest TV audience we’ve had for a game televised from Rice-Eccles Stadium.”
Hill also addressed Utah’s scheduling challenges.
“With a nine-game Pac-12 Conference schedule, we are not going to hand our football coach and team a non-conference schedule with Michigan, Utah State and BYU in the same year,” he said. “Utah State and BYU are very good teams and in-state games take an emotional toll that could impact our success in Pac-12 play.”
Contributing: Dick Harmon
Email: dirk@desnews.com
Twitter: @DirkFacer