Tanner’s handled it great. He’s worked, he’s made it a tough decision, which was his job. We feel really good with both those guys. – Ty Detmer
PROVO — After staging a quarterback battle during fall camp between senior Taysom Hill and sophomore Tanner Mangum, BYU coaches publicly named Hill their starting quarterback Tuesday, which happened to be Hill's 26th birthday.
Hill said he found out that the QB competition was over sometime last week. The Cougars open the season on Sept. 3 against Arizona.
Being awarded the starting role “was great,” Hill said. “Coming back for my senior year, this obviously wasn’t ideal, right? Being here for four years and then being in a quarterback battle. But I felt like I got a lot better because of it and I thought the situation was handled really well. It’s nice to be able to look forward and prepare for Arizona.”
This marks the fourth consecutive year that Hill has entered the season as the starter. He’s suffered a season-ending injury three times in his BYU career.
“He’s 100 percent healthy and he’s a fifth-year senior. He turned 26 today. He’s got the experience and leadership,” offensive coordinator Ty Detmer said of Hill. “We feel real comfortable with him in there and going full speed. Tanner handled it great. He made it a tough decision, which was his job. We feel really good with both of those guys. He’s going to be ready to go when called upon, there’s no doubt about that. We’re excited that we have both of them. We know both can go in and win games for us.”
Ultimately, coach Kalani Sitake said, the decision came down to Hill’s performance on the field during fall camp.
“We talked about how it would be settled on the field,” Sitake said. “The best guy won. A great player was second place. It’s a great spot to be in where we have two great ones competing for it. We just felt like Taysom was the guy that earned the spot.”
Sitake emphasized that while Mangum is the second-string quarterback, he won’t be redshirting this season.
“We just know that Tanner is going to play,” he said. “He’s not going to redshirt and we’re not going to save him. He’s going to be a backup quarterback and Taysom will be the starter.”
Choosing Hill over Mangum was a “really hard” decision, Sitake said.
“Consistency is something we wanted to look at. … Tanner is way better than he was a year ago. But there are things Tanner brings to the table that Taysom can’t and there’s things that Taysom does that Tanner can’t. We feel like, for the team, and where we sit right now, this is the right move for us. … It’s a great problem to have and I don’t see it as a problem. I think having those guys compete and earn the spot the right way was the way to do it. Now we’re at the moment where we’re close to the game, I think this is the right way to do it and get ready for Arizona.”
Hill said he talked to Mangum after the decision was made.
“He’s super-supportive. Tanner and I have been good friends through this whole thing. I think he and I were able to help each other get better as we went through this process,” Hill said. “It’s great to have a guy like Tanner on the sideline. Last year and the year before, I would come to the sideline and the first guy I’d go to was the backup quarterback because he knows the plays and he’d look at things I wasn’t looking at and we’d converse. I’m excited to work with him that way and I’ve felt only love and support from him through this whole thing.”
Sitake said he was never worried about how the quarterbacks would handle the decision, no matter which way it went.
“Going into it, I wasn’t concerned with whoever lost the spot would be a problem. Either one, Tanner or Taysom, would have handled it professionally. That’s what we’re seeing right now. They both love this school, they love this program, they love playing for BYU. That’s just the way it worked."
Mangum can continue to learn and develop as Hill’s backup, Sitake said.
“All the great quarterbacks have done it at this school and have done it in the professional ranks. He’s already headed there. He’s got great maturity about it. I know that his time will come. And he knows it. Seeing what’s happened in the past with quarterbacks that have been here and when they have competed and earned their time, they flourish. You really can’t go wrong when you have a whole history and tradition behind it at that position.”
Detmer stressed that he won’t be implementing a two-quarterback system.
“I’ve never been a fan of that. Right now, the plan is, Taysom’s our guy. He’s done it every year,” Detmer said. “He’s been a Heisman candidate the last couple of years. Last year he didn’t really get a chance to do it. They’re both great players. Tanner’s obviously a big part of the program going forward.”
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