BYU Fans Have All Around Great Athletics & Quarterback Play To Be Thankful For

PROVO, Utah – On this Thanksgiving holiday, it begs the question, what are BYU fans thankful for?

Cougar sports is an interesting world right now. The two major sports – football and basketball – are on the rise, but still face challenges from being on the outside of the Power 5 structure in collegiate athletics.

Nonetheless, BYU moves forward and the feeling around Provo is that better days are ahead in the near future.

Here are three things BYU fans should be thankful for.

Kalani Sitake & Mark Pope

BYU’s two major sports have the right leaders to navigate the difficult waters of football independence and WCC affiliation with juggernaut Gonzaga growing as a basketball powerhouse.

With Sitake’s recent extension, these are the two men that will lead BYU in a critical stretch that will eventually lead to new conference realignment talks when television contracts expire around 2023 or 2024.

"I think the pieces are there to make a real run."

Is this the year the Cougars return to the NCAA tournament @BYUbasketball head coach @CoachMarkPope likes the chances. He joins @JJSportsBeat on SportsBeat tonight at 6PM. pic.twitter.com/mf5HaqgtLv

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) June 29, 2019

There are no two men better to be the head coaches of BYU’s football and men’s basketball programs at the moment.

Sitake is a beloved figure who has found a way to bring more resources to BYU football and still working to get the Cougars closer to operating near a Power 5.

Pope has reignited a hoops program that the past few seasons felt stale at best.

Both Sitake and Pope give Cougar fans the hope they need that magical seasons could be in store in years to come.

#BYU AD Tom Holmoe seen wearing an #ExtendKalani t-shirt in the postgame locker room and giving Kalani Sitake a hug.

🎥 (neilpauu/Instagram)#BYUFootball #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/D2Ge988hSG

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) November 17, 2019

Great Quarterback Play

If you ask anyone around the country what the first thing that comes to mind when asked about BYU – most would say BYU’s affiliation with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, others who are more sports-minded would say the Cougars’ excellent quarterback play over the years.

Quarterback U has not been a moniker to throw around when talking BYU football the past decade, but in 2019 the QBs have been excellent.

Baylor Romney steps in for an injured Jaren Hall and helps #BYU close it out over the Aggies. #BYUvsUSU pic.twitter.com/BdNJL1Z7pS

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) November 3, 2019

Zach Wilson, Jaren Hall, Baylor Romney, and even Joe Critchlow, have all won games as starting quarterbacks during their time in Provo.

There’s nothing BYU fans love more than seeing a Cougar football team being able to sling it all around the yard and put up big numbers through the air. These QBs can do that.

BYU Athletics: Good Everywhere You Look

It feels like the only two sports that haven’t won at a national level as of late have been the two major programs – football and men’s basketball.

The Olympic sports at BYU right now are on fire. Women’s Soccer is knocking on the door of their first College Cup appearance. Women’s Volleyball is a threat to potentially go to the Sweet 16 once again.

ELITE ELITE ELITE ELITE pic.twitter.com/TVq69nsApp

— BYU Women's Soccer (@byusoccer_w) November 24, 2019

Men’s Cross Country won BYU’s first National Championship since Tom Holmoe became the Athletic Director in 2005.

Women’s Basketball boasts the winningest basketball coach in the history of BYU basketball – both men’s and women’s – in Jeff Judkins.

BYU baseball under head coach Mike Littlewood signed one of the nation’s best recruiting classes on the heels of an outright West Coast Conference regular-season title.

Good things are happening for BYU sports and Cougar fans have to be thankful for that.