Ranking the Top 10 BYU Starting Quarterbacks since 1972

Welcome back to BYU Sports Analysis! After a few months’ hiatus (my senior capstone project and a demanding final BYU semester derailed me in the middle of the 2021 season), we’re officially back. With the start of the 2022 BYU Football season this Saturday, I thought it might be fun to reflect on some of the incredible talents that have played quarterback at BYU over the years since LaVell Edwards was hired to transform BYU’s moribund program in 1972. Jaren Hall, the Cougars’ latest star QB, is on pace to join the incredible parade of NFL quarterbacks produced by the BYU football program over the decades. In anticipation of the incredible 2022 season we all hope he has, I’m honoring the ten quarterbacks I think have stood out the most at BYU since 1972.

10. Gary Sheide (#12, 1973-74) – When Gary Sheide arrived at BYU, he was a revelation—a cool, laid-back jokester off the field and a cannon-armed passing wizard on it. A junior college transfer and former baseball star from California, Sheide initially had trouble adjusting to life at BYU. He used heavy grease to slick down his California-length hair enough to pass muster for his student photo and once stole a pile of Level A parking stickers that allowed him and his roommates to park in spaces usually reserved for deans and visiting Church authorities. Still, he had no problem at all adjusting to the dazzling offensive scheme of LaVell Edwards and offensive coordinator Dewey “Swamp Rat” Warren, whose philosophy was to throw and, if that didn’t work, throw some more. Sheide was handed the starting job at BYU three games into the Cougars’ mediocre season in 1973 and began the 1974 season 0-3-1 before flipping a switch and leading his team to a WAC title and its first-ever bowl appearance. For his efforts, Sheide received the first of seven Sammy Baugh Trophies awarded to Edwards-coached QBs and was nominated for the Heisman Trophy.  He was taken by Cincinnati in the third round of the 1975 NFL Draft but never played in the NFL. As I’ve discussed previously, Virgil Carter deserves a lot of credit for laying the groundwork for the BYU quarterback factory. If so, Sheide was the first off the line when the factory opened for business in 1972.

9. Gifford Nielsen (#14, 1974-77) – “The Great Giffer”, as offensive coordinator Doug Scovil called him when the two were first introduced, is probably best known today as a General Authority Seventy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Before he entered Church service, though, Gifford Nielsen was a superstar at BYU who also quarterbacked the Houston Oilers before retiring and enjoying a successful broadcasting career. Nielsen originally wanted to play basketball at BYU and ended up being recruited on a dual basketball/football scholarship. He didn’t contribute much on the basketball team and eventually switched to football full time, assuming the starting job at QB five games into the 1975 season with the team sitting at 1-3 and the one win having only come after he was inserted into the lineup in the second half. Nielsen would start the rest of the 1975 season and all of 1976. Early in the 1977 season, though, things really got out of hand. Through the first three games, Nielsen was electric and the Cougars were winning big with consecutive beatdowns of Kansas State, Utah State, and New Mexico. Nielsen was being talked about seriously for the Heisman Trophy. Then, against Oregon State in game 4, it all fell apart. Nielsen suffered a catastrophic knee injury, and just like that, his BYU career was over. He’d been good enough prior to the injury that his knee didn’t completely scare NFL teams away, and he was ultimately taken in the third round of the 1978 Draft by the Houston Oilers. HIs NFL career was unremarkable—he was primarily a backup and had little success when he started—but it launched his exceptional broadcasting career.

8. Zach Wilson (#11 and #1, 2018-20) – Judging Zach Wilson’s place in the BYU quarterback pantheon is difficult since he’s the most recent addition to it and really only played one full healthy season against decidedly mediocre competition. The fact that he still makes this list is a testament to what a truly remarkable player he is. After taking over for a washed-up Tanner Mangum halfway through his freshman season in 2018, Wilson had some up games and down games over the next season and a half—he produced miraculous wins against Tennessee and USC, for example, but also stunk up the joint against teams like Northern Illinois, Washington, and Toledo. To be clear, injuries played a role in his occasional poor performance, particularly as he played most of the 2019 season having not fully recovered from offseason shoulder surgery. Finally fully healthy for 2020, Wilson unleashed his full potential against a parade of less-than-inspiring opponents. He showed off a flashy, confident, make-any-play style that entertained the fans and made NFL scouts drool all over themselves. He is the prototypical NFL quarterback for the Mahomes era—mobile, athletic, and gifted with an unbelievable array of arm angles and throwing styles which QB’s 15 years ago couldn’t even imagine. His arm strength is dazzling; his accuracy jaw-dropping. These traits led the Jets to ignore his limited experience and injury history and use the #2 overall pick of the 2021 NFL draft to claim him, making him the highest BYU player ever taken. Between 2010 and 2019, the BYU quarterback room was riddled with injury and underperformance. In 2020, Zach Wilson returned some glamour and star power to the position, allowing BYU to once again be seen as a “quarterback school”. Future additions to this list will have him to thank for reinvigorating the BYU quarterback factory.

7. Marc Wilson (#6, 1975-79) – Marc Wilson enjoyed what could arguably be called the greatest starting debut in BYU football history when he stepped in for an injured Gifford Nielsen prior to Game 5 of the 1977 season, a road matchup with Colorado State.  In that game, Wilson unleashed a deluge of offensive yardage on the Rams’ talented defense, passing for 332 yards and seven touchdowns before his coaches mercifully benched him in the third quarter.  The game was a complete and utter farce; Wilson had made mincemeat of the only WAC defense thought to be potent enough to stop the Cougars.  What followed this glamorous premier was one of the strangest and, in some ways, nastiest episodes in BYU football history.  Jim McMahon (more on him later), Wilson’s dynamic backup, had a combination of incredible football talent and a desperate need for the spotlight to be on him, and he resented the attention that Wilson was getting.  McMahon grouchily accepted Wilson as the starter for the remainder of the 1977 season, and Wilson posted electrifying numbers and a 6-1 starting record.  This was enough to convince the BYU coaching staff that Wilson was the guy going into the 1978 season—but McMahon wasn’t that much of a team player.  He wanted the starting job by any means necessary and, when Wilson struggled out of the gate, McMahon was only too happy to take his place.  Offensive coordinator Wally English now had a full-on quarterback controversy on his hands.  This resulted in an uncharacteristically schizophrenic season for the Cougar offense, with English unable to decide on and stay with a starting quarterback.  Instead, the two competing signal-callers alternated back and forth throughout games.  This turmoil led to a mediocre four-loss season that included a defeat at the hands of Utah for the first time since 1971.  Edwards decided he’d had enough of the two-quarterback approach and dubbed Wilson the starter for 1979, essentially demanding that McMahon redshirt and wait his turn behind his older teammate.  All Wilson did with the opportunity was orchestrate one of the greatest seasons in BYU football history, leading the team to an 11-1 record, a massive upset win over Texas A&M on the road, and a dominant WAC championship.  He was drafted into the NFL fifteenth overall by the Raiders and alternated with Jim Plunkett as their starter, eventually leading them to an AFC West title in 1985 before finishing his professional career in New England.

6. Steve Sarkisian (#7, 1995-96) – Steve Sarkisian began his collegiate career at USC—playing baseball, not football. After an unproductive freshman season, he transferred to El Camino Junior College to play both baseball and football, earning a Junior College All-American nod at quarterback during his first season. This led to another transfer, this time to BYU, where he succeeded his longtime friend John Walsh as the Cougars' starting QB. Following a lackluster junior season, Sarkisian hit another level as a senior in 1996 as he directed one of the greatest seasons in Cougar football history, leading his team to a 14-1 record that included a 19-15 win over Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl and a #5 final AP ranking—the second-highest in program history. He also became the last of LaVell Edwards’ Sammy Baugh winners and a second-team All-American as he led the entire NCAA in passer rating. Since leaving BYU (and after a brief stint in the Canadian Football League), Sarkisian has accumulated the most illustrious coaching resume of any player on this list with stops at Washington, USC, and Alabama. He is currently head coach at Texas.

5. Max Hall (#15, 2007-09) – As the all-time winningest quarterback ever to wear a BYU jersey, Max Hall was responsible for leading the Cougars to a run of sustained prosperity and directed what were—until 2021—their last two wins against Utah.  Until Taysom Hill did it during the 2020 season, Hall was also the most recent former BYU quarterback to win a regular-season NFL start, which he did for the Arizona Cardinals in 2010.  But far from attaining legendary status after leaving BYU, Max Hall instead saw his reputation initially plummet. He became the butt of anti-BYU jokes—someone most Cougar fans would have rather forgotten. The reasons were twofold. First, he went on a spectacular and instantly infamous rant about Utah fans following the teams’ matchup in 2009, which ruffled feathers not only among Utah fans but in his own program and fanbase. Second, he has experienced some ugly substance abuse issues since (and as a result of) his NFL career.  Recently, though, we’ve seen a new side to Max Hall.  Not only has he overcome the demons that troubled him at the end of his professional career, but he’s become a successful high school coach/administrator and an advocate for recovering addicts.  In many ways, his story is the most inspiring on this list—from the lowest of lows, the darkest imaginable position, he has emerged healthy, happy, and ready to lift others.  It would be difficult to find a more deserving representative of BYU today than Max Hall.

4. Robbie Bosco (#6, 1982-85) – Sheide, Nielsen, Wilson, McMahon, Young…by the time Robbie Bosco arrived at BYU, the bar for Cougar quarterbacks had been set unbelievably high. When Bosco took the field for his first career start in 1984 (against #3 Pitt on the road, no less) he was stepping into what had become truly enormous shoes. How would he handle the pressure? Well, an impressive 20-14 comeback win over the Panthers was a great start. Then, it seems, Bosco and his teammates decided that they just didn't want to lose—at all. The result was an unbelievable 13-0 season, at the end of which the Cougars were crowned consensus national champions. It was, and remains, the pinnacle of BYU football history. With Bosco piloting his offense, LaVell Edwards had accomplished what he set out to do and so, so much more. In the space of thirteen seasons, Edwards took a crumbling, miserable football program and transformed it into the best squad in the nation. The Cougars, and Bosco, were second to none. How’s that for filling big shoes?

3. Steve Young (#8, 1981-83) – There are a few metrics by which we can measure the greatest quarterbacks in BYU football history and attempt to rank the very best of the best. These next three entries each have a case for being the greatest based on those different metrics. First up: greatest professional career. Obviously with this being a list of BYU quarterbacks specifically, pro achievements aren’t everything. They do bring recognition to the school, though, and reflect the program’s success. Without question, the best NFL player to ever attend BYU was Steve Young. But before he was putting together a freakishly efficient Hall of Fame NFL career, Young arrived at BYU nervous, down on himself, and buried at the bottom of the depth chart. A standout all-around athlete in high school who once pitched a no-hitter for his school baseball team, Young was ranked dead last—eighth, if you can believe it—among the Cougars’ quarterbacks heading into his first fall camp. Since he didn’t seem likely to ever win the starting QB job and was a freakish physical specimen with sprinter speed and a big, imposing frame, the coaching staff had actually made the decision at one point to move him to either linebacker or safety. Mercifully, they quickly reversed course and by the start of the 1981 season Young was the Cougars’ #2 quarterback behind Jim McMahon. Handed the reins to the legendary BYU pass attack in 1982, Young really broke out in 1983 and enjoyed a statistically dominant senior campaign that saw his team finish ranked in the top 10 at season’s end. Young’s professional exploits, though, are what make him really stand out from his BYU peers. Winning the starting QB job from Joe Montana in San Francisco, Young rewrote NFL efficiency records en route to a pair of MVP seasons, a Super Bowl championship, and a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame—the only former Cougar ever so honored.

2. Jim McMahon (#9, 1977-81) – The second criterion by which we could choose the BYU football GOAT is skill and technique, and there's a clear winner in that category. Cocky, controversial, and colorful, Jim McMahon is definitely the most…unique character on this list. He is also very probably the best pure passer ever to don a BYU jersey. Capable of reading, recognizing, and dissecting opposing defenses as a matter of instinct, McMahon seemed to play almost effortlessly. The game of football came as naturally to him as did breathing. After playing as the Cougars’ punter in 1977 and suffering through the up-and-down 1978 season under hated offensive coordinator Wally English, McMahon redshirted the 1979 season and assumed the starting job in 1980. He proceeded to lose just three times over the next two seasons, tearing up the NCAA record book and writing a new one with himself as the main character. He set SEVENTY quarterback records during his BYU tenure, redefining the role of the quarterback at the collegiate level. Then, he proceeded to enjoy a successful NFL career which included leading Chicago to a Super Bowl win. Great talents and great football minds have quarterbacked the BYU offense before and after McMahon, but for pure talent and skill, he likely has no equal.

1. Ty Detmer (#14, 1988-91) – At long last, we’ve reached the top. What a journey it’s been. In many ways, LaVell’s whole passing experiment beginning in the 1970’s led to the creation of Ty Detmer, the pinnacle of BYU signal callers. But considering the ebullient praise I’ve just heaped on Jim McMahon, how is it that I can rank Detmer higher? After all, I’ve already said that I consider McMahon the best pure passer to play at BYU—he had truly flawless mechanics, a generationally keen football mind, and great on-field leadership ability. Detmer? Detmer was scrawny, had so-so arm strength, and never threw the tightest of spirals. He occasionally made risky decisions and could be turnover prone. And unlike third-place finisher Steve Young, he had a mediocre NFL career—long, but spent mostly as a backup. So why do I rank him number one? Why is Ty Detmer the greatest of all BYU quarterbacks? It's simple, really. No other Cougar has been recognized with the highest of all college football honors, the Heisman Trophy. Yes, in his day, Ty Detmer was considered the greatest college football player in the nation. And he did more than just win the Heisman—in three seasons (1989, 1990, and 1991) as BYU's week 1 starter, he finished in the top 10 of the Heisman Trophy vote every year, and was a finalist in both 1990 and 1991!

It seemed improbable then as it does now. Somehow, the short, skinny kid with the thick Texas drawl generated utterly jaw-dropping passing numbers and dominated games in a way even his illustrious predecessors hadn't been able to. He was some kind of football sorcerer—Jonny Manziel with an aw-shucks demeanor and a squeaky-clean lifestyle. He made the impossible plays look easy. He humiliated the best defenses of his day—just ask #1 Miami. He produced some of the greatest moments in BYU football history and generated hype around the program that hadn’t even existed during the Cougars’ national title run in 1984. Nobody before him at BYU, not even Mr. Record-Setter McMahon, had accomplished the feats of statistical brilliance which Detmer made normal. Nobody since has approached his greatest achievements—his school records for completions, passing yardage, and touchdowns have never been seriously challenged. Watching film of Detmer is thrilling. He scrambles around, dodging tacklers and finding barely-open receivers at impossible angles for highlight plays. Why is Detmer the greatest? Because when the overall sum total of his accomplishments is considered, no other BYU QB has approached his level of dominance and national recognition. All hail the king.