Former BYU slotback Nate Meikle, once a favorite target of John Beck, now lives in Lawrence, Kansas , and to say he's excited to see his Cougars in town this week is an understatement.
When you give blood, sweat and tears to a program, it's tattooed on your heart forever. Meikle was always a die-hard BYU guy.
This week is his opportunity to show his pride.
Meikle is an assistant professor in the management area of the Kansas School of Business at the University of Kansas. He often fits into his lectures his experience at BYU with Bronco Mendenhall , his teammates, and other leaders in the Marriott School of Business who influenced him over the years.
"I may be in the running for the most excited fan about BYU to the Big 12," said Meikle, who studied at Stanford and worked at Notre Dame after working with KSL Radio as a sideline reporter for BYU coverage.
"First, I love BYU football as much as anyone, and now I get to see them play more often, whether in Lawrence or at other schools that are nearby," said Meikle, who does a podcast called "Meikles and Dimes," which focuses on leadership trends and personalities.
"And second, my family and friends will be coming to Lawrence every year now. For every BYU football/basketball game I expect to have people staying with me. Media members like Greg Wrubell ( who I interviewed ), coaches, administrators (like BYU President Shane Reese, who I interviewed ), ADs (like Tom Holmoe and Chad Lewis , who I interviewed), plus all the fans who I get to see in Lawrence every year."
Meikle predicts BYU fans will love coming to Lawrence.
"I've talked to so many people at BYU, administrators, coaches, broadcasters, alums, fans, boosters, who have never come to Lawrence and now this will change forever. I think it's the beginning of a long-lasting relationship."
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Here are Meikle's bullet points on making the trek to Kansas, with some local interest points and links to his own interviews with key people.
Lawrence is easy to get to, a two-hour flight from Salt Lake City to Kansas City, and then only a 45-minute drive to Lawrence with no traffic.
Lawrence is a little like Provo, a college town less than an hour away from a major metropolitan city, Kansas City.
The state of Kansas is a religious state . I have felt zero hostility here. Plus KU hires a lot of BYU grads (there are a dozen or so BYU grads on faculty here). The Pac-12 rejected BYU for religious reasons, but the Big 12 and Kansas have embraced BYU. I recently interviewed the "Voice of the Jayhawks," Brian Hanni, and he mentioned his faith multiple times during our interview .
Kansans love sports! (Unlike so many people on the West Coast). Kansas basketball is obviously the crown jewel, but I didn't appreciate why. They've only had eight head coaches in their 120-year history. And I didn't realize that their first head coach, the one who founded their basketball program, was James Naismith himself (he lived here for 40+ years and is buried here in Lawrence). Other head coaches include Phog Allen (whom the arena is named after), Larry Brown and Roy Williams . Adolph Rupp, who the Kentucky basketball arena is named after, played for Phog Allen at Kansas. You'll see shirts in Lawrence that say "Kansas: the birthplace of North Carolina/Kentucky basketball." And of course, Bill Self is one of the greatest current coaches in basketball. There's also an incredible story about how the original rules of basketball ended up in Lawrence, at Allen Fieldhouse. Here's an interview I did with the KU fan who got the original rules of basketball to Kansas. Every BYU fan that comes to watch a game in Lawrence should go see the rules (it's free to see them).
Kansas football is coming along too ... they just announced a $300 million stadium renovation starting in 2025. In the past, KU football tried to make a splash by hiring big-name coaches. ... Charlie Weis after he left Notre Dame, Les Miles after he left LSU . But both were not effective. Now Kansas has cleaned up its athletic department. It hired a disciplined, respected AD Travis Goff. Tom Holmoe is friends with Travis, and here's an interview I did with Goff. Then Travis hired a blue-collar, hard-nosed, discipline football coach in Lance Leipold. I was talking to Lance a couple weeks ago, telling him that I enjoyed his interview with Bronco Mendenhall (on Bronco's podcast). I told Lance that he and Bronco have a lot in common, and Lance said he'd been told that a lot lately. In terms of the BYU/KU football game this year (the first Big 12 game for BYU), BYU fans should love it because it's expected to be a shootout. KU football is all about offensive football right now, with their stud quarterback Jalon Daniels (and all their returning offensive starters from last year's team).
There are many (Latter-day Saint) church history sites nearby. Liberty Jail is only one hour from Lawrence. Adam-ondi-Ahman is only two hours away. Plus, the Big 12 basketball tournament will be in Kansas City every year, and these church history sites are even closer to KC than they are from Lawrence.
Fans will love visiting the main street in Lawrence, called Mass Street. It's full of locally owned, independent restaurants. Mass Street is where the city celebrates after games (see pictures here ).
Saturday's game will be the second meeting between BYU and Kansas on the football field. Kansas defeated the Cougars 23-20 in the 1992 Aloha Bowl. In that game, Hall of Fame QB Steve Young's brother Tom was the starting quarterback. He was throwing to Byron Rex, Eric Drage and Kalin Hall, and Jamal Willis and Hema Heimuli were in the backfield.
This will be the inaugural Big 12 game for the Cougars as a member of a Power Five league, a historic Saturday, indeed.
I bet Meikle is back on the sidelines or in the booth. He does have connections.
And I'd wager Meikle will have an itch he cannot itch — he'd love to be on the end of a Kedon Slovis pass.
BYU's John Beck, left, Nathan Meikle, center, and coach Bronco Mendenhall celebrate a win over Oregon at the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 21, 2006. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
