As Stanford gets ready to face BYU in Provo on Saturday, they’ll see some familiar names suiting up for the Cougars in true freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier (who transferred from Stanford in the spring), wide receiver Tiger Bachmeier (who grad transferred from Stanford in the spring), and running back LJ Martin (who flipped from Stanford to BYU after David Shaw stepped down as head coach). A couple years back, Stanford fullback Houston Heimuli grad transferred to BYU, following in the footsteps of his father Lakei who played fullback for the Cougars on their 1984 national championship team. 

The most famous of all flips from Stanford to BYU was Taysom Hill, who made the decision to come to BYU after Jim Harbaugh left to coach the 49ers combined with Stanford at the time not allowing early enrollees. 

While BYU has pried several players away from Stanford over the years, the same is also true of Stanford. Below are the top 5 football players who ended up coming to The Farm instead of the Y. 

#5. Mark Harris:  The biggest recruiting whiff of all-time for BYU is not landing wide receiver Kevin Curtis, whom they told to go play flag football. Curtis ended up crushing it in the NFL and set all sorts of records at Utah State. While he didn’t have the same type of pro career as Curtis, former Stanford wide receiver Mark Harris is another guy who was in BYU’s backyard that they missed. 

Harris went to Box Elder High School in Brigham City, Utah and attended Southern Utah University before serving his two-year mission in Barcelona, Spain. Harris didn’t play football at Southern Utah and almost went to BYU as a regular student, but ended up playing football at Ricks College, a junior college that is now known as BYU-Idaho. After balling out at Ricks College in 1992, Stanford took note of Harris’ skills and offered him a scholarship.

From 1993-95, Harris played in 33 games for Stanford, totaling 107 receptions for 1,746 yards and 12 touchdowns. He went on to play for the San Francisco 49ers from 1996-99, totaling 13 receptions for 186 yards in 37 games played. 

Given he played at an LDS junior college in Idaho, BYU should have been all over Harris after his amazing 1992 season. If Stanford could find him, they should have as well. What is a bit funny is the Stanford assistant coach who took notice of Harris was Tom Holmoe, who was BYU’s athletic director from 2005 until earlier this year. Had Holmoe been on BYU’s coaching staff at the time, Harris could have ended up a Cougar. 

Desert News-Meet Mark Harris, a former NFL wide receiver with the San Francisco 49ers 

#4. Simi Fehoko: Rated a 4-star recruit out of Brighton High School in Cottonwood Heights, Utah before serving a two-year LDS mission to Seoul, South Korea, wide receiver Simi Fehoko ended up at Stanford instead of BYU. From 2018-20, Fehoko played in 21 games for the Cardinal, totaling 62 receptions for 1,146 yards and nine touchdowns. 

Fehoko’s college career was cut short due to the 2020 season being in the midst of COVID-19, but regardless, he’s a guy who BYU would have loved to have called their own. He would go on to get drafted in the 5^th round of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys and is currently playing for the Arizona Cardinals. 

#3. Dalton Schultz: Rated a 4-star recruit out of Bingham High School in Sandy, Utah, Dalton Schultz ended up at Stanford, contributing to the legacy of great Cardinal tight ends. From 2015-2017, Schultz played in 40 games for Stanford, catching 55 passes for 555 yards and five touchdowns. Schultz would go on to get drafted in the 4^th round of the 2018 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys and is still going strong, now playing for the Houston Texas. Schultz has caught 323 passes in his NFL career for 3,289 yards and 24 touchdowns. BYU has to wish they had him. 

#2. Bo McNally: Out of Highland High School in Salt Lake City, Utah, Bo McNally had a fantastic career at Stanford from 2006-2009. In 49 games played as a defensive back, McNally played in 49 games for the Cardinal while totaling 294 tackles (192 solo), 19 tackles for loss, 4.0 sacks, and 10 interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns. McNally was a force to be reckoned with during his time on The Farm and is one of the best players Stanford has ever gotten out of the Beehive State. He played a major role in the turnaround of the program and continues to give back to the Cardinal program to this very day.

#1. Tanner McKee: Rated a 4-star recruit out of Centennial High School in Corona, California, Tanner McKee played extremely well at Stanford as their starting quarterback, finishing with 28 touchdowns, 15 interceptions, and 5,336 yards during his three years on The Farm (2020-2022). While Stanford didn’t win many games with McKee under center, that wasn’t really his fault. McKee proved he was one of the top quarterbacks in the country and now has a Super Bowl ring with the Philadelphia Eagles to prove it after getting drafted in the 6^th round of the 2023 NFL Draft. 

If there’s any Stanford football player that BYU wishes they could have had, Tanner McKee would definitely be the guy. He made a lot of headlines due to his LDS mission in Brazil and would have been an excellent addition to BYU’s quarterback legacy. Instead, he’s forever a Stanford Cardinal. 

Deseret News-Stanford quarterback Tanner McKee carries LDS mission with him

Number one for all sports-Mark Madsen: Okay, I had to sneak this guy in. Mark Madsen (now the head coach at Cal) had a storied basketball career at Stanford, averaging 10.9 points & 7.9 rebounds for his Cardinal career that spanned from 1996-97 to 1999-2000. Madsen averaged a near double-double his final two years on The Farm, averaging 12.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per game.  He helped Stanford reach the Final Four in 1998 and went on to have a nine-year NBA career with the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves, winning two titles in a Laker uniform. I actually played a little church basketball with him when I was on my mission in Minnesota (his final year with the Timberwolves). 

A returned missionary who served in Málaga, Spain, Madsen would have been an amazing alumnus for the BYU Cougars men’s basketball program, but Stanford’s superior academics and closeness to home (Walnut Creek, CA) won out in the end. I feel like out of all the athletes Stanford has pried away from BYU, Mad Dog tops the list. 

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