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LIV Golf CEO Scott O'Neil laughs while playing with Captain Brooks Koepka of Smash GC, Paul Danforth and Jordan Bazant during the pro-am before the start of LIV Golf Riyadh at Riyadh Golf Club on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. | Charles Laberge/LIV Golf
“WHAT? What a clueless list!”
“Jimmer should be ranked higher.”
And, “Your list is very Utah-centric.”
Those were just three of the many comments triggered by a recent Deseret News story identifying the 40 most influential Latter-day Saints in today’s sports world.
Fair enough. After all, the article’s headline posed the question: “Do you agree?”
Some readers gave a thumbs-up to our top-40 list of “influencers, movers, shakers and power brokers” in the vast world of sports in 2025.
Others, not so much.
That was expected. That was the intent. And that’s where the fun was found.
Conjuring a top-40 list of sports figures was certain to be divisive. No empirical, AI-tested, NASA-approved formula exists to objectively answer this question: Who is more influential, Kansas City Chiefs’ Coach Andy Reid or multi-sports team owner Ryan Smith.
Or who carries more “juice” in 2025: Utah football coach Kyle Whittingham or his friend and rival, BYU’s Kalani Sitake?
And what about the illustrious roster of Latter-day Saint sports figures who didn’t even crack the Deseret News top-40 list? Where’s Britain Covey? Where are distance runners Conner Mantz or Courtney Wayment? And what about NFL vet Kyle Van Noy?
Who’s missing? Readers react
Besides opening the article up for comments, readers were also invited to interactively add their voices to the “Top Latter-day Saint Sports Influencers” debate.
Responses were spirited, wide-ranging — and stretched across several athletic disciplines and generations.
And each “Shoulda-Been-Added” name submitted by readers only fortified the article’s key argument: Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are becoming increasingly prominent in all corners of athletics — as coaches, competitors, team owners and executives.
The sports figure that readers most often cited as “missing” from the Deseret News list was Scott O’Neil, the Latter-day Saint who was recently named the CEO of the Saudi-funded LIV Golf and who previously managed the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils.
A church convert, O’Neil would be a solid addition to any “sports influencer” list. His new job places him in the middle of the turbulent men’s professional golf world pitting the upstart LIV Golf against the venerable PGA Tour.
The regard O’Neil has earned with many in the sports world is reflected by a recent comment on the “Joe Pomp Show” from five-time major championships winner Brooks Koepka: “I think Scott’s a great guy and he can lead LIV to where it needs to be or where it should be because we are behind, to be quite fair.”
Several other readers named distance runner Conner Mantz to their personal “influencer” list. A returned missionary, Olympian and a two-time NCAA cross-country champion at BYU, Mantz recently placed second in Sunday’s New York City half marathon. He is prepping for the Boston Marathon on April 21.
New University of Utah men’s basketball coach Alex Jensen would have likely made the Deseret News list had he been hired prior to the article’s publication — but he still received reader votes. So did Cal college basketball coach and NBA vet Mark Madsen.
Other active sports “influencers” receiving reader nods included BYU women’s volleyball coach Heather Olmstead, Olympic runner Whitney Morgan, Steve Starks, who is chief executive officer of the Larry H. Miller Company, Indianapolis Colts kicker/returned missionary Matt Gay and pro hockey’s Derek Ryan.
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BYU football coach LaVell Edwards watches his team as the sun sets in his eyes during his final game at Cougar (now LaVell Edwards Stadium) on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2000. | CHUCK WING
What about LaVell Edwards, or Johnny Miller or Gene Fullmer or ...?
While the Deseret News’ recent top-40 list specifically focused on “the most interesting or influential church members in the sports world in 2025″, several readers offered the names of Latter-day Saints who have left deep footprints in sports history.
LaVell Edwards’ 28-year run as BYU’s head football coach garnered a national title, respect across the gridiron world — and several reader votes. The late Edwards, who died Dec. 29, 2016, now has his name forever emblazoned on BYU’s football stadium.
Golfer Johnny Miller, who won two majors and a trio of runner-up finishes at the Masters, was frequently cited by readers. The Brigham Young University graduate captured dozens of professional titles and worked for decades as a television golf commentator.
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Johnny Miller drives the ball during the 2008 Sorenson Champions Challenge at Thanksgiving Point. | Michael Brandy, Deseret News
Miller’s fellow Latter-day Saint golf legend Billy Casper — who claimed a Masters green jacket and a pair of U.S. Opens — also received several reader votes. Casper died in 2015.
Several nods also went to the late Gene Fullmer, who claimed boxing’s middleweight belt in 1957 after upsetting Sugar Ray Robinson, a legend many consider to be the sport’s pound-for-pound GOAT.
Retired NBA and BYU big man Shawn Bradley gleaned several reader votes, along with 1990 Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer and the late NFL Hall of Fame lineman Merlin Olsen.
Other former athletes that readers added to their “influencer” list included Olympic medalist Peter Vidmar, baseball greats Vernon Law and Harmon Killebrew, BYU/NFL tight end Chad Lewis, Olympic gold medalist wrestler Rulon Gardner and perennial NFL Pro Bowl lineman Haloti Ngata.
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Former middleweight champion Gene Fullmer in his Salt Lake County home Aug 22, 2002. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
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