(Repost from earlier today. Just some thought.)

So I've been reading "Running Into the Wind" and had a few minutes at lunch to grab a few more pages and read something that I thought was fitting for what is happening in the program right now.

***I am a Bronco fan. Always have been, always will be. He certainly has his quirks, but I am forewarning that I am biased. But this isn't a zero-sum thing. I like Kalani too.***

(Some excerpts from a former player)

"When Coach Mendenhall came in from New Mexico, he would not play me because I didn't work hard enough for him...I always had a good work ethic, but he took it to another level."

"After my red-shirt year, every kid who was on the team said I was one of the best DL. But after spring ball, I went in to have an interview with Coach Mendenhall, and he told me that I wouldn't play on his defense. I said, 'Coach, i don't know if you know this, but this is my senior year.' He told me, 'I don't really care. I think you're very athletic, but you find your way out of drills. You're kind of lazy at times. I'd rather play other kids that go all out.'"

"So that summer I worked my butt off...when I came back to fall camp, he still put me on fourth team. I had three weeks of fall camp to prove myself. I didn't hide from drills; I finished every one. He made me repeat them, over and over again. He tested me so hard at fall camp, I ended up starting. He saw that I worked my way up. I actually gained his respect."

"Working for him was the exact same thing, and the standards for the staff are the same as the standards he sets for his players. If I turned in a report to him and he saw a misspelled word, he'd make me go through it all over again. There are no shortcuts. If you're going to do a job, do it right. If you're going to get into something, do it with all your heart. Be your best at it."

-Shaun Nua

I have no idea what is going on in within the coaching staff and team. I have no "insider" info, although I do personally know one of the position coaches. But one of the things I respect most about Bronco is that he didn't care if you were a 5* recruit or a walk on. You had to work and he expected near perfection.

I just wonder if there is this type of personality on the staff or team right now. Again, because I like Bronco doesn't mean I dislike Kalani. I was super stoked for the hire and I think he deserves another year to right the ship. However, I do have a concern that he came into the program as the super well-liked guy who created a family atmosphere (all good things!), but doesn't have the disciplinarian on staff.

Coming into somewhere new, it is easier to come in as more of disciplinarian and lighten up over time as the team earns it. But it is so hard to come in a bit soft, and then try and get upset and discipline folks. I fear Kalani is experiencing something like this.

I wish him luck. I'll be reppin the Y, as always, on Friday and I sure hope they can figure this stuff out.