BYU has Unique Needs, as the Season Approaches Bronco Fits Those Needs  

Every September a new era begins. Teams around the country have been practicing relentlessly, conditioning constantly, and anticipating greatly the arrival of the football season. Fans have been wondering how their team will do, who will replace the experienced senior players who have graduated and left the team. Who are the incoming freshmen who can change the whole program? Each fall is filled with excitement as the season unfolds. However, for many teams, this excitement soon falls into despair as expectations are not met, poor decisions are made, and games are lost. Every year, many coaches are criticized; fans are calling for them to be fired or leave the program to which they have dedicated their lives. BYU is different than any other university in the country, but when it comes to football, our fans expect the best of our coaches and players, we expect success and when we do not get success, we call for change.

        Each year, websites such as Cougarboard.com, Facebook, Twitter and many other fan sites are flooded with the phrase “Fire Bronco” or other related messages calling for a new head coach for BYU football. BYU fans expect every coach that BYU hires to be the next Lavell Edwards, taking the team to multiple high profile bowl games throughout his career up to and including a national championship. But what many of the fans forget is that BYU is a unique university, with unique challenges at the coaching position. Because of these unique qualities found at BYU, Bronco is an excellent fit to the BYU program.

        Many programs fire coaches who are doing “alright” and have had great success the following years. But BYU is different; a well-known concern with BYU athletics is the Honor Code, restricting players from premarital sexual relations as well as prohibiting the use of substances such as alcohol and coffee. (1) The Honor Code makes it very difficult for coaches at BYU to be able to recruit skillful players who might not be willing to forgo these things. Violations of the honor code has many times brought undesired consequences on BYU athletics. Basketball star Brandon Davies was kept from playing in the NCAA tournament in 2011 due to violations of the Honor Code. Harvey Unga, BYU’s all-time leading rusher, left BYU after his junior season, due to Honor Code violations and more recently, in 2013 Spencer Hadley was suspended 5 games for the consumption of alcohol while on a trip to Vegas. All 3 of these players went on to play at a professional level. Many athletes who have the potential to have a professional career also find it very difficult to keep the high standards found at BYU, it takes a special coach to understand which players can hold such high standards and be able to support them in maintaining eligibility to play, this is something Bronco does very well and without him, there would be many more Honor Code violations..

        Along with the Honor Code, BYU football also has to deal with a constant flow of missionaries. Each year, many recruits choose to leave on a mission and return 2 years later hoping to play football at BYU. It is not an easy task to keep track of who will be leaving or returning between each season. Which talented return missionaries will decide to forgo football? This is a puzzle that requires deep understanding of the LDS church’s missionary force, to which Bronco supports immensely.

        Another unique BYU need is spirituality. BYU is a religious school; it is for this reason that BYU has an honor code, which can cause so many issues when it comes to athletics. But because it is a religious school, those who are candidates to be hired as the football head coach are interviewed by two of the LDS apostles according to former head coach Gary Crowton. (2) The apostles no doubt, although interested in a winning team, are more interested in maintaining the spiritual and religious nature of the BYU program which quickly narrows the list of possible candidates. With this, the possibility of firing Bronco and hiring a better coach also decreases.

        Many complain about BYU’s record the past few years while Bronco has been head coach. However, Bronco Mendenhall, while head coach at BYU has never had a losing season. Something that cannot be said about the Hall of Fame coach Lavell Edwards. (3) In 10 seasons as head coach at BYU, Mendenhall has had 5 seasons with 10 or more wins while never falling below a 50% win record. For the year 2014; BYU won 4 straight games until Taysom Hill broke his leg in a loss against Utah State. The weird thing about this is that it wasn’t BYU’s offense that faltered at the loss of the star QB, it is almost as if BYU’s defense gave up, allowing an average of almost 41 points per game during a 4 game losing streak. After the defense was able to wake up, BYU won 4 straight games until losing their bowl game.(4) The problem with BYU is not that Bronco Mendenhall is coach; it is his supporting defensive coach and coordinator that were unable to save the BYU defense from sagging. However, as the season went on, the defense improved, and so did the games’ outcome.

        While it is not easy to replace Bronco Mendenhall as Head Coach, I am not saying it is impossible. I am not ignoring the possibility of someone being able to better carry the team to victory or manage the puzzle of new recruits mingled with the 2 year LDS mission. My biggest objection to firing Bronco Mendenhall is that Bronco is a good coach. Brady Poppinga who played for Mendenhall at BYU and went on to play 7 years in the NFL says that Bronco Mendenhall is in the top 5 coaches in all of football. In a story published in the Deseret news, Brady Poppinga recounts a conversation he had with Brian Urlacher, who in Poppinga’s words, “went on to have a Hall of Fame-caliber career with the Chicago Bears”. Urlacher played under Bronco while playing football at New Mexico. Urlacher said of Bronco "He is by far the best coach I have ever played for. He just wouldn't accept anything less than making you the best."(5)

        2 NFL veterans, having played under Bronco Mendenhall, say that he is the best football coach they have ever had. He expects much of his players, while showing the players that he is on their side. Bronco runs side by side his players during drills and conditioning exercises, not asking his players to do anything he isn’t willing to do. Bronco is not perfect, but he is an excellent coach who needs help because he cannot carry the team by himself. Give Bronco a reliable Defensive Coach alongside the already reliable Offensive Coach Robert Anae, and BYU fans will be able to see the successful team they have been waiting for. Take bronco away and BYU will likely fall back into the pre Mendenhall days with losing records, something that an independent team with an ESPN contract cannot afford. It is time for BYU fans to realize that firing Bronco Mendenhall is not the solution. Bronco is a great coach, with a great record. He has the ability and the willpower to lead BYU to greatness but he needs the support of the fans as he continues with one of the most difficult coaching jobs in all of sports.