As for the Mendenhall/Whittingham comparison, I know there's a lot of BYU fans out there rooting for Whittingham to fail because he turned BYU down, but things turned out good for all parties involved, really. This could be the strongest season of all time, between the two schools.

I like the point of being expendable, that is, creating a PROGRAM that will survive the departure of it's inspiring leader. I think he needs to stay on long enough to engrain his philosophy on the team and the University for the long term. I also agree that the next coach should be an insider who will continue that philosophy. Of course, I'd like him to win the big one before he leaves. Here's to 10 more years!

Class act describes Bronco to a "T".

So we're pretty sure he isn't going to stay as long as LaVell, but wouldn't it be great if he stayed 15 years and gave us a run like LaVell had from 1975-1990 or even better. He's a very unique head coach. It's hard for me to imagine someone else being able to continue his same style, especially since every head coach has their own personalilty and will put their own stamp on a program, good or bad.

You are an inspiration and example to us all.

Thank you.

OK, I'm a die hard Ute fan, but I gotta love what Mendenhall is trying to do. I like someone who stands up for what they believe in, and holds the athletes to the high standard that BYU is supposed to be all about. The tone of this article though...it does have to worry a few of the zoobies. I'd love to see Mendenhall and Whittingham slugging it out on last second drives for the conference championship for the next twenty years. Thanks for making BYU relevant again. Now, we the Utes beat ya, it'll actually mean somthing! GO UTES!

He's been called to save BYU, and save he's done. You don't just retire from callings like you do jobs. That's like President Monson saying "Ok, I think the church good enough, I'm going to retire." President Monson sets the standard and Brother Mendenhall will stay like Lavell did.

All this talk from Bronco really shouldn't send anyone into panic mode. He did say that he would keep coaching as long as he felt it was what he should be doing. That is the comment of someone who understands that his job is more of a calling than it is a job like the rest of us have. Heading up the football program at BYU is a position with influence in religion, athletics, academics, and media relations. Not just anyone can step in without the program missing a beat, no matter how much Bronco wishes it were so. Just like not every worthy priesthood holder is called to be a mision president, or Seventy or Apostle. There are many who have capabilities, but not everyone is called to serve. Doman, Anae, Reynolds, worthy and talented men all, but the Board saw in Bronco the complete package and knew he was the one for the job. Let's not get too excited when he comments about his longevity. If he keeps coaching until he feels it is no longer right for him to do so, the Board will already have someone in mind. It will be a good long time.

We are glad to have Bronco as long as he wants to stay. If he left tomorrow, at least the program is in better shape than it was a few years ago.

We wont have Bronco for too long, a call to the 70 can't be too far off.

I'm happy that Bronco "gets it." I'm quite surprised Dick Harmon, many sports writers, and most fans don't "get it." The BYU football program isn't about Bronco. It is all about having the right people on the bus. When the bus stops to let a graduating senior off another individual with the right DNA gets on. Or when a player determines by his actions he doesn't belong on the bus, he is let off and another gets on. Bronco is doing the very best he can possibly do by getting the all of right people on the bus. When he gets off the bus his real success will be seeing the bus move on as it did while he was on it. It will be the right day when Bronco gets of the bus and everyone that "gets it" will understand as the bus moves on. Why don't we let Bronco enjoy his time at BYU by geting on the bus and we can enjoy the experience also.

A wise businessman once taught me, "There is no success without a successor." I believe Mendenhall knows that. I respect him for his wisdom. I believe there are many coaches and businesspersons who don't know that truth.

Ironically, the worst thing that could happen to BYU is for them to qualify for a BCS bowl and win, because, like urban meyer, that might prompt Mendenhall to walk away from the game.

I don't think Mendenhall's replacement could keep the flywheel turning as skillfully as he is doing it.

Coach Mendenhall may fine that his position allows him to accomplish so much more than coach football. I am sure he realizes that now. Joe Paterno has been fused to Penn State because of his love for the state, the school and campus, the students, the athletic and academic programs, and the whole college atmosphere. He has turned down numerous college, pro, and business offers because he was where he wanted to be. When over 110,000 fans fill Beaver Stadium (could fill over 150,00 if available) it is a testament to his accomplishments. One of the best lines I ever heard was when JoePA asked his wife: "How many great football coaches are there"? She replied: "One less than YOU think there are".
Being in the right place for the right reasons is a goal for all of us. Coach Mendenhall may find he has reached that goal.

I think mendenhall might be batman

So if BYU is "now relevant" what has Utah been for the last 100 years? (o.k. I'll give you 2004. Very relevant year.)

I was glad to see Whittingham take the job at Utah so that BYU could keep Mendenhall. Not that I expected Bronco to become the head coach, I just liked his defensive coaching.

Unlike some BYU fans, I hope Kyle is very successful at Utah. Nothing could be sweeter than having BYU beating Utah with MWC Championships, Top 10 Rankings, and BCS bids or playoff seedings on the line.

Good luck to both schools on a great season!

See U November 22nd.

He's better than Joe Pa or Lavell. He could coach the Raiders to the Superbowl.

Bronco is just being wise in how he approaches the game. This article is media hoopla.

Everybody I know who "retired" while still young and able to work ended up regretting it and found other work. I can think of two recent examples in my family. You need something to do every morning. He is a young guy. Retire at 50? And do what every day? Fish in Montana every day...maybe that would be nice for a week, but then what? Golf every other day? I think I would get bored of that after about two weeks. Go on a mission? Humm...they would probably send me to some nasty place like I went to when I was 19, no thanks.

I think Bronco is being realistic. Schools including BYU are very quick to get rid of head coaches even if they have been successful in the past. If you're not winning and causing controversy you can be gone very quickly. I just doesn't take much these days.

I think he'll stay for 20 years. But it does seem like Doman is being groomed as the replacement. He talks like a mini-Bronco and buys entirely into the football/religion mix.

Good article. Bronco will find more and more that he is a prisoner or slave to his own successes. But, he knows the great joys of those successes and they're addictive. He won't leave for the pros or even a "better" college team any time soon because he's developed a culture within a culture he likes that does NOT transfer to the Raiders or Trojans. It would seem like a painted sepulcher.

I'm totally glad Whittinham turned down BYU and BYU hired Bronco. No slam on Kyle. He's a great fellow and a darn good coach. But it now gives Utah great exposure and as anyone knows out there, Utah is synonymous with the LDS Church. Irony of ironies is the Mormon-haters in Utah who look to the U of U as their standard bearer (anti-BYU) and whenever they win the rest of the nation figures it's another LDS
bunch doing the work.

Go Cougs. Go Utes... until the end of November. Then again in December.

JoePa recently said in an article (this year), "I'll only be coaching for 10 or 15 more years."

Thanks again Harmon for another great and personalized article. I agree with RockOin that whatever Mendenhall does in life after football it likely won't be coaching another program. BYU is incredibly unique and Mendenhall is a unique coach/spiritual leader that just won't have the same effect at another school. And he wouldn't be happy just being an X and O coach to a bunch of kids that don't have the same spiritual purpose as he recruited to the Y. Maybe he would be content putting aside a few million and just enjoying life and his family - nothing wrong with that at all.

Uhhhhhh...hey guys, uh, ya know, I was just thinkin' that maybe I could, ya know, maybe do that job if Bronco leaves here pretty soon. Cuz uhhh...well things aren't goin' so great at Weber and all and it's mainly that dang stadium we have to play in and welllll...if Bronco leaves before I get too much older ya know...

Last night I read a Hot or Not article on THE sport networks website. It starts with an E and ends with an N if you're not sure which I'm talking about. It said that Utah football (talking about Utah in general, both BYU and Utah)is Hot. Kyle and Bronco have their strengths and both fit into their respective programs. I'm a Ute fan but I love Bronco. Given the nature of the program at BYU, it has given him the opportunity to not only be a football coach but also a life coach and he is using a faith based institution to change boys into men. He represents BYU like no other I've seen and I wish him the best in the future. If I were the parent of an athlete old enough to be looking at schools, because of Bronco, I would push towards BYU.

Clearly Bronco is a different kind of cat. You have to love this guy and the perspective in which he keeps football relative to life.

When BYU was looking for a replacement and supposedly made the offer to Kyle Whittingham, I remember my brother (former BYU team mate of Kyle's) was literally sick about the prospect. Why? Not because he didn't like or respect Kyle, but because Kyle stated emphatically that if he took the BYU job, Gary Anderson would be his DC, implying that BYU would lose its greatest asset, as Bronco would be out the door. My bro was right -- as stated before, both schools seemed to have gotten the right guy....

Bronco's trying to get BYU to become the same kind of school Notre Dame became after Knute Rockne. One where a church's top athletic youth clamor to attend (in other sports, too). After that successful era for Notre Dame, their sports efforts stayed up there with the best of schools for many decades after he retired. Tradition! It has a way of providing staying power.

Bronco wants BYU to be the place where the best LDS talent wants to come because of their church affiliation, not because they were recruited hard by BYU. Non-LDS talent will come in just because of the school's success. He's defining a tradition that will succeed after he's gone. That's his "calling."

Lavell started the tradition (although somewhat weakly), Crowton didn't understand it, then Bronco revived and redefined it. Remember his embracing of BYU's past football heroes early on? It wasn't just a stab or "good idea." It was planned as part of his scheme to get BYU sports to where it belongs--one where tradition carries the weight that even the next coach can't pull down as quickly as Crowton did it.

I do hope Bronco sticks around for at least 10 more years.

As a BYU fan, I have been thrilled to see what Bronco has accomplished so far in his time as head coach. That being said, Bronco is two plays away from having a three game losing streak to Utah. He seems to be doing things the right way down there and we all want him to continue, but let's not act like he is some collegiate-Lombardi.

i just hope he leaves soon so we can have a better chance at beating BYU. As a ute that is the only game i care about and we can't win as long as he's the coach

I wonder if Broncos verbal hedges are an indication he'd consider coaching at another, bigger school. This is almost unheard of for a BYU head football coach because we were so used to the long tenure/subsequent retirement of LaVell. But even LaVell, when he proved successful, was courted by other schools, but he turned them down. Other schools eventually gave up, knowing that LaVell would never leave.
With the success Bronco has been having, other, bigger schools are and will take notice. Maybe, unlike LaVell, Bronco will take advantage of the opportunity.

I thought this story sounded familiar.

Or is this just journalistic recycling?

"Bronco May Not Coach For Long Haul"
By Dick Harmon
Deseret Morning News
Published: Saturday, Jan. 5, 2008 12:28 a.m. MST

"I won't be coaching long enough to do that. I enjoy the head coaching job at BYU, but I'm not going to be a long-term coach. I enjoy what I'm doing right now, but I'm not certain (how long it will be).

"My ultimate goal is to leave coaching having made BYU a better place than what it is now. I'm not sure what lies in store after that, but this isn't going to be with gray hair and coaching my last day when ... I'm ... I don't know what age."

BYU hasn't played a down since this last story was written.

What's up with that Dick? Too busy to write a new column?

Maybe you should have mentioned this was a follow up or something?

To Ernest T.
"Better than JoePa"?
He looks like a good young coach and only needs 345 more victories and a few national titles to get over the hump.

Wow.

In the picture, accompanying this story, Bronco is talking to Kehl in a snowstorm. It's like they didn't even get a current pic for this story.

Is Harmon taking a day off?

What is wrong with Dick Harmon? I don't understand what is so hard for him to understand.

Coach Mendenhall wants to build a program that endures even after he leaves, whenever that happens. He does not want to see the transitional failures repeated that occurred when Edwards retired and Crowton took over and when Crowton left and he took over. Duh! It makes perfect sense. There are programs built around specific positions or players. Coach Mendenhall wants a program that will succeed in any situation. It is an amazing goal and he is an amazing person.

If you're judging Bronco's accomplishments and potential based on nothing but the closeness of the three games played versus Utah, you're totally clueless.

Bronco's vision of the BYU football program goes WAAAYY beyond wins and losses on the football field.

His first question to new recruits is "Why do you want to come to BYU?" If the only answer they can give is to play football, guess what, Bronco doesn't want them on his team. Bronco doesn't sell BYU to new recruits, Bronco requires new recruits to sell themselves to BYU.

Let me introduce you to Ernest T. Bass,

Originally he was a cute hillbilly in the Andy Griffith series that appeared in only four episodes.

Now, some Ute fan has grabbed the handle and uses it to make innane comments meant to rile up BYU fans.

It's alot easier to see is name and skip the post, unless you are interested in reading what useless, outlandish comment he has come up with for that day.

I figure him for a retired old Ute troll that has nothing to do but hate on BYU.

Replying to his comments only feeds his feeling of self importance, and just wait for what he replies back.

Sometimes he is fun to play with, but don't take him seriously. He doesn't take himself seriously.

I have a large family of all boys. Each one has played two or three sports each over the last 30 years, football, wrestling, baseball, track, ballroom dancing. We have never had the opportunity to expereince a coach like Coach Mendenhall. I wish we could have. The coaches we had were always concerned with how they looked to others. Coach Mendanhall hopes to build responsible men. The program is not about him, it is about what is right, what is good, what is truth. He honors his preisthood in all ways. That is where his strength lies. I wish all coaches were like Mendanhall, as concerned for the young men or young womens lives beyond the need to win. Coaches have a lot of power over the lives of our children. I would love to have Mendenhall coach, coaches!

response to re:ramper

Thanks for the heads up. I hope he is getting treatment and is allowed to have his belt and shoelaces again soon.

interesting article. i would think that mendenhall would stay at byu because his strengths play to byu's strengths.

how long he stays is up to him... and up to how many games he wins. let's face it, if for some reason bronco has three straight bad seasons, most of the people who love bronco for his ethic and his personality and coaching style will realize that they loved him because he won games and they'll start putting pressure on the administration and athletic department to get him out.

someone mentioned brandon doman being groomed as the next coach. i don't think so. maybe, but doubtful. if for some reason mendenhall were to call it quits or find greener pastures at a bcs school, i think the school would first beg and plead with norm chow to come back. after he declined, they would go for steve sarkisian, who is doing great things at usc (although i don't think he's a member of the church, which could be tricky with administration). after he declined, they would probably have to settle for reynolds.

but i think bronco will be around for a while yet.

"It could be a short time or maybe a decade"

Wow, Dick Harmon has come up with another amazing story. How did he get this kind of insight. He could coach for a long time, or maybe he won't. Keep up the great articles, maybe in another 6 months we can see this story again.

Bronco is trying to have the program where Lavell did but only be able to miss weeks or months and the other coaches and the players would keep on ticking and do their JOB! college football is basically a professional job representing the BY of Universities.

he will get out when the byu fans turn on him. sitting in the stadium hearing byu fans boo crowton, even hearing them boo lavell, as well as chow, it is inevitable. many byu fans expect perfection and when the team does not deliver, they demand that the coaches "resign". bronco, I hope it is later than sooner, but beware. get out why they still like you.

Since when does coaching at BYU enshrine someone to be called to the Seventy? Is Edwards a Seventy? You want football. Come play in Texas, and I don't mean stopping in Fort Worth. The Cougs couldn't beat Tech, A&M and forget about UT. TCU will give the Cougs all and more than they can handle this year.

As for a successor, whenever that will be, hopefully much later than sooner, will need to continue the multidimensional coaching with the mission of the school. There are some good coaches but if they don't fully understand the mission of the school then it is best to have a lesser coach that could delegate the x's and o's to others. A former QB would be great, Doman would fit the mold, or Ty Detmer. Gif Nielson would be great as well.

Absolutely agreed. Couldn't have said it better myself. Bronco, lose ONE game this year and they'll ride you out of town on a rail. I guarantee it. And this year, it'll only take ONE.

Seeing that sort of behavior from so many people in the stands, game after game, year after year, is precisely why I now refuse to call myself a BYU fan. Petty, childish, fickle, and on occasion downright ugly. Yes, we're all human--but some of you "fully invested" folks are a bit TOO human when fate, BYU's own athletic shortcomings and mistakes, and/or an opponent's successful game strategy spoils the victory so many "fans" demand. You're worse than Ohio State fans, for crying out loud!

Make no mistake: I still love it when BYU wins. But I no longer throw a fit like a spoiled child when they lose. I have a life and I've gotten on with it. May those "BYU fans" who lose so ungraciously come to see themselves as they are seen.

"The Cougs couldn't beat Tech, A&M and forget about UT."

Actually, BYU has done very well against the State of Texas.

TCU should be very good, but they've lost two in a row to BYU and their lone victory since joining the MWC was 51-50 on a late-game comeback.

BYU vs the State of Texas

BYU vs TCU 5-2
BYU vs Texas Tech 0-1 (1940, 20-21)
BYU vs Texas 2-0
BYU vs Texas A&M 2-1
BYU vs Baylor 1-1
BYU vs SMU 3-0
BYU vs UTEP 28-7-1

Hey you long tall Texan ... BYU has beaten UT a couple of times, without a loss during the Edward's era, and they did it at Texas. Against A&M BYU has a 1-1 record, losing to them there, and annihilating them at BYU. BYU's baten TCU every year they've played them, although a bad call by the refs in their first MWC game at the Y allowed TCU to come from way back and win the game. BYU regularly thumped Texas El Paso, and BYU won the cotton bowl in Texas ... so all-in-all the Cougs like to play in the state of Texas 'bout as good as Provo, because everything comes up like roses.

Man I almost had a heart attack when Reynolds was mentioned for the job, love him as a position coach, but anybody remember when he took over the Offense Lavells last year?
I wanted Bronco from the get-go. I'd go to practice, and it was night and day from the discipline and confidence of the Defense to the...blah... of the Offense. I liked Whittingham mostly because of how much he meant to the Cougars back in the day, and it'd be nice to see him wearing Blue again. But was for Bronco... and now am completely blown away with his style of coaching, which wouldn't fly in most other places.
Here's to at least 10 more years. Bronco wants a National Title... he'll retire after he gets it.