If you never heard Bronco say "the best players on the field" then you weren't listening. He said it all the time, starting with when he went from a 3-3-5 to a 3-4-4, he said the reason for the change was that BYU recruits linebackers well and he wanted to get the best 11 on the field.

The problem fans have, myself included, is how Bronco seemed to define "best" in a way that put emphasis on obedience, buy-in, and perceived toughness more than playmaking and athletic ability.

Exactly. You forgot "mission status" as a category. Bronco clearly preferred RMs. Anyone that thinks Bronco wanted the best 11 players on the field needs to look no further than KVN or NFL Pro Bowler Ziggy Ansah, who many of us were calling to start over their RM counterparts. Ziggy went from a bench player who would occasionally play 3rd downs to a top 5 pick, once Manumaleuna went down. There is every reason to believe that Ziggy would have stayed on the bench behind the super senior.

Maybe I am wrong but KVN started and played from his freshman year on. Ziggy Ansah was not a starter his SR year, he was not as good as the guys in front of him. He improved in a major way every game he was in there and there was no way that Bronco or any other coach could have predicted that and put him in as a starter in order to find out if they were right.

C'mon man, that takes like 15 seconds of Googling...

Van Noy was admitted to BYU in 2009 but sat out his first year due to an honor code violation. During the 2010 season he played in every game while starting two and earned letterman honors.

Van Noy started eight and played in all 13 games of the 2011 season , recording 68 tackles and leading the team with 15 tackles for loss, 7 sacks, 10 quarterback hurries and tied for the team lead with three interceptions.[4]

(per his wiki)

You are wrong about him and wrong about Ansah... To say that Manumaleuna (let's be honest... You didn't even remember him until I brought him up) is utterly laughable. Ziggy tore it up right away.

But, perhaps Bronco didn't "trust" them enough yet. Maybe that's why they didn't play. (Remember when Ziggy met Bronco for the first time and within ten minutes Bronco was telling him how he didn't trust him yet, and wasn't going to play him?)

If you never heard Bronco say "the best players on the field" then you weren't listening. He said it all the time, starting with when he went from a 3-3-5 to a 3-4-4, he said the reason for the change was that BYU recruits linebackers well and he wanted to get the best 11 on the field.

The problem fans have, myself included, is how Bronco seemed to define "best" in a way that put emphasis on obedience, buy-in, and perceived toughness more than playmaking and athletic ability.

Exactly. You forgot "mission status" as a category. Bronco clearly preferred RMs. Anyone that thinks Bronco wanted the best 11 players on the field needs to look no further than KVN or NFL Pro Bowler Ziggy Ansah, who many of us were calling to start over their RM counterparts. Ziggy went from a bench player who would occasionally play 3rd downs to a top 5 pick, once Manumaleuna went down. There is every reason to believe that Ziggy would have stayed on the bench behind the super senior.

Maybe I am wrong but KVN started and played from his freshman year on. Ziggy Ansah was not a starter his SR year, he was not as good as the guys in front of him. He improved in a major way every game he was in there and there was no way that Bronco or any other coach could have predicted that and put him in as a starter in order to find out if they were right.

If you never heard Bronco say "the best players on the field" then you weren't listening. He said it all the time, starting with when he went from a 3-3-5 to a 3-4-4, he said the reason for the change was that BYU recruits linebackers well and he wanted to get the best 11 on the field.

The problem fans have, myself included, is how Bronco seemed to define "best" in a way that put emphasis on obedience, buy-in, and perceived toughness more than playmaking and athletic ability.

Sounds like pretty good criteria to me. You are wrong about playmaking ability. Bronco absolutely played the guys with the best playmaking ability. He played the guys who did their assignments and didn't play outside the system, or in other words the guys who made plays. I love the way people are trying to rewrite what actually happened into what fits their perceived biases. Don't get me wrong, I am rooting for the new coaching staff to take us to higher levels than Bronco took us but I am thankful for everything Bronco did while he was here. BYU's football program was a complete mess when he took over and he won a lot of games for us. As long as people choose to make cheap shot remarks against Bronco, I will defend what really happened.

If you never heard Bronco say "the best players on the field" then you weren't listening. He said it all the time, starting with when he went from a 3-3-5 to a 3-4-4, he said the reason for the change was that BYU recruits linebackers well and he wanted to get the best 11 on the field.

The problem fans have, myself included, is how Bronco seemed to define "best" in a way that put emphasis on obedience, buy-in, and perceived toughness more than playmaking and athletic ability.

If you never heard Bronco say "the best players on the field" then you weren't listening. He said it all the time, starting with when he went from a 3-3-5 to a 3-4-4, he said the reason for the change was that BYU recruits linebackers well and he wanted to get the best 11 on the field.

The problem fans have, myself included, is how Bronco seemed to define "best" in a way that put emphasis on obedience, buy-in, and perceived toughness more than playmaking and athletic ability.

Exactly. You forgot "mission status" as a category. Bronco clearly preferred RMs. Anyone that thinks Bronco wanted the best 11 players on the field needs to look no further than KVN or NFL Pro Bowler Ziggy Ansah, who many of us were calling to start over their RM counterparts. Ziggy went from a bench player who would occasionally play 3rd downs to a top 5 pick, once Manumaleuna went down. There is every reason to believe that Ziggy would have stayed on the bench behind the super senior.

If you never heard Bronco say "the best players on the field" then you weren't listening. He said it all the time, starting with when he went from a 3-3-5 to a 3-4-4, he said the reason for the change was that BYU recruits linebackers well and he wanted to get the best 11 on the field.

The problem fans have, myself included, is how Bronco seemed to define "best" in a way that put emphasis on obedience, buy-in, and perceived toughness more than playmaking and athletic ability.

Wow! I think Heaps gets the award for milking the most out of a lackluster career and one's contacts.

Heaps is an amazing QB in practice as long as there is zero threat to get hit, it makes sense for a team to sign him on for camp where they need several warm bodies to throw the ball and then cut him once the season starts, as has happened the last several years.

If you never heard Bronco say "the best players on the field" then you weren't listening. He said it all the time, starting with when he went from a 3-3-5 to a 3-4-4, he said the reason for the change was that BYU recruits linebackers well and he wanted to get the best 11 on the field.