Well said Bronco

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865579747/Could-BYU-football-have-another-first-round-pick-next-year.html



I love Bronco as our coach, but sometimes (actually often) I feel like he says the wrong things or has poor word choice and as a result he comes across as being annoyed by fans if they do anything besides giving him a standing ovation for a job well done or he comes across as the head of a youth leadership camp preparing kids for life rather than a football coach.



This article PERFECTLY lays out what Bronco means about having football as a 5th priority in a way that reassures fans that we have a coach passionate about winning.



Way to go Bronco.



Now if I could just find an article where Bronco praises the fans for not just cheering at games but also for loving Cougar football so much that' they have opinions about the team, players and coaching....and that's OK.



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Actually a very well-written article.

There are 2 ways you can take whatever anyone says. There are a vocal minority of BYU fans who like to spin everything that Bronco says in a negative way. Bronco is a very positive person and loves his players like his own sons. If you read "running into the wind" you will never misunderstand why BYU puts football "5th in priorities".

I agree with the 5th priority of football. That's not a problem when he talks about that -- although almost all fans on game day would agree with the statement that winning isn't everything, its the only thing; and getting bludgeoned by the utes isn't easier to swallow while thinking about how much the players love their family and friends. There are ways to properly prioritize your life and still come across as not downplaying the importance of things lower down on the list. Bronco did this perfectly in this article. Much better than he ever has. I'm very glad about this. He is learning better PR skills which is critical for a head coach.



But he does come across at times as being annoyed and offended by criticism from anyone not directly tied to the team. I mean he has brought up being booed years ago like he holds a grudge against the fans. He's a great guy, but he has done very little to make fans feel like part of the team in any way except to unconditionally cheer. He's been dissatisfied with performances and benched players and fired coaches. But he often comes across as peeved at the notion that fans are also dissatisfied at times. I'm hoping in this area his PR skills improve as much as in his perfect explanation of why he prioritizes the way he does and how that doesn't limit the competitive fire.



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Lavell also was annoyed by criticism of fans. He was just better at being charming about voicing that annoyance. I remember a KSL add (can't remember if it was radio or tv) where he complained to Paul James about the "stupid post game call in show". He had a way of making it funny instead of coming across as criticism. The Bottom line is these coaches have forgotten more about football than most fans will ever know so they take some criticism as being uneducated. Bronco hates losing to the utes more than any fan, believe me. Football being "5th" on the list of priorities is exactly what it should be and is not the reason BYU has been losing to the utes. The reason BYU has been losing to the utes is because of a combination of bad offensive coaching and Bad offensive and defensive execution by the players (maybe also a product of coaching). Bronco doesn't come into practice on monday morning before the ute game and tell his players not to get excited because beating the utes is 5th on the priority list.

You're making my points exactly.



Bronco is not good at responding to criticism in a positive way. Lavell was better at it. Most coaches are better at it (although some are way worse). That's all I'm saying, and what you are saying too. Bronco doesn't need to listen to the fans' opinions. But he will be a better coach if he learns to respond better to the fans. He isn't just a coach of the players. He represents all the fans to a certain extent. That's an important role for a coach and shouldn't be ignored.



As far as Bronco having forgotten more about football than fans will ever know, that's the kind of crap attitude that bugs me and other fans. That's like saying fans can't recognize poor coaching or bad play calls. Or that fans somehow aren't allowed to have an emotional reaction to a loss because the coach knows more Xs and Os. I have patients that leave reviews online, some good and some bad. Their knowledge of medicine and the human body is rudimentary compared to mine but their opinions about how I work are 100% valid. I don't criticize someone who had a bad experience. I try to figure out why they had a bad experience and fix the problem. And I thank them for the feedback. Dismissing someone's opinion about you and how you work because you think you are more knowledgable in the area is so myopic and unproductive.



Lastly, when someone (or in this case many people) says Bronco comes across as not caring about the fans but at the same time demands that they care about him and his team, its horribly ineffective to just insult the people by saying things like they spin whatever Bronco says. Instead, if you are honest about it, you'll admit that he could do better in this regard no matter that it may not be true that he doesn't care about fans. He just may need to express himself better.



I fully support Bronco. I have since before he was hired. I didn't want Kwhit when everyone else did. I wanted Bronco and I still do. He's one of the greatest coaches in the country. But that doesn't mean he's perfect and if I could change one thing about his PR skills itd be learning how to treat the fans the way he wants the fans to treat him. It's a 2 way street.



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I read an article written by Nate Miekle last year where he said that most coaches look at fan criticisms with a certain amount of distain simply because most fans have no idea what they are talking about. I believe Nate knows what he is talking about because of personal experience. You probably feel the same way about things when your patients criticize you, your first reaction is to feel irritation that they know nothing about what they are talking about. You talk like you handle it well, some people handle criticism better than others. I am not arguing your point that Bronco isn't the best in the media, but I do get tired of hearing fans complain about football being 5th and that is why we always lose to the utes. It is nonsense. Bronco has only reacted badly in the media towards the fans a couple of times, one being when fans were wanting Max Hall benched in 09 in favor or Riley nelson. That was when he came to the defense of his player and called fans ignorant. Well, now that Riley is Maligned as the worst thing to happen to BYU sports in BYU sports history, Bronco looks like a genius for calling fans ignorant for wanting Hall benched in favor of Nelson. Sometimes when a coach calls out his fan base for being ignorant, it may offend the ignorant fans, if you feel offended when he does this, does the shoe fit? (not talking about you personally Cougy) Frankly I haven't felt offended even one time when Bronco criticized the fans or the media because I knew he was talking to the vocal minority of morons and not level headed fans like myself.

I've never booed Bronco or our team. And I absolutely never at any time wanted Riley in at QB. And I've never been offended at Bronco's comments. And I think the football as 5th philosophy is correct. I just think Bronco alienates the fan base with thoughtless comments on occasion. I'm not saying he is wrong in the way he feels or thinks. But a better media presence would serve his team well.



When patients request things that aren't in their best interest I take the time to educate them on alternative ideas that are based on facts about which they are unaware. In the end the patients almost always express high satisfaction that I took the time to address their concern and explain to them things they didn't know. Other docs (a lot in fact) come across as annoyed at their patients' ignorance and and come across as arrogant as they say "I know more about this than you so shut up".



When one is in a position of expertise in a field there are 2 ways to respond to criticism or requests from people who lack that expertise. One is satisfying to the expert (in the way winning an argument can be fleetingly satisfying) and the other is satisfying and enlightening to the average joe.



I feel like a lot of people on this board mistake the intentions of fans that criticize Bronco's "expert" interaction with fans because he misses perfect opportunities to enlighten fans and strengthen their loyalty to him and the team. It'd take effort and patience, which is why lots of coaches and experts in their field in general don't do it. People on this board assume you agree with the fans' criticism of Bronco's decisions just because you dislike his response. For the record I almost always agree with Bronco's position (almost always) and I agree that many critical fans are ignorant (including me at times -- although I'm football educated I'm not an expert) but Bronco alluding to such ignorance is a bad bad move. He's a coach. Take the time to coach the fans on occasion. It's his job. His media responses at times is like a teacher calling his students stupid when the teacher would be better off using his breath to dispel the ignorance instead of focusing on it.



Every time Bronco (or now Anae) says something to the effect of "we don't have to answer to the fans or the media because you don't know what we know" I think wow, how short sighted they are. Sure they don't have to answer to fans about a specific question, but ultimately it is fan satisfaction that determines their job security. Empty seats equals empty coaches chair eventually.



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I'm on record with this football 5th priority thing already. I was at the Cougar Club luncheon where Bronco went to great lengths to explain his list. It gets taken out of context and misconstrued by BYU fans, let along Yewts, that it is a joke.



It is a good list, with solid intentions and makes perfect sense. Unless you just want to look for a reason to crack on Bronco. And then, it is a you problem, not a list problem.

I think most people on this board would agree with Bronco's priority list. It's just refreshing that he explained himself so well in this article to a large audience (speaking to cougar club members is preaching to the choir).



Bronco is growing as a coach each year. I think past dumb statements like 'quest for perfection' are ancient history. Those kinds of things are way too easily misconstrued and/or misunderstood.



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Cougy_Monster wrote:
I think most people on this board would agree with Bronco's priority list. It's just refreshing that he explained himself so well in this article to a large audience (speaking to cougar club members is preaching to the choir).



Bronco is growing as a coach each year. I think past dumb statements like 'quest for perfection' are ancient history. Those kinds of things are way too easily misconstrued and/or misunderstood.



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I agree with you, Bronco is growing as a coach. I don't think he's necessarily saying fewer dumb things, but realizing he has to dumb down his message because the wider audience has proven incapable of understanding nuance.

hawkwing wrote:

I think most people on this board would agree with Bronco's priority list. It's just refreshing that he explained himself so well in this article to a large audience (speaking to cougar club members is preaching to the choir).



Bronco is growing as a coach each year. I think past dumb statements like 'quest for perfection' are ancient history. Those kinds of things are way too easily misconstrued and/or misunderstood.



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I agree with you, Bronco is growing as a coach. I don't think he's necessarily saying fewer dumb things, but realizing he has to dumb down his message because the wider audience has proven incapable of understanding nuance.

You're exactly right. Knowing your audience is the most important part of framing what you say. Quoting scripture from the BoM will leave a broad audience scratching its head. Bronco started out speaking to the program and local fans. Then he realized that everything he says and does is scrutinized at a national level and he speaks with that in mind now. Nobody in the media can afford to just say stuff and assume what he says won't get picked apart by those who don't understand his position or by the Gordon Monson's of the world.



Coaches can think things that are outrageous. And just keep them to themselves. Take KWhitt for example when he said he had the best QBs in the country. We all laughed -- and he was proven wrong,very wrong. But think about it. He was only a few years removed from having the #1 draft pick in the country with Alex Smith. He was probably in camp and thought to himself "these guys look better than Alex -- they're the best I've ever seen in my own camp. Nobody else can beat this group. So I must have the best QBs in the country". Then he went and actually said that nonsense out loud.



Tons of coaches say dumb stuff like that. They each have their own type of dumb statements. We all do. It's actually a very hard skill to develop -- to frame your words in ways that are understood and accepted by the masses without compromising your beliefs that are only held by a minority. Bronco is accomplishing that and I'm happy for him and the program.



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