And now the piling on really starts...

I'm an admitted Bronco guy, but I clearly see some things that could have gone better during his tenure...but, wow, some people clearly have no remembrance of where the program was when he took over.



Three straight losing seasons.



Didn't get to hire his own staff (I believe he chose Anae from a limited group given to him, but he basically was forced the other assistants).



Scandals that were embarrassing to the university and the church.



Stricter enforcement of the honor code, handled outside the football department (until the last 2 years), because of said scandals.



Twitter right now is full of morons who are just trashing the guy. Bronco probably knew this was his last year going into it. He could have left the cupboards bare. He could have gone out like Rocky Long did in UNM. But he didn't. He just recognized it was time to move on (and the 3.25 mil a year probably didn't hurt his feelings any).



To not recognize what he did for the program is ridiculous.

Bronco was great. He will be missed.



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I'm of the same belief. I DID NOT LIKE bronco his first year. I figured it was more of the same at BYU football after that year. But 2006 and forward, man, what a difference.



I've tried to stay out of the "trashing Mendenhall" because I would be defending him and only furthering the anger that for some reason is being taken out on him. I find it shortsighted by many fans. I THINK that part of the reason is they are looking for a whipping boy (deserved or undeserved) for the utah loss. But, maybe people just hate the guy that much.

Perhaps now is the time for me to be happy that I'm not on Twitter. If all of the moof-milkers are out in full force trashing Bronco, it's best for me to pay them no mind.

Bronco was exactly what BYU needed 11 years ago and I for one appreciate all he did and wish him nothing but the best moving forward. No doubt he was a quirky and different individual, but I never questioned his love for his players and the program. I guess I am different than some fans (and the media) who felt they needed to hear it directly from Bronco how much he needed and appreciated them. With that being said, I am excited heading into the Sitake era. I loved everything I saw and heard today. I hope he can get his staff put together sooner rather than later and get the ball rolling. Go Cougars!

Wolverine wrote:
Bronco was exactly what BYU needed 11 years ago and I for one appreciate all he did and wish him nothing but the best moving forward. No doubt he was a quirky and different individual, but I never questioned his love for his players and the program. I guess I am different than some fans (and the media) who felt they needed to hear it directly from Bronco how much he needed and appreciated them. With that being said, I am excited heading into the Sitake era. I loved everything I saw and heard today. I hope he can get his staff put together sooner rather than later and get the ball rolling. Go Cougars!

well said.

I'm grateful for bronco no doubt. His biggest fault to me was his failure to get the team prepared for big games. I don't know why he couldn't do better there.



After the dark Crowton years, Bronco's exactly what BYU needed, and he won a lot of games here. He will be remembered for that. I wish he wouldn't also simultaneously be remembered for dropping 5 straight to Utah. He didn't directly cause the turnovers, but I think he again failed to adequately prepare his team for this game.

The tremendous job Bronco did at BYU will be appreciated more as time passes. I suspect 3 years from now, the Bronco Mendenhall era will have have grown in respect and appreciation. Certainly, he did something right for UVA to plop down a 5 year $3.25 million per year contract. You don't sign bad coaches to a contract like that.



I cannot understand the negative ninnies attacking Bronco - as he heads out the door. Coaching is not a perfect world. That gets reiterated every week.

It's a small percentage of BYU fans (maybe some yewts in there too) but boy they make me mad. If it was my board or twitter world, they would be kicked off.

Like I said in my thread I created the day I heard he was leaving. There is going to come a day very soon where BYU fans will truly appreciate what kind of a coach Bronco is and what he did for this university. I just hope that while we realize that, we aren't wishing that he was still here because the guy we just hired destroyed everything he built.

frdbtr wrote:
I just hope that while we realize that, we aren't wishing that he was still here because the guy we just hired destroyed everything he built.

From what I saw and heard today, I feel much more confident that this won't be the case. Go Cougars!

Wolverine wrote:

I just hope that while we realize that, we aren't wishing that he was still here because the guy we just hired destroyed everything he built.

From what I saw and heard today, I feel much more confident that this won't be the case. Go Cougars!

Agreed, I think KS will do a commendable job and sounds like he is building a good/great coaching staff around him.

Wolverine wrote:

I just hope that while we realize that, we aren't wishing that he was still here because the guy we just hired destroyed everything he built.

From what I saw and heard today, I feel much more confident that this won't be the case. Go Cougars!

Being able to talk the talk is one thing. Next fall we will see if he knows how to coach. I am also hoping for some home run assistants because I am definitely not sold on his ability to coach. He has never proved it on the field with his defenses, especially the defense he put on the field at OSU this year.

frdbtr wrote:

frdbtr wrote:
I just hope that while we realize that, we aren't wishing that he was still here because the guy we just hired destroyed everything he built.

From what I saw and heard today, I feel much more confident that this won't be the case. Go Cougars!

Being able to talk the talk is one thing. Next fall we will see if he knows how to coach. I am also hoping for some home run assistants because I am definitely not sold on his ability to coach. He has never proved it on the field with his defenses, especially the defense he put on the field at OSU this year.

What is so wonderful about all of this is that you don't have to be sold on his ability to coach. Step 1 is that TH and the BoT are sold on his ability to coach and lead the program. Step 2 will be that current players and recruits become sold on his ability to coach. You, me, and any other fan not being sold on his ability to coach won't make one bit of difference whatsoever in wins and losses. One season at OSU is what I would consider insufficient data at this point in time. Let's see, John Wooden at one time was almost run out on a rail at UCLA, Dean Smith (a dummy that is) was hung in effigy from a tree in Chapel Hill early in his career. The NFL and college ranks are littered with coaches and coordinators who are geniuses today and terrible tomorrow. Fans are fickle. I say, let's see how it plays out. Welcome Coach Sitake and Go Cougars!

I've always had some nit-picky complaints about Bronco (time management, conservative decisions, over-sensitivity, etc.), but I've always thought as long as he wanted to coach at BYU--he'd earned that much. Every coach has some weaknesses, it's just that some coaches have teams with enough talent to make up for those coaching short-comings. E.g., Andy Reid is a known to have clock-management issues, such that it contributed to the Eagles' Super Bowl loss.



Like Lloyd Carr at Michigan or Glen Mason at Minnesota or even Urban Meyer at Florida, I'm sure Bronco's accomplishments at BYU won't be fully appreciated until he's gone.

Nobody is perfect. Mendenhall had his flaws but overall was very successful at BYU. Its time for a change. Some handle change better than others--Mendenhall left for his next challenge so whether or not fans wanted him to stay at the helm doesn't really matter. Its not like he was fired or something.

I like the fact that Sitake has ties to BYU and a history, he has some emotional ties to the program already and they will just get stronger.Bronco did not have that and he still came and did a commendable job.I hope Sitake gets a great staff so he can concentrate on his strengths if this happens he will be successful and hopefully stay for a long time.I wish them both lots of success.

I echo most of the sentiments here. To me CBM will always hold a place of honor because of his dedication and effort. He really put himself into his job and was thoroughly passionate, and compassionate. He really is a rare commodity.



I am terribly interested in seeing how Broncoism translates onto a different campus. For the most part these Cavalier players, students and fans have never seen the like of this staff before. When I saw an article about Bronco yesterday that was noting how in his presser he had mentioned how he wants his coaches to have more family time, of how that translated to the non BYU fan. This will be very interesting.



Yet, while at his announcement of leaving BYU caused me some anxiety about the future, especially when I found out in included most of his staff, there was just that little spark of excitement that some aspects of BYU football could change. Game time management was one of CBM's constant albatrosses and I never could figure that out. Some of it was him standing up against common sense. I didn't care either for his talk about athletes needing to recruit themselves to BYU. Having raised seven children I just didn't see many teenagers really having a handle sufficiently on that concept.



It will be interesting to know how we all feel about this change one year from now.

Wolverine wrote:

Wolverine wrote:

I just hope that while we realize that, we aren't wishing that he was still here because the guy we just hired destroyed everything he built.

From what I saw and heard today, I feel much more confident that this won't be the case. Go Cougars!

Being able to talk the talk is one thing. Next fall we will see if he knows how to coach. I am also hoping for some home run assistants because I am definitely not sold on his ability to coach. He has never proved it on the field with his defenses, especially the defense he put on the field at OSU this year.

What is so wonderful about all of this is that you don't have to be sold on his ability to coach. Step 1 is that TH and the BoT are sold on his ability to coach and lead the program. Step 2 will be that current players and recruits become sold on his ability to coach. You, me, and any other fan not being sold on his ability to coach won't make one bit of difference whatsoever in wins and losses. One season at OSU is what I would consider insufficient data at this point in time. Let's see, John Wooden at one time was almost run out on a rail at UCLA, Dean Smith (a dummy that is) was hung in effigy from a tree in Chapel Hill early in his career. The NFL and college ranks are littered with coaches and coordinators who are geniuses today and terrible tomorrow. Fans are fickle. I say, let's see how it plays out. Welcome Coach Sitake and Go Cougars!

They were sold on Crowton's ability to coach too or he wouldn't have been hired. I never said I have any influence on whether he wins or loses. Utah's defense declined in performance every year he was the Dcoordinator there and then he turned out a defense this year ranked over 100 in the country in total defense. I hope that he doesn't destroy everything Bronco built here, I really do, but up until now, I have seen nothing that makes me feel like he is going to be a great head coach. I hope I am wrong.

Fido wrote:
Nobody is perfect. Mendenhall had his flaws but overall was very successful at BYU. Its time for a change. Some handle change better than others--Mendenhall left for his next challenge so whether or not fans wanted him to stay at the helm doesn't really matter. Its not like he was fired or something.

I'm just kind of irritated at the piling on that has been mentioned. It wouldn't surprise me to see Virginia start winning ACC championships soon. Bronco did more with less than anyone in the country at BYU with the recruiting restrictions that he was given by the BOT and now he won't have those restrictions.