Bronco Mendenhall

Interesting read on Bronco today at ESPN.com on their NCAAF page.

There's a quote from Albert Einstein that hangs behind Mendenhall's desk. It reads: "Great spirits are always opposed by mediocre minds."



"I'm an introverted deep thinker who is in an extroverted entertainer's job,"

Thanks for the link. Interesting to see Bronco still being Bronco.

Gotta hand it to a man who knows who he is, even if others don't get him.

He's forging a unique model for a football coach. It worked relatively well at BYU because BYU is a unique context suited to that identity. I hope his experiment pans out for him outside of the Provo bubble. I continue to wish him luck. I'd like to see more coaches take an interest in their players' long term welfare.

scott715 wrote:
There's a quote from Albert Einstein that hangs behind Mendenhall's desk. It reads: "Great spirits are always opposed by mediocre minds."



"I'm an introverted deep thinker who is in an extroverted entertainer's job,"

I like how even when quoting Einstein, Bronco can come across as himself-against-the-world. I do like how Kalani is best friends with just about any stranger he meets in the world.

This was an interesting read. I think Bronco has an approach that really can work with a lot of fans and players. But, he just comes across as so distant and unrelatable to so many others. I liked him as a coach and I wish him success. It would be amazing if his model did indeed have more wins. In fact, it would be ideal and good for college football.

Mars wrote:

There's a quote from Albert Einstein that hangs behind Mendenhall's desk. It reads: "Great spirits are always opposed by mediocre minds."



"I'm an introverted deep thinker who is in an extroverted entertainer's job,"

I like how even when quoting Einstein, Bronco can come across as himself-against-the-world. I do like how Kalani is best friends with just about any stranger he meets in the world.

I hope he does well, but that's more than just himself-against-the-world. Maybe he's going for something else and I know he's a great guy but he could use a little common sense with his PR.

It is a pretty arrogant (or at the least, tone-deaf) thing to plaster on one's wall. Regardless of who said it.



Worse, that's not what Einstein said. Close as I can find with a citation is this:



"Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices, but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence and fulfills the duty to express the results of his thought in clear form."

http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/29604.html

The link puts the quote as coming from Einstein from the New York Times on March 19, 1940 (I couldn't find that article in the NYT archives, but it may be behind their pay firewall).

I read the quote as Einstein talking about cultural prejudices in Europe and the duty to overcome them by argument. I don't find the Einstein quote as particularly condescending, but rather saying that history (hereditary prejudices) is a hard habit to kick.



Now, I don't think Mendenhall originated the mis-quotation, but it is interesting that 1) he was drawn to the sketchier version, and 2) put it up on his wall apparently without doing his own due diligence on attribution or accuracy.

Nice.



In Provo he was "Bishop Bronco" to those who were dissatisfied.



Now in Charlottesville he's "Bronco the Librarian" for the next fanbase.



https://gclibrary.commons.gc.cuny.edu/files/2014/03/Conan-the-Librarian.jpg" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">



You'd think some of his reading would cover perception framing accomplishments or learning from past failures.

Doesn't Einstein have a great quote about stupidity and doing the same thing over but expecting different results?



Good luck to Bronco. If he produces a wining team no one will care. If the team fails to meet expectations his refusal to be somewhat personable, at least in the public will blow up in his face.

Bronco is the type of coach that if we were better people we would want to have, but because we're not, we don't.

Gunk wrote:
Doesn't Einstein have a great quote about stupidity and doing the same thing over but expecting different results?

Its one of my favorites, and has been in my signature here for a couple years (see below). Bronco was actually my inspiration when I added it.

Thank you Bronco for bringing BYU out of some of it's darkest days. Good luck to you Bronco in your new challenge. I hope you succeed at Virginia. I know he will never read this but unlike some fans, I am grateful for what Bronco did here. He deserves nothing but the greatest respect from BYU fans. He gave us his all and we should all appreciate it.

Some of these posts do seem a bit petty. It was probably about the right time for a change when Bronco left, but at the same time he has done so much for our program. I'll always be rooting for him to succeed. I enjoyed the article.

frdbtr wrote:
Thank you Bronco for bringing BYU out of some of it's darkest days. Good luck to you Bronco in your new challenge. I hope you succeed at Virginia. I know he will never read this but unlike some fans, I am grateful for what Bronco did here. He deserves nothing but the greatest respect from BYU fans. He gave us his all and we should all appreciate it.

You know, a lot of my SLC neighbors only remember Utah football having great success. When reminded of the multiple decades of dominance by BYU they are incredulous. I wonder if we're far enough removed from the Crowton days that few Cougar fans recall just how dark those days were.



Multiple consecutive losing seasons isn't something we've seen since pre-LaVell.

Is two decades considered multiple decades? I guess by definition, but let's be honest. The current state of the BYU-Utah rivalry is much closer to the overall trends of the rivalry. Consider:



In the modern football era, which began in 1955 with facemasks being mandated and the hard shell helmets, BYU went 4-13 (.235) against Utah.



Then in 1972, BYU hired Lavell Edwards and the Cougars dominated the Utes for the next 21 seasons going 19-2 (.905).



But then in 1993, Ron McBride changed the series and began the return to the previous state. Since then, the Cougars are 7-17 (.292).



Overall in the last 62 games, it appears fairly even with the Utes holding a 32-30 (.516) lead in the series. But that hides the dominance the Utes have had in the series and I haven't even mentioned the pre-1955 series where BYU won just ONE game between 1922-1954 and managed to tie four others.

Utes have our number. It's getting old.



Bronco is a great guy, and he was exactly what BYU needed at the time. No question. He did his best at BYU, for which I am grateful too.



That said, let's not pretend he was perfect, set him on some pedestal, and then guilt-trip any fan that doesn't do likewise. He made mistakes. And not only did he make mistakes, he made the same mistakes over and over. His best seasons as a coach were with another coach's recruits.

No one has said he is perfect. Anyone that feels shame for lobbing cheap shots at him now that he is gone should feel guilty.

I have no shame.

SpiffCoug wrote:
Is two decades considered multiple decades? I guess by definition, but let's be honest. The current state of the BYU-Utah rivalry is much closer to the overall trends of the rivalry. Consider:



In the modern football era, which began in 1955 with facemasks being mandated and the hard shell helmets, BYU went 4-13 (.235) against Utah.



Then in 1972, BYU hired Lavell Edwards and the Cougars dominated the Utes for the next 21 seasons going 19-2 (.905).



But then in 1993, Ron McBride changed the series and began the return to the previous state. Since then, the Cougars are 7-17 (.292).



Overall in the last 62 games, it appears fairly even with the Utes holding a 32-30 (.516) lead in the series. But that hides the dominance the Utes have had in the series and I haven't even mentioned the pre-1955 series where BYU won just ONE game between 1922-1954 and managed to tie four others.

This kind of makes my point. Few Cougar fans remember pre 1972... Few Ute fans remember pre 2001. Yes, recency matters.



Also, the Crowton years were deeply dark.