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Las Vegas

Preparing for his last game as BYU's football coach, Bronco Mendenhall is spending part of each day at Rebel Park on the UNLV campus, where he might have worked full time if the Cougars' coaching search had played out differently 11 years ago.

Kyle Whittingham chose Utah over BYU in December 2004 when both jobs were open, then Mendenhall was promoted in Provo. Otherwise, Mendenhall likely would have accepted an offer to become UNLV's defensive coordinator — joining the staff of Mike Sanford, who was hired from his position as Utah's offensive coordinator.

Funny, how this stuff works. Who knows where Mendenhall's career would have gone, if not for Whittingham's leaving the BYU job available to him?

So this week, as Utah and BYU converge in the Las Vegas Bowl, Mendenhall and the six Cougar assistants he's taking to Virginia are trying to devote their strongest efforts to the rivalry game. That's not easy for any of them, or for the three other coaches wondering about their futures. And the returning players wonder what's next for the program – although quarterback Tanner Mangum undoubtedly is relieved that the triple option is not in BYU's future, now that Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo has turned down the job.

Mendenhall and his departing staff members deserved the opportunity to coach this game. Imagine this scene without them, with BYU having some combination of administrators and graduate assistants filling out the staff. Mendenhall calls the game-day defensive schemes, so his absence alone would have altered BYU's coaching alignment.

Whether he can produce his best work Saturday is another issue. But it has been done elsewhere. The best example in recent history is Utah's performance in the 2009 Sugar Bowl vs. Alabama. Defensive coordinator Gary Andersen had been hired as Utah State's coach and offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig was headed to Kansas State, but they remained with the Utes through Jan. 2 in New Orleans, where their strategy worked wonderfully in a 31-17 victory.

Why couldn't Mendenhall and offensive coordinator Robert Anae perform as well in Las Vegas, on their way to Virginia? The point is, the players will decide the outcome, and BYU's staffing dysfunction won't be an excuse.

Utah also thrived in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl, when Urban Meyer and Whittingham pieced together a combined staff of departing and holdover coaches, and the Utes throttled Pittsburgh. Of course, Pitt coach Walt Harris was headed to Stanford, and the Panthers appeared in a disarray — mostly because Utah was a much better team.

And there are other cases of players failing to respond to an outgoing coach. Arizona State strangely allowed Dennis Erickson, now Utah's running backs coach, to lead the Sun Devils in the 2011 Las Vegas Bowl after firing him. That turned into a disaster, a 56-24 loss to Boise State.

So nobody can be sure how the Cougars will respond Saturday, but players are endorsing their coaches' commitment to them.

"You can tell by how our meetings are, you can tell by how we practice … how intense and ready they are and how bad they want to win — even though some of them are leaving, and we know that," said senior receiver Mitch Mathews. "There's been an extra, added level of focus, instead of distraction. There's been an extra, added level of intensity, instead of being unsure about the future."

Team captain Bronson Kaufusi's father, Steve, is among the three coaches whose futures are uncertain. "It's just college football. That's how it works — coaches come, coaches go," Bronson Kaufusi said. "You just go with the flow."

Mangum will miss the offensive staff, notably quarterbacks coach Jason Beck. As for this week, Mangum said, "When you just put your mind to it, all the other stuff kind of goes away."

In his last pregame interview Wednesday, prior to the news about Niumatalolo's choice to stay at Navy, Mangum laughed about how friends were asking him if he was ready to run the option. We'll never know what Niumatalolo would have done with BYU's offense, or how that element affected his decision.

In any case, Mendenhall and Whittingham will remain linked through Saturday, when they'll meet for the final foreseeable time — although Virginia and Utah could play in the Sun Bowl some year.

kkragthorpe@sltrib.com Twitter: @tribkurt