This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Having tucked away his 11th recruiting class at BYU, Bronco Mendenhall talked candidly on Wednesday about the steep challenges facing his football program, about his ongoing adjustments coaching at BYU and about his own performance. One of his conclusions: He's got to get better as a head coach.
During a 20-minute interview with Spence Checketts and me on our radio show on 1280/97.5 The Zone, Mendenhall talked about his quarterback situation, recruiting, getting into a power league, falling short in connecting with former players, the bowl brawl and him getting more comfortable as the face of BYU football.
On his most recent recruits, Mendenhall said: "I think we signed a really strong class in relation to our needs, in relation to ability to improve the program at each position and going forward. It wasn't the need to go quick-fix with junior college. It wasn't the need to go after a ton of transfers. It was simply the best chance to upgrade existing talent at positions of need to establish depth to face the schedules in the future of the program, which I'd love to improve."
On the star system: "I'm not a believer in the star system just because I see so many conflicting interests involved in it. The influenceable nature of how the stars can be manipulated based on who wants someone. I'm sure that you saw, just as well as I did, and had information passed on, that the average number of stars for the Patriots and Seahawks was 2.3 and 2.4. The number of undrafted free agents on both teams was roughly in the 30 percentile, so this really comes down to players with enough ability that are passionate hard workers that are dying to play the game and improve. And then eventually their career tells you how many stars they were worth."
On his quarterbacks: "That would be the area that would be easiest to find fault with where we currently are. I had Tanner Mangum in our program for one spring before his mission and absolutely loved his ability. He's an Elite 11 quarterback MVP that has really nice range, can run the ball well and can make every throw. It will be tight because he gets back in June, as to making sure that he's ready, but he has maturity with his mission and one spring under his belt. It's not the equivalent of being a transfer, but it is closer. And I really like Beau Hoge who is very much Taysom-like in his ability to run, throw, be a dual-threat guy. He is smaller, but he is capable. Sometimes, escapeability and the ability to create buys you a little time in terms of execution. In the meantime, we have McCoy Hill to be our quarterback for the spring. I'm anxious to see kind of how he does and where he might fit into that mix."
On recruiting Mo Langi, a huge athlete out of Tonga who never has played football: "Coach [Steve] Kaufusi told me … 410 pounds and I said, 'No.' When you think 410, you don't think agile, quick. In football, you think obese and needs help. … He stops by my office one day before going to the MTC [for his LDS mission], and as soon as he walked in the door, I saw him, and instantly in my mind I said, 'I'm going to offer him a scholarship.' I hadn't talked to him yet, there's no film, he doesn't know the rules. I spent 15 minutes with him and just thought he was a humble, hard-working kid that I knew moved decently well from what the reports were. I thought, at 410 points, 6-foot-7 that looks solid, it was, 'How could he not play something?' And so, he's probably a guard or a nose tackle. It seemed like a great risk. I can't teach 6-7, 410, but I can teach, if he has light feet, a good first step. We'll just try it. It could be a great thing."
On why the Cougars didn't want Porter Gustin, who ended up at USC: "There are a lot of different things, and I don't want to get into it as much, as I want every player who wants to come to BYU to attend a camp for us, to show they're interested in BYU. It gives us a fantastic chance to evaluate in-state players. Through our evaluation, it didn't seem like that was going to be what I wanted in our program. Certainly others do and I wish him the best."
On why he stressed signing linemen in this class: "It's not only a need, but what I've really emphasized is, I think one of the essential areas for us to take another step with the schedules we're going to be playing, most of the best teams being continually on the road, in front of the biggest crowds on the biggest stages, it's going to have to become dominant, more dominant, up front. And, so, man, when we have a chance to recruit really good players up front, and they fit at BYU, it allows us to practice more violently, more physically, and advance the team quicker and compete at a higher level when we go to those arenas, mostly on the road, this coming year, at Michigan, at Nebraska, at UCLA and Missouri on the road. It's ultimately going to be the trench warfare that's going to help us most, in terms of establishing the footprint that I would like. That's why."
On failing to connect with former players, some of whom have spoken out in recent days: "I think I've fallen short in a lot of areas, in terms of alumni relations. But it certainly isn't the intent. I also think that the way I've chosen to be the head coach at BYU, by being the head coach and the defensive coordinator, and with three kids still at home, man, it's a lot. That isn't an excuse, it's just the reality. And so I would love to have besides the alumni day, which draws 1,500 people a year, which started with emails being sent back to me because BYU didn't know where most our former players were, and I think we've made some strong gains, still not to where I want it to be. Every single game, I've got a former player running out the flag to show tradition. And I enjoy those moments in the tunnel. And relations are two ways, and so it can't always be expected of a head coach going out. It certainly can be former players coming in. And I would love to make that better. … It hurts my feelings and I'm sad that some guys feel that way."
On recruiting against P5 teams: "The hammer is swung by other schools that BYU is not a Power 5 team. It's not very difficult to discredit that from the standpoint that four of the five in their scheduling and officially have come out and said that BYU is Power 5 in terms of scheduling and opponents and hwow we're valued. It comes to the conference issue. The best thing I can do, rather than wait and be passive is to do what I need to do, what I've chosen to do: play everyone that wants to play us, we'll even go there to play. Not only demonstrate, but demand, inclusion only for the share of revenue. That is the difference. We have a fantastic contract with ESPN. Only 13 teams have been seen more over the past three years that we've been independent, of the 129 Division I teams. But what that doesn't bring is the equal revenue that, say, a team in one of those conferences is getting, in terms of their share. That allows facility upgrades and different things. We have plenty and plenty to win every year and that's what we'll continue to do. But that is the biggest difference, dollars generated."
On still trying to get in a major conference: "I am, absolutely. It gives us our best chance for sustainability. Even Notre Dame, as the other Power 5 independent, has worked out a scheduling agreement, basically with the ACC. What it does is, it gives you a great chance to have your schedule not reversed, as ours is. [Starting with tougher teams first, then filling out the schedule with whatever's available.] I'd like to add the Missouri-type teams at the end, as well as what we're getting at the beginning, with Nebraska, UCLA, Michigan, Boise. All of a sudden, you can't ever argue against BYU playing the best teams, but also, shoot, if I was in a conference and you had to play the best teams on the road every year, your AD and coach would probably be fighting, wanting to say, 'How does that happen?' That is our road right now. So, I need to recruit to it and coach to it. And hopefully gain the support of our former players and alumni in a more meaningful way to do that."
On the awkward dynamic of seeing former players' kids sign elsewhere: "I recruit the kids that I think belong at BYU and will really help our program. Sometimes, that evaluation doesn't match the parents'. But I'm never bitter and upset about those choices, especially if I think they've been completely educated about what BYU is. And if that's not what they want, then probably everybody's happier. I just want kids who really want to come to my program and play for our staff, to be in this environment and help BYU win football games. Sometimes, we'll get those kids and sometimes we won't, but we overwhelmingly get the exact right kids to come to BYU, and that's what I'm at peace with."
On the Miami Beach Bowl fight: "Man, that was my first experience with a brawl after a game. And, quite frankly didn't ever think to address that with my team, not even believing it could happen because I hadn't been through one. What I've learned is, you better prepare for everything. I have a pretty simple mantra now that, when players ask me, 'What do I do?,' and it's protect, defend and separate. You have to protect each other and you have to defend each other, but the intent is then to separate and not escalate. And, I think, in some cases that happened. How we're going to handle that, I've used it to educate, there will be accountability, but we're going to do it internally. Not making public announcements as to what's going to happen. It will affect, in many cases, participation with our team in practices and in games. I'm trying, in the unique microscope that our players are under, to be as discreet as possible and have their best interests at heart, try to teach them, but there is going to be accountability."
On his image of being straight-laced and squeaky clean: "Maybe it might appear that way, but I have as many faults as anybody. Most people know because of the visibility of what I do. Being a head coach, it's hard to always remain authentic because of the scrutiny. … One of the things that's been a unique dynamic to me personally is allowing and trusting [the real Bronco] to be shown to those I'm not sure that I trust, what they're going to do with that information. What I'm finding is, the energy that it takes to be on guard all the time, it's hard to keep up. It's so refreshing to have experiences like I did today with my former guys and existing players. They crave it, and I know they do. So it's just something I've got to continue to reconcile and figure out how best to do this really unique job."
GORDON MONSON hosts "The Big Show" with Spence Checketts weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on 97.5 FM and 1280 AM The Zone. Twitter: @GordonMonson.