BYU Football: 4 Reasons to embrace Bronco Mendenhall’s return

LAS VEGAS - DECEMBER 22: Head coach Bronco Mendenhall and quarterback Max Hall #15 of the Brigham Young University Cougars celebrate their 44-20 victory over the Oregon State Beavers in the MAACO Las Vegas Bowl at Sam Boyd Stadium December 22, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Hall was named the most valuable player of the game. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS - DECEMBER 22: Head coach Bronco Mendenhall and quarterback Max Hall #15 of the Brigham Young University Cougars celebrate their 44-20 victory over the Oregon State Beavers in the MAACO Las Vegas Bowl at Sam Boyd Stadium December 22, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Hall was named the most valuable player of the game. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
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LAS VEGAS, NV – DECEMBER 19: Head coach Bronco Mendenhall of the Brigham Young Cougars calls to his team as they play the Utah Utes at the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl at Sam Boyd Stadium on December 19, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Utah won 35-28. (Photo by David J. Becker/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV – DECEMBER 19: Head coach Bronco Mendenhall of the Brigham Young Cougars calls to his team as they play the Utah Utes at the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl at Sam Boyd Stadium on December 19, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Utah won 35-28. (Photo by David J. Becker/Getty Images)

Ushering in P5 Discussions

We know from a administrative standpoint that that BYU always wanted to be in a P5 conference from the second they announced that they would be playing Independent. However, as fans, that wasn’t made nearly as clear until Mendenhall started to really push it vocally to various newspapers and interviews.

While Bronco was never on the staff during the 2016 Big 12 rumors or after, one has to wonder how much his influence over the public pushed the Cougars to being essentially the first overall pick. It definitely did not hurt, and while at the time admin told him to bring it back a little, it’s like the old phrase goes “no press is bad pre14-ss”.

Would BYU be headed to the Big 12 without Bronco? That’s anyone’s guess, but his case certainly did not hurt.

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