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

By Adam Gibby

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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MADISON, WI – NOVEMBER 09: Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall of the BYU Cougars calls the play from the sideline during the first half against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium on November 09, 2013 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by Mike McGinnis/Getty Images)
MADISON, WI – NOVEMBER 09: Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall of the BYU Cougars calls the play from the sideline during the first half against the Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium on November 09, 2013 in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo by Mike McGinnis/Getty Images) /

Saving BYU from the Post Lavell Edwards Slump

Gary Crowton is a great man. I’ve spoken with him and respect him a lot. However, as a BYU Football head coach, he wasn’t getting the job done. Following one year of success after Lavell’s retirement, Crowton posted an overall 14-21 record with three straight years of no bowl games.

At that moment, it appeared that BYU may be the next one hit wonder team that didn’t really have much of a future after losing one great coach. After all, BYU Football had done nothing before Lavell, and without BYU being a state school, it looked like things could crumble very quickly.

Enter Bronco Mendenhall. Not only did Bronco turn the program around and get BYU to a bowl game his first season coaching, between his second and fifth season, the Cougars had an overall 43-9 record, the best four year span ever. Not only was BYU not going anywhere, they became a consistent Top 20 team and proved to be much better than just “Lavell’s” school.

Something else that goes unmentioned quite often is that Bronco had six bowl game wins, only one less than Lavell Edwards did with 17 less seasons to work with.

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