BYU football: Position mastery is Cougars' focus
Fortunately for Bronco Mendenhall, since his first year in which the Cougars went 6-6, he has "learned" some valuable lessons on how to be a head coach. His penchant for the use of mottos, banners and symbols has, in part, led to a 22-4 mark and a pair of conference championships over the past two seasons.
Hotdog firmly placed in the bun. He's sold ideas, mixed in talent and converted both into wins. This month, he's adding the mustard.
Last year's motto was "Raise the Bar." This season, it is "Do your personal best," a takeoff of Mendenhall's own T-shirt slogan, "Quest for Perfection," or a challenge for every player and coach to deliver his ultimate personal performance. It is a phrase seated in the mission statement of the university which is a takeoff from the biblical verse in Matthew 5:48, "Be ye therefore perfect ..."
So, how is this going down so far in spring practice, especially with an offense that returns 10 of 11 starters, a sure-fire invitation for complacency?
"We've got veteran guys so we expect it to be crisper than a year ago in execution," said offensive coordinator Robert Anae. "There is no question the bar has been raised.
"We are on track, but we'd like to see sharper execution."
This spring, BYU is tweaking formations and schemes, adding twists, milking the offense for more productivity within its framework.
A year ago at this time, Anae was breaking in a new quarterback, Max Hall, and had to introduce himself and his offense to returning missionaries Austin Collie and Dennis Pitta.
"There was a lot on our plate last year at this time, and we all know that we've gone through a year, and expectations are higher than they were a year ago," said Anae. "We are pleased, we're working well, but we are about three weeks away from where we need to be."
But is it a challenge to keep an edge to practice, when the offense is so confident because of past achievement?
"There's always an edge because you are competing against yourself," said the coordinator.
"We hope we have the kind of people so that (keeping an edge) is exactly what they're looking for. "'Personal Best' is written on each of their shirts, and if it doesn't mean much to guys like Max Hall, Harvey Unga, Dallas Reynolds, Dennis or Austin, then we're going to have a mediocre year.
"I think and I'm confident that it means something to them, to do their best every time they come out here."
So, is it working?
"Yup. I've seen it headed in the right direction more often than not," Anae said. "Obviously, I speak in generalities, but more times than not, we've seen it in off-season conditioning, we were that way in our strength work, our entire team has been that way."
Receivers coach Patrick Higgins said BYU's offense this spring is focusing on completely different aspects than a year ago because of those 10 returning starters.
"Now, instead of teaching assignment football, we can really perfect fundamentals and position mastery," he said. "That's the main focus. Last spring we were making sure people knew where to go, now we're learning how to get there and the best way to get there."
And the motto to give personal best?
Higgins said, "It's going out there and achieving your very best every day, looking at minor details, fundamentals, things that equal big details."
And what does that mean?
"Scheme stuff," said Higgins. "Again, knowing how to work within the scheme of what you can and can't do, position mastery and its nature is going to be very important for us. So far, it's working and we're getting a lot done. There are always things you want to see improvement on, but we're being productive."
It's a matter of mindset.
Said Higgins, "They know what to expect from themselves now. A year ago, there were a lot of unknowns. Now it is to the point of discovering how well can they do it."
CAMP NOTES: The Cougars went to half pads Tuesday with limited hitting "mainly for the guys up front," said Mendenhall. Without contact, linemen have a tendency to start to stand upright in practice, so BYU's practice included limited hitting and physical play on Tuesday with a set of officials. ... BYU is sharing officials with Utah, so each get them for seven practices. .. The defense had its best outing of spring Tuesday with the hitting, as many new players showed progress in timing and assignments.
Inside spring camps
TODAY: Utah and BYU
HIGHLIGHT: Max Hall completed 14-of-20 passes for 100 yards and a 4-yard TD pass to Dennis Pitta.
TOMORROW: Utah State
E-mail: dharmon@desnews.com
Recent comments
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Levin | March 28, 2008 at 7:34 p.m.
BYU rocks they are going all the way this year oh ya Unga is going...
#1BYUfan | March 27, 2008 at 8:06 p.m.
I really like the idea of the Cougars going to a BCS game, but we...
Optimistic Cougar | March 27, 2008 at 10:08 a.m.
