"She likes to go to the games but really doesn't know what's going on," he says. "She knows who's on offense and who's on defense. She just goes to support me and whatever team I'm coaching. Holly's interest is one of support rather than a student of the game. Nor does she have a desire to learn the intricacies of the game. She wants to know the coaches' wives, the players' wives, and what's going on in their lives. She's very concerned about that part and trying to fulfill whatever role she needs to in that regard. But the actual game itself is just something fun to go to."

Bronco knows that Holly's support is crucial to the success of the program, and he says she is the ideal complement to his high-intensity approach. With three sons (Cutter, 5; Breaker, 3; and Raeder, 2) to raise, she has her own focus.

"My boys come first. They're little, they need me," she says. "I'm so lucky I can stay home with them. They're sweet children. I'm having a ball with them."

Holly fills her boys' lives with plenty of outdoor activities. Recently, the family hiked to the top of Y. Mountain. "They all seem to be athletic," she says of her sons, "though they haven't sat through a whole (BYU) game yet."

A few months ago, she eliminated television-watching on weekdays.

Simply put, Holly doesn't have the time to fret over the magnitude of her husband's professional responsibilities. "She's so busy with the three boys, she's probably oblivious to this job most of the time," says Bronco, who, when he can, takes his sons to his office, where they draw on greaseboards and hang out with the players. "Holly is so well-grounded and is such a person of her own will, of her own thoughts, of her own mindset, and, really has been a tremendous balance for me because football isn't all she cares about. That's just what I do. Even though now I'm the head coach at BYU and she understands that role is different, when I go home, there's balance. Unless I bring it up, we don't talk about football. We talk about my boys. We talk about their schoolwork, their swimming lessons, little things they do during the day. That's her world. Her life revolves around raising our family. And it has to, with the time demands that I have. She's absolutely the perfect one to be a partner with through this adventure. The best thing Holly provides me is balance."

That balance was publicly evident last Dec. 13 when Bronco was introduced as BYU's 14th head football coach. She showed up at the Cougar Room of Edwards Stadium wearing, um, a red sweater — oblivious to the fact that donning the arch-rival's colors on such a momentous day would be considered a faux pas.

"It didn't occur to me, and that's the dead truth," Holly says. "As I was leaving to go to the press conference, my neighbor saw me and told me I was wearing Utah's colors. I was just wearing red because it was close to Christmas. When Bronco saw me, he had this funny look on his face. He said, 'You look beautiful, but I'm going to have to comment on your outfit.' "