Whittingham, Bronco now a year wiser

CORONADO, CALIF. — A year has passed since Kyle Whittingham and Bronco Mendenhall took to the Mountain West Conference preseason football podium for the first time as head coaches.

They were both a little nervous, a tad uneasy, but they did just fine. They were ankle deep in new puddle water, but they were anxious to tromp around. This week, they were less uptight. You could see Whittingham peddling around in one of those bicycle boxes made for six with his family on the Coronado waterfront. Mendenhall had a beach reunion with his parents and brothers — an annual family affair that will continue here all week.

Their first season as head coaches zipped right by, and you could argue the point neither one emerged satisfied at all.

They're both pretty tight-jawed guys, wired like a chicken coop. They may have appeared here for the summer meetings more relaxed than a year ago, but they've still got their game faces on. The unexpected second-place finish by the Cougars and fourth-place tie by the Utes in 2005 only did more to stoke up the fire in these guys. They are hungry, determined and a little ticked off.

They both feel the tonnage of the in-state rivalry, duh . . . Even at a charity golf event involving this pair at Salt Lake Country Club last month, they were serious as brain surgeons. The competitive band that ties them together is taut as a circus high wire. On a Sunday night TV sports show, they preferred to appear one at a time instead of together. No bank or mattress commercials for this duo in the near future.

A year gone by?

"Yeah, this is a little easier to go through than a year ago," Whittingham said. "Last year I didn't quite know what to expect, everything was new. This is more fun this time around."

Mendenhall said this past year has brought a few surprises — things he didn't know would be part of being a head coach, especially at BYU. A very private person who has a very tight inner circle, Mendenhall's been forced to open up and let others in. He had no choice.

And the uniqueness of being a coach of a church-sponsored school has brought scrutiny over his own life from outsiders he never expected. "Even taking out the garbage can bring exposure," he said.

Whittingham and Mendenhall both received a suggestion from LaVell Edwards when they took their respective jobs. And they've gone along with the tip: Neither read newspapers nor watch TV, and they keep away from the Internet.