From Deseret News archives:
Bronco's leadership earning acclaim
Anybody's guess, really. Perhaps. His detractors certainly hope he's a flash, headed for a fall now a hungry senior-laden team has evolved.
Getting 11 wins, like he did in 2006, is tough. Only nine teams in BYU history have reached 11 wins including last year's MWC champs. Mendenhall could get nine wins. Seven or eight might be considered slightly above average, or even a step backward in light of a title and No. 15 ranking in 2006.
But according to a group of experts, Mendenhall has found solid ground to continue the success of BYU's football program.
Glen Tuckett, former athletic director at BYU and the man the University of Alabama hired to save the Crimson Tide program from NCAA imposed death penalty, is sold on Mendenhall's methods and philosophy.
Provo's Dave Ulrich and Alpine's Norm Smallwood, co-authors of "Leadership Brand," an article featured in the current edition of the Harvard Business Review, believe the third-year coach has struck a cord that will deliver.
Ulrich and Smallwood founded Results Based Leadership, an organizational behavior consulting firm.
"By going back to BYU's winning traditions and his dedication to timeless principles, he created a renewed culture of winning. People in any organization perform at their best when they respect their past, have confidence in their leader, and know that their leader will guide them to reach their goals," said Smallwood.
Tuckett, who supervised LaVell Edwards during his championships from the '70s to the '90s, said Mendenhall "is the right man at the right place at the right time."
Tuckett said Mendenhall says everything he tried to say and thought long about as a coach and athletic director.
"I'm just 100 percent impressed with him. I'm on his bandwagon, I'll tell you that."
What Mendenhall has done, said Tuckett, is embraced the past which includes work by Edwards and a train of players. "He's shown respect and reverence for not only the game but the school and what we're trying to do."
In Provo, the progress up to and through Edwards is a legacy of hits and misses, experiments and fixes. It was former Cougar coach Tommy Hudspeth who brought in the Marines, literally. Edwards found a system and stuck with it.
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Brigham Young University's head football coach, Bronco Mendenhall, seen here in November 2006 punctuating last season's conference-clinching home victory against New Mexico, has been earning kudos from outsiders for his leadership skills with the Cougar program, which earned BYU 11 wins last year.
- Utes prepare to go bowling 6:15 a.m.
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- All-MWC football awards 5:57 a.m.
- Deseret News Ms. Volleyball 2009 5:48 a.m.
- 5A All-State volleyball teams 5:14 a.m.
- 4A All-State volleyball teams 5:14 a.m.
- 3A volleyball All-State teams 5:14 a.m.
- 2A All-State teams 5:14 a.m.
- 2 citations issued at Y.-U. game
- BYU says Hall incident resolved
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- Max Hall: a fixture in rivalry lore
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- Mitchell called intelligent, controlling
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- Hall mouths off about hate of Utah
906 - Cougars beat Utes in overtime
483 - Hall reprimanded by MWC
404 - Max Hall issues apology
387 - Hall's pain reflects self-betrayal
349 - Utes won't respond to Hall
276 - BYU says Hall incident resolved
238 - 2 citations issued at Y.-U. game
163 - BYU is champion of the state
143 - Religion in politics is tiresome
130
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