Leading men — Utah's Whittingham, BYU's Bronco as different as they are similar

The head honchos in the Utah-BYU football rivalry are 1-1 against one another, but they differ as much as they are alike, and their players march lockstep behind their leaders.

Bronco Mendenhall and Kyle Whittingham definitely have their own styles.

Whittingham is a William Wallace "Braveheart"-type of guy, who'd give his life for a cause and sells it like Scottish blood on stony earth to his team when he feels so inclined to push players' buttons.

Mendenhall is a Charlton Heston "Ten Commandments"-type character who promises blessings if edicts on tablets of stone are met. He sells the Kirk Douglas "Spartacus" warrior spirit to the Cougars like Mrs. Field's cookies.

Both are hard-working football coaches who just happened to get their first head coaching jobs within weeks of one another in the same state, conference and time zone. Their players would walk through walls for these men.

But do their respective players at Utah and BYU reflect the personalities of these coaches?

They do, say a panel of professional observers.

"Both are intense and competitive, and their teams reflect that," said KSL sports anchor Tom Kirkland. "The Cougars seem to mirror Bronco's old-school focus and fanatical effort. Utah perhaps plays with emotions on their sleeves and with more self-expression ... a 'fast and loose' approach."

Mendenhall sees his job as a mission to align the football program with the ideals of BYU. He demands hard work, good behavior, intensity, effort and execution.

He expects an even-keel approach to weekly work and practice. He emphasizes his own squad rather than what others externally do or say. Almost weekly, he confesses to reporters he is unaware of major events or issues involving the league or other teams.

After two MWC championships and a current seven-game win streak, his approach appears to work for the Cougars.

Whittingham demands the same hard work, intensity, effort and execution from his players. But in three years, he appears to be a master at getting his players to emotionally "circle the wagons" when adversity hits. He did it when Brian Johnson went down and Brett Ratliff helped beat BYU and Georgia Tech in 2005. He did it after Utah started 1-3 this season and the Utes rattled off seven straight. He knows how to yank that chain of "us against the world," "our backs are to the wall" or "they don't respect us" emotional mantra.