Comments about ‘BYU coach preaches spirituality, obedience, humility’

Actually, the record since the UNM game is 26-7. BYU went 4-3 in 2005 following the UNM game.

What Mendenhall is doing and how he is doing it is unheard of in Div. 1 football. It takes a lot of courage to run a program like he is. Keep up the good work and example.

Cougar fans have got to love this. Bronco's formula is working. It looks like Cougar football will be great for years. Keep those firesides coming!!!!!

We can all learn from this principle.

Amen!! Bronco is amazing. Is there a better role model for the youth out there following BYU and trying to make righteous choices? Thank you!!!

My wife and I love BYU football, and especially when the spiritual attitude is right. The program is not about winning games but building character in players and fans. How can that come but through sacrifice, team unity, and focus on good values? We commend Brother and Coach Mendenhall for leading with this Christlike style.

"Running the program the way Christ would run it" will not always translate into victories and/or National Championships but it will translate into teaching young men how to live right and setting a good example to those who come in contact with the football program.

If winning takes something contrary to what Bronco is trying to do then I vote for staying the course. The success has been great but the example of young men willing to work together and be the best example they know how to be is a greater acheivement then winning a national championship.

Thanks to Bronco and all the coaches. Keep up the good work.

I love BYU football, and what Bronco Mendall has done to revive the program. I have a hard time stomaching that because he and his team started giving firesides that God started blessing them with football wins. I tend to think that it was his embracing the past legacy Lavell Edwards left. I also think his football team took some of the toughness that Bronco exudes from his personality and established that mentality and work ethic on the field. God loves us and wants us to do well in our endevors, I just don't think he cares a whole lot about the final score of a football game. Seems like he would be more interested in our spiritual and physical well-being.

What a great leader! Thanks for giving cougar fans hope after a 3 year period of hopelessness. The program looks to be headed for greatness and it all starts at the top!

This is laughable! God doesn't care who wins a football game!

If you choose to discount what Coach Mendenhall said, from his OWN experience, be my guest. The fact is, he is doing it. We aren't. You can't argue with the man's results. If he attributes his success to what he thinks is best for him and the program, i.e. doing more firesides, than why would any of us think we know better?

Go Bronco! You da man!

I was not a huge fan of Bronco until I heard him talk to a small group fireside in Holliday. He is the real deal and I commend him on the path he has choosen. I hope that a lot of those sanctimonious cougars do not equate winning to much with being correct in principals. I am in concurrance with those who have said it is better to have this foundation than to win. I do think that he will win. Power to you Bronco.

areyoukidding.....God may not care about the final score of a football game but he may care about the players and what their spiritual and physical well-being is and that may translate into wins.

If BYU never won another game, but stayed the spiritual course, I would be happy. But what if that actually happened - could God then plausibly use BYU football as a vehicle for spiritual growth and missionary work? Likely not. I'm sure God doesn't care who wins simply for the sake of winning, but Bronco has an influential thing going here, and winning is the only way to sustain it. Thanks to Bronco for his integrity. GO COUGS!

So, what about other programs that have "good" people on their team that lose? When the cycle comes full circle and they start to lose again what then? More firesides?

God does care about the outcome of a football game, but that outcome may not be defined by the score. Ask Bear Bryant, when you see him in the great by and by, why he prayed with his teams, and had faith in them, that they would play life's games with courage and character. If Mendenhall keeps his focus and continues his course, he may end up being ranked with Bryant, Edwards, and others as among the great coaches of both football and life. Not a bad goal.

I was listening to a past BYU Devotional a few days ago in which President Gordon B. Hinckley called BYU "The University of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." BYU is not just a church-owned university; it is a part of the Church, just like the School of the Prophets was in the Church's early years.

Therefore, everything done at, or by, BYU (staff, students, and alumna) is, and should be, a reflection of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its doctrines, practices, duties, and covenants --- in a word: Christian, through and through.

The point here is really irrelevant to the scoreboard and their win/loss record. The point is choosing to be in the world but not of the world. At the university owned by the church, it's comforting to see a commitment to the principles of the gospel. It's also nice to see steadiness instead of hypocrisy and simply doing whatever it takes to win, forget that there's an honor code and that BYU stands for something. This foundation he is building is the foundation on which we should build... even if they were to start losing, it's the right foundation on which to build. I think it only enhances the skills in the field they're in, obedience has its payoff in all aspects of our lives... channeling talent in a way like this is powerful. Most important, it's the right way.

You are right. God doesn't care about the outcome of the game, but as in life, he does care how it is played.

I know that when I'm holding myself to a higher spiritual standard I perform better in all other aspects of my life. I don't think that means I'm devinely favored over anybody else. Maybe it means that we humans, created in the image of our Father, were programmed to perform better when we are true to righteous principles of hard work balanced properly with spirituality and obedience. This seem right to me.