Bronco

I just have to say that Bronco Mendenhall is a man's man. For those who do not know, the MWC conference media days are being held. Of course, everyone was talking about Utah leaving and about BYU regarding expansion. The nice thing about Bronco is that no one has to read between the lines:

"BYU isn't any other place; there are some conferences that quite frankly don't want a faith-based institution, regardless of performance, regardless of how many people are in the stands, regardless of how many games are won, regardless of the tradition, conferences look for alignment as well."

"We always have made it very clear we are very unique; we'll continue to play our way into any opportunities we can get, but really nothing has changed for BYU. We're very clear on who we are, what we represent and how we're going to play. We don't measure ourselves against anyone else, as much as others would like to measure Utah against BYU or vice versa; I won't acknowledge that, and I won't do that."

He further elaborates:

"We don't intend to change; my job is to continue to uphold the values, beliefs and ideals of the school and the institution, and to win football games to help others understand those (values, beliefs and ideals). And if someone wants that, then great--if they don't, then we'll stand alone or stand as part of the Mountain West Conference in the meantime."

Finally, here is one more statement regarding Utah leaving. I guess that a lot of people have been comparing Utah to BYU and wondering if BYU didn't measure up. Here's Bronco's thoughts:

"We'll continue to play our way into whatever opportunities we get, but nothing has changed for BYU. We've made it very clear who we are, what we represent and how we play and don't really measure ourselves against anyone else as much as everyone would like to measure University of Utah vs. BYU and vice versa."

It'll be interesting without Utah in the conference, but BYU will be BYU. Adding Boise State bolsters the conference. I wish that BYU would have been invited, but BYU is a unique institution and they, quite frankly, have not had the big stage success like Utah.

On another note stud line backer Uona Kaveinga may be able to play for BYU this fall. BYU has filed a petition for a waiver that is being granted players who chose to transfer from USC after NCAA punished the Trojan football program. Mendenhall says BYU should know about the waiver decision by the end of next week. He adds that while Kaveinga transferred to BYU before sanctions were announced, some of his reasons for transferring to BYU "fit in" with events that precipitated the sanctions.

Fall camp starts soon and it should be very interesting. The four most important players on Bronco's team are the middle linebacker, the free safety, the center and quarterback--all new comers this year. It would be really nice to have Uona to fill in. Also, Bronco mentioned that there is the possibility of having two quarterbacks when the season opens. Wouldn't that be interesting. It depends on if someone defines themself as the clear cut starter. I guess that we'll find out in a little more than a month.