Bronco Mendenhall - BYU Coaching Career

BYU Coaching Career

In 2005, his first year at the helm, the Cougars finished the regular season with a 6-6 record. Mendenhall switched back to the traditional uniforms with the Y logo on the helmets, which were worn by the most successful BYU teams but keeping the current navy blue color. Quarterback John Beck, tight end Jonny Harline and running back Curtis Brown led an offensive attack that was BYU’s most potent since 2001, averaging 33.0 points per game (second in the MWC and 24th in the nation) and 462.4 yards of total offense per game. BYU tied for second in the MWC and appeared in the Las Vegas Bowl, their first bowl game since 2001, falling to California, 35-28.

In 2006, BYU posted its best record in five seasons. It knocked off 10 straight opponents over the final three months, registered a perfect 6-0 home record, and finished 11-2. The Cougars tallied a perfect clip against league opponents to win the Mountain West Conference championship, winning on the final play of the game at Utah. They decisively defeated Oregon, 38-8, in the Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas Bowl. BYU was ranked in the to top-20 in the final Associated Press, the USA Today, and Harris Interactive polls, and finished 15th in the final BCS rankings. Mendenhall was named Mountain West Conference and AFCA Region 5 Coach of the Year.

Mendenhall and the Cougars repeated as MWC champions in 2007 behind another perfect 8-0 MWC season and 11-2 final record. They finished the season ranked No. 14 in both the Associated Press and USA Today polls, BYU's highest finish in the national polls since 1996. To complement their 16-game conference win streak, the Cougars boasted the nation’s longest overall winning streak at 10 games. BYU reached its third consecutive Las Vegas Bowl, again winning in dramatic fashion after blocking UCLA's last second field goal to preserve a 17-16 victory. En route, Mendenhall became the first coach in school history to lead the Cougars to three consecutive bowl games in his first three years as head coach. A defensive specialist, Mendenhall helped BYU finish as the nation’s 10th-ranked defense.

In 2008, BYU finished 10-3 overall and 6-2 in the MWC to achieve three straight 10-win seasons and become the first teams in Cougar history to go unbeaten at home over three consecutive seasons. BYU earned a spot in the national polls each week during the season, including a ranking as high as No. 7. Mendenhall led BYU to a third-place finish in the MWC at 6-2 and yet another bowl berth in Las Vegas where the team defeated Arizona. BYU became one of only nine schools nationally to be ranked in the top 25 of the final BCS standings each of the past three seasons, with only five teams winning more games than the Cougars over that same time span. While stressing the need for balance in life, Mendenhall began a string of Academic All-Americans at BYU in 2008 as three Cougars - Matt Bauman, Kellen Fowler and David Oswald - were named ESPN the Magazine Academic All-Americans, a program record.

Junior wide receiver Austin Collie was named to six different All-America teams, including first-team All-America from CBSSports.com and second-team from The Associated Press. Collie led the nation in total receiving yards and receiving yards per game. He set the BYU single-season record of 1,538 receiving yards. Future NFL players Max Hall and Dennis Pitta also were also among the top players in the nation at their respective positions.

BYU recorded an 11-2 record and 7-1 league mark in 2009. Mendenhall's team went 3-1 against ranked opponents, including a 14-13 season-opening win over No. 3 Oklahoma, a dramatic overtime win over No. 19 Utah and a 44-20 season-finale Maaco Bowl Las Vegas victory over No. 16 Oregon State. BYU finished No. 12 in the final 2009 polls earning the distinction of being one of only six programs nationally to be ranked in both final polls for four straight seasons. Individually, senior tight end Dennis Pitta earned Consensus All-America honors while setting the NCAA record for most career receiving yards by a tight end (2,901) and breaking Austin Collie's school record for career receptions (221). Scott Johnson and Matt Bauman gave BYU multiple Academic All-Americans again while future NFL running back Harvey Unga became the school's all-time leading rusher with his third-straight 1,000-yard season.

After losing BYU's winningest quarterback (Max Hall), all-time leading rusher (Harvey Unga) and consensus All-American tight end (Dennis Pitta), Mendenhall started the 2010 season 2-5 after playing six games against eventual bowl-bound teams. Mendenhall fired defensive coordinator Jaime Hill and took over defensive duties as the coordinator, resuming the position he held after originally joining BYU as an assistant coach. The change ignited the Cougar defense and the rest of the squad as BYU bounced back to finish the year winning 5 of its last 6 to place third in the MWC and earn the program's sixth-straight bowl invitation. BYU earned a 52-24 win over UTEP in the New Mexico Bowl. Junior Bryan Kariya was named an Academic All-American, the only FBS running back to earn the honor.

On Sept. 1, 2010, BYU also announced that the university's football program would become independent beginning with the 2011 season. Concurrently, BYU signed an 8-year contract with ESPN. Before the 2011 season, Mendenhall filled the departure of offensive coordinator Robert Anae by promoting quarterbacks coach Brandon Doman to offensive coordinator. He also named former Cougar and NFL player Kelly Poppinga to a permanent position on the defensive staff as outside linebackers coach. A few days later, Mendenhall hired Joe DuPaix as BYU's running backs coach and recruiting coordinator. Finally, he added former BYU and Canadian Football League wide receiver Ben Cahoon as the wide receivers coach.

At BYU's first-ever Media Day, Mendenhall announced that he had signed a three-year contract extension that would take him through the 2013 season. According to Mendenhall, "BYU wanted to make it longer term than that. I want to be worthy of the position I have and I'm going to give it everything I have for those three (years). I'm not saying I won't go farther than that. I hope that's reported. It's not three and done. But I'm willing to lead the charge through independence, then re-evaluate."

Embarking on its first season playing as an independent, BYU finished the 2011 season, Mendenhall's seventh as head coach, with its fifth 10-win season (10-3) in the last six years, seventh-straight bowl invitation and third-straight bowl win. The Cougars defeated Tulsa in a 24-21 come-from-behind victory in the Armed Forces Bowl and earned a No. 25 final ranking in USA Today Coaches Poll. After another slow start to the season, Riley Nelson was named the starting quarterback after leading Cougars to a 27-24 victory vs. Utah State in the fifth game of the year, helping BYU win nine of its last 10 games.