Patrick Higgins is officially gone taking a job at Purdue....

[cougjunkie]

wonder if Dupaix replaces him or if they bring in someone else.

[SoCalCoug]

wonder if Dupaix replaces him or if they bring in someone else.

Seriously? Are you the only guy around here not expecting a Cahoon hire? I thought the tea leaves all say DuPaix is going to coach the inside receivers.

[cougjunkie]

Seriously? Are you the only guy around here not expecting a Cahoon hire? I thought the tea leaves all say DuPaix is going to coach the inside receivers.

Could be Cahoon but he still has not been contacted by BYu.

[MarkGrace]

Bronco Mendenhall has another hole to fill on his offensive coaching staff, with today's news that Outside Receivers coach Patrick Higgins is leaving BYU for Purdue, after six seasons coaching the Cougar wideouts.

*******

Expected to express interest in the opening is former Cougar receiver Ben Cahoon, who has just completed his 13th season with the Montreal Alouettes.

A print report out of Montreal last week indicated that Cahoon was ready to retire from the CFL, although the three-time Grey Cup champion has given no official indication of his plans.

*******

I am personally confident that Cahoon will be in the mix for open spot on Mendenhall's staff, despite Cahoon's lack of prior coaching experience. It goes without saying that I think Cahoon would be an excellent choice--tantamount to the choice Mendenhall made in taking Brandon Doman directly from the professional football ranks and onto the BYU staff as a position coach.

*******

Cahoon and BYU's head coach appeared together on November 10th's KSL Radio live broadcast of "BYU Football with Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall."

The following are excerpts from the "Cougar Tracks" write-up that followed the broadcast:

--begin excerpts--

CFL all-time career reception record holder Ben Cahoon...was recently awarded the LaVell Edwards Distinguished Alumni Award by Bronco Mendenhall and the BYU Football program.

"When we had an opportunity to consider who might be deserving to be recognized, you're really looking for the epitome of a BYU Football player," said Mendenhall. "Not only were they exception on the football field, but they represent all of the core values, they have the characteristics that LaVell embraced and what he embodied."

"If we can continue to draw student-athletes to BYU like (Ben Cahoon), then we'll end up doing great things for the program."

*******

Knowing that Cahoon does offseason work with the BYU QBs and receivers, I asked Mendenhall about Cahoon's continuing assistance to contributions to current Cougar players.

"It's fantastic. Ben has their ear because he can still demonstrate and show--not only just speak to it or draw it on the board--but can still actually go out there and say 'do it like this,' and do it better than they could ever think about doing it; that's quite an impact."

*******

In a discussion about the art of pass-catching, Cahoon said "catching the ball can be taught."

"Catching is 90% mental, so you need to be able to practice on the field, and then you need to be able to visualize in your bedroom--imagine yourself making great grabs--then you need to be able to approach the game with complete confidence that whatever comes your way, you're going to come down with it."

Cahoon helped me complete the phrase I have heard him share with me in the past, about his pass-catching philosophy: "The tough catches are routine; the impossible ones just take a little more practice."

*******

Having worked with Jake Heaps before the season, Cahoon said he caught balls from Jake "and I dropped balls from Jake; the guy's got a cannon."

Cahoon said what stood about about Heaps "was his football maturity. He was confident, he knew where he was going to go with the ball. If he didn't he faked it well, and that's important, too."

"He's just got a hose for an arm, throws a very nice ball, and is just a confident, quality quarterback. He's going to be phenomenal."

*******

I asked Mendenhall what he would like his receivers to take from Cahoon's game, and the coach described observing Cahoon during his offseason workouts at BYU and the detailed way in which he ran his routes, etc.

"It's not just catching the football; there's all this position mastery that went into it prior to that. I would hope that our receivers would think that catching the football is important, but be 'un-coverable,' and sometimes that's not only about speed--in fact seldom is it only about speed."

*******

A player who has more than a thousand professional catches to his credit (many of the spectacular variety) says his favorite catch all-time was his "very first catch at BYU," in the Pigskin Classic v. Texas A&M in 1996. Cahoon laid out to grab the Steve Sarkisian over-throw and he said "that will for always be my favorite."

*******

Cahoon every year "it's been one year at a time," when it comes to deciding when the right time will be to retire as a pro football player. Asked if he has interest in coaching down the line, Cahoon said "I think so. For 13 years, plus six years of practices and games, you've learned some things that you can teach some kids."

"My coaches have been phenomenally instrumental in my growth and development, and I hope to maybe be able to pass some of that on to other kids."

*******

--end excerpts--

Mendenhall has maintained there is no timetable to complete the off-season shakeup of his staff, but I would he surprised if this most recent opening is not filled within a week or so. Stay tuned, as Bronco's new staff continues to take shape.

*******

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=498&sid=14046912

[kccougar]

Knowing that Cahoon does offseason work with the BYU QBs and receivers, I asked Mendenhall about Cahoon's continuing assistance to contributions to current Cougar players.

"It's fantastic. Ben has their ear because he can still demonstrate and show--not only just speak to it or draw it on the board--but can still actually go out there and say 'do it like this,' and do it better than they could ever think about doing it; that's quite an impact."

Sounds like Bronco thinks he can coach.

[oxcoug]

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=498&sid=14046912

Those are some very interesting excerpts - I didn't know Cahoon was doing off season workouts with guys. That's great.

[Indy Coug]

Those are some very interesting excerpts - I didn't know Cahoon was doing off season workouts with guys. That's great.

It's been happening for years.

[SoCalCoug]

Those are some very interesting excerpts - I didn't know Cahoon was doing off season workouts with guys. That's great.

And Bronco went out of his way to praise Cahoon's work with the players in an interview a month or so ago. It was actually a bit surprising and suggested to me at the time that Bronco was planning on finding a way to get Cahoon on staff.

[Paperback Writer]

It's been happening for years.

Being unfamilar with BYU football, my initial reaction was WTF? Thinking that Cahoon was a coach somewhere and violating NCAA rules with off-season workouts with players.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Purdue isn't good.

[Sizzle]

Purdue isn't good.

But it's a AQ school... is it a step up?

[cougjunkie]

Purdue isn't good.

I wonder if he Oneill Chambers will join him and D-hole will become a prophet!

[myboynoah]

But it's a AQ school... is it a step up?

Yeah, I'd like to have a long discussion on this.

[TheBYUGuy]

Yeah, I'd like to have a long discussion on this.

What we really need right now is someone to drive the argument from the other side. Someone like a Ute-fan-turned-BYU-fan-turned-back-to-Ute fan with a newfound superiority complex since his re-found football program got a Pac-12 invite.

[Jarid in Cedar]

But it's a AQ school... is it a step up?

Does it involve a bigger paycheck?