Nick Howell: Bronco yes man w/ no football resume now BYU's defensive coordinator

[oxcoug]

Sorry if any of you are Nick's brother, sister, Mom or cousin but Bronco seems determined to one-up Whit when it comes to elevating untested talent.

Let's see if I have this down:
*He never played college football
*Before coming to BYU he never coached any college football
*He didn't go to BYU
*It's his stellar work at Ben Lomond (sp? does it really exist?) High School that brought him here
*He looks, talks and acts like Bronco
*Out of all the coach-caliber talent in the BYU family, Bronco elevates the guy who looks like the younger brother of some of the older guys on the team and has no football resume and no BYU resume

ALL of that might strike me as just fine if it wasn't for the fact that multiple reports from defensive players last year suggested that the players did not respect his knowledge of the game.

Hopefully five years from now this thread is a monument Bronco's foresight in uncovering a coaching genius and my own shortsightedness and ignorance for questioning the decision. But the Riley era has made me wary of Bronco's tendency to attach himself to a personality rather than to the merits and substance of the talent he's evaluating.

[Y84it]

Sorry if any of you are Nick's brother, sister, Mom or cousin but Bronco seems determined to one-up Whit when it comes to elevating untested talent.

Let's see if I have this down:
*He never played college football
*Before coming to BYU he never coached any college football
*He didn't go to BYU
*It's his stellar work at Ben Lomond (sp? does it really exist?) High School that brought him here
*He looks, talks and acts like Bronco
*Out of all the coach-caliber talent in the BYU family, Bronco elevates the guy who looks like the younger brother of some of the older guys on the team and has no football resume and no BYU resume

ALL of that might strike me as just fine if it wasn't for the fact that multiple reports from defensive players last year suggested that the players did not respect his knowledge of the game.

Hopefully five years from now this thread is a monument Bronco's foresight in uncovering a coaching genius and my own shortsightedness and ignorance for questioning the decision. But the Riley era has made me wary of Bronco's tendency to attach himself to a personality rather than to the merits and substance of the talent he's evaluating.

Yes. This freaking SUCKS! We need a better coach that has experience and will have different opinions than the Head Coach that ran a defense that was #3 in the nation last year!

[YOhio]

Well you sure have a negative attitude, oxcoug. Perhaps Bronco is just buying himself another year or two in case he needs to shift blame and fire someone. Did you ever think of that?

[Indy Coug]

Sorry if any of you are Nick's brother, sister, Mom or cousin but Bronco seems determined to one-up Whit when it comes to elevating untested talent.

Let's see if I have this down:
*He never played college football
*Before coming to BYU he never coached any college football
*He didn't go to BYU
*It's his stellar work at Ben Lomond (sp? does it really exist?) High School that brought him here
*He looks, talks and acts like Bronco
*Out of all the coach-caliber talent in the BYU family, Bronco elevates the guy who looks like the younger brother of some of the older guys on the team and has no football resume and no BYU resume

ALL of that might strike me as just fine if it wasn't for the fact that multiple reports from defensive players last year suggested that the players did not respect his knowledge of the game.

Hopefully five years from now this thread is a monument Bronco's foresight in uncovering a coaching genius and my own shortsightedness and ignorance for questioning the decision. But the Riley era has made me wary of Bronco's tendency to attach himself to a personality rather than to the merits and substance of the talent he's evaluating.

Add to that list the fact that Holmoe is a Howell supporter. It all adds up to impending disaster.

[jay santos]

I would normally agree with this. I wasn't real happy about the initial hire, because I see an assistant's primary duty is to recruit, unless he's in a real technical role like QB coach, and I don't see what this guy brings to the table recruiting wise. But as for this promotion, I don't have a problem. It doesn't appear to be a good decision, but Bronco's proven he is a defensive genius, and I think he learned his lesson with Jaime Hill, and I'm not that worried about this.

[LiveCoug]

Don't forget his masters degree in education from the University of Phoenix!

Also, his wife is Brooke PoVey... I assume that is Skye PoVey's sister?

[Eddie]

I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm "worried" about it.

But I will agree that when he was first named as an assistant I was curious. Yes - Ben Lomond HS does exist. However, I don't think they've every actually accomplished anything of note in football. So I recall wondering how Bronco ever found out about him, if he had applied and just done really well in interviews, or what the deal was.

Personally - I'm not worried about whether or not someone played in college. Sure - that would indicate how good of a player they are. But it doesn't say much about their coaching.

[oxcoug]

Add to that list the fact that Holmoe is a Howell supporter. It all adds up to impending disaster.

What does it mean to be a "Howell supporter"? What has Holmoe said/done to show this?

[kccougar]

I like Bronco as the defensive coordinator. If he can't handle all the duties of doing that and being head coach, it makes sense to me for him to put in a yes man that will do exactly what he wants.

[cougjunkie]

Signed,

Gus Malzahn.

[oxcoug]

Signed,

Gus Malzahn.

Well - Malzahn played college ball, Howell didn't.

Malzahn coached high school ball for fifteen years, set a ton of records, produced numerous national recruits. Howell coached high school ball for like three years, set no records and produced no national recruits.

And then Malzahn followed a defensible path forward - position coach at Arkansas, two pretty sensational years as OC at Tulsa including a 55 pt shellacking of a pretty good Bronco BYU defense in 2007, before circling back to be Auburn's OC.

I'm not sure the two have any meaningful similarities.

[Indy Coug]

Well - Malzahn played college ball, Howell didn't.

Malzahn coached high school ball for fifteen years, set a ton of records, produced numerous national recruits. Howell coached high school ball for like three years, set no records and produced no national recruits.

And then Malzahn followed a defensible path forward - position coach at Arkansas, two pretty sensational years as OC at Tulsa including a 55 pt shellacking of a pretty good Bronco BYU defense in 2007, before circling back to be Auburn's OC.

I'm not sure the two have any meaningful similarities.

Seeing as how Bronco continues to be in control of the defensive side of the ball and will continue to be in control for the foreseeable future, what exactly is the problem here? Now if you want to piss and moan about Howell's abilities as a secondary coach, maybe that might be a conversation worth having; keeping in mind that the status quo got BYU a #3 national defensive ranking last year.

[oxcoug]

Seeing as how Bronco continues to be in control of the defensive side of the ball and will continue to be in control for the foreseeable future, what exactly is the problem here? Now if you want to piss and moan about Howell's abilities as a secondary coach, maybe that might be a conversation worth having; keeping in mind that the status quo got BYU a #3 national defensive ranking last year.

There is good cause to think his own players don't respect his knowledge of the game. He has no football resume that would give anyone else confidence in his knowledge of the game.

Other than that - no problems.

[Indy Coug]

There is good cause to think his own players don't respect his knowledge of the game. He has no football resume that would give anyone else confidence in his knowledge of the game.

Other than that - no problems.

And so the net result on the field is what?

[Indy Coug]

If I believed half the shit I heard from players when I was at BYU about LaVell, French and Chow, they should have been fired before Detmer ever laced it up.