Bronco tells why he believes BYU lost out on Manti Te'o

[Goatnapper'96]

http://blogs.sltrib.com/byu/

I'm going to refrain from commenting on this for now, just curious to see what some of you think about this interview.

I didn't read much of this thread but I almost linked the interview earlier. Bronco says some strange things frequently, but I find the keeping track of whether kids who claim they want to go on missions but didn't statistic to be very strange. Perhaps even creepy.

I thought the lack of noise about Fireside Tour 2009 was a good thing and then he lets the cat out of the bag that he keeps percentages on which kids going elsewhere who claimed a desire to serve a mission. Weird shit, IMO.

[Jarid in Cedar]

I left the hate of anything dealing with the rivalry behind 5-6 years ago. I love Bronco for the continuous string of giggles that he provides. Jake Heaps' publicist will be the next source of laughter for the next 4 years. Good Times!

[falafel]

I left the hate of anything dealing with the rivalry behind 5-6 years ago. I love Bronco for the continuous string of giggles that he provides. Jake Heaps' publicist will be the next source of laughter for the next 4 years. Good Times!

From the joy expressed in your post, I highly doubt you've left the hate behind.

[SeattleUte]

This is a ridiculous post. To suggest that the coach is responsible for the actions of a kid who isn't even a player on the team is a joke.

P.S., If I've stepped into the biggest and most obvious trap laid by SU to date, someone please let me know. I did? Oh, well, what can I do about it now.

I think you don't get how it works. Are you a father? If I sent my high school senior kid to a football recruiting trip at a university I'd expect him to be supervised just as I'd expect the coach to be his steward once the kid enrolled there and joined the team. This would include particularly policing against illegal underaged consumption of alcohol. Universities get sued all the time for alcohol-related incidents where kids get hurt, a theory being inadequate supervision or policing by the university.

This is true 10x at BYU, and 100x at BYU football. Football success is all about discipline. Fair or not, our society expects the coach to be responsible for such things. When Len Bias died of an overdose it was the end of Lefty Driesel's career at big schools. This was really Crowton's undoing.

Your position is untenable.

The foregoing all makes Bronco saying Manti didn't want to go there so he could go tip beers and have premarital sex at Notre Dame spectacularly hypocritical.

[Jarid in Cedar]

From the joy expressed in your post, I highly doubt you've left the hate behind.

No, I think Mitch Heaps and his mom are a perfect fit at BYU

[byu71]

I left the hate of anything dealing with the rivalry behind 5-6 years ago. I love Bronco for the continuous string of giggles that he provides. Jake Heaps' publicist will be the next source of laughter for the next 4 years. Good Times!

It won't be a laughing matter. I can assure you having been on the other side of your rival winning BCS games. You will get to know how that feels during the Heaps tenure!!!

[SeattleUte]

I left the hate of anything dealing with the rivalry behind 5-6 years ago. I love Bronco for the continuous string of giggles that he provides. Jake Heaps' publicist will be the next source of laughter for the next 4 years. Good Times!

I think you need to immerse yourself again in all the bad feelings surrounding the rivalry. It's a marvelous microcosm and teaching tool. It's a parable that may be the best way available to to enlighten some people badly in need of it.

[LA Ute]

This is a ridiculous post. To suggest that the coach is responsible for the actions of a kid who isn't even a player on the team is a joke.

P.S., If I've stepped into the biggest and most obvious trap laid by SU to date, someone please let me know. I did? Oh, well, what can I do about it now.

Yeah, you did. He is sitting at his keyboard now, chortling away. Such a lovable b**st**d.

[Jarid in Cedar]

It won't be a laughing matter. I can assure you having been on the other side of your rival winning BCS games. You will get to know how that feels during the Heaps tenure!!!

QB is never your problem. Its great to get a highly touted QB, but I would have traded Heaps for 2 corners and let Munns run the Offense.

I thought Heaps was about winning multiple NC's not a measly BCS game.

[Jarid in Cedar]

I think you need to immerse yourself again in all the bad feelings surrounding the rivalry. It's a marvelous microcosm and teaching tool. It's a parable that may be the best way available to to enlighten some people badly in need of it.

It was part of a trade, my wife was ok with me leaving the church if I stopped hating BYU so much.

[All-American]

I didn't read much of this thread but I almost linked the interview earlier. Bronco says some strange things frequently, but I find the keeping track of whether kids who claim they want to go on missions but didn't statistic to be very strange. Perhaps even creepy.

I thought the lack of noise about Fireside Tour 2009 was a good thing and then he lets the cat out of the bag that he keeps percentages on which kids going elsewhere who claimed a desire to serve a mission. Weird shit, IMO.

I disagree. If I were a recruit who had a mission in mind, that would be relevant information for me.

[DU Ute]

I thought Heaps was about winning multiple NC's not a measly BCS game.

Yeah, what's that all about? Milk before meat, young Heaps!

[Goatnapper'96]

Bronco is right (statistically) but what does he gain by pointing it out? I would be interested if you could list all the players that have gone to BYU that did not go on missions (or at least a percentage). Our current QB quit his mission. It just doesn't seem relevant to the football discussion because attendance at BYU doesn't even guarantee a mission.

As for trends, your list's strongest trend seems to be linked more to culture/ethnicity, not school.

Ironically, look at the success of SC and Utah over the past 5 or so years. Is BYU really being blessed for all the missionary service? I wish fewer of our football players went on missions, not more.

I agree with this sentiment. I have no issue with Bronco carrying on about the Church because I think it keeps mullahs out of his business. That is what he has to gain with all his public posturing about the LDS Church. And I don't think that it is a small thing to gain.

However, taking it to using it as leverage, and his key leverage, with individual recruits is stupid and gains him nothing. The kids looking for EFY on steroids already have the perception that the BYU is where they want to be, Bronco will have to do nothing more than ask somebody to offer a prayer before a meal to reinforce that self fullfilling prophecy for that athlete. Those kids are BYU bound. His invidual approach needs to adjust for the kids who want a football experience instead of EFY on steroids, and to be honest the body of evidence (the players at BYU playing for him) lead to me believe this type of stuff from him is public posturing and not really how he recruits individual players. But the perception affects potential players' interest before they get the chance to be individually recruited. Now, let me be clear that I think that it is given for the kids who want a football experience over EFYOS that they will live the Honor Code.

[falafel]

The foregoing all makes Bronco saying Manti didn't want to go there so he could go tip beers and have premarital sex at Notre Dame spectacularly hypocritical.

I am waiting for the day when something BYU does is only "mildly hypocritical."

Either way, I realize that there is no way I can win this debate, because if I were to suggest that BYU should have locked down the recruits and posted a guard outside to prevent any possible chance that they could get their grubby mits on a beer or some tits, you would have most certainly railed on BYU's authoritarian approach to running the football program. What about the individual's right to choose? you'd scream. What about the right to freely associate with whom they please? you'd protest. What about the simple matter of the fire code? you'd throw in for good measure. Certainly you'd never allow your teenage son to attend a camp or recruiting weekend where his personal freedoms (protected by the constitution, I might add) were so curtailed and restricted in such a blatant manner. Certainly Bronco Mendenhall must take full responsibility for these crimes against the constitution, against the nation, indeed, against the human race. He is, with out a doubt, the most dispicable creature to ever share a genetic structure with the rest of enlightened humanity.

[TripletDaddy]

This is a ridiculous post. To suggest that the coach is responsible for the actions of a kid who isn't even a player on the team is a joke.

P.S., If I've stepped into the biggest and most obvious trap laid by SU to date, someone please let me know. I did? Oh, well, what can I do about it now.

Head coaches are responsible for the recruits (and the players assigned to host them) over that one particular weekend. If Bronco cannot assure the the recruits and the player-hosts can't stay out of trouble for one night, then that is definitely a reflection on his ability to pick the proper player host and to maintain control of his program.

What part of that is a joke? If a head coach (or the school in general) is not at all responsible, then why does the NCAA regulate these recruiting weekends so tightly? And better question...under your scenario, who IS responsible? Who is in charge that weekend?