Busy day at BYU
There was a lot of stuff going on around the BYU football program on Tuesday.
It was announced the Washington was dropping the Cougars from the schedule in 2011 and 2012 — in favor of Eastern Washington. That leaves a couple of holes in the schedule and coach Bronco Mendenhall said he’d like to schedule a team from the ACC, Big East or Big Ten.
If you were BYU’s athletic director, who schedule in the future?
Also, there was the news Tuesday night that defensive back Shiloah Te’o has been dismissed from the team for violating team rules. Obviously this loss hurts BYU’s depth in the defensive secondary. Andrew Rich and Scott Johnson are the starters and the No. 1 backup is true freshman Craig Bills, who started against Florida State when Johnson was injured.
Then there’s the furor — mostly on the radio airwaves — surrounding about Mendenhall’s comments Monday when asked if he was surprised that quarterback Max Hall has been taking so much criticism.
Said Mendenhall: “For the people in the most visible positions — head coach, quarterback, corner, offensive tackle, the position that seem to give up or could be criticized easily by a normal person, just to look out and say, where are the mistakes, the level of criticism usually matches the level of education and the fans, the people it comes from. So, I’ve learned not to take it personal, and I’ve tried to help Max do the same.”
Some took that as Mendenhall insulting the fans.
When asked about the reaction to his comments after practice on Tuesday, Mendenhall said:
“What I was trying to present, usually the more people see the big picture the more precise and accurate the criticism is. I can’t expect anyone to see that if they’re not in my shoes or the coaches shoes.”
A reporter asked him to explain what he meant by “education.” Replied Mendenhall:
“Just the education of the game. The knowledge of our schemes and our opponent’s schemes. Knowledge of our personnel and what we’re trying to accomplish and why, as opposed to just watching the game and finding out the that guy drops the ball, or throws and interception, or gets beat for a touchdown. Those are the easy things to spot. I was trying to allude to the bigger picture.”
What are your thoughts on Bronco’s comments?