Mendenhall's defense

[MikeWaters]

HB did point out that he is more skeptical of the defense than the offense. Just based on past history.

He points out that any defense that gives up more than 50 points in three games over 2 seasons has issues.

That and BYU historically has not been able to recruit corners.

I guess to take the positive spin on this, at least there is hope for the offense, if he is more secure about them.

Frankly I'd rather see 50-40 victories instead of 10-6 ones.

[SoCalCoug]

I think we'll see the defense give up 40 or 50 once in a while, but I think we'll also see a few shutouts. I would be surprised if we're not consistently in the top 20. It's a sound scheme (as long as you accept the risk) and I would much rather be more aggressive than more passive as a defense. I still think it's the perfect complement to the high-flying BYU offense of old.

Keep in mind, too, that BYU historically hasn't been able to recruit wide receivers, either, and suddenly, we've got some of the best talent at receiver that we ever have had.

And I don't know that we haven't been able to recruit corners - it seems to be a position that has had a lot of honor code casualties in the past. I would rather get dependable, though unspectacular cornerbacks who are committed fully to BYU, so we can develop a little depth, than highly talented guys who are not going to last.

Which brings me to another point. I've seen some concern about Bronco's recruiting methods to date - how he seems to be focusing mainly on LDS players. There seems to be a bit of consternation about that. But I think there's a method to his madness.

Something we've had issues with in the recent past is losing out on the best LDS talent - I think we have to establish that BYU is the place for the best of the LDS kids to come - we should be the ones with the pick of the LDS talent. I think Bronco is trying to build that mentality in the players, in the fans, the administration, the alumni, and his network of contacts. We hear a lot about the "Poly" pipeline. I think Bronco's trying to develop the LDS pipeline so that he doesn't have to work as hard to get the LDS kids to come here. Once he has the LDS pipeline heading into BYU, with kids who will know the honor code, and who shouldn't require a whole lot of indoctrination into what is expected of them, then he can focus on identifying the talented non-LDS players who have the values and character to commit to the honor code. That is where the real recruiting work will come. And I think that is what is going to require the most effort.

I'm sure you've noticed that Bronco is very deliberate and structured in his approach. He does things in steps - like in teaching the defense to the players when he first came here, he talked about it being in phases, with the first phase being putting forth the effort, and the more detailed, schematic things coming only in the later phases. Once they mastered the first phase, and only then, would he let them move on to the next phase of learning his defense.

I think getting the LDS talent is only the first phase of Bronco's recruiting plan. And while I'm sure he has a multi-year plan, I wouldn't be surprised if his plan for this year isn't to get all these early LDS commits so that he can spend most of his (and his coaches') efforts during the height of the recruiting season focusing on the non-LDS kids that he has targeted, so that he can use the time to really evaluate them and their committment to BYU and the honor code.

And this really should be a big part of the recruiting process, because what good is a player going to be for Bronco if he's going to get kicked out of school (or even just suspended) for honor code violations?