Bronco Mendenhall

I had the opportunity to meet Bronco Mendenhall several years ago when he was a graduate assistant at Oregon State. I was immediately impressed. I have been a believer in him ever since.

From his hiring as the head football coach at BYU, I have patiently endured the punditry of lesser men in the media as they have ridiculed everything from his motivational techniques to his communication style. All along I have consistently defended him whenever I had the opportunity, knowing that he would eventually have success.

Now, it is fun to hear these lesser men fall all over themselves in praising his team. The coach and the fine young men he leads have proven themselves on the field and on the score board. No one has given them anything, they are simply taking what is rightfully their own.

They are finally getting some of the recognition they deserve, but those of us who truly love them should not be deceived by all these "kind words." Eventually, difficulty and set-backs will come, and just as surely, the "boo birds" in the peanut gallery will re-emerge.

In that day, we must be prepared to stand with them, to defend the sound and noble approach coach Mendenhall has charted. He was right and his critics were wrong at the beginning, and that pattern will continue to play itself out well into the future. But, he will need us to stand by him in the days to come, stable and steady.

My call, therefore, is for each of us who believe to stay on the bandwagon, true blue, through and through. Otherwise, we will receive our just deserts of failure and futility.