The Y is Back!

No, not the YMCA. BYU is known as "The Y" to people in the intermountain west.

After Coach Lavell Edwards retired, the university first made a terrible gaffe by not offering the job to Norm Chow, the offensive genius who went on to USC and then to the Tennessee Titans. They then hired Gary Crowton and the program took a dive. I don't know how much of the problems were his fault, but when several of the players were accused of raping a teenage girl at a party, he had to go. The players weren't convicted, but the fact that they were at a party where alcohol was served and apparently sex was engaged in was so NOT in keeping with BYU standards, that it was apparent that something needed to change.

The new Coach was Bronco Mendenhall, who has in his third season won the conference championship and had a 9-2 season and tonight blew Oregon out at the Las Vegas Bowl.
BYU is special because of its standards, and its teams are expected to live up to them. His theme was to return to BYU's traditions. And he's been effective. BYU is before tonight at No. 19 in the national polls, which would probably be higher if they played in a bigger TV market.

I'm a great admirer of Lavell Edwards, whose coaching face is reflected on two of his assistants who went on to become head coaches, Mike Holmgren and Andy Reid. He watched from the sidelines without a change of expression, usually with his arms folded. He made BYU a football power, even though it could not match the recruiting power of the "big name" teams, by taking talented players and making them better. Coach Mendenhall shows signs of being a fitting standard bearer. No matter the record, BYU has its own approach to football, and any other won't work.