Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
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KSL Newsradio's Wednesday night broadcast of "BYU Football with Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall" featured a live LaVell Edwards Stadium audience, a defensive standout and an upbeat coach.
After getting off to a 1-0 start for the sixth straight season, head coach Bronco Mendenhall was happy to be joined by Spencer Hadley, who shared some interesting insight into his upbringing, took ridicule for his mustache and earned praise for his play.
You can check out the show in its entirety in "Cougar Cuts," above left; you can also access the audio link in the "Audio Archive" on the right-hand side of the show page. But, for a written highlight reel, just keep reading.
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With another enthusiastic crowd packed into the stadium's President's Loge, Mendenhall didn't waste any time crediting his 29 seniors for their role in the Cougars' season-opening win over Washington State. The coach particularly focused on the leadership of starting quarterback Riley Nelson.
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Even though Mendenhall is usually a little short on praise for individual effort in front of the team (he doesn't offer game balls to the players like many coaches), he acknowledged underscoring one player's achievement to the rest of the team after the Wazzu win.
"I did give an award on Monday to Skyler Ridley for just grit, determination and resolve. For how many years he's battled on the scout team how hard he's wanted to be a part of the program how much it meant to him. To play as hard as he played It was so refreshing to have no sense of entitlement but just gratitude."
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After praising the BYU defense for its effort in the opener, Mendenhall took time to look ahead to Saturday's home meeting with Weber State, set for a 1:00pm MT kickoff (KSL Newsradio/BYU Radio/BYUtv).
He reiterated that the players' and coaches' preparation has much less to do with opponents than it has to do with getting themselves ready; to that end, the team took it easy last Saturday in hopes of saving the player's bodies for a long season.
The Weber State game will be Mendenhall's fifth against an FCS team, and the former assistant coach at Big Sky Conference member Northern Arizona reminisced about his I-AA days and how much it means for smaller programs to get a chance to play in front of the biggest crowd of their collegiate careers. With respect for their coaching staff and 22 starters, Mendenhall didn't give the impression the Cougars were looking past the Wildcats.
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Junior linebacker Spencer Hadley joined the coach's show crew during the weekly player-guest segment, and after taking requisite ribbing from the host and head coach over his attention-grabbing facial hair, the talk turned to football, with Mendenhall saying he felt that Hadley, "played with the most effort of anyone on our defensive football team in that (Washington State) game the tenacity of how he was playing, how much ground he was covering - while being assignment sound - which is a really unique balance, I was really impressed."
The Hadleys, a farming family from Connell, Wash., have two sons on the team including Spencer's younger brother Matt, who started this season on the scout team. The elder Hadley says is doing his best to make every moment with the team last as his career clock ticks.
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During the Q&A portion of the evening, we learned that although senior defensive lineman Ian Dulan (back) returned to practice this week, his injury "flared up a bit," and his status for Saturday's game has yet to be determined.
Mendenhall was asked about preserving the health of mobile quarterback Riley Nelson, and Mendenhall said while the coaches "educate" their QB, the final decision on whether and how much to run belongs to Riley. The coach also gave insight into his recruiting process for non-LDS kids, which is very up-front and open from the start of the conversation.
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Next week's broadcast of "BYU Football with Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall" is set for Wednesday, September 12th at 7:00pm. Stay tuned to Greg Wrubell's Twitter feed (@gregwrubell) to find out when the seat request link will open up for next week's show.
