BYU Football with Bronco Mendenhall

PROVO — The year's first "BYU Football with Bronco Mendenhall" show aired Wednesday in front of over 100 fans at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

Mendenhall said the team is excited fall camp is over and that it's finally time to open the season against the Virginia Cavaliers on Saturday.

He admitted most coaches usually want more time to prepare for the season, but shortening camps would motivate players and decrease risk of injury.

"There is a day-to-day work and grind that has to happen, but I don't think it would be and issue," Mendenhall said. "I think you'd have healthier players, I think you'd have more motivated players, and I think it would be a better experience for them. "

**********

It's no secret that injuries in the secondary hampered the Cougars throughout the off-season, but Mendenhall assured fans both he and the other coaches trust the players they have.

Mendenhall specifically mentioned Robertson Daniel and Skye PoVey as two players who've really stepped up to fill the void at cornerback. But he reiterated that an overall team effort will determine the success of the team over the performance of any individual player.

"Our simple philosophy is that our collective 11 will not only out-work you but out-execute you," he said. "I rarely focus on individual players. I work on the collective and how they work together and how hard they try together and how much trust they have in one another and how hard they'll play."

**********

Senior linebacker and team captain Uani' Unga made a guest appearance on the show. He said he was surprised and humbled that his fellow teammates voted him to be one of their captains.

"It never crossed my mind that any of the guys would vote for me as captain," Unga said. "I'm glad that they trust me. I feel like I've been doing my best, and I guess they've seen it."

Unga transferred from Oregon State to BYU in 2011 and is one of the three captains who originally joined the Cougars as walk-on players. Coach Mendenhall said Unga has a work ethic and presence around him that motivates the entire team and even impressed NFL scouts.

"Uani will play great for us this year, and I believe if he wants to play, he will play after BYU," Mendenhall said. I don't think that's a stretch. That's just what's going to happen. He has the size and speed, but also his work ethic and presence. Teams want those kinds of things. There were 6 NFL scouts at out practice today, and they all left very impressed."

**********

Highlights from the fan questions segment:

On a scale of 1-10, Mendenhall said he is a two on how worried he is about the cornerback position.

If he wasn't a BYU coach, he would be a teacher.

"I've always wanted to answer that question," Mendenhall said. "I'd like to be a teacher. I think coaching is nothing other than teaching; it's just really visible teaching. Maybe like a BYU-Hawai'i teaching job? Something like that. Water's right there. Surfing (laughs). I don't know what I would teach, but I would teach something."

On why he's been more jovial with the media this year:

"I like my job. It's taken me a long time to figure that out, but at the end of the day, I finally had the epiphany that I like it."

Response to how fast he can spirit run the 40:

"That's the questions I was hoping to be asked (laughs); faster than anything else."

If Kyle Van Noy was a fruit, what would he be?:

"I'm thinking pineapple because there's that tough exterior, kind of spikey thing, but inside, there's a whole different story. And then you've got the hair thing on top."

What is his favorite TV show: "Naked and Afraid."

"I know this is going to get me in trouble just by saying it, but there's a unique concept there. Ratings probably just plummeted (laughs)."

*******

Photo: Mark Philbrick, BYU Photo

******* Jason Ludlow is a KSL Newsradio BYU intern

Related topics