PROVO — Now that his staff is in place, new BYU defensive coordinator Bronco Mendenhall is ready to begin overhauling the Cougar defense.
On Thursday, coach Gary Crowton announced that he will retain the rest of his defensive assistants. Brian Mitchell will continue coaching the cornerbacks, and Steve Kaufusi will remain in charge of the defensive line. Barry Lamb, who coached safeties at BYU for nine seasons, will now oversee the linebackers. Lamb coached that position at San Diego State, Idaho, UNLV and Oregon before coming to Provo.
In addition to his coordinator responsibilities, Mendenhall will coach the safeties.
A week ago, Mendenhall met individually with Mitchell, Kaufusi and Lamb. He came away impressed with their attitudes and credentials. "I was looking for a quality fit for what I want to do and they have expertise in the key areas," said the former New Mexico defensive coordinator. "I made recommendations, but ultimately it was coach Crowton's decision. I'm confident these coaches will do an excellent job."
The Cougars' defensive approach will be far different from what it was under former defensive coordinator Ken Schmidt, who stepped down in December. BYU will run a 3-3-5 base defense, the same scheme that Mendenhall employed in Albuquerque the past five years.
How much will BYU players and coaches have to adapt to this new system? "It's going to be substantial," Mendenhall said. "It's a style that's unique and unorthodox."
His defensive approach involves a blitz-based package that puts unrelenting pressure on quarterbacks. His defenses have established a reputation for showing a variety of formations while inducing opposing offenses into turnovers and mental mistakes.
Asked if the Cougars currently have the type of players that can make a 3-3-5 defense work, Mendenhall replied, "It's too early to know, but I will say that regardless of what kind of athletes we have, if they play hard, it will be successful," he said. "We can recruit as good, and even better, as we did at New Mexico."
He added that the defensive scheme could undergo adjustments if necessary as the season goes, depending on his players' abilities and the opponents' style of play.
Over the past few days, as Cougar players returned to campus for classes, Mendenhall has been meeting them, trying to put names to faces. The first step in transforming the defense is changing the players' mindset, Mendenhall said. His system will be implemented gradually during spring ball.
For now, he has been trying to find out as much as he can about the personnel he has to work with.
"I've presented what's expected of these players," he said. "I expect them to play as hard as possible and give maximum effort. I want them to be accountable and make a real commitment to this program. I watched game tape from last year and I focused on how they play and I'll be watching our players during the off-season workouts."
The Cougars return almost all their defensive players from last season. Defensive lineman Jeff Cowart graduates, but BYU will welcome defensive lineman Manaia Brown, a transfer from Nebraska, to the lineup.
E-MAIL: jeffc@desnews.com