PROVO — Heading into his third season at the helm, BYU coach Gary Crowton is feeling more comfortable than ever with his staff.
Crowton took over for the legendary LaVell Edwards after the 2000 season and, after his hiring, kept most of Edwards' assistants for the 2001 campaign. The last couple of years, though, Crowton has brought in several new faces.
His staff underwent a major overhaul during this past off-season, following a disappointing 5-7 campaign, as defensive coordinator Ken Schmidt stepped down and offensive coordinator Mike Borich left the program. Crowton hired Bronco Mendenhall as defensive coordinator and Todd Bradford as a co-offensive coordinator with Robbie Bosco.
"I have a little better feel of control of everything this year than the previous year," Crowton said. "The transition — taking over for Coach Edwards — that's not an easy or fast transition. He did a great job but our situations are a little different.
"I've worked with both Coach Bradford and Coach Mendenhall and those two guys are two of the better coaches I've coached with in my 20 years coaching, and now they're both on our staff. They're dedicated to the game. They demand a lot, and they know football. They come to win, and they can both recruit. I feel very, very happy about those guys. They understand me and my approach to the game, which I think is very important. I feel like the rest of the coaching staff does that now, too. I've been happy with the coaching staff. They've worked their tails off."
Five assistants remain from Edwards' former staff — Bosco, offensive line coach Lance Reynolds, tight ends coach Mike Empey, linebackers coach Barry Lamb and cornerbacks coach Brian Mitchell.
Running backs coach and special teams coordinator Paul Tidwell, defensive line coach Steve Kaufusi and strength and conditioning coach Jay Omer round out the staff.
Offensive lineman Scott Jackson says the new assistants have brought a new approach. "One thing that will be very different is having a new defensive coach. It's changed our scheme completely," he said. "Because the defense plays the way they do, it's going to step the offense up. You're going to see everyone benefit from that."
JORY OUT: BYU tight end Justin Jory will undergo surgery today to repair a broken bone in his right hand.
The senior from Shoreline, Wash., suffered the injury during the team's first practice on Saturday. Jory is expected to be out 10 days after surgery. Once he returns, he'll see limited action before being able to participate in full contract drills in three weeks, said football media relations director Jeff Reynolds.
Jory redshirted a year ago and missed the first six games in 2001 after breaking his leg during fall camp.
Jory, freshman Daniel Coats and juniors Phillip Niu and Aissac Aiono are battling for playing time at tight end.
The Cougars practiced once Monday and will do the same Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday, they will hold their first two-a-days session. BYU will practice in full pads for the first time on Thursday.
DAUNTING SCHEDULE: The Cougars will take on non-conference foes Georgia Tech, USC, Stanford, Boise State and Notre Dame this season and Crowton is looking forward to the challenge the schedule presents.
"It's hard, but that's all right," he said. "There are some tough teams in there, but it's a good schedule. I'm not going to worry about the difficulty of it. Who knows how good anybody will be. I'm hoping we're pretty good. I'm hoping people are afraid to have us on their schedule." Many preseason publications has USC ranked in the top 10 while Notre Dame is widely regarded as a top 25 team.
"It's my senior year, and we get to go to Notre Dame," Jackson said. "People write books about that place. We get to go to the (Los Angeles Memorial) Coliseum, a place where I grew up, where I saw a lot of games. I'm really excited about the schedule."
E-MAIL: jeffc@desnews.com