Right now, there isn’t an athletic department at the Division I level that is more involved in the community than Utah State’s. And per Bronco Mendenhall, it is the Aggies’ football program that is leading the way.
Last week, Helper Helper — a community service tracking app that partners with the NCAA — posted on social media that Utah State athletics leads all Division I programs in this year’s NCAA Community Engagement Impact Challenge, which began earlier this month.
“This is amazing! Credit to our hardworking, talented and servant hearted student athletes! We’re #1,” interim Utah State athletic director Sandy Barbour wrote in a post on X, celebrating the Aggies’ start to the challenge.
Mendenhall explained Monday that his team has been instrumental in the strong start by Utah State.
“Currently, it’s the most service hours in all of, well, Division I sport are happening at Utah State, and Utah State football is leading that charge,” he said. ”So what we’re giving back, I think, will end up permeating the community."
Mendenhall noted that the Aggies aren’t volunteering for attention or praise, though. It is instead to make a real impact in the Cache Valley community.
“That’s not to be seen and recognized,” he said. “It’s just to enhance and uplift.”
Mendenhall is hopeful that Utah State football’s involvement in the community will only help support for the program grow.
“And then the example of who we bring (to Utah State) and the type of citizens that our players are just further should — I think — build a great connection. By the communities (seeing) these are great kids. They’re us. They reflect us. And over time, that kind of cements a connection that I think is really special, especially in such a cool town and a college community like we have."
Per Chelsea Fritz, coordinator of client success at Helper Helper, the community engagement challenge is in its 10th year, this year under a new name.
The contest goes from Sept. 1 through Dec. 15th, is done at the Division I, Division II and Division III levels, and “takes into account a department’s percent participation and hours per student athlete,” Fritz told the Deseret News.
Last year, Utah State athletics finished No. 13 overall in the challenge, with Belmont University coming out on top.
The top DI football programs a year ago were:
- Boston College
- Pittsburgh
- South Alabama
- Texas Rio Grande Valley
- Coastal Carolina
- Troy
- Arizona
- James Madison
- Nebraska
- Georgia Tech
The complete report for 2024-25 can be found here.