Bronco Mendenhall on proving BYU wrong, NIL at Utah State and his new coaching staff

Logan • The first time Bronco Mendenhall joined one of BYU’s rivals, it was purely out of spite.

The young Mendenhall was coming out of Snow College, fresh off a JUCO national championship, and wanted to play at BYU. His father, Paul, and older brother, Matt, had both been Cougars. But BYU wasn’t interested in the younger Mendenhall.

So instead, Mendenhall looked at his other offers, peeked at their schedules, and picked the one school that was going to play the Cougars.

If he couldn’t join them, he was going to beat them.

“My college choice was predicated on which school had BYU on their schedule,” Mendenhall said, who went to Oregon State. “Short-sighted, I know.”

“We arrived in Provo, beat BYU when I was at Oregon State. I was at the 50-yard line at the Y, doing a snow angel in the grass. Just, I don’t know, maybe to prove that I was capable to them.”

Mendenhall ended up being more than just capable. He would eventually lead the Y., spending 11 years as head coach and winning 99 games. That included two Mountain West titles and six, double-digit win seasons. He did it with his quirks — including living out of his office for a time and wanting to strip the names off of his players’ jerseys. He later called that a mistake.

Almost a decade later, Mendenhall is again joining BYU’s rival. Only this time it’s not for spite or to show he’s worthy of their praise. He’s already done that.

Instead, he is coming to Utah State to be the head coach. Since leaving BYU, Mendenhall has been on a journey. He spent six years at Virginia and then two on his 40-acre ranch in Montana, where staked all the fencing by hand.

Then last year, wanting back in the game, he took a job at New Mexico and went 5-7. And now he’s closer to family, ready to lead the Aggies into the Pac-12 … and maybe to play BYU again, too.

Here are five takeaways from Mendenhall’s first day on the job.

1. Confidence in USU’s NIL situation, but will need improvements

It is no secret that Utah State’s Name, Image and Likeness operation has been behind. It was part of the reason why former basketball coach Danny Sprinkle left Logan — the Aggies just couldn’t compete.

But as USU transitions to the Pac-12, getting up to speed in NIL has been a top priority. Athletics director Diana Sabau thinks the money is getting better. Mendenhall agrees, but also knows it has a ways to go.

“It is necessary to doing business,” Mendenhall said. “That is the business side. That is one of my first priorities now. Outside of roster evaluation, what kind of resources can match that? To not only retain, but attract and sustain.”

Mendenhall was a key part of launching New Mexico’s NIL operation, where he said he tripled the amount of NIL funds for the football program in one year. He sees a similar task in Logan.

“Expanding it now to the Pac-12 and knowing what that will take [after] almost tripling that number in one year’s time at New Mexico — will that need to happen here? Yes. Will it? Certainly,” he said, saying that Logan and Albuquerque are similar towns with similar fan bases.

He said he feels commitment from the fan base.

“I am really confident. I have a great idea of what amounts are needed,” he said.

2. Salary for assistants

Speaking of commitment, USU significantly increased the head coaching salary and the assistant salary pool with Mendenhall. He has a six-year deal worth over $12.9 million and an assistant coaching pool starting at $3.5 million. That will go up to $6 million by the end of the contract.

Mendenhall said he wanted to see those figures before coming. If USU was going to the Pac-12, he wanted to make sure the university was serious about competing.

“When expectations and commitment don’t match, frustration occurs. When expectations and commitment match, alignment and trust are ensured,” Mendenhall said. “So there was just a quick check. Not a deep meeting. Utah State wants great football and they want improvement. … That wasn’t through words, that was simply what the numbers looked like. Facts are our friends.”

Utah State’s leadership has doubled down on football being a key part of the university’s success overall. It is partly why Aggie administrators have said they will go all-in on revenue sharing and trying to keep up with the Power Four.

Mendenhall agreed.

“This isn’t just for football. It’s the impact on this community, on this institution,” he said.

3. A legion of former players and coaches

In typical Mendenhall fashion, most of his staff will be made up of his former players. He will have up to as many as 15 staff members who have already played or coached for him.

His offensive coordinator will be Kevin McGiven, former BYU graduate assistant. McGiven was USU’s offensive coordinator in 2009 and associate head coach. He also had a stint as USU’s offensive coordinator in 2013-14. The Aggies won 19 games in two years and had a top-50 offense in McGiven’s first season. He mostly recently coached at San Jose State.

4. Will BYU and Utah be on Utah State’s future schedules?

Mendenhall wants that. Currently, BYU doesn’t have any games scheduled with the Aggies. The Battle for the Old Wagon Wheel went dormant in 2022. Utah has two remaining games left in 2026 and 2031.

“I’ll have some influence [on getting them scheduled]. Is it important? Yeah, it’s important,” Mendenhall said. “And the outcome of that matters.”

5. Recruiting Utah

Utah and BYU largely dominate the recruiting landscape of the state. But Mendenhall thinks he can use his past connections from his BYU days to help get the Aggies in the door. Still, Utah won’t be his only focus as he builds out a roster.

“It is a world record,” Mendenhall said of the number of texts he’s gotten from local high schools. “The quality of high school football in this state has grown and improved. It makes complete sense for me to make that a prime place to start. Not the only place, but the primary place we start for our program.”