Cougar Corner Blog
Thursday, March 30, 2006
BYU Suspends Defensive Lineman
According to the byucougars.com website, Russell Tialavea has been suspended indefinitely for unspecified violation of team rules. PROVO, Utah (March 30, 2006) -- Head football coach Bronco Mendenhall today announced the indefinite suspension of defensive lineman Russell Tialavea for violation of team rules.
Tialavea (6-3, 300) is a redshirt freshman from Oceanside, Calif.
Tialavea, although unexperienced, filled a large hole on a defensive line that lost a number of players to graduation last season.
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Digg This!BYU Named Best Bang for the Buck
According to the Princeton Review, BYU is now rated the #1 University in the nation for more than just the Stone Cold Sober category. BYU was just rated the #1 Bang for Your Buck school in the nation in the Princeton Review's new book, "America's Best Value Colleges: 2007 Edition," released last Tuesday.
According to Princeton Review Online BYU also ranks with:
- Best College Library
- School Runs Like Butter
- Best in the West
- and more
Sunday, March 19, 2006
BYU Names Hill new Defensive Assistant
BYU head football coach Bronco Mendenhall today announced Jaime Hill (first name is pronounced HI-me) has been selected to coach the Cougars' defensive secondary.
This comes as somewhat of a surprise as many people thought Adam Gonzaga would be named the new assistant coach.
byucougars.com goes on to say:"Coach Hill brings a great deal of technical and schematic expertise to our secondary," Mendenhall said. "He has coaching experience at every level, including the past two seasons as a defensive coordinator in the Canadian Football League."
Hill comes to Provo after three seasons as an assistant coach in the Canadian Football League, including the past two seasons as the co-defensive coordinator for the Ottawa Renegades. Hill's first CFL experience began in 2003 with the Calgary Stampeders as the secondary coach.
"I'm very excited to work with Coach Mendenhall and his staff," Hill said. "I think they have this program heading in the right direction and this is a train I want to be aboard when it comes into the station."
The 42-year-old native of San Diego, Calif., brings an extensive resume to Provo with over 20 years of coaching experience. Hill has coached at the NCAA, NFL, CFL and XFL levels.
Prior to his three years in Canada, Hill served as the defensive coordinator at Humboldt State University in Arcata, Calif.
In the XFL, Hill served as the secondary coach with the San Francisco Demons in 2001. He has also worked with the NFL's San Francisco 49ers, working as a defensive assistant and secondary coach.
A graduate of San Francisco State University with a degree in psychology, Hill was a first team all-conference wide receiver in 1984 and 1985. He was also an Academic All-American and first-team all-league performer at Grossmont Junior College.
After a year as a student assistant coach at his alma mater, Hill was hired as the graduate assistant coach at UTEP for the 1988 season. A year later, he moved to Northern Arizona where he coached the receivers and tight ends. In 1991 and 1992, Hill coached the secondary at Sonoma State. In 1993, Hill served as the defensive coordinator at the University of Chicago before moving to Portland State as the defensive coordinator for four seasons.
Hill helped guide the Vikings to three straight appearances in the NCAA Division II playoffs with a combined record of 25-11 from 1993-1995. In his final season, 1996, Portland State moved to the NCAA 1-AA level, competing as a member of the Big Sky Conference.
Hill and his wife, LaShanda, have three children, including twin girls, Brianna, Tichelle and a son, Marcquet.
Mendenhall also announced additional assignment changes for the defensive coaching staff. With Hill coaching the secondary, long-time assistant Barry Lamb will coach the outside linebackers and Paul Tidwell will coach the inside linebackers. Steve Kaufusi will continue coaching the defensive line.
Mendenhall said BYU will be implementing a 3-4 defensive scheme during Spring practice, which will begin on Monday, March 20.
"We feel like we've assembled the best coaching staff possible," Mendenhall said. "After reviewing our defensive personnel, there are players on our team who we can design scheme elements around to make sure we get our best 11 football players on the field. We believe the coaching assignment changes are in direct alignment with the strengths of our returning defensive personnel."
While the Cougars will be going away from the 3-3-5 scheme, Mendenhall said the principles of the new scheme will not change.
"The principles are very similar to what we have already done," he said. "We will continue to emphasize pursuit and gang tackling."
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
BYU Hires New DB Coach
BYU has hired a new coach to replace leaving DB coach Brian Mitchell.
Here is the link
Adam Gonzaga
Defensive Coordinator
Adam Gonzaga just completed his fourth season on the Northwood University football staff and will be the team's defensive coordinator.
During his four seasons at Northwood, the Timberwolves have featured three defensive All-Americans.
Despite losing five starters from the 2004 season, the 2005 Northwood defense remained strong under Gonzaga. Northwood ranked 23rd nationally in scoring defense (18.3 ppg) while placing three players on the First Team All-GLIAC team (Kyle Clement, Charleston Hughes, Jon Horn). The Timberwolves held their opponents under 20 points seven times in 12 games during their second straight trip to the NCAA Playoffs.
NU’s defense featured a pair of All-Americans in 2004 corner Martell Foster and defensive end Chris Wilson during the Timberwolves' GLIAC Championship season. Northwood had three players earn GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week honors (Jon Horn, Charleston Hughes, Foster) while ranking third in the league in total defense. Northwood scored a total of six defensive touchdowns in 2004.
The Timberwolves defense was one of the strengths of the teams in 2003. Northwood finished the year ranked No. 32 (out of 150) in division II in total defense and third in the GLIAC. NU finished No. 1 against the pass in the conference, allowing teams to gain just 140.5 yards per game through the air. Northwood also featured linebacker Chad Mosher, who finished ninth in the country in total tackles (11.8 per game). NU's defense also featured a player who signed with the NFL (Dedrick Roper).
Gonzaga came to Northwood from the United States Naval Academy, where he coached the linebackers during the 2001 season. He also had a successful two-year stint at Greenville College in Greenville, Illinois from 1999-2000. While at Greenville, Gonzaga served as the defensive coordinator and the squad posted back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in nine years. He coached two All-Americans and the 1999 squad was co-SLIAC conference champions.
In 1998, Gonzaga coached the defensive ends and outside linebackers at the University of Connecticut. UConn went 10-3 and advanced to the NCAA Division I-AA Semifinals during his one season on the staff
Gonzaga has also had stints at Division I-AA Lafayette (1997), where he coached the defensive line; Montana State (1996), where he coached the secondary; Pacific (1993-95), where he coached the special teams, linebackers and secondary; and was the football recruiting assistant at Stanford (1992).
Gonzaga is a 1992 graduate of Asuza Pacific University with a bachelor's degree in education. He and his wife, Heidi, have two daughters - Alexis and Addison.