The Coaching Situation

[Mars]

Bronco's contract is done after 2013 (Tom Holmoe chose not to extend it this year). What if Bronco chooses to be done then too? Then maybe you want the next head coach at BYU on or near the staff for the 2012 season, to make for a smooth transition.


BYU's Football Staff currently looks like this:

Paul Tidwell.
Inside LBs Coach.
Has also been a Head Coach, a Defensive Coordinator, the Recruiting Coordinator at BYU, Special Teams Coordinator, RBs Coach, TEs Coach, and DBs Coach.
35 Years Total Coaching Experience.

Not really a serious candidate for head coach or DC at BYU. Passed recruiting duties to Dupaix. Could take over the Special Teams perhaps, it needs attention, and the defense has another LBs Coach, as well as Bronco himself. Could also take over DBs if Howell was promoted to DC. Probably very close to retirement. Could be an Assistant Head Coach if Reynolds retires first. Doesn't need to be replaced after his retirement by an LB coach, as QB coach is a needed specialty-only coaching position at BYU, and the max number of total assistant coaching positions are capped by the NCAA.

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Mark Weber.
OL Coach.
Has also been an Assistant Head Coach and a DL Coach.
34 Years Total Coaching Experience.

Probably should/will be fired after the 2012 campaign. It was a close call for him after the 2011 season, but the recruits and players like him. Could be replaced by Lance Reynolds, or a new hire such as disgraced former HS Head Coach Louis Wong, among other candidates.

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Lance Reynolds.
Assistant Head Coach/Tight Ends.
Has also been an Offensive Coordinator, and has coached Running Backs and the Offensive Line.
33 Years Total Coaching Experience.

It's hard to tell how much of an impact Reynolds has made with the Tight Ends this season. If Weber is fired, he could be moved back to the Offensive Line, allowing BYU employee Chad Lewis to step in as the new TE Coach. He could step in and be Co-Offensive Coordinator with Brandon Doman in 2013. Reynolds would also make a great assistant head coach to any new HC hire. He could also make for a short-term head coach in a bind. Or, he could retire after the 2012 season. After 33 years of football coaching, the man has also earned his eventual retirement.

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Jay Omer.
Head Strength & Conditioning Coach.
Has also been a Director of Player Development. Also a former Head Football Coach and Athletic Director.
28 Years Total Coaching Experience.

Was phased out beginning in 2012. Could be forced into retirement and fully replaced soon by those with more modern methods.

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Steve Kaufusi.
DL Coach.
18 Years Total Coaching Experience.

Kaufusi is good at his job. I doubt he's close to retirement, and I doubt he is being considered heavily for DC or HC at BYU. This is the type of guy that survives regime changes.

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Joe Dupaix.
RB Coach/Recruiting Coordinator.
Has also been an Offensive Coordinator, and has coached QBs, WRs, and "Slotbacks".
15 Years Total Coaching Experience.

The recruiting seems to be going very well. I don't know how well the RBs have been doing as a group, but Alisa and Jamaal are both kids who have shown a lot on the field. The shovel pass is working well, but we could see more from a Slot-hybrid position. Lasike has shown some as well, for a fumbly rugby guy. The remainder of the RB core hasn't struck me as very deep this season (Foote, Pritchard, Falslev, Hine, Mendenhall, etc.). I don't think he will be a candidate for OC, QB coach, or WR coach at BYU anytime soon. He's safe for at least another couple years under Bronco, as he should be.

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Nick Howell.
Seconday/Special Teams Coach.
Has been an Outside Linebackers Coach, a Head Coach, a Defensive Coordinator, and a Defensive Line Coach.
11 Years Total Coaching Experience.

Was he better coaching LBs than DBs? The secondary isn't exactly BYU's strength this year, but has it ever been? The overall defense is about as good as it's ever been, so he must be playing a part. The Special Teams stink though. Is it the lack of viable scholarship kickers and punters? At least partly. Oddly, there's talk of Howell being made DC at BYU. We saw how well that went when Jaime Hill was upgraded. Nick is a much better personality fit, but still, the track record isn't 100% screaming for increased duties, especially when compared to Mendenhall himself. If this happened, Paul Tidwell could coach DBs temporarily. Or a former DB player could be hired, like Micah Alba, or Ben Criddle, or, you know, someone. DeWayne Walker from NMSU would be a total coup- probably at almost any defensive coaching position.

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Brandon Doman.
Offensive Coordinator/QB Coach.
8 Years Total Coaching Experience.

BD has had arguable success/lack of success in both of his positions at BYU. Max Hall was a very good QB, but did he ever quit making those poor decisions under Doman's tutelage? The option offense has been horrifically ugly at times, and at others has blown out UTEP and Georgia Tech. It is arguable who is to blame for that, between Bronco Mendenhall, Jake Heaps, Riley Nelson, and himself. A couple years ago BD was thought of as the future head coach at BYU. Now he could be fired. Or kept on. He could get much better. Or not. Could he go back to QB coaching? Or be the next assistant head coach when Reynolds retires? Or could we replace him entirely with Ty Detmer, or Robert Anae, or Gary Crowton, or Andy Reid, or John Beck, or...? Max Hall may be expected to take over as the full-time QB Coach at some point soon, which would be a load off of new Bishop Doman.

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Kelly Poppinga.
Outside LBs Coach.
4 Years Total Coaching Experience.

Word is that KPop could be a target for an intro NFL job as a defensive coach, which would be a great way for him to gain further coaching experience. He is one of two LB coaches at BYU, along with a DBs coach who used to coach LBs and a HC acting as DC who used to coach LBs. If Tidwell retired, or was moved to Special Teams or DBs Coach, then perhaps Poppinga could become the Inside/Outside LBs Coach. It seems that Bronco/BYU always have former defensive players who could plugged in as a LB coach.

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Ben Cahoon.
WR Coach.
2 Years Total Coaching Experience.

Seems to have been a very good hire. Should stay at least as long as Bronco does, and hopefully a whole lot longer. Not ready to help with the TEs, QBs, or OC duties. Sorry, but Higgins has not been missed. Sorry Drage.

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Possible Coaches in 2015 or so:
http://byucougars.com/athletics/staff?o ... e&sort=asc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

AD:
Tom Holmoe. Brian Santiago. Duff Tittle. Chad Lewis. Bronco Mendenhall.

Head Football Coach:
Bronco Mendenhall. Lance Reynolds. Brandon Doman. Tom Holmoe. Andy Reid. LaVell Edwards. Robert Anae. Kalani Sitake. Ed Lamb. Ken Niumatalolo. Steve Clark.

Assistant Head Coach:
Lance Reynolds. Paul Tidwell. Brandon Doman. Bronco Mendenhall.

Defensive Coordinator:
Bronco Mendenhall. Nick Howell. DeWayne Walker. Kalani Sitake. Ed Lamb. John Neal.

DL Coach:
Steve Kaufusi.

DBs Coach:
Nick Howell. Paul Tidwell. Micah Alba. Brian Mitchell. Brian Logan. Ben Criddle. DeWayne Walker.

Inside LBs Coach:
Paul Tidwell. Kelly Poppinga. Jason Walker. Justin Ena. Rob Morris.

Outside LBs Coach:
Kelly Poppinga. Paul Tidwell. Shaun Nua. Jason Kaufusi. Justin Ena. Rob Morris.

Offensive Coordinator:
Brandon Doman. Lance Reynolds. Andy Reid. Steve Clark. Ty Detmer. Robert Anae. Gary Crowton. Norm Chow. Dennis Simmons. Charlie Stubbs. Scott Brumfield. Mike Chico Canales. Darrell Bevell. John Beck. Max Hall.

OL Coach:
Mark Weber. Lance Reynolds. Jeff Grimes. Steve Clark. Garett Tujague. Robert Anae. Louis Wong.

QB Coach:
Brandon Doman. Max Hall. Mike Chico Canales. Ty Detmer. John Beck.

TE Coach:
Lance Reynolds. Paul Tidwell. Andrew George. Chad Lewis. Aaron Roderick.

WR Coach:
Ben Cahoon.

RB Coach:
Joe DuPaix.

Special Teams Coordinator:
Nick Howell. Paul Tidwell. Steve Clark. DeWayne Walker.

Recruiting Coordinator:
Joe DuPaix. Brandon Doman. Max Hall. Chad Lewis. Ty Detmer. John Beck.

[hawkwing]

This is a great, exhaustive list of the current coaches at BYU and what possible futures they have. Thanks.

[jonnylingo]

Shoganai (who I find credible) has stated that weber is going to retire. he has said that Weber almost retired last year but wanted to stay in the game a little longer. Sound like he is just ready to go.

He also stated that he was quite sure that there would be a full time qb coach next year. In addition he thought there would be quite a bit of movement on the assistant coaching front.

i think it is obvious that weber will be gone. this bowl game is important i think for bronco and/or doman. if we lose this game, i think the chance of one or both of them getting let go increases substantially. If we win I suspect both will stay.

But i am curious to know if next year will be Bronco's last.

[SpiffCoug]

I think the coach at Navy would be a candidate for HC.

[hawkwing]

I think the coach at Navy would be a candidate for HC.

More option coaches. Hooray.

[Fido]

How reasonable is it to list Bronco as an Assistant Coach? I would expect if he was out that he would move on rather than be "demoted".

[Lawboy]

Bronco had no option in his deal for TH to exercise. IT was a 3-year deal by Bronco's choosing. He can extend the deal with a new contract if BYU and Bronco want to. But if I had to guess, not sure Bronco will, although I am positive that the Board of Trustees for BYU would jump at the chance to extend him for 3 more years. Absolutely certain. BYU fits their mold perfectly as wins are less important to them than image. Let's all be clear on that.

[stuckinbig10country]

The truth is Bronco turned down a 10 year contract and signed a 3 year contract. My guess is he'll get offered a 7 year contract, and will take a 3 year one again, unless he decides to move on to another school after next year. He put next years schedule together (with TH), and I'm sure he wants the challenge of the best schedule in BYU history.

[Mars]

The truth is Bronco turned down a 10 year contract and signed a 3 year contract. My guess is he'll get offered a 7 year contract, and will take a 3 year one again, unless he decides to move on to another school after next year. He put next years schedule together (with TH), and I'm sure he wants the challenge of the best schedule in BYU history.

I thought that he turned down a 5-year contract. Meaning he couldn't honestly say that he still wanted to be here in 2015. I expect a 1-year contract extension sometime between now and then. It would be one more thing for Bronco to hold over the fanbase's head, a rolling year-to-year contract, so he could get out quickly if he got too tired of things.

[Y 4 Ever]

I think the coach at Navy would be a candidate for HC.

I sure hope not. But if Bronco quits, then you might be right - who else is there (realistically)?