Estimated read time: 8-9 minutes
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In contrast to 2013, when BYU Football Media Day was used to announce a number of key news items, the 2014 version came and went on Monday without any major pronouncements from head coach Bronco Mendenhall or athletic director Tom Holmoe.
Both noted general satisfaction with the football program's current path as an FBS independent, notwithstanding Mendenhall's recent comments about his desire that BYU eventually find a home in a league like the Big 12.
The pair also addressed the school's internal review into potential football-related NCAA violations, with Holmoe acknowledging that BYU has reported findings to the NCAA, adding that any violations would be in "a lower category...not a major issue."
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BYU's place in the college football landscape was a primary talking point in the annual 'State of the Program' discussion, with Holmoe saying that "I like where we are right now."
"When we talked about going independent," Holmoe added, "we talked about the access we would get for the fans; that we would be able to go and bring our team to the fans, and we have done that.
"We've been able to travel around the country and play in great stadiums, and we will continue to do that; I think some of the games in the future are going to be even bigger and better.
"We also talked about exposure and being on TV, and we nailed that. We got what we wanted back then, and we're in a position right now where we're ready to jump, and get into whatever we need. We've got to take care of our football program here at BYU, and I think we're doing that right now...right now, I feel like we're in the best position we can be in."
Alluding to the pending changes in NCAA football governance and autonomy measures advocated by the so-called 'Power 5' conferences, Holmoe acknowledged the shifting nature of college football topography, conceding that "when we went independent, we weren't looking at some of the changes that took place, but we are having to adapt to those."
"The most important thing for us is to play great football and improve the BYU Cougar brand. If we do that, and continue to do the things that this program is based on, we're going to be in the right position at the right time."
About prospects of a 65-team breakaway leaving BYU behind, Holmoe said "I don't see it that way right now."
"There's a lot of talk about it...about governance and autonomy; these are real things, but timing, and how deep they go, these are questions that are yet to be answered.
"All I know is that our football program is good right now, we've been really good and we're going to be good in the future. We're just going to do everything that we can to position ourselves to be able to play in these big games, like we have for a long, long time."
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Mendenhall echoed his boss, saying that "I like independence as a great place to launch from, meaning that we're making sincere and absolutely credible strides...with tremendous exposure, with more difficult games on bigger stages with more people watching.
"We're making a clear statement of not only who we're playing, how we're playing and where we're playing, with more people watching...and that's moving us closer to inclusion (in one of the 'Power 5' conferences). Until then, we continue to be the national team to be talked about until then, because BYU's brand does stand alone, and it always will. We're one of the few that can do that."
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Mendenhall addressed his recent comments to a reporter from the Austin American-Statesmen, in which he said "We would love to be in the Big 12...I would love to be a member of that conference. I think that would make a lot of sense."
Monday, the coach said that his interview "came out exactly the way I intended it...I thought someone needed to say it, and saying it from the football coach perspective is kind of safer, and it generates a lot of interest from what I've learned."
Asked for his response to Mendenhall's public proclamation, Holmoe said "he's a coach, and I was a coach, and sometimes, the emotions of a coach run a little bit higher, and I understand that."
"I think it's important the fact that he wants to put his football team in the best position possible, and access to that looks like it could come through one of the 'Power 5' conferences. He said what he stated; I have a different approach to it, although we have similar goals in mind--doing what's best for our program. We're on the same team."
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Recent decisions by the SEC and ACC not to give games with BYU the same weight given the 'Power 5' teams in relation to non-conference scheduling criteria set off alarm bells for many BYU supporters, but Holmoe sought to ease fears that BYU was being marginalized from a national scheduling perspective.
"The reality of it is that we're continuing to schedule and talk with schools from those conferences," said Holmoe, "so I'm not going to say it's 'business as usual," but we will continue to play teams from every ('Power 5') conference. They're calling us to want to play those games.
"It really hasn't changed the business of us scheduling those teams and those conferences. There are a couple of games on the horizon--too bad they weren't ready for today--there's a couple of games that we're going to have some fun announcing. I think that will settle a lot of people's minds."
Referencing the SEC/ACC directives, Mendenhall said "the easy way for us to address all of it is to play really good football."
"I think the results will take care of themselves, however, do I have a chip on my shoulder a little bit, and does our team? I'd say yes."
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Monday was the first occasion for Holmoe and Mendenhall to formally address reports of an internal review BYU conducted into allegations of potential extra-benefit violations within the football program.
Holmoe said that "NCAA schools have issues that pop up pretty regularly, and we follow a set protocol and process."
"BYU went through a complete internal investigation, and turned over that information to the NCAA, as prescribed; we've been waiting to see what their response will be.
"This is a potential violation that would in a lower category; this isn't a major issue, and you can tell that by how it's viewed in (NCAA's) case. I would say that in the next couple of weeks, or maybe a month or so, we would hear back from the NCAA."
"We are BYU," said Mendenhall, "meaning the ethics and morals and standards we aspire to are the highest in the world.
"From the minute anything was passed on, the speed in which we self-reported, held ourselves accountable, got the investigation going, as thorough as it is--I've never seen anything like it.
"It's great to be part of an institution that handles it like that. What the result will be, I'm not sure, but I'm at complete peace, and kind of proud of how the organization has handled it."
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Mendenhall was asked what he would consider a "special season" in 2014; he responded by setting a baseline for annual success at ten wins and a finish in the rankings.
"(Achieving) double-digit wins is hard to do; we do it as frequently it not more so than anybody else, but ten or more is the bottom line for the BYU football program, and a minimum of a top 25 finish--those are starting points. Anything above that becomes special."
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BYU's postseason plans for 2014 are set; the Cougars will play in the inaugural Miami Beach Bowl, assuming they don't play their way in to a New Year's bowl scenario.
Of the late-December destination, Mendenhall said "I like the weather, I like the water, and I like ten straight bowl games (BYU has played in nine consecutive bowl games entering 2014). I'd like to win another one.
"That's a great way to finish the season, if that's where we end up. I'm not conceding anything. We have a really good team; we'll see where we end up."
Holmoe said he likes the Miami Beach Bowl's affiliation with the American Athletic Conference, noting that "we're playing a bunch of their teams in the near future."
"One of the things that's difficult about independence is those bowl games," said Holmoe, "because the conference affiliations with the bowls makes it tough to needle your way into one of those games. But we feel fortunate to have the games that we have, over the next couple of years.
"We're not locked in, but we're assured spots in (bowl) games that are good games."
BYU has contracted postseason appearances in the Poinsettia Bowl after the 2016 and 2018 seasons; no other bowl arrangements have been announced.
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You can hear the entire 'State of the Program' discussion, with breaks edited out, in "Cougar Tracks," top left.
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