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PROVO — At the conclusion of the 2013 campaign, BYU football coach Bronco Mendenhall decided to relinquish his role as defensive coordinator to Nick Howell. At the time, Mendenhall said he wanted to be a more complete head coach and focus more of his efforts on the offense.
When Mendenhall gave up calling the shots on defense, many Cougar fans felt like the move had been a long time coming and would benefit the team.
In retrospect, the move appears to have been beneficial to the offense. How much expertise Mendenhall brought to the offensive side of the ball is unknown, but the offense went on to put up its highest point total in the Mendenhall era. All told, BYU averaged an impressive 37.1 points per game, the 15th-most in the nation. After the loss of quarterback Taysom Hill, the team's points per game rose to 39 a game. All in all, it was a good season for the offense.
Just like anything, however, there are two sides to the story. The Cougar defense in 2014 was abysmal. The team gave up 27.5 points per game, which ranked 73rd in the nation. A major weakness in the team was the secondary as BYU gave up at least 300 passing yards in seven contests. At no point was the futility of the defense more on display than in the Miami Beach Bowl. In that contest, BYU scored 48 points and still managed to lose.
At the end of the 2014 season, Mendenhall announced that he would once again take over the reins of the defense. Will this be a good move for the Cougars? Mendenhall seems to think so.
"The intent with moving to the defensive side is just to give our staff the best chance to perform well," the head coach said. "It's more work for me, but I think it gives our team the best chance."
Let's break it down, though, and see how the team has done in terms of points per game given up and win-loss record with Mendenhall acting as the defensive coordinator and head coach. Mendenhall served as defensive coordinator and head coach from 2005-2007 before handing the defense over to Jaime Hill.
In 2005, the team struggled on defense under Mendenhall as it gave up 29.3 points per game and limped to a 6-6 finish. 2006 and 2007 were different stories all together. In 2006, the defense was stout and gave up less than 15 points a game. The 2007 unit was also stingy as it gave up 18.5 points per game. Both of those teams finished 11-2 and ranked in the top 20. With Hill at the helm, the defense slipped a little as it gave up just under 22 points in 2008 and 2009. Still, those Cougar campaigns were successful as the 2008 team finished 10-3, and the 2009 unit ended the season at 11-2.
The real problems came in 2010. In BYU's first five games that season, it gave up an unsightly 28.8 points per game and was humiliated by Utah State — a loss that brought the Cougars' record to 1-4. After the game, Mendenhall had seen enough and took back over the defense. From the sixth game of the season on, the defense held opponents to 17 points a game. The team would go on to win six of its last eight games.
In 2011, the defense was solid if not dominant and gave up less than 21 points a game. While also benefitting from an easier schedule, the Cougars would finish at 10-3. Then came 2012. when BYU fielded arguably the best defense in school history. The unit held teams to 14 points a game and was nicknamed the "Zion Curtain." The defensive dominance was met with offensive futility and the team ended with a mediocre 8-5 record. In 2013, the defense took a little bit of a step back as it gave up over 22 points a game as opposing offenses had the ball for longer periods of time with the new "go fast, go hard" offensive scheme the Cougars were running. Like 2012, 2013 was a mostly forgettable season as BYU finished 8-5 again.
When it's all added up, Mendenhall-led defenses gave up 19.5 points per game and the teams compiled a 60-25 record, a 71 percent winning percentage. In seasons where Mendenhall was not calling the plays, the team gave up almost a touchdown more per game as opponents scored 24.5 points per game and BYU teams finished 30-14, a 68 percent winning percentage. In other words, Mendenhall coaching the defense slightly raises BYU's chances of winning and keeping opponents out of the end zone.
Will that be good enough to help the team get over the 8-5 hump? That's what 2015 is for. Dylan Cannon is a regular KSL.com contributor and can be reached at DylanCannon86@gmail.com or via Twitter @DylanCannon11. Listen to his weekly podcast, "Cougar Talk," on iTunes.
