Just thought I'd give a quick report on the Bronco Mendenhall fireside I attended in Dallas / Fort Worth last night!

Manaaki Vaitai (Freshman Eueless, TX)spoke first and talked about being a true follower of Christ. His talk lasted about 5-6 minutes.

Dustin Gabriel (Allen, TX)was next and his talk was based on a conference talk form President Monson a few years back. It was a talk about being a strong finisher no matter what challenges you may need to overcome. Dustin said this conference talk was placed in every players locker by Bronco the day before the famous Eco Challenge the football team does in the off season (I'm sure many on this board know the insane details of the eco challenge and could explain it better than me). Dustin spoke for 10-15 minutes.

Before Bronco spoke, all in attendance stood up and sang "Army of Helaman". The young man who conducted the fireside told us that the football team sings that song every team meeting.

Bronco spoke for the last 20 minutes or so. He did not prepare a talk or bring any notes. He seemed to just speak from the heart. He spent some time talking about Dustin Gabriel's topic. He also told some great stories about things that have happened during the Eco Challenge. He spoke about his interview process for the BYU head coaching job and some of the details of his final interview with now President Henry B. Eyring. He told us that not one time during his final interview was the topic of football ever brought up, Instead all Pres. Eyring wanted to talk about was Bronco's testimony. After Bronco shared his testimony, Pres. Eyring told him "your our man"! Bronco finished by telling some stories from his youth and about his father.

My only real thought in regards to football at the end of listening to Bronco speak was how amazed I am that we don't get every single LDS kid that we recruit. There is no way I would let my son miss out on the experience of playing football for Bronco & BYU! He is a great football coach and an even better leader & ambassator for BYU.

McKay Jacobson's little brother said the closing prayer, he looks just like Mckay!

Great report!! Karma to you for the details. When I saw that Bronco would be having a fireside in Texas I thought about driving over to the Dallas area, but thats still almost 400 miles from my part of Texas.

BYUby5 wrote:

My only real thought in regards to football at the end of listening to Bronco speak was how amazed I am that we don't get every single LDS kid the we recruit. There is no way I would let my son miss out on the experience of playing football for Bronco & BYU! He is a great football coach and an even better leader & ambassator for BYU.

I've been to 3 Bronco firesides. I've loved every one and have the same sentiment as you. If Bronco were to offer any of my kids a scholarship the ONLY correct answer would be yes.

However, I know Bronco's message resonates with me because I'm in a different place as a 30 something married return missionary with kids than I was when I was 18 choosing colleges. I would be surprised if Bronco connected with even the average LDS player.

Not to paint with too broad of brush, but it seems that the players Bronco brings in are at a different level of maturity, whether LDS or not, than the standard 18 year high school athlete would be. I don't think this trend will change any time soon. I think it takes unique players to play for this unique coach in this unique program.

mormonrasta wrote:

Not to paint with too broad of brush, but it seems that the players Bronco brings in are at a different level of maturity, whether LDS or not, than the standard 18 year high school athlete would be. I don't think this trend will change any time soon. I think it takes unique players to play for this unique coach in this unique program.

I may cost us a few recruits and wins but I wouldn't have it any other way.

ProV1 wrote:

mormonrasta wrote:

Not to paint with too broad of brush, but it seems that the players Bronco brings in are at a different level of maturity, whether LDS or not, than the standard 18 year high school athlete would be. I don't think this trend will change any time soon. I think it takes unique players to play for this unique coach in this unique program.

I may cost us a few recruits and wins but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Agreed. Nothing wrong with appealing to a higher level of maturity. I'm sure many a parent of an immature "great" athlete has wished their son had what it takes to make the grade at BYU.

When Bronco's message resonates with a recruit we frequently see that player eventually become far better than the "experts" at the various recruit rating services ever expected. I'd rather have BYU recruit a good player and help him become great than recruit a "great" player and hope he is as good as the hype.

I agree Rasta about the maturity thing. I actually said this awhile ago in a different way and got slammed for it, you just said it better than I did. I think those who commit to Bronco and his mission are at a different level of maturity. It is just plain and simple. But I don't believe that everyone who doesn't commit is immature they just have other plans and I guess I will admit, the Spirit could lead them another direction...ok there I said it.
and one other thing, how did Missionary Mall get Brad Pitt to pose in that suit under the advertisment, Man, that must have been expensive!