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Inside Cougar Report: Bronco's trail just the start |
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Dick Harmon | Wednesday, December 18, 2002, 9:45 am
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When Gary Crowton hired Steve Kaufusi it was baby steps.
When Crowton hired New Mexico Assistant head coach Bronco Mendenhall to lead his defense on Wednesday, it shifted to a full gait and in coming weeks or months it could develop into a gallop.
There will be at least one and possibly three members of Crowton's current staff that will leave in coming seeks, making room for more of Crowton's own choices as members of his inner circle.
In fact, it is that inner circle that I believe will change in time until Crowton has outfitted himself with his people. It may not be complete, but it will be. I'm talking about some support people, some office staff, etc. Crowton deserves the right to pick and choose who will answer his phones, type his letters, make his airline and hotel reservations and even operate the film swaps. I'm not saying all of them will be gone, but look for a movement to make BYU football Crowton football, not LaVell Edwards football.
Also, that could be both a positive or a negative, but it is his right as head football coach.
For the past two years Crowton has operated under a weird kind of operation procedure when it comes to personnel. Some out in cyberspace want to believe that it was "mandated" by the administration to keep certain coaches and that he had no "wiggle" room. I disagree. I believe Crowton operated under more of a self-imposed "keep LaVell" happy program -- that he would try as hard as he could to operate with Edwards people to keep the veteran coach happy and his people protected. Well, thing about that, is he could be on the "keep LaVell happy" program for years and find himself without a job and on the sidelines.
Not any more. Crowton will pick and choose his own soldiers and generals so any successes and any failures will be his own choices and by his own hand, that way, when he looks himself in the face he can say the battle was won or lost by his own design, not that of others.
Stay tuned, this isn't over by a long shot.
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