Bronco Mendenhall hasn’t forgotten what it was like to coach at BYU, and he says the fan support hit him long before he fully understood just how deep it ran.
Now the head coach at Utah State after years away from Provo, Mendenhall looked back on his BYU stint during an interview with the Pac 12 Network and said he had never been around anything like it.
"I remember this vividly at BYU," Mendenhall said. "There was no place I could go.
If I was pumping gas, literally someone is going to say something about our team, how I'm coaching, or whatever. The mail man was writing letters on my letters...
I've never seen a market so saturated and interested in sport."
Mendenhall led BYU for 11 seasons and won 99 games before leaving after the 2015 season for Virginia. At that point, one of the biggest differences between the two jobs was simple: Virginia was in a Power Five league, and BYU was not.
A lot has changed since then. BYU is now in the Big 12, and the program’s fanbase has only become more visible on the national stage.
When Penn State went after Kalani Sitake last December, BYU supporters responded with what Sitake called a "love bomb". Fans from all over the country reached out with messages of support and appreciation, and Sitake said those interactions mattered in his decision to stay.
The Cougars are heading into their fourth season in the Big 12 with momentum behind them. Over the last two seasons, no conference team has won more games than BYU, even though the Cougars have finished just short of the Big 12 Championship game in back-to-back years.
Now Sitake is chasing the kind of breakthrough that once felt out of reach during the Mendenhall era: a conference title. The 2026 season could be the best opening yet. BYU will have a starting quarterback back for the first time since 2022, and it also returns Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year LJ Martin.
There’s help coming on defense, too. BYU ranks in the top 10 nationally in returning production on that side of the ball, and the Cougars are leaning on that experience along with a growing crop of young talent.
For a fanbase that stayed locked in through the Mendenhall years and then through a decade of independence, the Big 12 has finally delivered the kind of stage they were waiting for. Now the hope in Provo is that 2026 turns into BYU’s best Big 12 season yet.
In Other News...
BYU Football Is Crossing A Uniform Line Fans Never Expected
BYU football is about to put a new kind of mark on its uniforms, and it is one fans have not seen before. Beginning with the 2026 season, Entrata will become the Cougars first-ever jersey patch sponsor, with the Utah-based property management software companys logo set to appear on game jerseys as part of a broader partnership that also brings branding and community engagement efforts.
The move signals how far the college athletics landscape has shifted, even for a program with a distinct identity like BYUs. Athletic director Brian Santiago said there was plenty of interest from corporate sponsors, but the school did not disclose financial terms, leaving the full scope of the deal to come into focus later as the patch becomes part of the teams look. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Fans Know This Name And His Rise Just Got National
John Henry Daleys ascent has gone from familiar to national in a hurry. The senior edge rusher put together a breakout 2025 season at Utah, leading the nation in tackles for loss and earning first-team All-America honors before an Achilles tendon injury cut short his year. For anyone who has followed his path, the production only confirmed what had been building for a while: Daley is the kind of disruptive defender who can change the feel of a game from the edge.
Now at Michigan, Daley is working his way back and aiming to be fully ready for the 2026 season, a timeline that matters even more with the Wolverines facing a demanding schedule. Michigan also needs answers up front after losing its top three defensive linemen to the NFL Draft, which leaves Daley positioned to become one of the most important returning pieces on that side of the ball if his rehab keeps trending in the right direction. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Football Just Crossed A Major Branding Line
BYU Athletics has added another modern layer to its football operation with a new multi-year partnership that reaches well beyond the field. The agreement brings in a Utah-based technology company and folds in more than just a logo on a jersey, with the school pointing to in-venue branding, digital activations, fan engagement and community work across the state as part of the package.
The most visible piece will arrive with the 2026 season, when the program is set to debut a jersey patch as part of the deal. For BYU, it is another sign of how college football branding is evolving, and for the program and its partner, the hope is that the relationship builds something that resonates with fans while also carrying a broader impact in Utah. [Read more 🡒]