Bronco Mendenhall Team Quotations

With most teams I've had to guard against complacency with two weeks between games,

You also do a self-analysis of your own team in the first two games, and it is important to correct things with your own squad that need fixing.

What's interesting is they're running the quarterback, running him effectively and running him often. Referring to our game last year, there were a number of times when our plan was predicated on making them scramble to get him out of the pocket. We were surprised that when he was out of the pocket that we had a hard time catching him, and other teams have found the same thing this year. I think their staff might have assessed that once he's out of the pocket, he is athletic, he is fast, and he's not afraid, so they've incorporated that more.

I had to be out front as the head coach in the beginning, to set the agenda and expectations of the program, ... But then the players have the free agency to buy into it and take it upon themselves, referring back to the coaches when they need to. But there is a transfer of power, of leadership, that happens on a football team and it's day to day, where the players hold to the standard that has been established.