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BYU Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall Calls Own Fans Dumb

Bronco Mendenhall calls out own fans.

Brian Losness-USA TODAY Sports

I recommend listening to this audio clip prior to reading to get a full understanding of this quote from Bronco Mendenhall's press conference.

He basically is saying that the fans are uneducated, but here is the audio quote:

Bronco first off says the expectations are high, which means the fans want a good team and understand what is expected at BYU,and the criticism on Max Hall will always be there which is correct. However, Bronco says that the fans are not as sophisticated to understand what is going on with on the field play.    Then says "the normal person can easily criticize" what does that mean?

He says he is not surprised of the level of criticism, but then says:

"The level of criticism usually matches the level of education."

If one is an extreme optimist then him saying the previous quote could mean that the high level of criticism means that person is smart, but that is not what he means.  He is saying that the fans that criticize that much do not know the game.

Most educated football fans know that sometimes the interceptions are not always the quarterbacks fault, sometimes the receiver is not in the right spot, or the ball was tipped.  By saying fans do not understand the"broader scheme of things" could be used on play calling, but ten picks in five games -- which lead the nation-- does not fall under the 'broader scheme of things.'  Running a play on third down that is to gain some yards to set up a better situation on fourth down falls under that quote, but what broader scheme is there when the quarterback is averaging two picks a game.

I honestly do not think Bronco realized he was speaking down to the fans as much as he was.  He basically called fans whose expectations are high are pretty much clueless about football.  Now, football is a very complex game when the intricate details of breaking down a play, but not when my little sister notices that Hall is starring down a receiver and gets upset as he throws a pick.

Coach you can not have it both ways where BYU's expectations are high, but then turn around and say the fans are not smart enough to critique the team.  It boils down to that the fans are good enough to spend their hard earned expendable income to attend games, but are not good enough to critique a team they want to do well.

Congrats to BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall for being clueless once again.  This falls under the same line that Bronco says that high schools players recruit BYU and not the other way around.  Keep up the laughs coach and treating your fans on a lower level of knowledge.