BYU Football Team Visits Heritage

One of the advantages to being in Provo, Utah, is having two universities close to our campus.  They are great sources for finding quality employees and volunteers and they offer a variety of activities that can be shared with our students.

Brigham Young University (BYU) is a privately run university located in Provo. Their football team has quite a following and they have fans pretty much everywhere they go.  When Bronco Mendenhall was hired to coach the team, his biggest goal was to help his players become great men. The team started holding firesides - meetings where the players and coaches would speak to groups of people and share their experiences and how they've grown. The firesides are held the night before the game in the city where the game is being played.

Ezekiel Ansah

Last month, we were honored to have the BYU football team come to Heritage to have a fireside with our students. Several players talked about their experiences playing football, how they came to play at BYU, and what they hope to do with their lives.

Coach Bronco Mendenhall

Coach Mendenhall also spoke. When he noticed the students getting restless, he asked if their attendance was mandatory or optional. They told him "mandatory" and he smiled and explained how that made sense in how they were behaving. He then told the students that the players were there because they wanted to be and not because they were required to.  Mendenhall gained some fans when he told stories of his experiences breaking horses when he was younger.  He understood the connection our youth have with the horses.

The most surprising information the coach shared was when he told that 36 players have quit the BYU football team since he has been the coach.  Of those players, not one of them ever went back to college. He said it was because they didn't have a vision of the future.  That is why he cares about how the men on his football team turn out more than what the score of the game is.  He advised our students to imagine what their lives will be 5-10 years down the road and then envision what it will take to make that happen. "The things that are tough are worth it."

At the end of the fireside, the students were able to ask questions. It was clear they identified with the hard work the players had of balancing sports and school work.  They also had questions about handling the rigorous structure of being on the team as well as all the strict rules at BYU.  The players echoed the coach's advice that the tough things are worth it.  Afterwards, students were able to meet the players and get autographs.

Corby Eason

One of the students had asked how the players keep going when they're having a bad game or keep messing up.  A player answered that his motivation to keep playing is that he's playing for his "brothers" on the team and not for himself.  He continues to try because he doesn't want to let them down.  When the BYU football team played their football game against Utah State University the next day, their words were put to the test. The team struggled for most of the game and then came from behind with a spectacular win. They didn't give up!