What is with Bronco Mendenhall’s Fist in the Air?

I saved this post specifically for the New Mexico game because New Mexico is where the “fist” originated. As you should now know, Coach Mendenhall came to Provo courtesy of Mr. Gary Crowton and Mr. Rocky Long.

In New Mexico, Coach Mendenhall was an assistant defensive coach, keeping tabs on the safety position.

Even in Albuquerque, he was extremely passionate about coaching the safeties, but also carried a special fondness for the renegade special teams unit: the kickoff cover team.

You are smirking because I used the word renegade. Well, just imagine having to run full 60 yards at full speed only to launch yourself into blockers weighing upwards of 230 pounds.

It is not a team for the faint of heart, the players that run down for kickoff cover have to love contact, especially the contact that leaves your thoughts scrambled, head aching, and could possibly have an ill effect on your future earnings.

I was man enough to play on a few kickoff cover teams, I was knocked out in the '05 TCU game attempting to “bust the wedge.” The wedge is made up of the three or four players that group together in front of the ball carrier and attempt to stay conscious as players crash into them with no regard for their future.

In 2006, I was on a kickoff team which was named the Berzerkers. Do you know what that means (do you even know how to spell it?), because I can’t think of a better word to describe the mentality needed.

So now that you understand the mindset of the players Coach Mendenhall was trying to inspire, you will better understand Bronco’s raised fist. (I dug back into the archives for this story, and by archives I mean '01 or '02)

Coach Mendenhall was given the job of coaching a kick-off cover team that was disrespected and looked at as a chore rather than an opportunity to make a play.

The first thing Bronco did was he changed the players on the team to a few starters (a guy named Brian Urlacher) and a few other players that Bronco described as being “not quite right.”

He then challenged this group to be the most physical, mean, crazy, and ruthless special teams unit on the team. He encouraged the Lobo kick-off unit to be the team leaving opponents in their wake on their way to destroy the ball carrier.

And do you know what happened? The team started to react to his challenge. They began to view the kick-off cover team as an honor and privilege, not simply a task.

As the unit’s swagger increased, they developed the attitude necessary to have zero concern for life or limb. Bronco needed a sign or a defining symbol that could bind his kick-off cover unit together, and that is where the raised fist originated.

As his unit’s performance was perfected, Bronco would raise his fist in the air to symbolize their accomplishments.

Then as players took notice of the symbol, they too raised their fist in the air both before the kick-off cover team took the field and after they had eradicated their opponents. As the players on the sideline began raising their fists in the air, the crowd followed suit until the stadium was full of fists in recognition of the kick-off cover unit.

During Bronco’s time in Provo, the fist has taken on a new meaning. It has become one of Bronco’s most characteristic traits as he raises his fist in tribute of his players’ performances on the field. Just watch.

Whenever there is a great play or a key stop, the fist will be in the air. Steady and true as a reminder that players change, situations vary, but the fist will symbolize all that is right about football.