Bronco Mendenhall named to AFCA Board of Trustees

BYU’s Bronco Mendenhall and Ouchita Baptist's Todd Knight named to AFCA Board of Trustees at AFCA Convention on Tuesday in Nashville, Tenn.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall and Ouachita Baptist University head coach Todd Knight have been elected to the Board of Trustees of the American Football Coaches Association. Mendenhall and Knight were elected by members attending the 2013 AFCA Convention in Nashville, Tennessee.

Mendenhall and Knight join a group of distinguished head coaches who guide the organization. The Board formulates policy and provides direction for the AFCA, which was founded in 1922 by Amos Alonzo Stagg, John Heisman and others. The AFCA has more than 11,000 members from all levels of the profession.

Returning members of the AFCA Board of Trustees include incoming president Mack Brown of the University of Texas; first vice-president Mike Welch of Ithaca College; second vice-president Tommy Tuberville of the University of Cincinnati and third vice-president Todd Berry of the University of Louisiana-Monroe.

Also serving on the Board in 2013: Lee Owens, Ashland University; Jim Grobe, Wake Forest University; Bill Cronin, Georgetown College (Ky.); Frank Solich, Ohio University; Mike Riley, Oregon State University; Gary Patterson, TCU; David Bailiff, Rice University; Mark Richt, University of Georgia; Pete Fredenburg, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor; Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern University; Craig Bohl, North Dakota State University; Tony Samuel, Southeast Missouri State University; Bobby Kennedy, University of Colorado, ex officio member and chairman of the Assistant Coaches Committee; Joe Taylor, ex officio member and chairman of the Minority Issues Committee and Ed Maloney, Dundee (Mich.) High School, ex officio member and chairman of the High School Committee. AFCA Executive Director Grant Teaff serves as secretary-treasurer of the organization.

Mendenhall will be the AFCA District 8 representative and Knight will be a second Division II representative.

“I consider it a privilege being appointed to the AFCA Board of Trustees,” Mendenhall said. “Coaching football is one of the greatest professions in the world, and to be a part of an organization that continues to grow and educate coaches on the important role they have as positive and influential role models on our student-athletes is an assignment I am excited to be a part of.”

Mendenhall completed his eighth season as the head coach at BYU, and has an overall record of 74-29. He has guided the Cougars to eight straight bowl games, most recently beating San Diego State, 23-6, in the Poinsettia Bowl to finish off an 8-5 record in 2012. Mendenhall guided BYU to back-to-back 11-2 seasons in 2006-07, culminating in two straight Mountain West Conference titles. He earned AFCA Regional Coach of the Year honors after the 2006 season. From 2006-2009, Mendenhall led BYU to four straight seasons with 10 or more wins for the first time in school history. He began coaching in 1989 at Oregon State as a graduate assistant and has coached at several schools since then, including Snow College, Northern Arizona, Louisiana Tech and New Mexico. He was the defensive coordinator for BYU from 2003-04 before being named head coach in 2005. 

“Coaching college football and being involved with young men and coaches is one of the greatest honors of my life,” Knight said. “I have been very fortunate in my coaching career to be surrounded by great student-athletes and coaches. It is truly an honor to be nominated for the AFCA Board of Trustees and represent one of the greatest professions in the world. I will not take this appointment lightly and look forward to working with other coaches to help ensure our great game a very productive future.”

Knight completed his 14th season as the head coach at Ouachita Baptist, and 20th overall, including six seasons as head coach at Delta State. He guided the Tigers to a 6-4 record in 2012, ending a successful five-year run that saw the Tigers go 32-18 overall. In the team’s inaugural season in the Great American Conference in 2011, their third conference since joining Division II play in the early 90s, Knight led Ouachita Baptist to the conference championship with a 7-3 record. Knight began coaching in 1986, where he started as an assistant coach at Delta State. After a stop as an assistant coach at the University of Texas-El Paso, he would return to Delta State as their head coach from 1993 to 1998 before joining the Tigers in 1999. Knight’s most successful season at Delta State would be in 1998 as he led the Statesmen to an 8-3 mark and a share of the Gulf South Conference title.