Over at Mountain West Connection, Jeremy posted his rankings on MWC coaches. Much to Vaughnzippers annoyance, Jeremy ranked Bronco below K-Whitt and Gary Patterson.

The following is Vaughns arguement for Bronco to be #1:

"If speed and talent are the things that everyone says hurts BYU then Bronco is the freaking man for making untalented slow white guys 10 game winners. Plus, he’s done all of this coming out of a very down period in BYU history with Crowton."

"Whitt on the other hand has had highs and lows but you have to contribute the 2008 season to what Meyer did in the 2004 season. All the players in the 2008 season were recruited based on the success from 2004. For that reason I have yet to give Whitt too much credit because last year was the first year we actually saw Whitt’s own team.

Bronco walked into nothing, Whitt walked into everything. Bronco should be #1… plus he has the best record and win pct."

  Because I didn't wish to turn Jeremy post on MWC coaches into a Kyle vs Bronco fest , I'm continuing my retort here.

Vuaghn:

1: First of all I will not deny 2008 had a lot to do with 2004's success but  you really are quick to take away credit from Whittingham. After the celebrations were done Kyle inherited a team he knew couldn't follow up to the marvelous campaign Urban Meyer had.  First of all, he had to replace an OC and had no experienced QB. (BJ had only done minor mop-up duty for Alex Smith in 04'). Several key players besides Smith were gone too  (Morgan Scalley, Sione Pouha, Steve Savoy, Paris Warren, the list goes on) . I think we both agree that BYU was a mess due to Gary Crowton's treatment but make no mistake: Utah was looking to rebuild too.

2. How can you say Kyle's first year was a picnic?. As I stated before, he only got ONE more win than Bronco did (7-5 compared to 6-6)  do you base the first year woes on the fact Bronco lost the holy war and his first bowl game? If so I'll give you that one. If you take both Utah's 2005 team and BYU's 2005 team and put them head to head on paper, they are pretty equal in my eyes.

3. Your bit on Chris Paterson was weird because we weren't even discussing BSU.  We'll make that judgment next year when he's actually a MWC coach. But to answer your question , Yes I think he is a great coach ,his record is better than Kyles and he has two BCS wins but we both know the WAC isn't exactly the SEC. (nor is the MWC for that matter) Better than Kyle? I honestly don't know.

4. Okay, how many players from 2004 played on the 2008 squad? yeah, I can only count them on one hand too. My point is four years is too much of a gap to claim 2008 was all from Meyers previous work. With the exception of the 2005 class, the recruiting gap between Utah and BYU wasn't all that huge.  Plus 7-5, 8-5 aren't exactly prime examples of what you would normally call a successful year  (especially if we got all those great recruits from 2004 you're talking about). YES, 2004 opened doors for us in recruiting but 2008 was Whittingham's work just as much as 2004 was Meyer's.   

5. If all you Cougar fans claim that the 1984 championship gives you bragging rights, why can't we claim our BCS wins give us the same?. I get it, strait up a championship trumps a BCS win but the fact is your boy Bronco hasn't been able to do what Kyle W. , Gary P. and Chris P. have done: Get their team into the big game. It's not always fair that coaches are judged based solely on the biggest games they've been in  but that's how sports works.  Bronco's overall wins and better percentage in the MWC are impressive but until he can add the big game on his resume, people will not put him in the same discussion.     

Bottom line is this: I don't think that Kyle Whittingham is a "better coach"  than Bronco. He's just done more in his time at Utah than Bronco has at BYU. Both of em' has shaky first years, and both of em' saw their teams lay some serious eggs in their coaching years after 2004.  All I'm saying is I object to the idea that all of Kyle's success was all Meyers doing.  Both of em' are great coaches who were the right man to follow the respective situations they inherited from their predecessors.      

Kyle's bowl record 5-0, Bronco, 3-2.