LOGAN — Saturday marked the conclusion spring camp for Utah State football and its first-year head coach Bronco Mendenhall. For the past five weeks, the team has practiced and scrimmaged out of the public eye, aiming for a return to prominence in the Mountain West and college football as a whole.
Mendenhall spoke with Eric Frandsen from 106.9 The FAN’s Full Court Press following Saturday’s session and emphasized that “culture precedes performance” while giving his team high marks in that department.
“My team is tough, they’re resilient, chemistry is great, they love each other,” Mendenhall said. “They work really hard. They’ve embraced the expectations. “They’re optimistic. They’re hopeful. “They already know the success the program will have. “And they’ve allowed me to coach them, which that is a choice. And so I’m appreciative to them. My staff are all my former players, and so that camaraderie between my staff and the team as well, that’s connected really well.”
And I was able to visit with Coach Bronco Mendenhall about USU Spring Practice#AggiesAlltheWay pic.twitter.com/TMTk7Ice1x
— Eric Frandsen (@efrandsen) April 19, 2025
When asked about how the team is in terms of installing new on-field concepts with the team, Mendenhall went back to the culture of his team, noting that’s what he’s prioritized in spring ball over the schematic aspects of the game.
“The cultural part to me is first,” Mendenhall said. “The assessment of talent and personnel comes as I watch the culture develop. And then you install basic schemes and strategies to start deploying who you have and then really spring is over by the time that happens.”
The spring transfer portal window opened a couple of days before the close of spring practice. Last year the Aggies saw more than a dozen players leave via the spring portal, including several projected starters. This year there have been at least eight, but most of them being players not expected to receive much playing time. The window closes on Friday.
With there not being as much activity for the Aggies thus far in the spring window, their focus can more easily turn toward addressing the needs the roster still has. Mendenhall was asked what needs those are but declined to elaborate.
“We have exact needs and we’re very specific and intentional. I won’t share what those are but we know exactly what we’re going after,” Mendenhall said.
Mendenhall did share his recruiting pitch, noting his history of success and in coaching players into the NFL and the community in Logan.
“Of the active coaches in college football, there’s only five that have won more [than me],” Mendenhall said. “If you want to go to the NFL, I’ve coached 115 players that have gone on to do that. There’s not a better community on the planet than Logan with as cool history as Utah State has. The real question would be: why wouldn’t you? And kids are lucky if they get to come here.”
Two other Utah State players also spoke with the media following Saturday’s camp-ending session: defensive tackle Gabriel Iniguez and quarterback Bryson Barnes. Both athletes are returners who played significant portions of last season and have emerged as leaders, and potentially stars, for the 2025 season.
Barnes, who threw for 328 yards and ran for 378 across back-to-back games last November with eight total TDs in those outings, noted the growth of the offense throughout spring.
“It’s been great, just to see the growth from an offensive perspective. Each position group just got better each and every practice,” Barnes said.
Utah State football concluded spring practices today. My interview with Bryson Barnes#AggiesAlltheWay pic.twitter.com/bY4fOhQt7U
— Eric Frandsen (@efrandsen) April 19, 2025
Fittingly, with Mendenhall’s emphasis on culture, Barnes brought up establishing that culture when asked about the team and how many new faces there are, both players and coaches.
“Got a whole new team and a whole new coaching staff, but the best part about it is a staff that comes in and brings in and tries to establish a culture,” Barnes said. “And it takes buy-in from every player and that’s what we’ve had. And that’s why I feel like we were able to execute at a high level like we have been is because of the culture that the coaches brought in and the buy-in from the players to instill that culture in the locker room.”
Part of the new culture Mendenhall has established involves players earning essentially everything, including things like jersey numbers. Mendenhall has compared the process to advancing through different levels of martial arts. But while there are more outward-looking advancements, Barnes had more to say about the expectations Mendenhall’s methods end up fostering.
“To start off, the first few workouts [were the] hardest things I’ve ever had to do in my life,” Barnes said. “And that’s the expectation is you’re gonna do hard things because you can become something better than you ever have been. And you can’t become something better if you’re just doing easy easy things all the time. And so each and every day it’s a new challenge mentally, physically, emotionally. And so that’s just kind of the challenge that it’s been for me, and I definitely feel like I’ve grown in every aspect of my life from it.”
Iniguez also spoke about the those expectations and how the team has embraced them.
“We just love these higher expectations,” Iniguez said. “If you set your expectations low, you’re gonna only rise up to that. But you set them high, the sky’s the limit, you know what I’m saying? Coach [has] given us these high expectations and want us to come in, do some hard, hard work. and hard things make tough people.”
I caught up with Utah State Defensive Tackle Gabe Iniguez#AggiesAlltheWay pic.twitter.com/rxuxuOOWvb
— Eric Frandsen (@efrandsen) April 19, 2025
Iniguez, projected as a starter on the defensive line and one of the few players to appear in all 12 games for last year’s team, said he’s has a “really, really good spring this year.”
“I feel like I’ve been playing the best ball I’ve been playing in my 4-5 years in college,” Iniguez said.
Last year, Iniguez played nearly every defensive snap as an interior DT, lining up between opposing guards and tackles (or the “B” gap). But this year there seems to be more things planned for Iniguez and likely his teammates on the D-line as it aims for more versatility.
“The defense been flying around. I love this defense. I get to be a three-down, four-down, sometimes in the five technique on the outside,” Iniguez said. “I really appreciate the versatility of this defense.”
Utah State will be off for the summer with only individual or small group workouts allowed over the next few months. Fall camp will begin in early August at which time the team will begin in earnest its preparations for the season opening game against UTEP on August 30 at Merlin Olsen Field.
