Bronco Mendenhall Discusses Roster Building Philosophy At Utah State
Aug 26, 2025, 2:50 PM | Updated: Aug 27, 2025, 9:53 am
Utah State football heads into 2025 with heads held high under Bronco Mendenhall. (Photo courtesy of Utah State Athletics)
(Photo courtesy of Utah State Athletics)
LOGAN, Utah – As a Group of Five program, Utah State football is forced to dig a little deeper in today’s college football recruiting landscape.
The transfer portal has become the go-to spot for teams seeking to fill a specific roster hole, while high school recruiting has taken a backseat for some programs. Bronco Mendenhall is approaching matters with a different philosophy as he aims to instill sustained success in Logan.
The first-year USU head coach joined DJ & PK on KSL Sports Zone to discuss the Aggies’ upcoming season.
“I intend to build this program predominantly through Utah high school players,” Mendenhall said of his plan to stabilize USU’s football program. “That doesn’t mean that it can be exclusively done, especially at the beginning, because we have to address roster needs as quickly as possible while we’re building the foundational element to sustain us.”
RELATED: Mendenhall Has High Expectations For His Players, Utah State Football Is No Exception
“We don’t have someone that’s watching college games, while many do,” Mendenhall said when asked about scouting current college players during the season. “We’re focused more on high school players.”
Instead of rolling the dice on players he is unfamiliar with in the transfer portal, Mendenhall’s staff focuses on those they have previously built relationships with.
“I really don’t ever want to take someone that’s more than one step removed from our program,” the Utah native said. “That means that one of my staff has recruited them, or that we ‘ve worked closely with someone else that has either coached them or recruited them, because of the risk that you’re talking about.”
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One trap Mendenhall tries to avoid falling into is focusing solely on a player’s on-field performance while overlooking their character in the locker room.
“The time frame is so short in the transfer market window, most default to just how they’re playing,” Mendenhall stated. “But man, the wrong person in the wrong culture can really set your team back. So we try to mitigate the risk through known. The kids that we did recruit, that maybe chose somewhere else. We try to eliminate the risk with knowns as much as possible. It’s a very unique balance.”
Following Utah State Football With KSL Sports Zone
Utah State kicks off the 2025 season on Merlin Olsen Field at Maverik Stadium on Saturday, August 30. Kickoff against the UTEP Miners is at 5:30 p.m. MT.
Listen to USU football games on KSL Sports Zone with Scott Garrard on the call.
Find KSL Sports coverage of Utah State University Athletics here.
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Brian Preece is a sports.ksl.com insider covering Locals in MLB and the Salt Lake Bees. Follow Brian’s Bees and Beehive baseball here. Find Brian on X, Instagram, and BlueSky at @bpreece24.
