These have been dark times for the team down south.  True they're having a rebuilding year, but I don't think anybody expected them to struggle this much.  Honestly, I'm quite surprised that they've struggled as much as they have.  But I do think they were warning signs of this.  If you go back to 2006, that was the best team that BYU had in a while.  That was the team that was lead by the senior quarterback John Beck.  Now, 2006 was Bronco Mendenhall's second year as BYU head coach.  That 2006 team was full of Gary Crowton's kids.  I know Gary Crowton received a lot of criticism as a coach, but I think people gave him a little more crap then he deserved.  He took over a BYU program that got screwed after a formula was found to stop Lavell Edward's infamous air raid offense. Gary has actually done really well as an offensive coordinator at LSU.  And just before BYU fired him, his team started to look better.  So Bronco took over Gary's position in 2005.  BYU did very well in 2006.  (Still Gary's kids).  Then, in 2007, Max Hall took over at quarterback.  He wasn't bad, but he had a tendency to force passes and make poor decisions with the football.  Most fans, (Utah fans or BYU fans), would probably agree that John Beck was better than Max Hall.  BYU as a hole was not as good in 2009 as they were in 2006.  They dominated in 2006, in 2009 they had several close calls.  Again, 2006 was Gary Crowton's squad.  (2009 was Mendenhall's).    Bronco has received a lot of credit as a head coach.  I think he has received too much credit.  As a matter of fact, I think he was the most overrated coach in the entire country.  I think he is making BYU weaker as a program.  And I think it's finally starting to show.  True it's a rebuilding year for them, but still, it's been a pretty bad year for even a rebuilding year.  BYU looks like they'll go 4-8 at best.  They can't pass, they can barely run.  They can't defend the pass.  They can't defend the run.  They can't do ANYTHING. So I do think they're getting weaker with Bronco.  And I think the not as good Max Hall team was a warning sign.  And it only gets worse for BYU, because they're about to go independent.  Nobody is going to want to schedule them.  Players are going to become less interested in playing for them.  I have a feeling that Bronco might not be able to keep his job forever.