PROVO — When he met with his players on the first day of spring practice Monday morning, the first word BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall wrote on the whiteboard was “discipline.”

That, and accountability, are things Mendenhall is stressing this spring, for many reasons.

For those outside the program, that's not a surprise in light of the brawl that occurred after the Cougars’ double-overtime loss to Memphis in the Miami Beach Bowl.

Without giving names, Mendenhall said “10-ish” players would be disciplined for their role in the brawl, and added that any possible suspensions probably won’t be announced until the week of September's season-opener at Nebraska.

“We’ll try to maintain a competitive advantage as long as we can, and protect the kids as much as we can,” Mendenhall said. “I think everyone knows I thrive on accountability and don’t back away from it, especially at BYU. So I’m comfortable with who we’re disciplining and how. I’d like to protect our players as much as we can.”

But for Mendenhall, the bowl brawl only partially explains why he’s emphasizing discipline.

“My very first year here, there were wristbands with three words on them — accountability, discipline and effort,” Mendenhall said. “Normally, that really gets you through some difficult times and difficult games. We lost two overtime games (last) year that could have given us 10 wins. I don’t think I really prepared the team at a level, just challenged them to the point that they could be disciplined regardless of circumstance … I thought (discipline) was appropriate for our team right now. I think it makes a lot of sense.”

Commenting on the fight, Mendenhall said, “Maybe that was a capstone on other things that I had seen. What I really wanted to establish to our team today that there was an overtime and a double overtime game that was the difference between eight and 10 wins. What the outcome of those games were decided upon was simply discipline and doing what you’re supposed to do. The visibility of the fight afterwards might have been what everyone drew their attention to. I was talking more execution-oriented that affected the number of wins.”

Wide receiver Mitch Mathews said his team has learned from the fallout of the bowl game fight.

“We’ve had a lot of fights in practice in the past and that’s what led to that in the game,” he said. “It’s a new team, new leadership and some of the best leaders I’ve been around since I’ve been here.”

THE CHARLES WEST CASE: Running back Charles West signed with BYU in February. Soon thereafter, he was accused of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony, and possession of marijuana, a class B misdemeanor, charges stemming from an incident that occurred in late January.

“I don’t intend to address it,” Mendenhall said. “Whatever legal proceedings they’ll be, I’ll let all that get through first. Possibly at the end of that, I’ll make a comment.”

Mendenhall defended his program’s vetting of recruits.

“I think (the West situation) is an anomaly. Every single year, every single recruit, I’m responsible for. I don’t think there’s a program anywhere that vets them even more. Sometimes young people do things that are speculated, that might not be in alignment. I hope that isn’t the case. Yeah, I’m responsible for every young person. I look every time if someone in our program currently or that we are bringing in might have done something that seems a little bit gray or out of alignment, I look hard at that.”

OUT FOR SPRING: Several players won’t be participating in spring practices, Mendenhall said, including linebacker Manoa Pikula.

“There are a number of players — there will be every year when it comes to spring — for one reason or another, academics could be a part of it, or simply team discipline,” Mendenhall said. “You’ll notice others along the way. Manoa currently is one.”

POSITION CHANGES: Notable position changes include sophomore Jaterrius Gulley, who has switched from defensive line to offensive line.

Meanwhile, two other defensive linemen, Steven Richards and Tanner Balderree, have moved to tight end.