PROVO — In today’s ultra-competitive world of college football, any advantage — on or off the field — is welcomed with open arms. BYU’s Bronco Mendenhall is no different, as he’s taken his team’s mental preparation to another level.

BYU’s approach is unlike many others in the country, as the Cougars have gone beyond just adopting Craig Manning as their psychological trainer. As the mental strength coach, he plays the same role as any other coach — traveling with the team, working with individual players throughout the week and even roaming the sideline during games — which is uncommon for most collegiate programs.

“I’ve been working with coach Mendenhall for years,” said Manning. “As BYU asked me to do more and more, he’s brought me in to the level I’m at now, where I’m literally on the sidelines during games. … I don’t know of anyone else that has someone working as closely with the team as I am.”

Manning singled out Nick Saban and Pete Carroll as well-known football coaches that have hired psychological trainers for their college and professional teams. Having a coach on the mental side of football is nothing new; utilizing them like Mendenhall has is something that hasn’t yet become a norm in the collegiate ranks.

It‘s seemed to pay off for the Cougars. After losing star quarterback Taysom Hill to a season-ending injury, BYU rode Cloud 9 after victories against Nebraska and Boise State. But after the Cougs hit rock bottom following a blowout loss at Michigan, Manning took it into his own hands to help the players refocus and move on after the setback.

One of Manning’s main goals is to keep the players focused and determined, which he admits was tough after the Michigan loss. Big strides have been made, though, as BYU is riding a two-game winning streak in which it has rolled up 75 points.

“After the Michigan loss, that was a particularly busy week,” recalled Manning. “I had a huge amount of athletes come in after (that game), just to help them get the interferences out of their minds and get them back focused on the right things.”

Quarterback Tanner Mangum and rugby star-turned-punter Jonny Linehan are two athletes, among others, who have publicly praised Manning’s work this season. Mendenhall takes care of assigning players to meet with Manning, and Manning does the rest — helping them perform at a higher level.

“I work with anywhere from 10 to 20 football players a week,” said Manning. “I’m helping them set the right goals and work on skillsets to help them perform their best. I’ll also work in small team settings, and before some games, Coach Mendenhall gets me to get the players in the right mindset.”

Not many people are more qualified to do so than Manning. After a collegiate and professional tennis career, he coached Division I tennis at BYU and earned a PhD in applied performance psychology. He has spent time working with the U.S. Olympic Team and Red Bull High Performance and his book, The Fearless Mind, dives into the scientific curriculum he developed around athletic and mental performance.

His work with individual athletes is more than just basic mental training. Manning leads the players through his in-depth methodology during the offseason, and once the season starts, he helps them stay in the right mindset from week to week.

“I’m helping them to work on specific skills,” he said. “I help them identify the right skill, and then I have some tools to help them work on it so it becomes muscle-memory, so it’s habit. We help them set goals, help them evaluate things the right way … it’s complex, there’s a lot.”

Many have speculated that BYU's toughest stretch of the season is over, but regardless of whom the Cougs face each weekend, Manning is making sure they're focused and ready to go.

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