Provo, UT (My Sportsbook) - Brigham Young promoted defensive coordinator Bronco Mendenhall to head football coach on Monday.

Mendenhall takes over for Gary Crowton, who resigned at the end of the season after the Cougars finished 5-6. He was hired over Lance Reynolds, who was also on Crowton's staff, and Kyle Whittingham, Utah's newly named head coach. Whittingham was interviewed before he accepted the position with the Utes.

Mendenhall has been with BYU for just two seasons. In his first year, the team allowed 307 yards per game, ranking 14th in the nation, while this season the team yielded 377.2 yards per contest.

Mendenhall, who is from the Provo area, was on Crowton's staff at Louisiana Tech.

Crowton resigned before the school had a chance to fire him. The Cougars recorded three straight losing seasons under Crowton, going just 14-21 over that span. In four seasons, Crowton compiled a record of 26-23. He began his tenure by leading the Cougars to 12 straight wins and their first- ever outright Mountain West Conference championship in 2001.

Crowton took over for the legendary LaVell Edwards, who compiled a 257-101-3 mark over 29 seasons at the school.