Whenever a BYU athlete gets suspended, there's always speculation about what they did. People also want to know why an 18 or 19-year-old kid would mess up their college careers by breaking team rules.

The latest suspensions are sophomore tight end Vic So'oto and sophomore linebacker Terrance Hooks. Before spring, it was sophomore defensive lineman Matangi Tonga.

Is something bad happening on the BYU football team?

Here's what I think: Healthy young men are always going to get in trouble, no matter what school they go to. At BYU, there was a tendancy to sweep these infractions under the rug. For every violation we found out about, there were a dozen others never made public. Believe me, I know some things about former players that would curl your toes.

Bronco Mendenhall has been more open about violations - to a point. He obviously won't talk about what these guys did but he'll send out a press release when it happens and there are certain questions he WILL answer about the situation.

I prefer not to speculate about what these guys did but how it will affect the team. Does the player leadership council have a say in whether these guys come back, or what penance they have to pay? Do these guys become outcasts, or do teammates and coaches reach out to them to help them overcome their error?

So'oto was going to be the starter at tight end and Hooks was going to play a role as a valuable reserve and special teamer. Tonga was going to be on the defensive line rotation for sure. It may be all three of these guys come back for fall, it may be they are done for good.

My feeling is that Bronco is the kind of coach that will give them every opportunity to get back in the good graces of the team - but it won't be easy.