WASHINGTON — After going in-state and to its alumni directory for its last two football coaching hires, Virginia looks west, hiring BYU football coach Bronco Mendenhall to replace Mike London at the helm.
Mendenhall comes to Charlottesville after leading BYU to a 99-42 record and 11 bowl berths in 11 seasons. He will still coach the 9-3 Cougars in this year’s Las Vegas Bowl. The 49-year old led BYU to three Mountain West Conference titles in six years before the Cougars became a football independent in 2011.
Despite BYU’s reputation as an offensive juggernaut (the Cougars were tied for 16th in Division I FBS in scoring and ranked 21st in passing) Mendenhall’s expertise is on the defensive side of the ball: he coordinated defenses at Oregon State, New Mexico and BYU before becoming head coach in 2004. He has coached against the Cavaliers twice: the Cougars losing 19-16 at Charlottesville in a 2013 lightning-delayed game while winning at home in 2015.
Mendenhall has quite a project ahead: the Cavaliers have posted seven losing seasons in eight years after finishing 4-8 this fall. They haven’t beaten Virginia Tech since 2003—when the Hokies were still in the Big East. UVa often claims “high academic standards,” but Northwestern, Stanford and Duke have been able to win big recently despite similar rigid requirements. One issue facing coach Mike London throughout his tenure was instability at quarterback—Michael Rocco, Phillip Sims, David Watford and Greyson Lambert all competed for playing time before each transferred out of the program.
What’s encouraging for Mendenhall is that his schedule will be a lot gentler than the juggernaut London faced in his final season — while Oregon takes the place of Pac-12 giant UCLA, Central Michigan and Connecticut replace Notre Dame and Boise State. Richmond comes to Scott Stadium instead of William & Mary. The ACC crossover games? Louisville and Wake Forest — definitely not the Clemson/Florida State double play of death.
It’s morning in Charlottesville, as Virginia makes a break from tradition to revitalize a program that many feel is a potential sleeping giant with its proximity to recruiting hotbeds in Virginia Beach and the Washington, DC, metro area. Bring on Bronco…
