The University of Virginia’s new football coach Bronco Mendenhall was greeted by the UVA community Monday morning at his introductory press conference. He gave insight into his vision for the program and how he will begin to transform the Cavaliers after finishing coaching BYU. He will lead them in their Las Vegas bowl game against Utah on Dec. 19.
The question that all are asking is who will he bring with him to UVA?
Mendenhall indicated that he had not made all of those decisions yet, but that it likely would not take long.
“It’s currently a work in progress,” Mendenhall said. “There have been some members that have been added to my staff, and interestingly enough, I don’t think this is going to be a long process because when you’re very clear about what your goals, priorities and standards are, some are attracted to those and some aren’t.”
On Wednesday night, word out of Utah indicated that offensive coordinator Robert Anae would be making the move to Charlottesville with Mendenhall. Anae told the Deseret News that he would also be bringing Garett Tujague (offensive line), Mark Atuaia (running backs), and Jason Beck (quarterbacks) to be on the offensive staff. This could mean that UVA receivers coach Marques Hagans will remain on staff with the Cavaliers. Mendenhall’s contract shows that he has a $3 million salary pool to put together a staff.
Anae’s offense averaged 34.2 points per game in the regular season (35th nationally) this season. The Cougars scored 37.1 per game in 2014 (15th nationally). In Anae’s first season as BYU OC, the offense averaged 30.2 (55th nationally). Virginia’s offense averaged 25.8 points per game the past two seasons and never ranked higher than 88th nationally under Steve Fairchild.
Others that could follow Mendenhall are defensive coordinator Nick Howell, outside linebackers coach Kelly Poppinga, and possibly others.
The reason is simple. Mendenhall wants people whose vision is aligned with his and who know how to run the organized program that he wants to grow here.
“I have a very select group that I think are capable of doing that, many of which are with me now, and so there could be a large number of coaches that come from BYU. That doesn’t mean that’s exclusively where they’ll come from,” Mendenhall said Monday.
As for strategy, Mendenhall said that BYU has molded its offense and defense around the personnel available.
“I love adaptability. I love flexibility. I love innovation,” Mendenhall said. “And I love whatever maximizes the current resources that are available in a program on any given day versus any given opponent, and that is the philosophy …”
Regardless of what system is put in place and how the full staff shakes out, Mendenhall did not seem concerned about recruiting in a different region. He embraced Virginia’s athletic-academic balance and talked about his excitement for another university that strives to not only be a phenomenal educational institution, but have uncompromised excellence in athletics as well. He believes those things will be the recruiting key regardless of who is making the pitch.
“All young people need to know is if you want a phenomenal education and now great football in an amazing community, where else would you go if you want all of that? Not some of it, but if you want all of it,” Mendenhall said. “Normally you don’t think of academics and fantastic football together. One is usually exclusive of the other. I don’t agree, and I’m anxious to prove that here. I certainly will be held accountable for that.”
Burp…