Bronco Mendenhall Focused On UVA Roster Rehab

Bronco Mendenhall finished 2-10 in his debut season at Virginia.
Bronco Mendenhall is trying to re-establish balance on UVA’s roster. ~ Kris Wright

Virginia football fans needed to learn new numbers this past season, but that only can be partially attributed to new coach Bronco Mendenhall’s ‘earn your number’ decree. During the 2016 season, the Cavaliers saw 27 players make their collegiate debut with 18 players make their first career starts.

So while mainstays like Taquan Mizzell, Jackson Matteo, Quin Blanding, and others already had become familiar to Wahoo fans, many others entered the season as uknowns or names from recruiting lists. That included 9 true freshmen that eventually grabbed some action – Cole Blackman, Hasise Dubois, Bryce Hall, Jordan Mack, Chris Moore, Juwan Moye, Joe Reed, Matt Terrell, and Landan Word.

Mendenhall, who sat down with reporters for a long-ranging interview in December, noticed the youth during his debut season.

”One thing I noticed was the number of first-time contributors regardless of age, first-time significant players – a developmental phase was missed simply because of an impulsive or reactionary need to a roster that hadn’t been managed very well,” Mendenhall said. ”That’s all fine. It’s simply where we’re starting from.”

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