Six years ago, the University of Virginia football program announced the hiring of Bronco Mendenhall as its new head coach. The news came as a surprise, as Mendenhall had had a successful 11-year run going as head coach of the BYU Cougars.
Six years later, in equally surprising fashion, Virginia football announced that Mendenhall is stepping down from his post.
“It has been a privilege to have Bronco Mendenhall direct the Virginia football team over the past six seasons,” Virginia athletics director Carla Williams said in this official press release. “He has done an exceptional job of not just transforming the program, but elevating the expectations for the program. He has established the necessary foundation to propel our football team upward. He is more than a football coach and the impact he has had on these young men will be a positive influence for the rest of their lives.
“In his own, understated way, he had a tremendous impact on our local community with the Thursday’s Heroes Program and with his encouragement of his players to be proactively involved in so many local community organizations.
“He is an amazing colleague to our other coaches and staff, always willing to help wherever it is needed. I have been blessed to have been able to work with him these last four years and I wish he and Holly the very best in their next chapter.”
In December of 2015, Mendenhall was hired to resurrect a program that endured a 15-33 record its previous four seasons. Virginia football went 2-10 in Mendenhall’s first season as head coach, but since then the Cavaliers have marched back to respectability, compiling a 34-28 mark and playing in three postseason bowl games. Led by Mendenhall, UVA had a hallmark 2019 campaign, capturing the program’s first ever ACC Coastal Division championship, defeating Virginia Tech for the first time in 15 seasons, and playing in the prestigious Orange Bowl for the first time ever.
Virginia increased its win total each year following the 2016 season. The progress was halted by a global pandemic in 2020. UVA finished the 2020 season with a 5-5 record and, after following exhaustive measures and protocols to simply be able to play, opted out of postseason bowl consideration, ending the program’s bowl streak at three. Virginia finished the 2021 regular season with a 6-6 record, disappointing after a 6-2 start that had the Hoos in control of their own destiny in terms of winning the ACC Coastal Division. However, UVA is bowl-bound for a fourth time in the past six years and has a chance at finishing with a winning record for the third time in the past four seasons.
Mendenhall informed Director of Athletics Carla Williams and President Jim Ryan of his decision to step down on Thursday, December 2. He will coach the Cavaliers in the postgame bowl game.
“Six years ago, I showed up in Charlottesville on this amazing adventure,” Mendenhall told media Thursday evening. “And it’s been one of the most amazing journeys of my life, to this point. I’ve met amazing people. And what an incredible challenge. Been at an iconic university, completely different part of the country, traveling in a pack with my dearest friends and their families. Developing and shaping and grooming lives and helping a program, as Jim comes off the field almost after every game, it’s the first time since, or the first time ever. So lots of growth and experiences and things that have been imprinted on my soul. I’ve had the chance to work with, what I believe, is the very best athletic director on the planet. And Carla has become a dear friend, a trusted confidante, and exceptional leader that I’m so thankful for.
“I’ve been a head coach for 17 years in a row,” Mendenhall continued. “I was an assistant 11 before then. And I was a graduate assistant two years before then. And that’s 31 years straight of football. And, so, it’s 31 years of straight football. And my wife and I will have been married 25 years in March. All we’ve known together is the rhythm of a football season. That’s all my kids have known. And this January all three will be gone. And Holly and are empty-nesters. And all they’ve known is the rhythm and cycle of football. And we know what that looks like really, really well. And I would love to say there’s been this buildup and a long amount of epiphanies and thought, but clearly this week there was a sense of clarity to me that I needed to step back from college football and reassess, renew, reframe and reinvent, with my wife as a partner, our future and the next chapter of our lives.”
Coach Mendenhall made it clear that this was his decision alone, noting how Williams and Ryan requested he stay. It was a decision that first crossed his mind this past Sunday.
“I believe I have a father in heaven,” Mendenhall replied when asked what role his faith played in this decision, given that notion first entered his mind on Sunday. “I believe if I live and really try to connect I can receive direction and promptings. Now it takes courage to act on those and faith. And most every decision that’s been positive in my life has been when I’ve listened. And most of the time the natural part of me says, no, don’t do that. But inside I know that’s what I’m supposed to do. So, yeah, as you know, faith is — my belief governs everything. My belief governs the principles and the principles govern the choices. Where else would I start than what I think governs all? And so, yeah, that’s where I started. And I tried different things in a few number of days and different paths that I thought might address another way. And it did not feel right. And I was not at peace. As I returned to my initial thought, it was very clear.”
The “different things” tried in this week included hitting the recruiting trail to visit some of Virginia football’s class of 2022 commitments, including linebacker prospect Trey McDonald, tight end prospect Karson Gay, and running back prospect Xavier Brown. UVA even accepted a commitment from Wisconsin graduate transfer wide receiver Devin Chandler, who announced his decision on Thursday, before the shocking announcement was made.
Thank you, Bronco Mendenhall!
🗒️ https://t.co/3ut5604EPl pic.twitter.com/i69dP1zDD8
— Virginia Cavaliers (@VirginiaSports) December 2, 2021
Mendenhall informed his coaching staff, much of whom came to UVA with him from BYU, at 4:45 p.m. Thursday afternoon. He met with his players immediately after.
“They had similar reactions — tears, shock, sadness, disbelief. And it’s going to take time to process,” Mendenhall said. “We know, and for most of us there’s different cycles you go through. And there’s — from anger or denial and then withdrawal, and then finally you get back to acceptance. And there’s all of those things happening right now. I know exactly the implications of people because that’s the world I live in. The decisions I make impact families and young people. And so I don’t take it lightly. And after 17 years in a row of being a head coach I know what’s required. And I don’t take that lightly.”
Mendenhall moves on to prepare for the final step in this chapter of his coaching career. He did not rule out a return to coaching, although he says he is not sure what lies in store in terms of his future other than he wants to impact people’s lives. As he prepares UVA football for a fourth bowl game in his tenure, he plans on assisting Williams however he can in terms of finding the next head coach.
“I’ve already made myself available to vet or advise, if needed,” Mendenhall said. “[He and Williams] visited today about all the things that the next head coach should have here. And I couldn’t have written it any better. It was just like we see it exactly the same way. And there is now still more here at UVA to go and do and become. And Carla wants that. I want that. And I’m certain that whoever is chosen for our program will be exceptional. And whoever is lucky enough to join as an assistant coach and a player, it will be an amazing experience for them as it has been for me.”
Good riddance