See, I told you the hire might still be someone off the radar.
In a move no one saw coming, Virginia announced Friday it had hired BYU's Bronco Mendenhall to be its next head football coach. For now, I will leave you with a short bio on him, just as I did the other candidates. I think that will help you compare him to the others who were (possibly) considered. He will be introduced Monday in Charlottesville and I'll have more reaction and commentary next week. He will coach BYU in its bowl game, the Las Vegas Bowl, on Dec. 19, and then come to UVa to start his duties with the Cavaliers.
Click here for his news conference at BYU on Friday.
Bronco Mendenhall
Age: 49
From: Utah
College: Snow College (Utah) and Oregon State 1984-87 (defensive back)
Current position: BYU head coach
Coaching record: 99-42 (11 seasons)
Other relevant experience: Also was BYU's defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach in 2003-04. New Mexico's defensive coordinator in 2002 and coached its defensive backs. Coached
DBs for Oregon State and Louisiana Tech before that.
Pros: Proven winner with lots of FBS head coaching experience. Has never had a losing season in 11 years. Has won 10 or more games in five of his 10 seasons before this year, and BYU is 9-3 now, so if the Cougars win their bowl, he will have finished there with six such seasons in 11 years. Has had to recruit with restrictions, both academic and religious for BYU, so he should know how to navigate the academic standards in recruiting for UVa. He's also helped turn around a program before. BYU had gone 14-21 in the three years prior to his taking over as head coach. He went 6-6 in his first season, then went back-to-back years with 11 victories.
Cons: Spent almost all his time out West. Can he recruit in the East? Can he fit in at UVa as a Mormon? I know there are Mormons in Virginia, but they are more plentiful west of the Mississippi and in great numbers in Utah, of course. Along those lines, can he feel comfortable here, and will recruits feel comfortable with him? He is a defensive-minded coach, so I hope UVa brings in a good to great offensive coordinator for that unit. UVa faced Mendenhall twice -- 2013 and 2014 -- and some UVa fans came away thinking that BYU played dirty. Perhaps he just instilled toughness and playing to/through the whistle to his players, not actually being dirty.
Surprise value: Definitely a 3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday's conference title game picks
Last Saturday: 9-1 Overall: 85-38
American Athletic Conference championship
No. 22 Temple at No. 19 Houston, Noon ABC
Houston 38, Temple 35
Conference USA championship
Southern Miss at Western Kentucky, Noon ESPN2
Western Kentucky 35, Southern Miss 24
SEC championship
No. 18 Florida vs. No. 2 Alabama in Atlanta, 4 p.m. CBS
Alabama 24, Florida 7
Mountain West championship
Air Force at San Diego State, 7:30 p.m. ESPN2
San Diego State 31, Air Force 24
Pac-12 championship
No. 20 USC vs. No. 7 Stanford in Santa Clara, Calif., 7:45 p.m. ESPN
Stanford 34, USC 31
Big Ten championship
No. 5 Michigan State vs. No. 4 Iowa in Indianapolis, 8 p.m. Fox
Michigan State 28, Iowa 24
ACC championship
No. 10 North Carolina vs. No. 1 Clemson in Charlotte, 8 p.m. ABC
Clemson 42, North Carolina 35
In a move no one saw coming, Virginia announced Friday it had hired BYU's Bronco Mendenhall to be its next head football coach. For now, I will leave you with a short bio on him, just as I did the other candidates. I think that will help you compare him to the others who were (possibly) considered. He will be introduced Monday in Charlottesville and I'll have more reaction and commentary next week. He will coach BYU in its bowl game, the Las Vegas Bowl, on Dec. 19, and then come to UVa to start his duties with the Cavaliers.
Click here for his news conference at BYU on Friday.
Bronco Mendenhall
Age: 49
From: Utah
College: Snow College (Utah) and Oregon State 1984-87 (defensive back)
Current position: BYU head coach
Coaching record: 99-42 (11 seasons)
Other relevant experience: Also was BYU's defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach in 2003-04. New Mexico's defensive coordinator in 2002 and coached its defensive backs. Coached
Pros: Proven winner with lots of FBS head coaching experience. Has never had a losing season in 11 years. Has won 10 or more games in five of his 10 seasons before this year, and BYU is 9-3 now, so if the Cougars win their bowl, he will have finished there with six such seasons in 11 years. Has had to recruit with restrictions, both academic and religious for BYU, so he should know how to navigate the academic standards in recruiting for UVa. He's also helped turn around a program before. BYU had gone 14-21 in the three years prior to his taking over as head coach. He went 6-6 in his first season, then went back-to-back years with 11 victories.
Cons: Spent almost all his time out West. Can he recruit in the East? Can he fit in at UVa as a Mormon? I know there are Mormons in Virginia, but they are more plentiful west of the Mississippi and in great numbers in Utah, of course. Along those lines, can he feel comfortable here, and will recruits feel comfortable with him? He is a defensive-minded coach, so I hope UVa brings in a good to great offensive coordinator for that unit. UVa faced Mendenhall twice -- 2013 and 2014 -- and some UVa fans came away thinking that BYU played dirty. Perhaps he just instilled toughness and playing to/through the whistle to his players, not actually being dirty.
Surprise value: Definitely a 3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday's conference title game picks
Last Saturday: 9-1 Overall: 85-38
American Athletic Conference championship
No. 22 Temple at No. 19 Houston, Noon ABC
Houston 38, Temple 35
Conference USA championship
Southern Miss at Western Kentucky, Noon ESPN2
Western Kentucky 35, Southern Miss 24
SEC championship
No. 18 Florida vs. No. 2 Alabama in Atlanta, 4 p.m. CBS
Alabama 24, Florida 7
Mountain West championship
Air Force at San Diego State, 7:30 p.m. ESPN2
San Diego State 31, Air Force 24
Pac-12 championship
No. 20 USC vs. No. 7 Stanford in Santa Clara, Calif., 7:45 p.m. ESPN
Stanford 34, USC 31
Big Ten championship
No. 5 Michigan State vs. No. 4 Iowa in Indianapolis, 8 p.m. Fox
Michigan State 28, Iowa 24
ACC championship
No. 10 North Carolina vs. No. 1 Clemson in Charlotte, 8 p.m. ABC
Clemson 42, North Carolina 35
Comments
Post a Comment