Former BYU and Virginia coach Bronco Mendenhall is back in college football.
According to ESPN, New Mexico has agreed to a five-year deal with Mendenhall to be its new coach. New Mexico was in the market for a coach after parting ways with Danny Gonzales.
Mendenhall, 57, has spent the last two seasons out of college football after he stepped down from Virginia following the 2021 season. He said that he needed to “step back” from college football at the time of his decision to leave the Cavaliers, but made it clear that he could return to coaching in some capacity in the future.
Mendenhall has been incredibly successful during his 17-year tenure as a head coach. After taking over BYU in 2005, the Cougars won at least 10 gams in five of his first seven seasons. BYU never finished below .500 in his 11 years with the school and had a winning record in 10 of those seasons.
He made the somewhat surprising move to Virginia in 2016 and the Cavaliers went 2-10 in his first season. But Virginia then went to thee consecutive bowl games from 2017 to 2019 and the Cavaliers went 11-11 over his final two seasons.
Virginia has won just six games combined in the two seasons since Mendenhall’s departure. Overall, his teams have earned a 135-81 record across his 17 seasons.
New Mexico went 4-8 in 2023 and is looking for its first bowl appearance since going 9-4 under former Notre Dame coach Bob Davie in 2016. Heck, five wins would be an achievement at this point. The four wins in 2023 were the most in a single season for the Lobos since that 2016 season.
New Mexico was 11-32 in Gonzales’ four seasons with the team. He took over after the school parted ways with Davie following a 2-10 season in 2019.
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Daniel Miller is a sports fanatic who lives and breathes athletics. His coverage spans from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis for sports enthusiasts.
