Tag: Bronco Mendenhall

New Mexico made the top hire per Paul Myerberg of USA TODAY Sports

One analyst believes the best hire happened in the Mountain West.

The 2023-24 coaching carousel seems to be never-ending with the Boston College Eagles joining the fray on Wednesday. Jeff Hafely opted to leave his post as a sitting head coach to take a coordinator role with the Green Bay Packers.

The move comes after Sherrone Moore was named the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines. The promotion of Moore came just days after Jim Harbaugh notified the university that he would be leaving for the NFL despite winning the CFP national championship a few weeks ago.

With so much movement going on at the FBS level, Paul Myerberg of USA TODAY Sports ranked 25 hires this past cycle. It begins with a familiar face rejoining the coaching ranks.

No. 1: Bronco Mendenhall, New Mexico Lobos

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Mendenhall stepped down from his post as the Virginia Cavaliers head coach prior to the 2022 season. He was replaced by former Clemson Tigers offensive coordinator Tony Elliott. Mendenhall, the long-time BYU head coach is returning to his former stomping grounds in the Mountain West. Mendenhall replaces Danny Gonzales, who was fired after three failed seasons with the Lobos.

What Myerberg says…

He’s a winner, pure and simple. Mendenhall has been very successful at two stops, Brigham Young and Virginia, reaching bowl eligibility in every non-COVID-19 year of his coaching career outside of his debut season with the Cavaliers. Mendenhall is also a former New Mexico assistant under Rocky Long and brings deep familiarity with the program and the broader region. As one of the surest bets in coaching and a terrific ambassador for the program and athletics department, he’s an absolute coup for the Lobos.

Mendenhall edged out new Houston Cougars head coach Willie Fritz, who checks in at No. 2. New Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer was the No. 3 head coach according to Myerberg. Former Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo and former Troy head coach Jon Sumrall round out the top five.

2023-2024 College Football Coaching Carousel

Texas A&M hires Duke’s Mike Elko as the coaching carousel continues to spin.

The end of the college football season is here and the coaching carousel is once again getting fired up. This season saw two early head coaching changes within the Big Ten to get an early jump on things, but more coaching changes are popping up as we close in on the end of another regular season around the nation.

We’ll keep track of all of the head coaching changes in our updated coaching carousel tracker to see what head coaches are out and who is replacing them. This will be updated daily as needed with the latest head coaching changes as jobs open up and are filled. As is so often the case in college football, one coaching vacancy being filled will lead to another opening popping up as a result.

As of Thursday, Dec. 8 there are 2 head coaching vacancies in college football, including 1 power conference job to fill. A total of 19 head coaching changes have been made this year.

Below is the updated chart for this year’s edition of the head coaching carousel in college football. After that is a bit more detail on each job opening, listed in alphabetical order.

Colorado analyst gives his favorite in Buffaloes’ head coaching search

We talked to @BuffaloesWire about the Colorado football coaching search and where it stands. Is Deion Sanders a realistic candidate?

The Colorado Buffaloes are preparing to face USC this Friday night, but they are also trying to hire a new head football coach. The Buffaloes are also wondering about their position in the Pac-12, with lots of realignment rumors swirling around San Diego State, Gonzaga, and the Pac-12’s attempt to secure a new media rights package.

With Colorado facing USC this week, we wanted to talk to Buffaloes Wire editor Jack Carlough about a wide range of topics.

In a separate article, you’ll find Jack’s thoughts about the Colorado-USC football game and how the two teams match up.

Here are Jack’s answers to our questions about the CU head coaching search and other off-field topics:

Virginia Football head coach Bronco Mendenhall stuns everyone by stepping down

Virginia head coach Bronco Mendenhall stunned the football world when he stepped down on Thursday.

In an already tumultuous and crazy college football coaching carousel  season, Virginia head coach Bronco Mendenhall announced Thursday evening that he would be stepping down after six years in Charlottesville. Mendenhall, who has been coaching in some form or fashion for 31 years, led Virginia to a 6-6 regular season record in 2021.

“I absolutely want to be at my best in anything that I do for everyone that I’m responsible for, but most importantly, [for] my partner, Holly, it’s 25 years straight, 17 of which I’ve been a head coach,” Mendenhall told reporters shortly after his departure was announced. “I don’t know if anyone — none of you know what that could be like, and I don’t know. 

But what I do know is I want to spend a lot of time with her together, reconsidering the next thing we’re going to do together. That would be my first priority: what are we going to do together, and what’s next for us before we take on anything else.”

Stunned feels like an understatement when describing this development. There was no indication that Mendenhall would be fired let alone resign. The Cavaliers came up a few plays short of competing for the Coastal Division title, falling on the road at Pitt before dropping a heartbreaking loss to in-state rival Virginia Tech.

“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 the official 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.”

Mendenhall met with his team around 4:45pm, the release was issued at 5pm and met with the press at 5:30pm. In all it was a quick turnaround — even with both Williams and University of Virginia president Jim Ryan asking him to stay.

What happens now is the big question.

There are not yet any indications as to who Virginia will hire to replace Mendenhall, if it’ll hire internally or try and jump into the chaotic coaching search pool. Virginia is eligible for a bowl game, and Mendenhall intends to stay on to see that through for his team and coaching staff, despite their surprise with the news.

“I’m not going to do it unless I can and feel energetic enough to do all that,” Mendenhall said. “So they saw that and they understand — it doesn’t mean they liked it. But I’m looking to continue to add value, not just ride it out.”

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Notre Dame football news: Kyle Hamilton out vs. Virginia

Not much of a surprise but still not fun to hear…

No. 9 (CFP rankings) Notre Dame’s task against Virginia’s powerful offense Saturday night has become that much more difficult.

At least officially.

Brian Kelly announced on Thursday that All American safety Kyle Hamilton is not yet ready to return to the field for the Irish after injuring his knee on October 17 versus USC.

Kelly stated:

“Kyle Hamilton is not ready to play.  Kyle is not cleared medically to play.  Once he’s cleared medically to play, he has every intention of playing.  He just hasn’t been cleared yet.”

“This isn’t a young man that doesn’t want to play.”

Virginia is 6-3 on the season and has their own questions as to whether or not starting quarterback Brennan Armstrong will be able to play after suffering a rib injury two weeks ago at BYU.

Virginia ranks 11th in all of the FBS as they’re averaging 38.9 points per game.  Among Power Five programs that’s tied with North Carolina for the sixth-most.

The Cavaliers are also averaging 401 yards of passing offense per game, trailing only Western Kentucky nationally.

Next – Links to more Notre Dame-Virginia content…

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Notre Dame-Virginia: Will Brennan Armstrong play for Cavaliers?

He’s got to be playing, right?

Virginia quarterback Brennan Armstrong’s 3,557 passing yards this season rank him second in all of FBS college football.  He has also helped lead Virginia to average 545.2 yards of offense per game this season, the most of any FBS program.

Notre Dame travels to Virginia on Saturday night as defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman and the Irish will be tasked with trying to contain one of the best offenses college football has to offer.  What makes that perhaps even a bit more difficult to game plan for is the fact Notre Dame doesn’t know if it’ll be Armstrong who starts for Virginia.

Nor does anyone on Virginia, at least according to Cavaliers head coach Bronco Mendenhall who was asked this week about the status of starting quarterback Brennan Armstrong.

“No, I don’t have an update on Brennan. Man, I’m planning on him being our quarterback. Yeah, I probably won’t have an update until the ball is kicked off and we all look out there and see who our quarterback is.” – Bronco Mendenhall

Mendenhall was then asked if it was by choice that he hasn’t revealed any information or if he actually doesn’t know if Armstrong will be able to give it a go.

“It means just collectively where I don’t really plan to address it because I don’t think it’ll help you, me, or anyone else in terms of preparation. It helps our football team best to let Brennan heal, recover, and our team get ready to play.” – Bronco Mendenhall

By the sounds of it I would think Armstrong, who suffered a rib injury two weeks ago in a loss at BYU, at least tries to give it a go.

Next:  Notre Dame-Virginia Links

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Brian Kelly Named to 2020 Dodd Trophy Preseason Watch List

Brian Kelly was named to the Bobby Dodd Trophy preseason watch-list on Thursday. See who else joins him on there.

ATLANTA (Sept. 3, 2020) – The Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation and the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl today released the preseason watch list for the 2020 Dodd Trophy. This year’s list includes 13 of the nation’s top college football coaches representing teams who are scheduled to play during the fall season.

The Dodd Trophy, college football’s most coveted national coaching award, celebrates the head coach of a team who enjoys success on the gridiron, while also stressing the importance of scholarship, leadership and integrity – the three pillars of legendary coach Bobby Dodd’s coaching philosophy.

The watch list was created through a selection process by the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation and Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, taking into consideration each program’s graduation rate, commitment to service and charity in the community, projected success for the 2020 season and Academic Progress Rate (APR). Coaches in the first year with their current team are ineligible to receive The Dodd Trophy and only those coaches who have played during the fall season will be eligible for this year’s award.

“An unprecedented season calls for an unprecedented preseason watch list,” said Jim Terry, chairman of the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation. “When considering candidates for this year’s Dodd Trophy, the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation made the decision to align with the College Football Playoff’s timeline and only consider coaches who will play during the fall season. That said, we still would like to recognize coaches from other conferences who met all of the criteria and under normal circumstances would be included on our list.”

The 2020 Dodd Trophy Preseason Watch List:

Coach School Conference
Mack Brown North Carolina ACC
Luke Fickell Cincinnati AAC
Tom Herman Texas Big 12
Josh Heupel UCF AAC
Brian Kelly Notre Dame ACC*
Gus Malzahn Auburn SEC
Bronco Mendenhall Virginia ACC
Dan Mullen Florida SEC
Ed Orgeron LSU SEC
Lincoln Riley Oklahoma Big 12
Nick Saban Alabama SEC
Kirby Smart Georgia SEC
Dabo Swinney Clemson ACC

The Dodd Trophy would also like to recognize the following coaches from conferences scheduled to play in the spring. These nine coaches all met the same criteria as the 13 coaches named to the preseason watch list, but are not eligible to win the award this season considering The Dodd Trophy will be awarded in December before their seasons are completed.

Coach School Conference
Paul Chryst Wisconsin Big Ten
Mario Cristobal Oregon Pac-12
Ryan Day Ohio State Big Ten
Herm Edwards Arizona State Pac-12
P.J. Fleck Minnesota Big Ten
James Franklin Penn State Big Ten
Jim Harbaugh Michigan Big Ten
Bryan Harsin Boise State Mountain West
Kyle Whittingham Utah Pac-12

 

More…

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