Bronco Mendenhall Reportedly Near Return To College Football Coaching
Dec 5, 2023, 1:45 PM | Updated: Dec 6, 2023, 1:06 pm
Former BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall is reportedly getting back into the game of college football head coaching.
On Tuesday, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported that the New Mexico Lobos are targeting Mendenhall. Thamel added, “A deal is expected to come together in the near future.”
Sources: New Mexico is targeting Bronco Mendenhall, the former coach at Virginia and BYU, as the school’s next head coach. Mendenhall went to 11-straight bowls at BYU and led Virginia to the Orange Bowl in 2019. pic.twitter.com/PHwNkHfosa
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 5, 2023
In New Mexico, Mendenhall coached as the defensive coordinator before joining the BYU football program in the same role in 2003.
Then, after two years as the defensive coordinator at BYU, Mendenhall became BYU’s head coach in 2005.
Mendenhall has 17 years of head coach experience in his background. He was at BYU from 2005-2015, where he won 99 games, becoming the second-winningest coach in BYU football history.
Bronco Mendenhall career path
Eight years ago, he left BYU for the head coach position at Virginia. Mendenhall led the Cavaliers to three bowl games during his tenure in Charlottesville. The highlight was in 2019 when he led the Hoos to an ACC Coastal division title and an appearance in the Orange Bowl.
After the 2021 regular season, Mendenhall announced that he was stepping down and was heading into retirement.
Mendenhall has been retired for the past football seasons. But throughout his time away from the game, he’s shown an interest in getting back into coaching.
He launched a podcast called “HeadCoachU,” where he interviews current and former coaches in college football.
If the deal moves forward without any hang-up, Mendenhall inherits a New Mexico program that hasn’t played in a bowl game since 2016.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X and Threads: @Mitch_Harper.
