Son Of Former BYU Football Head Coach Signs With Utah State Aggies
Feb 5, 2020, 5:03 PM | Updated: 5:12 pm
Head Coaches Gary Andersen USU, left, and Bronco Mendenhall, BYU talk after the game Friday, Oct. 5, 2012 at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo Utah. BYU won 6-3. Courtesy of Deseret News.
LOGAN, Utah – Breaker Mendenhall, the son of former BYU football head coach Bronco Mendenhall, signed with the Utah State Aggies football program.
Mendenhall committed and signed with USU during Signing Day on Wednesday, February 5.
The new Aggie joined Gary Andersen’s program as a safety out of Western Albemarle High School in Crozet, Virginia.
His father, Bronco, is currently the head football coach at Virginia. Prior to coaching the Cavaliers, he was the head coach at BYU from 2005-15. From 2003-04, he was the Cougars’ defensive coordinator.
“Whatever Breaker wanted, that’s what Bronco wanted. Breaker had an opportunity to choose between a number of schools, not just us and Virginia,” said Andersen after Mendenhall’s signing. “He decided to come here because he thought that was best for him, and the great thing with Bronco is Bronco was able to come here and took the time to come during the recruiting cycle. Obviously, he didn’t compromise his position as a head coach at Virginia in any way, but he took a day-and-a-half to come out here and see who we were and understand. He actually made a couple of visits to Logan when he knew that it was a possibility that Breaker wanted to be here. As a family, they were able to see it and those two were able to spend a recruiting cycle with us for a day-and-a-half. It was great to have them here.”
Excited to get Breaker to Logan to get to work!#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/d5zdVRmcXh
— USU Football (@USUFootball) February 5, 2020
Bronco & Gary
Bronco Mendenhall and Gary Andersen have a lengthy relationship of more than 25 years.
When coaching at Northern Arizona, the former BYU coach reached out to Andersen to gauge his interest for a coaching position on Mendenhall’s defensive staff.
“I had nowhere to go. I didn’t have an ‘in’ in college football at that point,” said Andersen of his relationship with Mendenhall in 2013. “I was hoping to get back in. I owe Bronco a lot for that phone call. We were good friends for a number of years. In the last few years, it’s definitely grown since my time at Utah State. I think we’ve become, what I would say, close coaching friends. We text back and forth quite a bit. I have great respect for him but he gave me an opportunity.”
After exploring his options for college football in 2013, Andersen’s son, Chasen, signed with Mendenhall and BYU. The younger Andersen ended up changing his mind and was granted a release by Mendenhall so he could play for Wisconsin where his father was coaching at the time.
Seven years later, Mendenhall’s son decided to play for Andersen.
“It’s not about Bronco, it’s not about myself, it’s about Breaker,” said Andersen.”Bronco was excited, as is the rest of the family, that he is joining us.”
Getting To Know Breaker
Mendenhall is listed by USU as an incoming freshman at 6-3, 180 lbs.
He was named to the 2019 All-Central Virginia second-team as a senior in high school. Mendenhall helped his team advance to the second round of the 2018 state playoffs and a 9-4 record.
