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Virginia has hired BYU’s Bronco Mendenhall as its new football coach.
Mendenhall will join the Cavaliers after 11 seasons at BYU. He went 99-42 with the Cougars, and took them to a bowl game each season. He also won two Mountain West Conference titles before BYU left the conference to become an independent in 2011.
“Bronco Mendenhall’s teams have consistently won at a high level, and he’s demonstrated the ability to create a strategic vision to build a program and then implement his plan to be successful,” Virginia athletic director Craig Littlepage said in a statement. “His emphasis on the overall development of student-athletes and a commitment to academic achievement is in line with our goals of uncompromised excellence. We’re excited to begin a new era of Virginia football and support Bronco and his staff.”
Mendenhall was a surprise hire for Virginia. He’d spent nearly all of his coaching career in the western part of the U.S. His name had not been mentioned in connection with the Cavaliers’ job opening.
He will coach the Cougars in their bowl game, then head to Virginia.
Mendenhall will receive a five-year contract worth $3.25 million a year to coach the Cavaliers.
Mendenhall will replace Mike London, who resigned on Sunday. London went 27-46 in six seasons at Virginia. The Cavaliers finished 4-8 this year.
