Bronco: losing streak had no bearing on his decision to step down; it was time to take a time out on life

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Photo: UVA Athletics

Six years ago, Bronco Mendenhall’s arrival at Virginia was just as shocking as his news Thursday that he would step down as the Cavaliers’ head coach after the bowl game.

When Mike London was dismissed as UVA’s coach, no one, absolutely no one on the East Coast imagined that Mendenhall, firmly implanted as Mormon-based Brigham Young’s head football coach, would make such a stunning move.

“Six years ago, I showed up in Charlottesville on this amazing adventure and it’s been one of the most amazing journeys of my life, to this point,” Mendenhall said to lead off his announcement to media around 5:30 on Thursday as news trickled out.

“I’ve met amazing people, and what an incredible challenge. I’ve been at an iconic university, completely different part of the country, traveling in a pack with my dearest friends and their families. Developing and shaping and grooming lives and helping a program.”

It was a great experiment and it almost worked.

“We’re probably six plays short of winning the Coastal and winning the state,” Mendenhall said of this most recent campaign that ended in a four-game slide. “Probably six, arguably seven. And really disappointed because the expectation for our program now is to win the Coastal and the state. Right?”

Had that happened, fans would be reading entirely different stories about Virginia football this week, how it is gearing up for a rematch against Wake Forest in the ACC Championship game on Saturday in Charlotte. But those six or seven plays did happen, including a couple this past weekend in a devastating loss to rival Virginia Tech.

Fans were livid with the outcome, some demanding heads to roll, not necessarily Mendenhall’s, but rather some of his coordinators.

While UVA is eligible for the fifth straight year of Mendenhall’s era, the luster has been lost on postseason since the College Football Playoffs began and since bowl games have been watered down by teams with .500 records. The Cavaliers are 6-6 after starting 6-2.

Twice in six years, Virginia has won more than six games: in 2018 when the Cavaliers went 8-5 and upset South Carolina in the Belk Bowl; and in 2019 when they went 9-5 and lost to a top-10 Florida team in the Orange Bowl. One of those five losses in ‘19 came against top-ranked Clemson.

Overall, Mendenhall’s record at Virginia was 36-38 and 22-27 in ACC play.

So was this job more of a challenge than Mendenhall expected?

“I think we are a consistent winner,” the coach pointed out. “Year One reflected that it was harder than I thought. When I saw the first year of 2-10, I had to reframe everything, and that recalibration got us to 6-6, and that recalibration got us to 8-5 and a Belk Bowl win. And that recalibration got us the Coastal Championship and the state championship and a bid in the Orange Bowl. I don’t know how to calibrate for a pandemic. That wasn’t in my manual.”

One of the fan base’s biggest beefs was that the staff, composed mostly of former BYU coaches, struggled to recruit in this part of the country, particularly within the state borders. For years, UVA also couldn’t assemble a potent running attack and rather depended on dual-threat quarterbacks to move the chains both with their arms and their legs.

This past season, Virginia owned the fourth-best offense in the nation with highly effective quarterback Brennan Armstrong. However, the defense was among the worst from sea to shining sea.

While the team faltered at the end, Mendenhall said that was not why he decided to step down.

“I can’t put a percentage on it,” he said. “My first response would be no, because I like hard things. I know what it feels like and I assess and I like challenges, and really there was enough separation from that time period. The coach’s life, things turn over fast.

“So the clarity of this was really finalized (Wednesday) in my mind. In the coach’s world, that’s almost an eternity from whenever the last game was. So this is a personal and bigger picture. That’s how I think.”

Fans would jump to the conclusion that the losing streak might trigger a move, or a feud with the athletic director, but neither of those caused Mendenhall to step down. The fact that most who follow college football believe the sport has changed so much in the past year that it’s broken, might have played a role and taken a toll.

“That really wasn’t part of the decision,” Mendenhall said. “It’s just a chance after 31 years (the last 17 as a head coach) straight to step back and renew and recover and reconnect and reinvent myself and our family and our purpose, and then be intentional about where we re-enter and how and whatever that is.

“And it very well could be — I don’t know if it ever would be college football again, but this is the purpose.”

He said that he and his wife, Holly, of 25 years, and his three kids, all they have known is the rhythm of a football season. Beginning in January, the couple will be empty-nesters.

“I would love to say there’s been this buildup and a long amount of epiphanies and thought, but clearly this week there was a sense of clarity to me that I need to step back from college football and reassess with my wife as a partner, our future and the next chapter of our lives,” Mendenhall explained.

Both UVA president Jim Ryan and AD Carla Williams requested Mendenhall to stay on, but he said it was his decision only, and that even his wife was a little stunned and shocked at the outcome.

“But I believe a renewal and a pause and a reframing and a reinventing and a reconnecting is necessary to then become the very best person I can be moving forward. As you know, my passion and my wife’s passion, we love to teach and inspire and build people, young people especially. And I know what that takes.

“I’m looking forward to the chance to renew and re-become and then re-enter someplace at some time on rocket fuel to become ever a better version of maybe who I currently am.

“There are times when you need to pause and refuel and put the oxygen tank back up and unthaw the freeze-dried food and recharge the butane tank. Unless you like eating cold, freeze-dried food. If you’ve ever camped, doing that, it’s not very good.”

Mendenhall said that he works for the best athletic director on the planet in Williams, who he considers a friend and confidant. He said that if asked, he would be fine with helping find a successor.

Certainly Mendenhall relied heavily on his faith to get him through the past few days. He hit the recruiting trail earlier in the week, posed for photos with prospects, commitments, their coaches and families, all along struggling inwardly with a decision he knew had to come soon.

One of the hardest parts had to be breaking the news to his loyal staff, most of whom followed him across the country on a leap of blind faith, and to the players he had mentored.

“They had similar reactions — tears, shock, sadness, disbelief — and it’s going to take time to process. We know, and for most of us there’s different cycles you go through from anger or denial and then withdrawal, and then finally you get back to acceptance and there’s all those things happening right now,” Mendenhall said.

“I know exactly the implications of people because that’s the world I live in. The decisions I make impact families and young people and so I don’t take it lightly. After 17 years in a row of being a head coach I know what’s required and I don’t take that lightly.”

Mendenhall said he wants to spend a lot of time together with his wife, reconsidering the next thing that they are going to do together. He couldn’t imagine and said no one could imagine what it must be like for a coach’s wife for 25 years.

“That would be my first priority is what are we going to do together and what’s next for us before we take on anything else,” the coach said.

Telling the staff was difficult with so many emotional bonds. When they arrived in Charlottesville, those families claimed the most children of any staff in the country and many of them have grown up together. Those families have become even more tight-knit here because the Mormon faith has brought them closer. In Provo, they were spread out into different wards, but here they are all in the same ward and rely on one another more than ever.

“These are my closest friends,” Mendenhall said. “And this is now their wives and kids who all came and I’m responsible for all of them. I love all of them. We were very close before we took this journey. This is now inseparable and galvanized and welded to where you can’t break it. I just did in terms of now the paths become different.

“My hope is the way each person goes, like how they do it, is the same. Where they do it, that’s on me.”

How did he break the news to the team? They knew something was up with rumors flying and being called together on a Thursday afternoon out of the blue.

“Every year, I redefine my purpose,” Mendenhall said. “I have a purpose statement. I put that on the screen and I read that and showed it and they see that it aligns.

“They’ve seen this before, so I reframe my beliefs and the principles that govern it and then showed how this choice reflects that, and that’s the framework I started from. It’s hard to talk and be emotional at the same time in front of people that you love, but I wanted them to understand.

“It’s nothing they did. I love them, and trying to then say how could I add more impact to the world maybe after a refresh — like this pace as a college football coach and a head coach for that many years — and if you want to do it right, not just winning, but if you want amazing academics and really build great people, if you really want amazing character, if you really want to teach values, if you really want service to happen, that’s harder rather than easier. And I want all of that.”

Mendenhall said after the bowl game, he and Holly may stay in Charlottesville. They love their ranch outside of town, they love people they’ve met here. It’s sort of a paradise, but all to be determined.

Time to stop and smell the roses.

Reactions of Mendenhall announcement from Virginia’s coaches, players

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Virginia football coach Bronco Mendenhall shocked his coaching staff and team in Thursday afternoon meetings with news that he was stepping down after six seasons. Here are some of the reactions from many of those coaches, current and former players and others from their Twitter accounts:

Garett Tujague

SOOOO MUCH LOVE FOR GOOD OLE UVA!!!
🔶⚔️🔷
Grateful for our time and more importantly my players!!! That’s what makes me go!!!
Heading Home back to C-Ville (The Hook) to hang with #TEAM2J
Love how passionate these fans are for elite Football!!
🔶⚔️🔷#BigMenLead

— Coach Garett Tujague (@Coach2J) December 2, 2021

Mark Atuaia

Thanks for the ride, UVA. I’ll drive home now to be with my family as I’m sure they’re tryna sift through the chaos. As I’m pulled over on the side of the road, I’ll say this: I love all my RBs who have played for me. We’re always connected until the day I die

— UVACoachAtuaia (@UVACoachAtuaia) December 2, 2021

Anthony Johnson Jr.

That was not the news I was intending to share, was planning on announcing my return! 😭😭

— Agent 27🕵🏾 (@aj_ballout) December 2, 2021

Keytaon Thompson

Forever Thankful 🤞🏽 https://t.co/nUFkIfFwI2

— KT 🏧🤙🏽 (@Thompson_Kt5) December 2, 2021

Billy Kemp IV

This a Tough One 💔 Thank You For Everything Coach. Love 4Life🔒 pic.twitter.com/R3lgegj7JI

— BK4 (@billykemp_4) December 2, 2021

Joey Blount

Thank you for everything @UVACoachBronco , love you coach🤞🏽

— Joey Blount (@JoeyBlount8) December 2, 2021

Jay Woolfolk

This one hurt love you coach❤️ https://t.co/JE5xqlPx8R

— Jay Woolfolk (@WoolfolkJay) December 2, 2021

Jelani Woods

Appreciate everything you did for me and I value the time we spend together luv u coach🖤@UVACoachBronco pic.twitter.com/sB4QQlZone

— 🌹Same0LANi 🌹 (@jelani_thegreat) December 2, 2021

Bryce Perkins

Thank you coach @UVACoachBronco for taking a chance on me out of juco. You changed my life and made me a better football player, leader, and human being 💙⚔️

— Bryce Perkins (@TDN_Perk) December 3, 2021

Quin Blanding

It’s crazy to even think about this ! I was here in 2016 when he first got here ! I remember the Press Conference like it was yesterday “TRAIN” Now to be back and see you leaving is unreal! You were what this program needed! I Thank you so much @UVACoachBronco https://t.co/iBXubX6zZX

— Quin Blanding (@_QKB_3) December 2, 2021

Charles Snowden

Cant believe this. Coach Mendenhall took a chance on me, a skinny awkward basketball player, and turned me into an All-ACC Linebacker. But what separate Coach Mendenhall is how he developed me, and all his players off the field as men. I cant thank Coach enough for everything🧡💙

— Charles Snowden III (@csnoww3) December 3, 2021

First Coastal championship in school history
5 straight bowl eligible seasons
New Years 6 Bowl game appearance

All in just 6 years… what Coach Mendenhall did for this program and this school cannot be celebrated enough https://t.co/810T9mdpPS

— Charles Snowden III (@csnoww3) December 3, 2021

Kurt Benkert

Thankful for @UVACoachBronco bringing me to UVA to help lay the foundation for the turnaround. Excited to see what’s next for both sides. #GoHoos

— Kurt Benkert (@KurtBenkert) December 2, 2021

Jim Ryan

I am incredibly grateful to my friend Coach Bronco Mendenhall for his six seasons with UVA football. Coach Mendenhall is a leader both on and off the field, inspiring our community with a commitment to student athlete development that is as strong as his passion for winning.

— Jim Ryan (@presjimryan) December 3, 2021

Is Dex Next? Poindexter is a natural favorite to become Virginia’s next head football coach

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Former Virginia safety Anthony Poindexter was named to the College Football Hall of Fame’s 2020 class. (Photo: UVA Media Relations)

Now that Bronco Mendenhall has stepped down as Virginia’s head football coach, where does athletics director Carla Williams go next?

The natural candidate for the job is former Virginia All-American Anthony Poindexter, who is in his first year as co-defensive coordinator at Penn State. Poindexter’s co-coordinator, Brent Pry, was just named Virginia Tech’s head coach.

According to sources close to the UVA football program, Mendenhall offered Poindexter the Cavaliers’ defensive coordinator position on Wednesday, but Poindexter had not responded by the time Mendenhall announced his resignation Thursday afternoon.

Poindexter, a legend and a fan favorite since he played at Virginia from 1995 to 1998, would be an overwhelming favorite from Wahoo Nation. The Lynchburg native’s No. 3 jersey is retired at UVA, where he carved his name in Wahoo annals for his goal-line stop of Florida State running back Warrick Dunn as Virginia halted the Seminoles’ 29-game unbeaten dominance of the ACC in 1995.

Poindexter will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame this month and the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame this spring.

After a brief NFL career, Poindexter joined Al Groh’s staff as a graduate assistant in 2003 and remained on the staff until Groh stepped down. Successor Mike London kept Poindexter on his staff until Poindexter left to become defensive coordinator at Connecticut, meaning he was on successive UVA staffs for a total of 11 seasons.

Poindexter left UConn to become defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Purdue before taking the same position at Penn State this past season. This is his 19th year in coaching.

Seven of those seasons Poindexter served as either defensive coordinator or co-defensive coordinator.

His first season at Purdue, Poindexter led the defense to a 17.7 point improvement in scoring defense, from 38.2 points per game to 20.5.

During Virginia’s 2011 season, when the Cavaliers faced Auburn in the Peach Bowl, UVA’s opponents completed only 53.7 percent of their passes, the second-lowest in the ACC. Rodney McLeod, who went on to star in the NFL, led that team with four interceptions. In 2009, Virginia’s secondary helped the defense to finish fourth in the ACC and 21st nationally in pass defense.

Poindexter was a fierce hitter who punished runners and receivers. A consensus All-American in 1998, he was also the ACC’s Defensive Player of the Year that season.

Williams may open up the search nationally, but there’s no question that Poindexter would be welcomed back with open arms by UVA alumni.

Mendenhall steps down as Virginia’s head football coach

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Photo: UVA Athletics

Bronco Mendenhall, who guided Virginia’s football program for the past six years, shocked Wahoo Nation on Thursday afternoon when he announced he was stepping down.

Mendenhall, who led the Cavaliers to a 36-38 record, including 6-6 this season, will coach UVA through its bowl game. This will be the fifth straight year that Virginia has been bowl eligible.

In an unusually long virtual press conference this afternoon, Mendenhall said his decision started Sunday and continued through Thursday. He met with his coaching staff at 4:45 and his team at 5 p.m. today before meeting with media.

Most of his staff followed Mendenhall from BYU to UVA, and so his announcement was emotional.

“Tears, shock, sadness, disbelief,” Mendenhall said of the meeting. “It’s going to take time to process.”

Mendenhall said the past month, which consisted of four straight losses, including a gut-wrenching loss to rival Virginia Tech last Saturday, did not influence his decision, but rather reevaluating his life, which he does after each season.

“I’ve been a head coach for 17 years in a row, and 31 years straight of football,” Mendenhall said. “I’ve been married to Holly for 25 years.”

The coach said it was time to pause and decide what’s next.

“Holly is stunned and shocked, too,” Mendenhall said. 

“Clearly this week was a sense of clarity to me, to step back from college football and reassess.”

Mendenhall said that both UVA president Jim Ryan and athletic director Carla Williams asked him to stay.

In a written statement, Williams talked about working with Mendenhall the past few years.

“It has been a privilege to have Bronco Mendenhall direct the Virginia football team over the past six seasons,” Williams said. “He has done an exceptional job of not just transforming the program, but elevating the expectations of 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 guided UVA to its first and only ACC Coastal Division title in 2019, a spot in the ACC Championship game and into the Orange Bowl.

More coming up, including where does UVA go next?

QB Armstead enters the transfer portal

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Iraken Armstead (Photo: UVA Athletics)

It comes as absolutely no surprise that Virginia third-team quarterback Ira Armstead has entered the transfer portal.

With true freshman Jay Woolfolk coming on strong during practices throughout the season and establishing himself as the backup to starter Brennan Armstrong, there was nowhere for Armstead, a redshirt freshman, to go.

The telling story about Armstead, a dual-threat quarterback from South Bend, Ind., was he lacked as a passer. Playing in nine games this season, he didn’t complete a pass, attempting only two. It seemed that when Armstead dropped back to pass, if the first option wasn’t available, he would tuck it and run. He did have 54 yards rushing in his brief appearances as quarterback.

Virginia has also recruited around him, adding two quarterback commitments to the 2022 signing class, including Liberty Christian QB Davis Lane (Lynchburg) and speedy QB Delaney Crawford from Corona, Calif. In fact, Crawford committed to UVA on Monday. The Cavaliers also have Jacob Rodriguez, a freshman from Texas, who is a dual-threat QB. Rodriguez played some receiving roles this season in order to get on the field.

It was clear that when Brennan Armstrong was injured or came out of games for various reasons, that Woolfolk was Virginia’s guy. Bronco Mendenhall essentially anointed Woolfolk as the Cavaliers’ future quarterback.

Armstead played in four games in 2020 before an injury ended his season in the Miami game.

Four players have now entered the transfer portal, including Tenyeh Dixon (cornerback), Jesiah Davis (receiver) and Jairus Satiu (linebacker).

Eight Cavaliers recognized on All-ACC Team

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks and tight end Jelani Woods each earned first team All-ACC honors while Keytaon Thompson, Olusegun Oluwatimi and Nick Jackson were listed on the second team. Quarterback Brennan Armstrong and Billy Kemp IV received third team nods and Bobby Haskins was an honorable mention.

First Team All-ACC

• WR – Dontayvion Wicks
• TE – Jelani Woods

Second Team All-ACC

• AP – Keytaon Thompson
• C – Olusegun Oluwatimi
• LB – Nick Jackson

Third Team All-ACC

• QB – Brennan Armstrong
• WR – Billy Kemp

Honorable Mention

• OT – Bobby Haskins

Five of the eight All-ACC honorees were recognized for the first time in their careers. Jackson, the lone preseason All-ACC selection for UVA, has now earned back-to-back all-conference honors. Kemp was an honorable mention last season and Oluwatimi was an honorable mention in 2019.

The seven selections between the first, second and third teams are the most under head coach Bronco Mendenhall and the most since the 2014 season.

Wicks hauled in 57 passes for 1,203 yards and nine touchdowns over 12 games for the Cavaliers. He broke Herman Moore’s single-season receiving record, becoming Virginia’s first wideout to eclipse 1,200 yards receiving in one season. His 21.1 yards per reception is the highest among ACC receivers and the fifth-highest in the country. He was named the ACC wide receiver of the week in consecutive weeks beginning on Oct. 18, the first UVA wide receiver to win back-to-back weekly awards since 1990 (Herman Moore).

Woods is the first UVA tight end to receive a first team nod since 2008. A transfer from Oklahoma State, Woods made an immediate impact on UVA’s offense. His eight touchdowns were the most by an ACC tight end and tied for the fourth most of any tight end in the country. He is one score shy of tying UVA’s single-season touchdown mark by a TE set by Heath Miller in 2002. Woods totaled 598 yards on 44 catches after seeing action in 11 of UVA’s 12 games. His 598 yards led all ACC tight ends and is the third most by a tight end in program history.

From his “football player” position, Thompson led the Cavaliers in receptions with 78 and accumulated 990 yards receiving, 10 yards shy of becoming UVA’s sixth 1,000-yard receiver in program history. In addition, Thompson rushed for 247 yards on 39 carries and found the end zone four times. He is rated by Pro Football Focus as the “most elusive” player in the nation for any offensive player with at least 30 rushes and 50 receptions this season.

Oluwatimi has started every game this season and 32-straight dating back to the 2019 season. Included on the Rimington Award watch list, Oluwatimi has seen action on 910 snaps this season, the most of any ACC center. According to pro football focus, he is rated the No. 2 center in the nation in run blocking (tops in the ACC). He was recognized as the ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week on Sept. 13 after UVA’s 42-14 win over Illinois.

Jackson is the ACC’s top tackler with a league-best, 117 (54 solo, 63 assisted) stops in 2021. A UVA linebacker has been listed on the first, second or third team every season since 2014. Jackson has recorded double-digit tackles in seven games this season, including five of the eight ACC contests this season. He matched a career-high with 16 tackles against BYU, the fourth highest total of any ACC linebacker this season.

Armstrong assaulted the UVA record books setting the program’s single season marks for passing yards (4,449), total offense (4,700) and passing touchdowns (31). His 4,449 passing yards are the second-most in the country and the fourth most in ACC history (144 yards shy of the ACC single season record). He is averaging 404.5 yards per game, no ACC quarterback has ever averaged more than 348 yards per game in a year. His 427.3 yards of total offense per game is tops in the country. He was been named ACC Quarterback of the Week four times in 2021.

Kemp set new career highs in catches (74), receiving yards (725) and touchdowns (6) in 2021. The 74 catches (4th-most) and six touchdowns (T-5th most) rank in the top-five in the ACC. He has caught a pass in 27-straight games dating back to 2019 and ranks fourth all-time on UVA’s career receptions list with 176.

Haskins was honored for the first time in his career after appearing in 10 games at left tackle. The senior started the final seven games of the season and saw action in a total of 654 snaps in 2021. Haskins was part of a UVA offensive front that helped the Cavaliers average 515.8 yards of total offense, the most in the ACC and the third most in the nation.