Bronco Mendenhall will always remember the whistle. Not a coaching whistle, mind you, one of the tools of his trade. Rather a distinct, shrill reverberation that pierced the air of stadiums from little league football to LaVell Edwards Stadium at BYU.

Virginia will be looking for its fifth straight victory against ACC Coastal Division rival Duke when the teams square off at Scott Stadium in October.

Miami hasn’t won a conference title in football since taking the Big East crown in 2003. The Hurricanes likely won’t end that streak this season in the ACC, but new head coach Manny Diaz vows that things will be different at “The U.”

Hopefully in September, I’ll get to fulfill a bucket-list item, in covering a game at Notre Dame when Virginia makes its first visit ever to South Bend for a showdown with the Irish.

For a football program that has only been resurrected for a decade, Old Dominion has come a long way. Head coach Bobby Wilder built the program from scratch as far back as 2007, a full two seasons before his Monarchs would take the field.

When Jimbo Fisher took Texas A&M’s money and ran, Florida State fans managed to get excited after Willie Taggart was named the new Seminoles’ coach.

UVA/NFL great Chris Long joins “The Jerry Ratcliffe Show” this week to share memories from his career and his excitement for UVA’s coming season. Also on the show: Cavalier RB PK Kier discusses how Jordan Ellis’ work ethic rubbed off on him, and Hootie joins Dr. David Diduch from UVA Orthopedics to touch on a number of topics.

There will be a familiar face occupying the opposing sideline at Scott Stadium in the home opener on Sept. 6, as first-year William & Mary head coach Mike London prepares his new team for battle.

Seconds after Jordan Mack’s mighty swing of the sledgehammer crushed the target on a sunny Charlottesville morning, the senior linebacker turned to his Virginia teammates surrounding him and shouted, “Beat Pitt.”

Pat Narduzzi doesn’t remember his exact message to his team immediately following a 42-10 lashing by Clemson in the ACC Championship game last December, but it wasn’t as depressing as some Pitt fans may have expected.

We are celebrating our official one-year anniversary of JerryRatcliffe.com on Aug. 1, and we want to thank all of those who have supported us via sponsorship of the site and readership.

For a couple of days in Charlotte last week at the ACC Football Kickoff event, Virginia’s Bryce Perkins was living the life of a gridiron king.