Virginia announces coach Bronco Mendenhall is stepping down

After Virginia plays in its bowl game, Cavaliers coach Bronco Mendenhall will step down, the school announced Thursday. The move is reportedly not health-related.

Mendenhall, who’s wrapping up his sixth season at Virginia, has been a college coach since 1989, working his way up from Oregon State graduate assistant to his first head coach job at BYU in 2005. He took Virginia to a 36-38 record since taking over in 2016, including five straight bowl appearances.

Virginia athletic director Carla Williams released a lengthy statement about Mendenhall’s time in Charlottesville and wished him the best as he moves on.

“It has been a privilege to have Bronco Mendenhall direct the Virginia football team over the past six seasons,” Virginia athletics director Carla Williams said in a statement. “He has done an exceptional job of not just transforming the program, but elevating the expectations for 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. 

“In his own, understated way, he had a tremendous impact on our local community with the Thursday’s Heroes Program and with his encouragement of his players to be proactively involved in so many local community organizations. He is an amazing colleague to our other coaches and staff, always willing to help wherever it is needed. I have been blessed to have been able to work with him these last four years and I wish he and Holly the very best in their next chapter.”

Mendenhall will coach in Virginia’s bowl game, which is to be decided Dec. 5. He has a 135-81 record in his 17 years as a head coach, including a 99-43 record with BYU from 2005-15. He also has seven bowl victories to his name and will search for his eighth this year.

Virginia in 2021

Virginia went 6-6 overall this year behind one of the strongest passing offenses in the country. The Cavaliers average 392.6 yards per game in the air, which ranks second in the nation behind Western Kentucky.

Quarterback Brennan Armstrong is a huge part of that success, averaging 404.5 yards per game — second only to Western Kentucky’s Bailey Zappe in the FBS. Armstrong’s biggest game of the year came against North Carolina on Sept. 18 when he threw for 554 yards and four touchdowns as Virginia fell to the Tar Heels 59-39.

The Cavaliers wrapped up the regular season last week against Virginia Tech, a 29-24 loss at home.