Former Virginia and BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall was a prime candidate for finding a new job this offseason. It turns out that Mendenhall doesn’t have to wait long for that to come to fruition. News emerged on Tuesday that New Mexico is targeting Mendenhall, who went to 11 straight bowls at BYU and led Virginia to the Orange Bowl in 2019, as their next head coach.
ESPN college football insider Pete Thamel reported the news of Mendenhall’s imminent hire at New Mexico.
Thamel reported the news on X, the popular website formerly known as Twitter.
Sources: New Mexico is targeting Bronco Mendenhall, the former coach at Virginia and BYU, as the school’s next head coach. Mendenhall went to 11-straight bowls at BYU and led Virginia to the Orange Bowl in 2019. pic.twitter.com/PHwNkHfosa
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 5, 2023
“Mendenhall has a career record of 135-81 in 17 seasons as a head coach,” Thamel said. “He was a former New Mexico assistant coach from 1998 to 2002. A deal is expected to come together in the near future.”
Mendenhall is a strong hire for New Mexico, assuming both sides agree. The Lobos recently moved on from Danny Gonzales, who never won more than four games over four seasons. The program went 11-32 under Gonzales with a 5-26 record in Mountain West Conference play.
Gonzales was fired after a 4-8 record to end the 2023 season, culminating in a 44-41 loss to Utah State.
After another season’s failure, Gonzales’ services were no longer needed. We’ll see how Mendenall transitions back to head coaching, as the 57-year-old has been out of college football for the past two seasons after stepping down from his position at Virginia.
