At the end of last year’s football season, many people looked at the Virginia program with disappointment. Across the country in Provo, Utah, Bronco Mendenhall looked at it as something quite different — a challenge. Now the head coach of the Virginia football program, Mendenhall wants to bring new opportunities to his young players and hope to the program’s disheartened fanbase.
“I craved challenge and I craved hard things — I am drawn to those,” Mendenhall said, sitting on the sofa in his new office in the McCue Center. “I also [am] … drawn motivationally for the chance to make a difference.”
He found that chance at the University.
“When I considered the University of Virginia, it was like all of those things were in place,” he said. “And that, that captivated me. … I had to take the job. It wasn’t any longer optional, I felt that I had to be here.”
The new coach said that he started making changes the moment he stepped foot in Charlottesville to be announced as Mike London’s replacement.
“I watched the team and looked at them at the team meeting, and I thought they needed instant accountability and immediate discipline,” Mendenhall said. “It is the center pillar [of the program] — accountability, discipline and effort.”
Below these pillars for the program, which have been in place since day one, is the foundation of Mendenhall’s premise of “earn not given.” He wants each of his players to work to earn the honors of wearing their uniform and representing the Virginia football program on and off the field.
“They shouldn’t be entitled or expecting anything, other than to contribute with the ‘earn not given’ mentality through hard work,” he said.
Mendenhall says that one of his main goals is to rekindle his program’s connection to its fans who have lost hope over the past few years. For students and fans alike, he has one message — join the movement.
“When they have kids and grandkids, and U.Va. has a dominant football program, they can say, ‘You know, I was there,’” he said. “I would love them to be a part of an electric atmosphere. I think that [with] the simple message of ‘come join us,’ I think we can do something that hasn’t been done consistently here in a long time.”
One way fans, players and coaches alike are already engaging in this movement is with the hashtag #HoosRising, which Mendenhall thinks perfectly captures the trajectory of the program.
“When everyone heard it, it was like, ‘This is it!’ Because, really what it is talking about is each individual in our program rising, as a verb, collectively as a program, rising, program direction, rising,” he said. “And really, I would say, [it’s] a campaign and an invitation for anyone in the community, or even in the state, to link arms and take it almost as again an invitation to join up for helping us rise.”
There are still many challenges that lie in front of Mendenhall and his new team as they all get to know and learn from each other.
However, Mendenhall added, “As I am meeting this team, man, I would love them to have success. I would love them to feel loved, feel what it feels like to have a great education and a winning football team.”
He has high hopes for these Hoos rising up to the challenge by opening day come August.
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