Cavalier Corner

but also sincerely excited that we're here and they're anxious to help in any way possible." The Wahoos brought the former BYU head coach to the East Coast in early December because in ad- dition to his 99-43 record in Provo, Mendenhall took a program that was 14-21 in the three years before his arrival to a bowl game in each of his 11 seasons as the head coach. In agreeing to a five-year contract that will pay him $3.2 million annually, Mendenhall takes over following a rough stretch for Virginia football. And he says that in the relatively short amount of time since his introductory press conference, he's been able to sense a growing excitement among both fans and players alike. "There's a huge opportunity to make a differ- ence, which invigorates me," Mendenhall said. "With that opportunity comes real distinct and sincere challenges that are in the way." Once he accepted the job at UVA, Mendenhall went about bringing in his assistant coaches. His staff is filled with those who coached with him at BYU, including both Robert Anae, who will serve as the offensive coordinator, and Nick Howell, BYU's defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach who will oversee Virginia's secondary. But Mendenhall made two other key additions, keeping wide receivers coach Marques Hagans on in that same capacity and, in perhaps the biggest coup of the coaching season, bringing in former ECU head coach Ruffin McNeill to coach the team's inside linebackers and be his assistant head coach. The time after the holidays, just before the dead period in recruiting ended on Jan. 13, was when the true rubber began to meet the road. "Literally once my staff showed up," Mendenhall said, "it felt like that was the 'true beginning' of this era of Virginia football. So many had come from BYU with me and it allowed us to really hit the ground running, to become better and faster than we would have been with having to get to know each other the way a brand new staff normally would. "When my staff arrived, we started to gain mo- mentum instantly," he added. "We've all been work- BRONCO MENDENHALL BY THE NUMBERS 99-43 overall record in Mendenhall's 11 seasons as head coach at BYU, which ranks him 12th in total wins among all Football Bowl Subdivision teams during that time. 10th is Mendenhall's ranking among all active coaches in winning percentage (.697) with at least 10 years of FBS experience, and he is 13th among active coaches with at least five years of experience. 3 previous hires in ACC football history featured coaches with more FBS wins then Mendenhall's 99 — Mark Richt (145) at Miami, Bill Dooley (132) at Wake Forest and Paul Johnson (107) at Georgia Tech. 11 programs have advanced to a bowl game each of the past 11 seasons (includes 2015) — Mendenhall's BYU program, plus Alabama, Boise State, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Oklahoma, Oregon, Virginia Tech and Wisconsin. Among those schools, only Florida State has achieved more bowl wins (seven) than BYU (six). 60 players coached by Mendenhall have signed with NFL teams. 39 BYU players earned selection to the National Football Foundation Hampshire Honor Society (recognizing starters and significant contributors finishing their eligibility with a 3.2 GPA or better over their college career) since the program began in 2007, the most among all FBS programs. All told, BYU was tied for seventh among all FBS programs for the most Academic All-America citations over the past decade.

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