Interesting Bronco article ...

In order to be lured away from BYU he had 3 requirements: "The program had to be “awful,” the program had to care about something other than football and he wanted to be in a Power 5 conference."



He used color coded t-shirts to motivate players: "When a program goes 15-33 over a 4-year span, a lot has to go wrong on the field, obviously. But the fix won’t, and can’t, come simply through improved recruiting, sharper Xs and Os and tougher practices. It takes more than that. You have to turn around the morale and the culture of the program.



To do that, Mendenhall and his staff installed a system where players would wear color-coded shirts that correspond to their standing in the program. Below average players wear white, average players wear gray, and rising from there to the top level, black."



I like this article ...

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/27706415/how-bronco-mendenhall-built-unlikely-winner-virginia

Edit the post

I do remember hearing Mendenhall say he was more into building a program than being a lifer somewhere and relished the challenge and opportunity that situation presented. It sounds like Virginia was a perfect spot for him to move to.

Fido wrote:

I do remember hearing Mendenhall say he was more into building a program than being a lifer somewhere and relished the challenge and opportunity that situation presented. It sounds like Virginia was a perfect spot for him to move to.

BYU is well on its way to becoming a candidate for his next turn-around project...

My DirectTv isn't carrying the UVA - ND game ... but with UVA up at the half it looks like Bronco's team is for real!

Notre Dame beat Virginia 35-20

Second half adjustments

Anae always struggled with 2nd half adjustments...

Well, if we take away the 2 scoop and score fumbles that Notre Dame got against Virginia, the score was actually 21-20...…….

Guys, that Virginia team doesn't even have the talent on it that BYU has right now and they were picked to win their division. What Bronco has done with that team in 4 years is amazing.

I really enjoyed the article. I like the idea of making these young men fight for their positions and earn what they get rather than just being given everything.

frdbtr wrote:

Guys, that Virginia team doesn't even have the talent on it that BYU has right now and they were picked to win their division. What Bronco has done with that team in 4 years is amazing.

Wait...are you saying Bronco can't recruit even with the advantage of being P5 in the ACC on the east coast? Because many have pointed out that Sitake's recruiting classes have been low the last few years. If we actually look at the numbers, Virginia has had recruiting classes in the 40s and 50s for the past 3 years while BYU's have been in the 70s. http://insider.espn.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/classrankings

And if you compare the stars, Virginia has picked up 5 4-star recruits in the past 3 years and BYU has signed 3. Sounds close until you realize Langi Tuifua retired last off-season due to neck injury and Jacob Conover is on a mission. That means only 1 4-star recruit from the past 3 years is active on BYU's team--Chaz Ah You, in his first year back from a mission from which he returned early due to health reasons.



HOW can you maintain that BYU has more talent than Virginia and it is the head coach making up the difference?????

Fido wrote:

Guys, that Virginia team doesn't even have the talent on it that BYU has right now and they were picked to win their division. What Bronco has done with that team in 4 years is amazing.

Wait...are you saying Bronco can't recruit even with the advantage of being P5 in the ACC on the east coast? Because many have pointed out that Sitake's recruiting classes have been low the last few years. If we actually look at the numbers, Virginia has had recruiting classes in the 40s and 50s for the past 3 years while BYU's have been in the 70s. http://insider.espn.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/classrankings

And if you compare the stars, Virginia has picked up 5 4-star recruits in the past 3 years and BYU has signed 3. Sounds close until you realize Langi Tuifua retired last off-season due to neck injury and Jacob Conover is on a mission. That means only 1 4-star recruit from the past 3 years is active on BYU's team--Chaz Ah You, in his first year back from a mission from which he returned early due to health reasons.



HOW can you maintain that BYU has more talent than Virginia and it is the head coach making up the difference?????

I'd like to see the recruiting rankings over the last 4 years for the two schools, but I think it's clear that Bronco was a better recruiter at BYU (evidenced by the class ranking dropping after he left). And my guess is that UVA has been better than BYU since then.



UVA had less motivated talent on the team when Bronco took over and a far more toxic culture, which takes time to change, but he's clearly doing that as it states in the article. I would say that UVA likely has more talent on the team now than BYU, but less maturity.

Yes Bronco was a better recruiter at BYU than Sitake, Yes Virginia has had better recruiting classes over the last 3 years but it takes longer than 3 years to change the overall talent level and culture of a program. We still have Bronco recruits coming home from missions. Virginia has had decades of poor recruiting that Bronco is still trying to recruit out of.

Virginia doesn't deal with the mission first problem so I don't see why in 3 years you wouldn't be rolling through a majority of your players in your program. Assuming not everyone uses a redshirt during their career, non-mission guys are in your program 5 years tops. With BYU missions and almost always getting a redshirt or grayshirt in there too, BYU players are around 7 years after HS graduation sometimes. Certainly not the norm at a school like Virginia.

Yes but you have to remember that his first recruiting class wasn't going to be great after a 2-10 season, then you have player development. It takes time to build ACC talent even without missions.