Marc Bronco Clay Mendenhall (born February 21, 1966) is an American college football coach who is the head coach at Utah State University (USU). He was previously the head coach at the University of New Mexico (UNM) for the 2024 season, the University of Virginia from 2016 to 2021, and Brigham Young University (BYU) from 2005 to 2015. He has a career record of 140 victories and 88 losses and has recorded fourteen postseason bowl game appearances with seven victories.
Mendenhall is known for his unorthodox methods and "Earned Not Given" motto, even having players earn their jersey numbers each season through a player-managed system intended to foster closer cooperation and peer recognition.Virginia Football Thoughts: Jersey Selection Musings, accessed November 13, 2019Earned Not Given: Jersey Selection a Boon for Virginia football team, accessed November 13, 2019 In 2019, Mendenhall became the first Virginia coach to bring both the Commonwealth Cup and Jefferson-Eppes Trophy to Charlottesville at the same time, and his Cavaliers also won the South's Oldest Rivalry in the same season. He took Virginia to the program's first Orange Bowl.
More than 60 of Mendenhall's players have been signed to NFL contracts since 2005, including Ezekiel Ansah, the #5 overall pick in the 2013 NFL draft.10 things to know about Bronco Mendenhall, accessed December 5, 2015 Mendenhall is also known for graduating his players, and his program ranked seventh for most Academic All-Americans during his tenure of over a decade.
Mendenhall comes from a notable football family. His father played defensive end for BYU in the 1950s, while Mendenhall himself played safety for Oregon State University (OSU), where he was named team captain his senior season. His brother, Mat Mendenhall, started at defensive end for the Super Bowl Champion Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVII.
Coaching career Early career Mendenhall graduated from Utah's American Fork High School in 1984. He earned degrees from Oregon State University (OSU): a bachelor's degree in physical education (1988), and a master's degree in exercise and sport science (1990).
In 1990, he served as a graduate assistant coach at Oregon State under head coach Dave Kragthorpe, for whom he had played. From 1991 to 1993, he was the defensive coordinator for Snow College, a junior college in Ephraim, Utah. From 1993 to 1994, he was the defensive coordinator for Northern Arizona University.
He returned to Oregon State in 1995 as the defensive line coach, and served as the defensive coordinator the following season. When head coach Jerry Pettibone was fired after the 1996 season, he was not retained by new head coach Mike Riley. In 1997, he served as the secondary coach at Louisiana Tech. From 1998 to 2002, he was the defensive coordinator for the University of New Mexico. He and head coach Rocky Long developed a blitz-happy 3-3-5 defensive scheme that produced NFL first-round draft pick Brian Urlacher, who played in New Mexico's "Loboback" position, a cross between a linebacker and safety.
BYU
Defensive coordinator In 2003, Mendenhall accepted the defensive coordinator position at BYU under head coach Gary Crowton. Crowton resigned at the end of the 2004 season, after his 3rd consecutive losing season. The BYU head coach position was first offered to former Cougar linebacker and then-defensive coordinator at the University of Utah, Kyle Whittingham, which resulted in Mendenhall calling UNLV head coach, Mike Sanford, about the defensive coordinator opening on his staff. Mendenhall and his wife, Holly, were prepared to tell their sons about the move to UNLV when Whittingham rejected the offer from BYU and accepted the head coaching job at Utah as Urban Meyer's replacement. BYU players had been upset that Mendenhall had not been offered the job. In response, BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe interviewed Mendenhall first in the re-opened search. Two weeks later, Mendenhall was named BYU's head coach.
Head coach
2005 season In 2005, his first year at the helm, the Cougars finished the regular season with a 6–6 record. Mendenhall switched back to the traditional uniforms with the Y logo on the helmets, which were worn by the most successful BYU teams. Quarterback John Beck, tight end Jonny Harline, and running back Curtis Brown led an offensive attack that was BYU's most potent since 2001, averaging 33.0 points per game (second in the Mountain West Conference (MWC) and 24th in the nation) and 462.4 yards of total offense per game. BYU tied for second in the MWC and appeared in the Las Vegas Bowl, their first bowl game since 2001, falling to California, 35–28.
2006 season In 2006, BYU posted its best record in five seasons. It knocked off 10 straight opponents over the final three months, registered a perfect 6–0 home record, and finished 11–2. The Cougars tallied a perfect clip against league opponents to win the MWC championship, winning on the final play of the game at Utah. They decisively defeated Oregon, 38–8, in the Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas Bowl. BYU was ranked in the top-20 in the final Associated Press, USA Today, and Harris Interactive polls, and finished 15th in the final BCS rankings. Mendenhall was named MWC and AFCA Region 5 Coach of the Year.
2007 season Mendenhall and the Cougars repeated as MWC champions in 2007 behind another perfect 8-0 conference season and 11–2 final record. They finished the season ranked No. 14 in both the Associated Press and USA Today polls, BYU's highest finish in the national polls since 1996. To complement their 16-game conference win streak, the Cougars boasted the nation's longest overall winning streak at 10 games. BYU reached its third consecutive Las Vegas Bowl, again winning in dramatic fashion after blocking UCLA's last second field goal to preserve a 17–16 victory. En route, Mendenhall became the first coach in school history to lead the Cougars to two consecutive bowl game victories in his first three years as head coach. A defensive specialist, Mendenhall helped BYU finish as the nation's 10th-ranked defense.
2008 season In 2008, BYU finished 10–3 overall and 6–2 in the MWC to achieve three straight 10-win seasons and become the first teams in Cougar history to go unbeaten at home over three consecutive seasons. BYU earned a spot in the national polls each week during the season, including a ranking as high as No. 7. Mendenhall led BYU to a third-place finish in the MWC at 6–2 and yet another bowl berth in Las Vegas where the team lost 31–21 to Arizona. BYU became one of only nine schools nationally to be ranked in the top 25 of the final BCS standings each of the past three seasons, with only five teams winning more games than the Cougars over that time span. While stressing the need for balance in life, Mendenhall began a string of Academic All-Americans at BYU in 2008 as three Cougars—Matt Bauman, Kellen Fowler, and David Oswald—were named ESPN the Magazine Academic All-Americans, a program record.
Junior wide receiver Austin Collie was named to six different All-America teams, including first-team All-America from CBSSports.com and second-team from The Associated Press. Collie led the nation in total receiving yards and receiving yards per game. He set the BYU single-season record of 1,538 receiving yards. Future NFL players Max Hall and Dennis Pitta were also among the top players in the nation at their respective positions.
2009 season BYU recorded an 11–2 record and 7–1 league mark in 2009. Mendenhall's team went 3–1 against ranked opponents, including a 14–13 season-opening win over No. 3 Oklahoma, a dramatic overtime win over No. 19 Utah and a 44–20 Maaco Bowl Las Vegas victory over No. 16 Oregon State. BYU finished No. 12 in the final 2009 polls earning the distinction of being one of only six programs nationally to be ranked in both final polls for four straight seasons. Individually, senior tight end Dennis Pitta earned Consensus All-America honors while setting the NCAA record for most career receiving yards by a tight end (2,901) and breaking Austin Collie's school record for career receptions (221). Scott Johnson and Matt Bauman gave BYU multiple Academic All-Americans again while future NFL running back Harvey Unga became the school's all-time leading rusher with his third-straight 1,000-yard season.
2010 season After losing BYU's winningest quarterback (Max Hall), all-time leading rusher (Harvey Unga), and consensus All-American tight end (Dennis Pitta), Mendenhall started the 2010 season 2–5 after playing six games against eventual bowl-bound teams. Mendenhall fired defensive coordinator Jaime Hill and took over defensive duties as the coordinator, resuming the position he held after originally joining BYU as an assistant coach. The change ignited the Cougar defense and the rest of the squad as BYU bounced back to finish the year winning five of its last six to place third in the MWC and earn the program's sixth-straight bowl invitation. BYU earned a 52–24 win over UTEP in the New Mexico Bowl. Junior Bryan Kariya was named an Academic All-American, the only FBS running back to earn the honor.
On September 1, 2010, BYU also announced that the university's football program would become independent beginning with the 2011 season. Concurrently, BYU signed an eight-year contract with ESPN. Before the 2011 season, Mendenhall filled the departure of offensive coordinator Robert Anae by promoting quarterbacks coach Brandon Doman to offensive coordinator. He also named former Cougar and NFL player Kelly Poppinga to a permanent position on the defensive staff as outside linebackers coach. A few days later, Mendenhall hired Joe DuPaix as BYU's running backs coach and recruiting coordinator. Finally, he added former BYU and Canadian Football League wide receiver Ben Cahoon as the wide receivers coach.
2011 season At BYU's first-ever Media Day, Mendenhall announced that he had signed a three-year contract extension that would take him through the 2013 season but hinted that coaching BYU may not be his football calling forever. According to Mendenhall, "BYU wanted to make it longer term than that. I want to be worthy of the position I have and I'm going to give it everything I have for those three (years). I'm not saying I won't go farther than that. I hope that's reported. It's not three and done. But I'm willing to lead the charge through independence, then re-evaluate."
Embarking on its first season playing as an independent, BYU finished the 2011 season, Mendenhall's seventh as head coach, with its fifth 10-win season (10–3) in the last six years, seventh straight bowl invitation and third-straight bowl win. The Cougars defeated Tulsa in a 24–21 come-from-behind victory in the Armed Forces Bowl and earned a No. 25 final ranking in USA Today Coaches Poll. After another slow start to the season, Riley Nelson was named the starting quarterback after leading Cougars to a 27–24 victory vs. USU in the fifth game of the year, helping BYU win nine of its last 10 games.
2012 season In 2012, BYU had an 8–5 season—including a Poinsettia Bowl victory over former MWC rival San Diego State—and Holmoe announced Mendenhall had extended his contract through the 2016 season. Said Mendenhall: "BYU is a special place and this is a special time. I'm excited to build on the success of our program over [the] past eight years, and I think there's much more that we can accomplish at BYU."BYU, Bronco Mendenhall agree to contract extension through 2016 season: http://byucougars.com/m-football/byu-bronco-mendenhall-agree-contract-extension-through-2016-season Prior to the 2013 season, Mendenhall re-hired Robert Anae as the offensive coordinator and also turned over the defense to secondary coach Nick Howell.
2013 season