Bronco Mendenhall Named Virginia Head Coach

The Virginia Cavaliers announced that they have hired Bronco Mendenhall as their new head coach. Mendenhall, who has served as the head coach of BYU for the past 11 years, replaces Mike London, who resigned from his post in late November.

Continue for updates.

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Richt Reportedly Interviewed with Cavaliers

Wednesday, Dec. 2

Dave Hyde of the Sun-Sentinel reported that former Georgia head coach Mark Richt interviewed with Virginia on Wednesday.

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Mack Brown Reportedly Inserted Himself in Cavaliers' Search

Monday, Nov. 30

According to Bobby Burton of 247Sports (via 247Sports' Kevin Ryan), Brown was "absolutely interested" in taking over at Charlottesville.

"He knows the conference and what it takes to win there," Burton said. "And he's not a guy to cut corners on academics like a lot of coaches will."

Wahoos247's Jamie Oakes went on to speculate that while Brown would have been willing to take the job, Virginia's interest wasn't as strong.

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How Mendenhall Hiring Impacts Virginia

The Cavaliers found themselves a proven winner in Mendenhall. In the 11 years he coached at BYU, Mendenhall never had a losing record, finishing his career with the Cougars at 99-42.

The worst season Mendenhall had as a coach was his first year, going 6-6 and leading BYU to the Las Vegas Bowl. He's also gone 6-4 in bowl games and will coach the Cougars one last time in the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 19 at Sam Boyd Stadium, according to Jake Trotter of ESPN.

Virginia hasn't been to a bowl game since 2011 when it lost in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, the only postseason appearance under former head coach Mike London. The Cavaliers also haven't had back-to-back winning seasons since 2004-05 and haven't won 10 games in a year since 1989.

Not only did the Cavaliers find themselves a winning coach, but they also hope he can turn the program around and make them contenders in the ACC.