SINKRATZ
PhD in Analogy
?? Not at UVA, or are you talking about someone else?
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Bronco Mendenhall - Former HC at UVA & BYU
- Thread starter Buffnik
- Start date
Bowl eligible 5 straight times. They didn’t accept an invitation in 2020 and not sure what happened in 2021
Edit: Covid issues in 2021 and withdrew
They were actually bowl eligible in 5 straight seasons. They forewent a bowl in 2020 due to concerns over COVID and had to cancel their appearance in the 2021 Fenway Bowl due to a COVID outbreak on the team.
SINKRATZ
PhD in Analogy
Thanks. According to Wiki they were going to play in the Fenway Bowl but withdrew because the team had COVID issues and the bowl was canceled.
ahoelsken
Well-Known Member
I think its going to be Bronco. This thing needs to be rebuilt totally. He's shown at both BYU and Virginia he can do that.
I think your point's also fair-He's never won big. Even the year he won the ACC Coastal at UVA......they got their asses kicked in the CCG by Clemson if memory serves.
I am much more excited about this hire than most people it seems. I get that some are worried about the ceiling. I don’t share that concern.
but I do have to say, we have made it to how many bowls in the last 2 decades? How many conf championships have we won? We don’t need to accept being mediocre but we first need to get a coach who can establish a program and a system. And right now, if we just made it to bowl games regularly, we would be really lucky. Or even more so, we need to be able to compete in a game on the field. We aren’t even competitive.
come on guys, we’re not 7-5 looking to turn the corner win the conference title. We’re 1-11 soon and a lonnnnnnggggggg way to go to get respectable. I for one will celebrate to have a Bronco lead us back to being a real team.
When is the last time we regularly planned to watch CU in a bowl game during the holidays? Bronco, if he’s the coach, is going to make us competitive again. Let’s see where we can go after that.
We all understand where we are as a program and we would all love CU to have the results the Bronco achieved at BYU and UVA, but there is a question of ceiling and the fact that it’s hard to fire a guy who is consistently winning 6-7 games each year, which this fan base will get tired of after 3-4 seasons of that and demand more.
I personally think it’s a good problem to have as long as you have an AD and Administration that is willing to make hard decisions in an attempt to try to compete at a higher level than that.
It's so seldom that I wouldn't support hiring a coach specifically because (checks notes)...his stupid face.
If I thought he was the best option, I'd overlook the fact he has a butthole chin.
That's me though.
SINKRATZ
PhD in Analogy
Not to keep picking at Bronco, but are we at all concerned about his coaching tree? On the one hand he’s had a remarkable amount of stability in his staff, but does he have varied enough coaching connections to find a great staff if his primary guys are unavailable? I tend to think there’s some value in new blood on a staff occasionally to bring in new ideas and freshen things up - particularly if coaches are getting promoted or hired as head coaches elsewhere, but Bronco seems to value familiarity and he doesn’t have a lot to point to when it comes to assistants moving on to bigger jobs.
Over a 17 year career as a head coach here are his coordinators:
OC:
Robert Anae (15 years) - currently OC at Syracuse
Brandon Doman (2 years) - never coached in college again
DC:
Nick Howell (9 years) - currently DC at Vandy
Jaime Hill (3 years) - HC in the Hungarian Football League
**Bronco served as his own DC for 5 seasons
So presumably if hired he goes back after Anae and Howell, but what if they aren’t available? Every one of those coordinators was LDS - does he have enough connections outside the LDS community to fill a quality staff? He was his own DC for 5 years!
Over a 17 year career as a head coach here are his coordinators:
OC:
Robert Anae (15 years) - currently OC at Syracuse
Brandon Doman (2 years) - never coached in college again
DC:
Nick Howell (9 years) - currently DC at Vandy
Jaime Hill (3 years) - HC in the Hungarian Football League
**Bronco served as his own DC for 5 seasons
So presumably if hired he goes back after Anae and Howell, but what if they aren’t available? Every one of those coordinators was LDS - does he have enough connections outside the LDS community to fill a quality staff? He was his own DC for 5 years!
There's a good chance, like what he did at UVA, that he would coach the defense himself initially to set the culture, system and style of play he expects before passing the torch. I actually like that (similar to what I'd want from an offensive coach if we hired one). It also frees up quite a bit of cash for assistant coach salaries if we don't have to allocate over $500k for a DC.
there's a flight tracker thread for this
lawdogg
Club Member
Interestingly he discussed this in one of his podcast episodes. He described part of his model for program development included what he called succession planning where he would identify players on his teams who might make good coaches and start grooming them for GA or analyst positions (guys like So’oto who played for Bronco and ended up coaching for him). The thought was if a position coach or coordinator took a job elsewhere there would already be a pool of guys familiar with the culture and system. That’s why I would expect Jason Beck to get the OC job if Anae stayed at Cuse. Not to say your concerns are invalid, but it is something he has at least a plan in place to address.
SINKRATZ
PhD in Analogy
I hate that idea - he doesn’t need to be running the defensive coaching meetings to set a culture. Most really good head coaches manage to set a culture without having to be their own coordinator. This program needs so much work that a HC trying to do 2 jobs sounds disastrous. And what does it say about his ability to recruit coaches?
Mike Leach never has an offensive coordinator. I'm sure there are others like him, but that's the first I thought of. He'll put a bunch of responsibility on a pass game coordinator and a run game coordinator, but the offense is his.
I don't see a problem if a defensive coach does the same. Especially if the plan is to pass the torch in 2-3 years with an internal promotion DC.
It's a valid point and something they'd have to address to see if it would work, but plenty of coaches are their own coordinators when they take over new programs. I would say more often than not actually, as most coaches are hired from the coordinator ranks and they are being hired because they designed a great offense/defense, coached up the QB or a specific position group really well, and were elite playcallers.
For example, if Grimes or Riley or Walters were the hire, would you really want anyone other than them being the playcallers/coordinators for their side of the ball in the first few years? I wouldn't.
ahoelsken
Well-Known Member
I don't think Anae is staying at Syracuse-They've lost four in a row since the 6-0 start. He's also 63 and he's from Hawaii. I'd have to think he would jump at the chance to work for Bronco again. Howell's at Vandy-He's a Utah native, and he's also coaching right now at the toughest place to have success in the power 5. I'd bet he comes if Bronco calls.....but Anae's a key hire if Bronco gets the job. He's one of the best OCs in the country.
I think y’all are really naive about the unique talent opportunities at BYU and UVA compared to Colorado.
DO IT FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! I don't care if it's Bronco or Herman. Pull the damn trigger, RG!
I think it works both ways.
A ton of LDS coaches and kids avoid BYU. Utah currently gets most of them, especially the west coasters.
UVA has a lot of the same struggles CU has, except it is much closer to big-time talent. But also far from their staffs historical recruiting base (Texas to Samoa)
But Bronco would know all about that having coached in Provo, UNM and at Oregon St.
True. Bronco is not a KD type candidate. I have every confidence in Bronco's ability to find his fanny with both hands and a flashlight. He might even change facial expressions while doing it.
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ahoelsken
Well-Known Member
Virginia is the type of school Dr. Phil and the other academic snobs in Boulder think CU is. I know they're close to DC-but don't kid yourself.....they can't go get whoever they want to play there.
I would be all over Hill as DC. We need some Hungarian flair on the defensive side of the ball. We could nick name the D the Black Goulash.
SINKRATZ
PhD in Analogy
Mike Leach is the only one I can think of who does this and he hasn’t won Jack s**t in his career. It’s one thing to be an offensive or defensive minded HC and calling the plays, it’s a whole other thing to not even hire a coordinator and save the money - that’s a terrible idea IMO.
I still question what that says about his ability to hire a staff - he’s only hired LDS coordinators, rarely had to replace anybody, and served as his own DC in 2 stints.
Goulash in a Box(state)!
SINKRATZ
PhD in Analogy
Play callers sure, coordinators no. It’s one of the reasons I’m really hesitant on Walters and Riley - we’re hiring a HC, not a coordinator. Can they do the job of a head coach or are we overpaying for a really good coordinator?
This program needs a complete rebuild and a HC also servicing as a coordinator would seems to detract from all the other responsibilities of a HC.
If the Leach resume is "hasn't won Jack sh*t", how do you defend every coach who also hasn't won Jack sh*t in his career while turning over both O & D to coordinators?
And this also begs the question of what exactly your expectations are for this hire since annual bowl games, often being ranked and the occasional conference title as a P5 HC don't seem to be a level of performance you respect?
SINKRATZ
PhD in Analogy
Using Leach as an example is like saying stars don’t matter because Phil Lindsay turned into a player. He’s an exception to the rule and there’s a reason nearly every other coach in the country employs actual coordinators.
Bronco’s teams have performed well, but if for some reason he doesn’t get the whole band back together and Anae and Howell aren’t available, what then? I think it’s fair to question his ability to hire a staff when he’s relied on such a narrow group of coaches the bulk of his career and his guys don’t generally move up in the coaching world.