SALT LAKE CITY – Former BYU and current Virginia head football coach Bronco Mendenhall announced that he will step down as the Cavaliers’ coach following the bowl season.

Mendenhall, 55, announced the move on Thursday, December 2.

“I would love to say there’s been this buildup and a long amount of epiphanies and thought, but clearly this week there was a sense of clarity to me that I needed to step back from college football and reassess, renew, reframe and reinvent — with my wife as a partner — our future and the next chapter of our lives,” Mendenhall said in a press conference. “I was requested to stay by our athletic director. I was requested to stay by our president. It’s my decision only.”

“It has been a privilege to have Bronco Mendenhall direct the Virginia football team over the past six seasons,” Virginia athletic director Carla Williams said in a statement. “He has done an exceptional job of not just transforming the program, but elevating the expectations for the program. He has established the necessary foundation to propel our football team upward. He is more than a football coach and the impact he has had on these young men will be a positive influence for the rest of their lives.”

Thank you, Bronco Mendenhall!

🗒️ https://t.co/3ut5604EPl pic.twitter.com/i69dP1zDD8

— Virginia Cavaliers (@VirginiaSports) December 2, 2021

“In his own, understated way, he had a tremendous impact on our local community with the Thursday’s Heroes Program and with his encouragement of his players to be proactively involved in so many local community organizations,” Williams continued. “He is an amazing colleague to our other coaches and staff, always willing to help wherever it is needed. I have been blessed to have been able to work with him these last four years  and I wish he and Holly the very best in their next chapter.”

Mendenhall is not leaving UVA for another coaching job, according to The Action Network’s Brett McMurphy.

In six seasons with Virginia, Mendenhall led the Cavaliers to a 36-38 record. Virginia is 6-6 this season. The Cavaliers are 1-2 in bowl games under Mendenhall.

Here’s @UVAFootball coach Bronco Mendenhall explaining why he is stepping down. pic.twitter.com/ixHuER8tNc

— Natalie Kalibat (@NatalieKalibat) December 2, 2021

Before getting hired by UVA in 2015, Mendenhall served as BYU’s head coach from 2005-15. Mendenhall was hired as head coach for the first time following a couple of seasons as the Cougars’ defensive coordinator. Mendenhall had a 99-43 record as BYU’s head coach, including 6-5 in bowl games.

Mendenhall and the Cavaliers traveled to Provo, Utah in October and suffered a 66-49 loss to the Cougars. It was Mendenhall’s first trip back to BYU as a head coach of another program.

BYU is currently slated to travel to UVA during the 2023 season. Virginia is set to return to Provo in 2025.

Mendenhall owns a 135-81 record as an FBS head coach.

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