Is Bronco Mendenhall leaving Virginia for Oklahoma?
With college football coach Bronco Mendenhall leaving the Virginia Cavaliers, some CFB fans believe the capable coach could fill the role at Oklahoma.
Bronco Mendenhall delivered another shock to the college football coaching world as the Virginia Cavaliers head coach announced his resignation on Thursday.
While that leaves a big vacancy in Charlottesville that must now be filled, the fact of the matter is that there are bigger head coaching searched going on throughout the country. Most notably, the Oklahoma Sooners remain in need of a replacement for Lincoln Riley.
And with a proven veteran like Mendenhall now no longer at Virginia, some fans wondered if that meant he was preparing for a move to Norman.
Bronco Mendenhall leaving Virginia: Is it to take the Oklahoma job?
While Mendenhall is the kind of measured coach Sooners fans would like to see leading the program, it’s almost certain that Mendenhall is not considering moving to Oklahoma to continue his collegiate coaching career.
It sucks to lose a CFB coach who leaves his post based on these principles especially after all that we’ve witnessed this week when the main reasoning for leaving, regardless of how it was presented, was greed. Bronco Mendenhall is exactly the type of coach CFB needs more of. https://t.co/DYUfI5lQQy
— Julian Council (@JulianCouncil) December 2, 2021
Even though Mendenhall is only 55 years old, the longtime college football coach said he needs to “step back from college football”, clarifying that this is “100 percent my choice.”
#UVA football coach Bronco Mendenhall says "31 years of straight football." He and Holly celebrate 25th wedding anniversary this year.
— Mike Barber (@RTD_MikeBarber) December 2, 2021
"I need to step back from college football."
Says Carla Williams and President Jim Ryan asked him to stay. "This is 100% my choice."
Brett McMurphy reiterated the fact that Mendenhall is leaving Virginia, but not for a different job.
Bronco Mendenhall has resigned at Virginia. Mendenhall, who turns 56 in February, is not leaving for another job, source told @ActionNetworkHQ
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) December 2, 2021
Mendenhall, who has been the head coach at Virginia since 2016, began his collegiate coaching career in 1989 at Oregon State. Mendenhall worked as a defensive coach in several capacities at six different universities before he joined the BYU staff in 2003. In 2005, he was named the head coach at BYU, where he remained until 2015.
While Mendenhall will certainly be missed by all across the college football landscape, it seems he will be opting for retirement — or at least a hiatus — instead of continuing on for decades to come, at Virginia, Oklahoma, or otherwise.
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