New Mexico is set to hire Bronco Mendenhall as its next head coach, ESPN's Pete Thamel reported Tuesday.
Sources told FootballScoop that UNM AD Eddie Nunez conducted an extensive search, speaking to a large number of candidates, with an emphasis on previous head coaching experience. Mendenhall was a factor from the start, and now looks like the last man standing at the end.
Mendenhall began campaigning for a return last year. "I would argue there's not a more prepared, rested, and focused head coach on Earth in Power 5 than I am right now," Mendenhall told ESPN. "All that's happened is solidifying my true intent, which is delivering, I think, really, really strong results, especially to rebuilding programs. BYU was struggling when I inherited that program and we won for a long time. UVa, that was a struggling program when we started, and five bowl-eligible seasons in six years hadn't been done in like 22 years."
The 57-year-old has spent almost his entire career out West. Best known for his 99-43 run from 2005-15 at BYU, Mendenhall played at Snow College and Oregon State, and brings previous experience at UNM, serving the Lobos' defensive coordinator under head coach Rocky Long from 1998-02.
Mendenhall won back-to-back Mountain West titles at BYU in 2006-07, and also guided the Cougars out of the MW and into independence. He left after the 2015 season for a new challenge at Virginia, where in six seasons he saw the Cavaliers win an ACC Coastal championship and score their only Commonwealth Cup victory over Virginia Tech since 2003.
He takes over a Lobos program that has not enjoyed a winning season since 2016.
Rival New Mexico State used the same playbook Nunez utilized to perfection. Two years making Jerry Kill a head coach for the first time since 2015, the Aggies are prepping for their second straight bowl trip and stand at 10-3 after a C-USA Championship appearance. The Aggies had enjoyed just one winning season from 2003-21.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.