Bronco Mendenhall is headed back to Utah State.
According to multiple messagesformer BYU coach slated to be Utah State’s next coach. Mendenhall spent the 2024 season as the head coach at New Mexico after spending the 2022 and 2023 seasons away from college football.
Utah State was in need of a head coach after the chaotic departure of Blake Anderson just before the start of the 2024 season. Anderson was officially fired in July, two weeks after the school put him on leave. Anderson was disciplined for allegedly trying to personally investigate allegations of domestic violence against an Aggies player.
“You were most prominently involved in investigative efforts related to domestic violence arrests, including meeting and gathering written statements from the potential victim and other witness,” Anderson’s termination letter states. “You took these steps after your arrest and during the criminal investigation.”
The Aggies went 4-8 in 2024 under interim coach Nate Dreiling. The former New Mexico State defensive coordinator was hired by Anderson before the 2024 season and promoted to coach after Anderson was fired.
Mendenhall, 58, coached at BYU for 11 seasons from 2005 to 2015. The Cougars went to a bowl game in each of his seasons with the team and went 99-43 during his tenure with five seasons of 10 or more wins. . Mendenhall left BYU after the 2015 season for Virginia, where he led the Cavaliers for six seasons.
Virginia went 9-5 in 2019, three years after going 2-10 in Mendenhall’s first season. The Cavaliers have won 16 games over the past three seasons and he is out after the 2021 season.
New Mexico was 5-7 in 2024 after going 4-8 in Danny Gonzales’ final season in 2023. Mendenhall’s departure is one of many at New Mexico heading into 2025. The school’s offensive coordinator, Jason Beck, has been announced as Utah’s new offensive coordinator. on Thursday. And when Beck’s move was announced, New Mexico quarterback Devon Dampier said he was entering the transfer window.
Dampier was one of the most underrated players in college football in 2024. The sophomore was 226 of 390 passing for 2,768 yards and 12 TDs and 12 interceptions while rushing 155 times for 1,166 yards and 19 TDs. Only Army’s Bryson Daily and Jacksonville State’s Tyler Huff had more rushing yards among quarterbacks, and Huff and Dampier were the only two QBs in college football to throw for at least 2,000 yards and rush for at least 1,000.