CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Virginia head football coach Bronco Mendenhall has agreed to a two-year contract extension through the 2024 football season, director of athletics Carla Williams announced today (May 30).



“We are excited about the direction of the Virginia football program under the guidance and leadership of Bronco Mendenhall,” Williams said. “He has done an exceptional job of establishing a culture of excellence on the field, in the community and in the classroom. He is driven to elevate Virginia Football to a championship standard in all areas and the Athletics Master Plan is evidence of our commitment to Coach Mendenhall, his staff and our student-athletes. I am excited about the future and we look forward to continued progress under his leadership.”



Mendenhall is entering his fourth season at Virginia after being named the program’s 40th head coach on Dec. 4, 2015. Mendenhall’s 14-year career coaching record stands at 115-65, including a 99-43 mark in 11 seasons at Brigham Young University and a 16-22 mark at UVA. He has led his teams to bowl appearances in 13 of 14 seasons. During his three years on Grounds, he has taken the Cavaliers from two to six to eight victories.



“Every day I stop and reflect on how truly blessed I am to be the football coach at a world-class university such as Virginia and to live in such a wonderful community,” Mendenhall said. “This is truly a privilege and one I hold in the highest regard. I want to thank Carla Williams, President Jim Ryan and this outstanding university for the support and willingness to believe in our vision for Virginia football. Most importantly, I want to thank the players for their commitment to the standards we have placed on them and to our football alumni for their support.



“I am proud of the progress our football program has made the past three seasons We still have a lot of work to do. We’re not there yet. We’re just getting started. I look forward to the challenges ahead as we continue our pursuit of building a championship program.”



Mendenhall enters the 2019 season ranked 11th among active Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) coaches who have a minimum of 100 career victories in winning percentage at 63.0 percent.



After guiding UVA to the Military Bowl in 2017, Mendenhall led Virginia to back-to-back bowls in 2018 for the first time since 2004 and 2005 when the Cavaliers earned a Belk Bowl invitation. Mendenhall’s Cavalier squad shut out South Carolina, 28-0, in the 2018 Belk Bowl to give UVA its first bowl victory since the 2005 Music City Bowl. UVA’s shutout performance was the first over an SEC team in a bowl game by a non-SEC team since the 1975 Gator Bowl.



Mendenhall is one of three active coaches to have inherited at least two programs in his career that were coming off a losing season and in year one, or year two, played in a bowl game. The others to do it are Nick Saban (Alabama, LSU, Michigan State) and Mark Dantonio (Michigan State/Cincinnati).





