Home ACC Teleconference: UVA football coach Bronco Mendenhall
Sports

ACC Teleconference: UVA football coach Bronco Mendenhall

Contributors

bronco mendenhallUVA football coach Bronco Mendenhall talks with reporters on his weekly ACC Teleconference.

 

OPENING STATEMENT: Good morning. I’m having a great time working with this group of players and this team. I love their growth, maturity, and desire. They’re practicing really well. We continue to learn and improve. After a close loss to Wake Forest, we’re anxious to play our last home game in the ACC versus Miami. We’re looking forward to it, and I’ll take questions.

Q. Have you had any senior day traditions at BYU over the years that you have planned to bring with you here to Virginia?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: You know, there’s none that I would say that are probably unique enough nor significant enough to mention. Our typical format that I’ve preferred over the years has been just the team going out that are not seniors first, and then forming basically a tunnel and having the current seniors come out, and I had a chance to say a few things to them, embrace them at the end of that tunnel right before they come onto the sideline, and then after the game there was usually a blanket given to them. That was a tradition at BYU, and so something similar to that will happen here.

Q. As you look at Miami, they’ve been known for a long time for the speed they have at skill positions. I’m curious, do you still see that explosive element, and how do you approach that?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: Yes, and in fact, regardless of what they’ve been known for in the past, just throwing on the film and beginning our work on this particular opponent, I was impressed by the talent level, by the players that touched the football, at receiver, at tight end, at quarterback and at running back. I think their offensive line is physical, as well. Again, I don’t know what the tradition or history is there, but I think this is a talented team, and I think Mark Richt is an excellent coach.

Yeah, I’ve been impressed.

Q. Statistically, I know it’s not perfect still, but you guys have been much better than earlier in the year in terms of giving up big plays. You’re giving up fewer of them. I’m curious, were there Xs and Os, tweaks that made the difference, or is it just about the guys getting comfortable in the system?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: Yeah, it’s both. We’ve had to work within the system to tailor and design it to what the current players are capable of. Certainly the repetition has helped, and we’ve asked them to do a lot less than what we were doing earlier, and so, yeah, there’s been very few of the giant and dynamic plays over the last five weeks or so in relation so what was happening earlier, and that’s helping, so we are getting more comfortable. We’re actually just — I think we’re doing a better job as a coaching staff of having players do what they’re capable of doing that fits their skill set.

Q. How valuable has Nicholas Conte been for you guys just in terms of skill position and giving opportunities to the offense?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: Man, just that. The number of drives opponents have had to start inside the 5-yard line or 10-yard line or 15-yard line has been crucial in helping expand the margin for error that the defensive players have been allowed to have as they learn and grow. So he’s been just essential. His ability to change the field, as well, and allowing just our team to be in better position. He’s been one of if not the most valuable player in our transition.

Q. Did you know what you had in him when you first arrived?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: Well, I had heard statistically after not seeing him, but I heard statistically that he was very good, but I really didn’t know what to think and kind of took the, I’ll need to see it to believe it approach, but it doesn’t take many kicks in practice just before you realize, oh, okay, this is real, and I smiled.

Q. You just mentioned it doesn’t take long, but was there one moment where you said, wow, this guy could be really valuable for us this season?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: Yeah, it might have just been the first punt that I saw that he actually hit well, and I saw the hang time and the distance and the reaction by the team. I’ve never — I’ve rarely seen a team that when you’re practicing punt, they line up on the sideline and people kind of quit talking on the side because everyone is anxious to watch how far he kicks it. So he’s gained the players’ respect, as well.

Q. I want to ask you a recruiting question with playing Miami. The state of Florida I’m not sure is a place you really target a whole lot. At BYU you had a current guys in the class from there. I know you say you’ll go anywhere to find guys, but was that a state you were excited to look around knowing its reputation, and what has been the early evaluation of recruiting Florida specifically?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: Yeah, my past history we had a coach that was responsible for Florida, and we had targeted it some, but it was certainly a long ways away from the state of Utah.

Here it is one of our recruiting areas. The early returns are there’s a high, high number of players that are very good athletically. Again, we consider very strong academics, as well, and the early return is it’s another state that could really help us fulfill our mission and potential here, so we’re excited from what we’ve seen.

Q. I was just curious, last week you had Joe Spaziani doing your long snap; where are you at right now in terms of both Richard Burney and Zach Bradshaw? Do you expect Spaziani will continue to be your long snapper?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: Yeah, at this point we expect Spaziani to be our long snapper, and that was the first college game he had a chance to participate in, got his first tackle, and he snapped the ball fairly well for a starting point. He’s a team favorite and just an amazing young man. But it looks like that’s who will be doing our snapping for the upcoming week.

Q. Are you still evaluating quarterbacks at this point in the season, or is the rotation what it is unless there’s an injury?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: Oh, we’re evaluating every player, every play, every game, and that will be the way we’ll do it all the way through the season. Hopefully that’s clear enough, but yeah, every player, every play, every game is being reviewed.

Q. I wanted to ask you, I know you’ve talked about Matt Johns, his character and what he’s meant to you and the staff. Are there any plans for him to see action on Saturday, or is that going to be kind of dependent on how the game plays out?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: I think it’s dependent on how the game plays. Matt continues to just lead, work and position himself for his opportunity when it comes. He’s gained a lot of momentum just in life but also as a football player. I don’t respect anyone more on our team. The game will determine — and the remaining games will determine how that will play.

Contributors

Contributors

Have a guest column, letter to the editor, story idea or a news tip? Email editor Chris Graham at [email protected]. Subscribe to AFP podcasts on Apple PodcastsSpotifyPandora and YouTube.