UVA football coach Bronco Mendenhall issued his first public statement on a lawsuit filed against two coaches, two players and university administrators by a former player alleging that he was the victim of hazing.
Mendenhall brought the issue up in his postgame press conference following the Cavs’ 35-14 loss to North Carolina.
Unprompted by the media in attendance, Mendenhall, after answering several questions about the game, volunteered to “address the other issue,” referring to the suit filed by former freshman wideout Aidan Howard.
“I love running a fantastic football program in every regard. And every means every. I love the young men that I coach, and they know that. The investigation is ongoing, and the University policy is that I’m not to speak regarding any of that while the investigation is ongoing,” said Mendenhall, who is 2-5 in his first season at Virginia, after an 11-year run as the head coach at Brigham Young.
“I am very lucky to be the coach at the University of Virginia. There are great things ahead for us; a lot of work ahead also. This team, we have a principle that goes really deep, and that is, Family first, last and always, and they are acting like that and I think as coaches we are acting like that,” Mendenhall said.
As expected, the comment didn’t address the specifics of the suit filed this week by Howard, who left the UVA program in August after suffering a serious eye injury in an incident involving another wide receiver, Hasise Dubois, who played in Saturday’s loss, and had an 11-yard catch in limited action.
The suit alleges that veteran UVA players and two assistant coaches coerced the two into the fight as part of a pattern of bullying of younger players that included “conduct which imitated and mimicked sexual acts.”
The suit also claims that players were forced to participate in fights and wrestling matches while naked or partially naked, “an act referred to at UVA as ‘ramming.’”
The lawsuit names as defendants two UVA assistant coaches, Marques Hagans and Famika Anae, along with players Doni Dowling and David Eldridge, and administrators including university president Teresa Sullivan and athletics director Craig Littlepage.
Mendenhall is not named in the suit.
Both Dowling and Eldridge played on Saturday. Neither had a catch in the game. Dowling was targeted four times, and Eldridge was targeted once.
Hagans and Anae worked the game as coaches.
Howard was granted his release from UVA after suffering a broken orbital bone in the incident. He transferred to Robert Morris, an FCS program in Pennsylvania, but is not expected to play this season as he recovers from September surgery to repair damage to the eye socket sustained in the fight at UVA.
Story by Chris Graham
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