Former BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall is coming back to Utah — with the Aggies

LOGAN — A decade after stepping down in Provo to take the head coaching job at Virginia, Bronco Mendenhall is making his way back to the Beehive State.

The former BYU coach was named the next head coach at Utah State, succeeding Blake Anderson and interim coach Nate Dreiling, who led the Aggies to a 4-8 campaign after a 42-37 loss to Colorado State in the season finale.

Mendenhall, 58, returns to Utah on a six-year deal after one season at New Mexico, where he helped the Lobos to a 5-7 record that is the Lobos' most wins since 2016.

"Bronco is one of the most experienced coaches in college football. His leadership, proven record, and deep understanding of the game make him the ideal choice to elevate our program," athletic director Diane Sabau said. "Bronco's success goes far beyond football. He has a profound connection and care for developing young men.

"His student-athletes are proven leaders, and he has consistently built programs that emphasize character, discipline, and excellence in every aspect of their lives."

Utah State noted that Mendenhall's return to Utah keeps him closer to his 93-year-old mother, Lenore Mendenhall, who lives in Alpine.

The Alpine native and American Fork High graduate who played at Snow College and Oregon State had been linked to the Utah State coaching vacancy several times — most notably by Football Scoop, which indicated Mendenhall was the "central focus" of the Aggies' search following a 4-8 campaign under Dreiling.

BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill and Montana State coach Brent Vigen also had conversations with Utah State leadership about the opening, according to the report.

Mendenhall, though, denied any contact for the position as recently as Tuesday, telling the Albuquerque Journal during an end-of-season press conference that he hadn't been contacted by Utah State.

"I have not been approached or interviewed," he told the Journal.

Life moves fast. Few know that mantra better than the 18-year head coach with an overall record of 140-88, as well as time as an assistant at Northern Arizona, Oregon State, Louisiana Tech and New Mexico, where he was first named defensive coordinator in 1998.

Mendenhall arrived at New Mexico following a two-year hiatus from college football coaching, signing a five-year, $6 million contract in May. After guiding BYU from the Mountain West to FBS independence with a 99-43 coaching record, Mendenhall went to Virginia and took the program to a bowl game in just the second year of his tenure.

Within four years, the Cavaliers were 9-5 with an ACC Coastal division title, and an Orange Bowl berth in 2019. But after back-to-back .500 seasons that included a 5-5 record in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, Mendenhall stepped down following the 2021 campaign as the transfer portal and name, image and likeness headlines dominated the sport he once loved and coached in Utah for 15 years.

But the itch to coach never completely left him, either.

"I missed the relationships," Mendenhall told KSL.com at Mountain West football media days in July. "I missed the chance to counsel, mentor, guide and influence their choices."

Mendenhall comes to Utah State with the Aggies on the brink of a jump to the newly formed Pac-12, a conference that will be rebuilt by Washington State and Oregon State effective July 1, 2026, with Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and basketball powerhouse Gonzaga.

The league still needs one more football-playing school to meet the minimum requirements of a conference in the Football Bowl Subdivision, per CBS Sports.

Whether the new-look Pac-12 ever achieves any semblance of its former status as a "power" conference is yet to be seen. But for Mendenhall, that might not matter.

He's already been to the top of the sport — or what most view as the top — and it drove him away, to his ranch in Montana, before he sold his favorite horse to get back on the saddle in college football.

"Sometimes up the ladder is down the ladder," he told KSL.com. "It might be perceived by the outside world as going up. But possibly morally, with your family and your values, you're going down. Up isn't always up."

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