Utah State is expected to hire New Mexico coach Bronco Mendenhall, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reports. The 57-year-old coaching veteran is coming off a 5-7 record in his first year with the Lobos and has a 140-88 record through 18 seasons.
The hire marks Mendenhall’s return to his home state of Utah after he previously led BYU to a 99-43 record, two Mountain West titles and bowl appearances in all 11 seasons he was at the helm of the program. After BYU, Mendenhall took a job at Virginia where he was 36-38 with a 22-27 mark in ACC play over six seasons. When he stepped down from the Cavaliers in 2021, Mendenhall did not rule out a return to coaching but sounded like a man who needed a break.
“I’ve been a head coach for 17 years in a row. I was an assistant 11 before then, and I was a graduate assistant two years before then,” Mendenhall said at the time. “That’s 31 years straight of football. My wife and I will have been married 25 years in March. All we’ve known together is the rhythm of a football season.”
Mendenhall, 58, would return the sidelines in 2024 at New Mexico. He led the Lobos to a 5-7 record — the team’s best record since 2016 — in his lone season with the program. The Lobos started the season 0-4 before winning five of their next seven, including an upset over then-No. 18 Washington State. It was New Mexico’s first win over a ranked team since 2003.
New Mexico had a chance to get to a bowl game for the first time since 2016 with a win in the season finale at Hawaii, but lost 38-30.
Utah State fired Blake Anderson in July when it claimed he failed to properly report a case and contacted a potential domestic violence victim and witness after an Aggies football player was arrested. Defensive coordinator Nate Dreiling, 33, served as interim coach for the 2024 season. The Aggies were 4-8 this season under his watch, their worst record for a full season (USU went 1-5 in 2020) since 2016.
