SI article on UVA
- Thread starter WoadBlue
- Start date
Some important quotes in the article -
"It took six weeks for Bronco Mendenhall’s first Virginia football team to learn how to properly warm up before a practice. That was the second sign that his rebuilding plan here might take longer than expected. The first sign came during his initial team meeting in January 2016 when players, slouched in their chairs and buried on their phones, rarely made eye contact with their new coach."
No disciple means lousy team, underachieving team. If players act like slobs and signal that they do not have full focus, the team will either suck or be mediocre (depending on the talent level).
"Eli Hanback, a redshirt senior defensive tackle, remembers that first meeting with Mendenhall, when this hard-driving, defensive-minded guy from out west strode into the team room and described to his new squad the hell that awaited them. Exhaustive conditioning work, intense weight training and military-style practices. In the audience, Hanback feared his fun days of college were over. Dang. What did I get myself into? I’ve got four long years left of this? More than 10 players that offseason left the team. “I was scared,” he says, “but I hung tough, I believed and bought in.”
Discipline means work.
"In an odd twist, Mendenhall attributes UVA’s success to the in-state rival that his squad beat in order to claim the ACC Coastal title. Virginia Tech holds a nation-leading 27-year bowl streak that dates back to 1992. “They’re supported incredibly well in Blacksburg by their fan base and their administration. Virginia Tech made a choice to be good in football a long time ago,” Mendenhall says. Williams believes the Hokies provided a “blueprint” for winning football in the Commonwealth. “However many years ago, they decided they wanted to excel in football,” she says. “There was an investment there.”
The Athletics Department and Administration must choose to work for football success, to invest in football success, or they determine the program will either suck or be mediocre.
"Mendenhall is a 53-year-old Utah native who had spent his entire coaching career out west before ending an 11-year run at BYU to come east."
If one lifetime Westerner with coaching success out west can come to the ACC, then so can another.
"It took six weeks for Bronco Mendenhall’s first Virginia football team to learn how to properly warm up before a practice. That was the second sign that his rebuilding plan here might take longer than expected. The first sign came during his initial team meeting in January 2016 when players, slouched in their chairs and buried on their phones, rarely made eye contact with their new coach."
No disciple means lousy team, underachieving team. If players act like slobs and signal that they do not have full focus, the team will either suck or be mediocre (depending on the talent level).
"Eli Hanback, a redshirt senior defensive tackle, remembers that first meeting with Mendenhall, when this hard-driving, defensive-minded guy from out west strode into the team room and described to his new squad the hell that awaited them. Exhaustive conditioning work, intense weight training and military-style practices. In the audience, Hanback feared his fun days of college were over. Dang. What did I get myself into? I’ve got four long years left of this? More than 10 players that offseason left the team. “I was scared,” he says, “but I hung tough, I believed and bought in.”
Discipline means work.
"In an odd twist, Mendenhall attributes UVA’s success to the in-state rival that his squad beat in order to claim the ACC Coastal title. Virginia Tech holds a nation-leading 27-year bowl streak that dates back to 1992. “They’re supported incredibly well in Blacksburg by their fan base and their administration. Virginia Tech made a choice to be good in football a long time ago,” Mendenhall says. Williams believes the Hokies provided a “blueprint” for winning football in the Commonwealth. “However many years ago, they decided they wanted to excel in football,” she says. “There was an investment there.”
The Athletics Department and Administration must choose to work for football success, to invest in football success, or they determine the program will either suck or be mediocre.
"Mendenhall is a 53-year-old Utah native who had spent his entire coaching career out west before ending an 11-year run at BYU to come east."
If one lifetime Westerner with coaching success out west can come to the ACC, then so can another.
He’s done a very good job in building that program, perhaps the most solid in the Coastal right now.
The key words above are right now. I think you are correct. Mendenhall may have the Hoos set to compete at the top of the Coastal for years.
To be the top dog, you must defeat the top dog.
I think we go at least 6-2 in the conference next year, and 9-3 or 10-2 overall. I think UVA goes 6-2 at best in the conference. The Coastal will go down to the wire.
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