Under previous head coach Danny Gonzales, New Mexico didn’t win more than four games in any season since he took over going into 2020. He totaled just five victories against Mountain West opponents during that time.
That led to Gonzales being fired and the Lobos searching for a new head coach. They found someone with plenty of head coaching experience when they hired Bronco Mendenhall, who’s coached at New Mexico before.
Here’s a look at Mendenhall’s career thus far.
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Bronco Mendenhall’s Resume
Bronco Mendenhall didn’t only go to New Mexico with a resume loaded with experience, he’s coached at multiple programs in that region of the country before. And with 135 wins, he’s in the top 100 all-time among Division I head coaches.
Mendenhall was BYU’s head coach for 11 years, from 2005 to 2015. During that time, he went 99-43 and was 6-5 in bowl games. He was also BYU’s defensive coordinator from 2003 to 2004.
He was also the head coach at Virginia from 2016 to 2021. He was 36-38 overall there with a 1-2 record in bowl games.
Mendenhall also has history with the Lobos. He was a defensive coordinator and secondary coach at New Mexico from 1998 to 2002. During that time, he worked with New Mexico legend Brian Urlacher.
Mendenhall started his coaching career after playing on defense at Snow College and Oregon State in the 1980s. He was then a graduate assistant at OSU in 1989 and was a secondary coach and DC at Snow College from 1991 to 1992. He’s also been a secondary coach and co-defensive coordinator at Northern Arizona, a defensive line coach and defensive coordinator at Oregon State, and a secondary coach at Louisiana Tech.
Bronco Mendenhall’s Coaching History
Year | School | Wins | Losses |
2005 | BYU | 6 | 6 |
2006 | BYU | 11 | 2 |
2007 | BYU | 11 | 2 |
2008 | BYU | 10 | 3 |
2009 | BYU | 11 | 2 |
2010 | BYU | 7 | 6 |
2011 | BYU | 10 | 3 |
2012 | BYU | 8 | 5 |
2013 | BYU | 8 | 5 |
2014 | BYU | 8 | 5 |
2015 | BYU | 9 | 4 |
2016 | Virginia | 2 | 10 |
2017 | Virginia | 6 | 7 |
2018 | Virginia | 8 | 5 |
2019 | Virginia | 9 | 5 |
2020 | Virginia | 5 | 5 |
2021 | Virginia | 6 | 6 |
What’s The Salary For New Mexico Football Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall?
Bronco Mendenhall signed a five-year, $6 million deal with a base salary of $1.2 million per year. Incentives could lead to him making more.
That’s the most a head coach would be paid at New Mexico. Previous head coach Danny Gonzales made $700,000 in 2023, according to USA Today, which put him 10th among known head coaching salaries in the Mountain West. Wyoming’s Craig Bohl was first in the league with $2.3 million in total pay.