Lobo football head coach candidate Bronco Mendenhall lands in Albuquerque

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — KOB 4 captured video of Bronco Mendenhall getting off a private plane at the Albuquerque Sunport Tuesday night with UNM Athletics Director Eddie Nunez. 

Mendenhall is reportedly the next head football coach for UNM.

Multiple sources indicate a deal was finalized Tuesday evening, less than two weeks after UNM fired former football coach and Albuquerque native, Danny Gonzales.  The Lobos finished this past season at 4 and 8.

Mendenhall most recently coached at the University of Virginia from 2015 until he resigned in 2021. His record leading the Cavaliers was 36-38, leading the 2019 team to an appearance in the Orange Bowl.

Before that, Mendenhall coached at BYU for 11 years with a record of 99-43; his overall coaching record is 135-81.  

This would be a return to UNM for Mendenhall.  He was the defensive coordinator of the Lobos under former head coach Rocky Long from 1998 to 2002.  It was during that time he coached Lobo Hall of Famer Brian Urlacher.

Sources indicate Mendenhall has signed a five-year deal with UNM, however details haven’t been released.

KOB 4 reached out to UNM’s Athletics Department, who neither confirmed nor denied the reports.