https://virginiasports.com/news/2019/1/14/jeff-white-catching-up-with-bronco-mendenhall.aspx
Some good quotes, there’s more in the article...
QB:
"In Year 3," Mendenhall said, "we captured the essence of the impact of a quarterback. The style of play [the coaching staff prefers] is what we showed this year, and finally being able to recruit to that position and find the player that we wanted to match that, I think it just gave Virginia football and our fans a glimpse of what this looks like now."
End of games:
The next challenge for his team, Mendenhall said, is to improve its "end-of-game management and end-of-game work."...UVA lost by four points at Indiana on Sept. 8. The Cavaliers closed the regular season with back-to-back overtime losses: the first at Georgia Tech and the second at Virginia Tech. In each game, Virginia played defense first in OT and held its opponent to a field goal. ...His team needs to find ways to win such games, Mendenhall said, and that will be a point of emphasis this year.
"The expectation in Year 4 is, every game is a winnable game," he said. "Not some. But every game is a winnable game. And then knowing and preparing as such to win the Coastal Division in the final moments, against whomever it is. That focus now is, you take everything else we've already done, and we keep doing that and then say, OK, now expect the last three minutes to be meaningful, every week, no matter where you are, and if you handle that well, you'll win the division. And that's not a prediction. That's just a focus."
DL and OL:
Garett Tujague coaches the offensive line and Vic So'oto oversees the defensive line. Those groups will "have to take another step this upcoming year, and then another one the next year, and, to be honest, really another one [in 2021], for people to say, 'OK, Virginia's in town and you better buckle up,' " Mendenhall said.
"I'm talking not necessarily about mindset and ability, but about depth. Meaning, the number of players to get through the ACC [schedule]. At one point in the bowl game, I looked on the sideline, and we had 14 players lined up that were hurt, and for our program at this time, that's a significant thing."
The 'Hoos had only four healthy defensive linemen for the Belk Bowl: Eli Hanback, Aaron Faumui, Tommy Christand Dylan Thompson.
"And so the quality is increasing, the preparation and development is accelerating, but the depth is still an issue, and as hard as we're working on it, that will be [the case] for the next two years, and then after that," Mendenhall said.
The good news, Mendenhall said, is that in most games there's no longer the disparity in talent up front that existed in 2016 and '17.
"So it's becoming neutralized," he said. "But we're not looking to neutralize. We're looking to own the line of scrimmages from beginning to end. And I'm talking about the beginning and end of a game, and also the beginning and end of a season. Right now our depth is prohibitive of doing that. The mindset and the ability are increasing, but the depth right now is imposing the ceiling that we're having to work around and innovate around to finish the season."
S&C:
Mendenhall was delighted with the strength and conditioning gains the Cavaliers made in Shawn Griswold's first year in Charlottesville.
“The players know exactly where they stand by what they've earned," Mendenhall said. "They fight like crazy to get the next level, and there isn't anything subjective about it. The numbers they move equals the gear they earn, which then really predicts how they play. In almost all cases, our All-ACC players and our highest-grading players were the ones in [orange, blue and black]. The highest colors equal the best players.
"So in the system we're developing, it's not where the strongest guy gets all the stuff, but might not be able to play. What the system is predicting is, if you come out of [the offseason program] and you're in orange or blue or black, there's a great chance you're going to be an All-ACC player and you're going to be a significant contributor to our team and you're going to help us take the next step in our program."
Crowell:
One of the most highly regarded recruits in the class that enrolled at UVA in 2017, defensive back Germane Crowell, has had to deal with a series of medical setbacks.
Crowell, who appeared in three games in 2017, played in only four in '18 before Virginia's medical staff shut him down because of concussion-related problems, Mendenhall said...
"It's never been an ability issue," Mendenhall said.
"It's unfortunate if he doesn't, because of his ability and his mindset and what he could contribute from an athletic standpoint," Mendenhall said. "If he can't play football, though, he's bright, he's talented, he's articulate, and he'll have an amazing career in something that will support and help him."
Recruiting;
Three of the 21 recruits who signed letters of intent last month – wide receiver Dorien Goddard and defensive backs Chayce Chalmers and Antonio Clary – have enrolled at UVA for the spring semester.
The next signing period opens on Feb. 6. Mendenhall said the Cavaliers would like to add three more scholarship players for the 2019 season: two graduate transfers (a wide receiver and an offensive lineman) and, in all likelihood, a defensive lineman who's currently a high school senior.
TE:
Evan Butts was a fifth-year senior in 2018, which means the 'Hoos will head into spring practice with one tight end: Tanner Cowley.
"It hasn't been that we've been looking to not play with a tight end or not recruit a tight end," Mendenhall said. "We just haven't been able to dial in and find, for whatever reason, the exact tight ends we wanted, in relation to who else we were recruiting. And so what we're doing offensively kind of reflects that, but we're still looking for a great tight end that can do a lot of things, and when we find it, we'll sign him."
RB:
Expect "to see the touches spread out more" this coming season, Mendenhall said.
Joining such veterans as Kier and Lamont Atkins will be incoming freshmen Mike Hollins and Seneca Milledge. Hollins, who was listed at 5-10, 214 pounds on signing day, mixes power and speed. The 5-6, 170-pound Milledge is "Olamide-ish, except faster -- 10.4 100 meters -- and he's physical for his size," Mendenhall said.
Virginia plans to use Milledge and his fellow running backs in a variety of ways, Mendenhall said. "To me, the more diversity of touches, the harder we are to defend. We'll be heading that direction based on if these guys earn those roles, but that's my ideal."
Some good quotes, there’s more in the article...
QB:
"In Year 3," Mendenhall said, "we captured the essence of the impact of a quarterback. The style of play [the coaching staff prefers] is what we showed this year, and finally being able to recruit to that position and find the player that we wanted to match that, I think it just gave Virginia football and our fans a glimpse of what this looks like now."
End of games:
The next challenge for his team, Mendenhall said, is to improve its "end-of-game management and end-of-game work."...UVA lost by four points at Indiana on Sept. 8. The Cavaliers closed the regular season with back-to-back overtime losses: the first at Georgia Tech and the second at Virginia Tech. In each game, Virginia played defense first in OT and held its opponent to a field goal. ...His team needs to find ways to win such games, Mendenhall said, and that will be a point of emphasis this year.
"The expectation in Year 4 is, every game is a winnable game," he said. "Not some. But every game is a winnable game. And then knowing and preparing as such to win the Coastal Division in the final moments, against whomever it is. That focus now is, you take everything else we've already done, and we keep doing that and then say, OK, now expect the last three minutes to be meaningful, every week, no matter where you are, and if you handle that well, you'll win the division. And that's not a prediction. That's just a focus."
DL and OL:
Garett Tujague coaches the offensive line and Vic So'oto oversees the defensive line. Those groups will "have to take another step this upcoming year, and then another one the next year, and, to be honest, really another one [in 2021], for people to say, 'OK, Virginia's in town and you better buckle up,' " Mendenhall said.
"I'm talking not necessarily about mindset and ability, but about depth. Meaning, the number of players to get through the ACC [schedule]. At one point in the bowl game, I looked on the sideline, and we had 14 players lined up that were hurt, and for our program at this time, that's a significant thing."
The 'Hoos had only four healthy defensive linemen for the Belk Bowl: Eli Hanback, Aaron Faumui, Tommy Christand Dylan Thompson.
"And so the quality is increasing, the preparation and development is accelerating, but the depth is still an issue, and as hard as we're working on it, that will be [the case] for the next two years, and then after that," Mendenhall said.
The good news, Mendenhall said, is that in most games there's no longer the disparity in talent up front that existed in 2016 and '17.
"So it's becoming neutralized," he said. "But we're not looking to neutralize. We're looking to own the line of scrimmages from beginning to end. And I'm talking about the beginning and end of a game, and also the beginning and end of a season. Right now our depth is prohibitive of doing that. The mindset and the ability are increasing, but the depth right now is imposing the ceiling that we're having to work around and innovate around to finish the season."
S&C:
Mendenhall was delighted with the strength and conditioning gains the Cavaliers made in Shawn Griswold's first year in Charlottesville.
“The players know exactly where they stand by what they've earned," Mendenhall said. "They fight like crazy to get the next level, and there isn't anything subjective about it. The numbers they move equals the gear they earn, which then really predicts how they play. In almost all cases, our All-ACC players and our highest-grading players were the ones in [orange, blue and black]. The highest colors equal the best players.
"So in the system we're developing, it's not where the strongest guy gets all the stuff, but might not be able to play. What the system is predicting is, if you come out of [the offseason program] and you're in orange or blue or black, there's a great chance you're going to be an All-ACC player and you're going to be a significant contributor to our team and you're going to help us take the next step in our program."
Crowell:
One of the most highly regarded recruits in the class that enrolled at UVA in 2017, defensive back Germane Crowell, has had to deal with a series of medical setbacks.
Crowell, who appeared in three games in 2017, played in only four in '18 before Virginia's medical staff shut him down because of concussion-related problems, Mendenhall said...
"It's never been an ability issue," Mendenhall said.
"It's unfortunate if he doesn't, because of his ability and his mindset and what he could contribute from an athletic standpoint," Mendenhall said. "If he can't play football, though, he's bright, he's talented, he's articulate, and he'll have an amazing career in something that will support and help him."
Recruiting;
Three of the 21 recruits who signed letters of intent last month – wide receiver Dorien Goddard and defensive backs Chayce Chalmers and Antonio Clary – have enrolled at UVA for the spring semester.
The next signing period opens on Feb. 6. Mendenhall said the Cavaliers would like to add three more scholarship players for the 2019 season: two graduate transfers (a wide receiver and an offensive lineman) and, in all likelihood, a defensive lineman who's currently a high school senior.
TE:
Evan Butts was a fifth-year senior in 2018, which means the 'Hoos will head into spring practice with one tight end: Tanner Cowley.
"It hasn't been that we've been looking to not play with a tight end or not recruit a tight end," Mendenhall said. "We just haven't been able to dial in and find, for whatever reason, the exact tight ends we wanted, in relation to who else we were recruiting. And so what we're doing offensively kind of reflects that, but we're still looking for a great tight end that can do a lot of things, and when we find it, we'll sign him."
RB:
Expect "to see the touches spread out more" this coming season, Mendenhall said.
Joining such veterans as Kier and Lamont Atkins will be incoming freshmen Mike Hollins and Seneca Milledge. Hollins, who was listed at 5-10, 214 pounds on signing day, mixes power and speed. The 5-6, 170-pound Milledge is "Olamide-ish, except faster -- 10.4 100 meters -- and he's physical for his size," Mendenhall said.
Virginia plans to use Milledge and his fellow running backs in a variety of ways, Mendenhall said. "To me, the more diversity of touches, the harder we are to defend. We'll be heading that direction based on if these guys earn those roles, but that's my ideal."
