So as most are aware, Nick Howell is technically UVa's defensive coordinator but Bronco Mendenhall really oversees and calls the defense. I was just transcribing the audio from the other day and I was struck by this part, where Bronco shares his line of thinking on what his in-season responsibilities are.
He was asked how often the realities of being a head coach interfere with him being the main voice on defense:
"I would say 30 percent is probably the appropriate number of out season," he said. "So here's the thing: Every part of our organization is labeled. Every task is labeled into a type of work. I only do competitive work during the season. I delegate competitive enabling work, business essential work, compliance work. I just won't do any of that in-season because my No. 1 responsibility is to our players, to help them win. So in season, if there's an emergency that's player related and I have to step out of it, all I do is, the meeting keeps going, and I pass the clicker and then we switch it back when I come in. Out of season is where the 30 percent takes place. Sometimes I'm viewed as non-approachable during the year. When you're the head coach and the defensive coordinator and your competitive work is to win games, then that's probably right. That's not because I'm anti-accessible. It's just that my first priority is to my competitive work and I'm really clear about that."
He was asked how often the realities of being a head coach interfere with him being the main voice on defense:
"I would say 30 percent is probably the appropriate number of out season," he said. "So here's the thing: Every part of our organization is labeled. Every task is labeled into a type of work. I only do competitive work during the season. I delegate competitive enabling work, business essential work, compliance work. I just won't do any of that in-season because my No. 1 responsibility is to our players, to help them win. So in season, if there's an emergency that's player related and I have to step out of it, all I do is, the meeting keeps going, and I pass the clicker and then we switch it back when I come in. Out of season is where the 30 percent takes place. Sometimes I'm viewed as non-approachable during the year. When you're the head coach and the defensive coordinator and your competitive work is to win games, then that's probably right. That's not because I'm anti-accessible. It's just that my first priority is to my competitive work and I'm really clear about that."
