Mendenhall sheds more light on his mindset as the season approaches

Ahead of his first fall practice in Charlottesville, Bronco Mendenhall is clearly ready for the challenge ahead. That doesn't necessarily mean that he knows right now how quickly the rebuild at UVa will take, though.

When he took over in Provo, he did so after having been BYU's defensive coordinator. But he sees the fact that he was able to bring so much of his previous staff with him as a big benefit. It, combined with the vast amount of experience he's gotten over the last decade or so, gives him a lot of confidence.

"There's a lot of unknowns now," Mendenhall said, "that have been eliminated simply by being a head coach the number of years I've been."

Speaking at the ACC Kickoff in Charlotte last week, the new UVa head coach made clear that there was plenty he didn't like when he first met with his new players. But as the spring turned into summer, he's been pleased with the approach he's seen, as the new staff has made a point to celebrate even small successes as they ready the team for what's ahead in 2016.

"That doesn't always come in terms of wins, even though that's how the world will judge our success," he said. "What we've already accomplished to me has been exceptional and how the players are embracing and really allowing it to become who they are.

"Every time a tempo run is made, every time another mark is cleared that we know is a metric to success, we celebrate that," Mendenall added. "We don't make those things public, nor do we need to."

Many fans, finally excited about football again for the first time in years, wonder what it means for on-field success that the team is further along culturally than Mendenhall expected. And he too is interested to see that play out.

"I think that the culture of the program is accelerating faster than I thought," he explained. "The execution and the football will catch up. When? I'm not certain. But I'm optimistic and hopeful. The sooner, the better, because all that does is fuel the fire to continue for the culture to be built.

"There will be challenges right away," he added. "And this is not an easy fix. There's a reason seven of the last eight years have not been winning seasons. I'm not a miracle worker and I don't have a magic formula. But I do have a consistent approach that is well thought out, objectively based with metrics that work very well with players that try really hard. And I'm counting on that being the case here."

Given the social media footprint that his staff has, many outside the program have gotten glimpses of what it's been like for players this offseason. That, as well as what Mendenhall himself has discussed publicly, paints a picture that shows hard work is continually the order of the day. But how long can he ask the players to keep pushing themselves this hard?

"As a leader, you have to make the motive clear," he said. "We're not pretending to be anything we're not. We're driving these players to their utmost capacity because we really like them, we really care about them, and we know they have more in them that they can give...We want to see them become exceptional.

"When you're authentic in that manner," Mendenhall added, "it's nice to have someone care about you and challenge you and push you that is really interested in you as a person and wants to see you succeed. And we are. Can they sustain it? Yeah, if you care about them enough and they know that. Certainly they can."

It's something the new staff saw right away during early team meetings. The toll of so many losing seasons—and the way those losses unfolded—showed.

"As I was speaking to them," Mendenhall said, "I realized that they didn't understand the urgency in which they were going to have to snap out of where they were to get to where they're going to have to be to even make it through a day. The message shifted about five minutes in to, 'You can do this. You will do this. And wait until you see how you feel because you've done something hard.' It's been really fun to watch how they just carry themselves, believing that they're capable.

"And that's come from a lot of inspiring, which is only part of it, and by challenging them and celebrating wildly when they do something hard," he added. "And then the next person wants to do it hard. And all of a sudden, groups of players that aren't required come watch other guys do something hard and celebrate [with them]. And now it's becoming a part of our culture."

That effort is sustained by a coaching staff that he both trusts and understands. But it's made all the more difficult by the challenges the program faces in terms of its roster, particularly on both the offensive and defensive lines where depth is scarce.

"We're thin," Mendenhall said matter of factly. "And as a team we're thin. I'm comfortable with our existing talent base of our starting players. Where we become stretched fairly quickly in is the depth that follows. Our roster hasn't been managed for succession plan and attrition very well. So our roster is thin.

"If we don't have significant injuries and don't lose a key player here or there, it could be really fun to see what the football looks like in Year 1," he added. "A key injury here or there will modify or really stretch us as coaches, which is part of my job, to design schemes and strategies that make the most of what we currently have. But we are thin as a football team."

With Sadiq Olanrewaju and Eric Tetlow having to take medical retirements, coupled with the decision by Grant Polk to leave the program, the offensive line was in a tight spot. That incoming transfer Jared Cohen will not enroll after deciding to give up football makes things even tougher.

It's likely that sophomore Jake Fieler will factor into either filling the role Cohen seemed likely to play or perhaps being part of the five-man equation.

"We really liked him in spring," Mendenhall said of Fieler. "And that was a pleasant surprise. Offensive line really is indicative of almost every position. There are others here and there a little bit more so than that but if you shift only to the football part of this and say 'What might get in the way of UVa's success earlier rather than later?' it could possibly be the depth. I have to be very cognizant of how I manage practice. I like to have demanding, physical, and challenging practices to prepare our team.

"That has to be mitigated as much as possible," he added, "against how many bodies can we have to sustain it. It is a foundational piece of our program so that can't be skipped. Sometimes there are tradeoffs that have to be made and a leader has to make those choices, which are not easy choices."