Reports: Longtime BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall is moving to Utah State after one season at New Mexico

Bronco Mendenhall returns to Utah State.

Accordingly several reportsThe former BYU coach is expected to be the next coach at Utah State. Mendenhall spent the 2024 season as head coach at New Mexico after spending the 2022 and 2023 seasons outside of college football.

Utah State needed a head coach after the messy departure of Blake Anderson just before the start of the 2024 season. Anderson was officially fired in July, two weeks after he was placed on leave from school. Anderson was disciplined for allegedly attempting to personally investigate allegations of domestic violence against an Aggies player.

The Aggies went 4-8 in 2024 under interim coach Nate Dreiling. The former New Mexico State defensive coordinator was hired by Anderson before the 2024 season and was named the team’s interim coach when Anderson was suspended.

Mendenhall, 58, coached at BYU for 11 seasons from 2005 to 2015. The Cougars went to bowl games in each of his seasons with the team and had a 99-43 record with five seasons of 10 wins or more during his tenure. Mendenhall left BYU after the 2015 season for Virginia, where he led the Cavaliers for six seasons.

Virginia reached 9-5 in 2019, three years after going 2-10 in Mendenhall’s first season. The Cavaliers won 16 games in his final three seasons and he resigned after the 2021 season.

New Mexico was 5-7 in 2024 after going 4-8 in Danny Gonzales’ final season in 2023. Mendenhall’s departure is one of many at New Mexico in 2025. The school’s offensive coordinator, Jason Beck, was announced as Utah’s new offensive coordinator on Thursday. And when Beck’s move was announced, New Mexico quarterback Devon Dampier said he would enter the transfer portal.

Dampier was one of the most underrated players in college football in 2024. The sophomore was 226 of 390 passes for 2,768 yards and 12 TDs and 12 interceptions while also rushing 155 times for 1,166 yards and 19 TDs. Only Army’s Bryson Daily and Jacksonville State’s Tyler Huff had more rushing yards among quarterbacks, and Huff and Dampier were the only two QBs in college football to throw for at least 2,000 yards and record at least 1,000 rushing yards.