As Bronco Mendenhall prepares his move from the Rocky Mountains to the East Coast, he’ll have someone well-versed in the region to lean on moving forward.
Virginia announced Saturday that Mendenhall has added eight coaches to his first Cavalier staff, the most notable of whom is Ruffin McNeill. Fired as East Carolina’s head coach earlier this month, McNeill played his college football at ECU and coached in the Carolinas for 22 of his 36 seasons in the profession.
McNeill will serve as Mendenhall’s inside linebackers coach as well as hold the title of assistant head coach.
In addition to McNeill, Mendenhall is bringing six of his BYU assistants with him to Charlottesville: Robert Anae (offensive coordinator/inside receivers), Mark Atuaia (running backs), Jason Beck (quarterbacks), Garett Tujague (offensive line), Nick Howell (secondary) and Kelly Poppinga (special teams coordinator/outside linebackers coach).
Mendenhall has also decided to retain Marques Hagans as wide receivers coach.