If Bronco Mendenhall could do his first year at Virginia over again, one thing the head coach would change is the way he managed expectations at the start of what turned out to be a massive rebuild.
After coming off a successful, decade-long stint at BYU, Mendenhall didn’t fully realize how much work had to be done at UVA until after the Cavaliers embarrassing season-opening loss to Richmond in 2016.
Now the Cavs are just a few days away from starting 2017 against a similar FCS foe, hosting William & Mary Saturday at Scott Stadium.
“I am really excited about what can be accomplished here in our football program, and what I believe will be accomplished,” Mendenhall said Monday. “But I’m also realistic about the amount of work and the timeframe that that might take. there’s a lot of progress happening behind the scenes within our culture, within our identity and the direction of the program. At some point that will manifest on the field of play. When those two things come together, that will move us to a different stage of our program.”
The talk of daily improvements behind the scenes is all well and good, but after going 2-10 last season, Virginia fans want to see some sign that winning seasons could soon come back to Charlottesville. So what does that mean for 2017?
For Bronco Mendenhall to solidify his standing and ease a little anxiety among the fanbase, there simply needs to be more victories.
Mendenhall is clearly trying to condition the fanbase into the idea that a bowl game this season would be a pleasant surprise. It’s not that the six-win mark is totally out of question, but four victories might be more likely and still a sign of a program moving in the right direction.
Of course, the first step toward meeting even that modest mark is taking care of business against William & Mary. Saturday is as much a must-win as a Week 1 game can be. Losing to an in-state FCS program again would be the kind of demoralizing setback that would be difficult to come back from. But after this Saturday, the rest of Virginia’s schedule breaks down into three tiers.
QUITE BEATABLE
vs. Indiana, Sept. 9
vs. UConn, Sept. 16
vs. Duke, Oct. 7
vs. Boston College, Oct. 21
MILD UPSETS
at UNC, Oct. 14
at Pitt, Oct. 28
vs. Georgia Tech, Nov. 11
PROGRAM BOOSTERS
at Boise State, Sept. 22
at Louisville, Nov. 11
at Miami, Nov. 18
vs. Virginia Tech, Nov. 24
Expected Outlook
The Cavs should be able to find four or fives wins in that schedule. In recent years, it seems like UVA always finds a way to lose one game you wouldn’t expect, but at least hangs around with, if not knocks off, a superior team.
So it might be a stretch to expect the Virginia to go undefeated against William & Mary and the first group of beatable opponents, but going at least 3-2 against that group with a quality road win against a Boise State or Pitt could finally be enough to generate some excitement in Charlottesville.
Finishing the job against a team such as Louisville, which the Cavs took to the wire last season, would be a sign to fans and recruits that things really are turning around for Bronco Mendenhall and UVA.