Looking back at Bronco's biggest recruiting hits at UVa

Maybe the biggest question about Virginia’s decision to hire Bronco Mendenhall as football coach in December 2015 regarded his ability to recruit. Most of Mendenhall’s coaching career had been spent on west of the Rocky Mountains, including the previous 11 seasons running the show at BYU. How quickly would he be able to forge east coast connections, particularly within a talent-rich state like Virginia?

Six years later, as Mendenhall prepares to depart as head coach at UVa following the Cavaliers’ Fenway Bowl matchup against SMU, it’s fair to say that recruiting question loomed over his entire tenure. Virginia’s average recruiting class rank from 2017-21, the five classes Mendenhall recruited and signed, was 51.4. They averaged five in-state recruits in that span.

UVa failed to land a five-star recruit in Mendenhall’s tenure, and signed just seven four-star prospects, all from out-of-state. Of those four-stars, only redshirt sophomore linebacker Hunter Stewart (37 tackles, 3.5 TFLs, sacks) played a major role this season. Two others from the 2019 class—defensive tackle Jowon Briggs and offensive lineman Ja’quay Hubbard—are no longer with the program. Offensive lineman Andrew Gentry—the highest-ranked recruit of the Mendenhall era, at No. 68 in the class of 2020—has been on his LDS mission since graduating from high school in Colorado.

The three remaining four-stars—offensive lineman Noah Josey, defensive lineman Bryce Carter and outside linebacker Josh McCarron—were true freshmen this fall. They were part of Mendenhall’s best-rated recruiting class, which checked in at No. 32 in Rivals’ team rankings. That 2021 class also included nine players from the state of Virginia, the most since Mendenhall took over.

Since Bronco’s announcement last week, three-star D-lineman AJ Holmes from Texas is the only player to decommit from Virginia’s 2022 class. The Cavaliers’ other recruits remain in limbo while they await news on Mendenhall’s successor and the fallout with the rest of the UVa coaching staff. That class is currently comprised of 15 players, including Graham High School offensive lineman Brody Meadows (the lone four-star prospect in the group) among three in-state commits.

Mendenhall and his staff have had success developing lower-rated or under-recruited prospects in their time at UVa. They’ve also missed on some notable recruits who could have helped the rebuilding process. A look at a few of each:

(Note: These lists don’t include class of 2016 recruits like Bryce Hall, Joe Reed or Jordan Mack, since that class was largely recruited by previous coach Mike London and retained by Bronco. It also doesn’t include transfers, an area where Mendenhall and his staff have had great success, attracting players like Kurt Benkert, Bryce Perkins and Keytaon Thompson at quarterback, Tony Poljan and Jelani Woods at tight end and Olu Oluwatimi and Marcus Applefield on the offensive line.)

Brennan Armstrong was the No. 29 player in Ohio and the No. 26 dual-threat quarterback in the country coming out of Shelby High School in 2018. A one-time Minnesota commit, Armstrong decommitted less than two months before signing day and flipped to UVa about two weeks later. After spending two years backing up Bryce Perkins, Armstrong took over as the Cavaliers’ starter last season. He spent this year rewriting the school’s single-season record book for quarterbacks, and has emerged as a potential NFL Draft prospect.

Charles Snowden was a 6-foot-7 basketball player at St. Albans School in DC who didn’t start playing football until he was a junior. As a senior in the class of 2017, he was a 2-star defensive end prospect—who UVa coaches saw as an ideal fit as an edge rusher in their 3-4 scheme. Snowden finished his four-year college career with 15 sacks, three forced fumbles and a pair of interceptions. He also blocked a punt and a field goal on special teams. A second-team All-ACC selection last season, Snowden has spent this year on the Chicago Bears practice squad.

The current UVa staff has had some success recruiting in Louisiana, most notably Dontayvion Wicks, who emerged as a first-team All-ACC receiver this season. Another high school basketball player, Wicks saw limited time as a true freshman on the 2019 Coastal Division title team, but missed all of last year with a foot injury. He has become the Cavaliers’ most explosive play-maker, breaking Herman Moore’s single-season record for receiving yards and leading the team with nine touchdown catches.

Virginia coaches envisioned Nick Jackson as the next Micah Kiser in the middle of their defense. Three years into his career, Jackson has lived up to that billing as a tackler. After finishing as the No. 2 tackler in the ACC as a first-time starter last season, Jackson led the league with 117 stops as a junior this year. After making the third team last year, Jackson was the lone defensive player from UVa to earn All-ACC honors this fall, making the second team.

Based on his Rivals rating, Zane Zandier was among the best recruits in Mendenhall’s first full class. A three-star outside linebacker, Zandier was also being pursued by Power 5 programs like Boston College, Syracuse and West Virginia before committing to UVa in mid-November 2016. He emerged as a contributor as a sophomore in 2018 before starting all 23 game of his final two seasons. Zandier led the 2019 team in tackles and was second behind Jackson in stops as a senior in 2020, receiving All-ACC honorable mention after both seasons.

Landing Mekhi Becton could have erased a lot of the questions about Mendenhall’s recruiting acumen early in his tenure. The four-star tackle from Highland Springs High School would have not only been the jewel of Bronco’s 2017 recruiting class—the first recruited by the new head coach—but also helped hasten the reconstruction of the Cavaliers’ offensive line. Instead, Becton chose to play at Louisville, where he was a three-year starter before being selected by the New York Jets at No. 11 overall in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Also a class of 2017 in-state recruit, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah wasn’t quite as big a name coming out of Bethel High School. The three-star linebacker actually committed to UVa during his senior season—until a January 2017 visit from then-Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly. Owusu-Koramoah signed with his “dream school” and as a college senior, won the 2020 Butkus Award while also earning unanimous first-team All-American honors. Owusu-Koramoah is now a rookie with the Cleveland Browns after getting picked in the second round of this year’s NFL Draft.

Zach Rice was the most recent opportunity to rewrite those familiar narratives about the staff’s ability to recruit both in-state players and high-end talent. A five-star offensive tackle from LCA who ranks as the best player in Virginia in the class of 2022, Rice had family connections to UVa (his grandfather played for the Hoos) and included the school as one of his two finalists before ultimately committing to North Carolina in October. Led by Rice, UNC has commitments from five of the top 10 players in the state for 2022.

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