Three key takeaways from Mendenhall's press conference

With their players still spread out all over, UVa’s Bronco Mendenhall and his staff have been doing all they can to help lead their program forward. What lies ahead, of course, remains to be seen.

In a wide-ranging conversation with media members via a Zoom video call on Thursday afternoon, the head coach covered a variety of topics. Here are three key takeaways from his nearly 40-minute availability.

This takeaway is both simple and important. After all, UVa’s head coach isn’t the kind to mince words and he’s not afraid to say exactly what he’s thinking. If he genuinely thought that there was a significant chance that teams wouldn’t play this fall, he would say so.

“I think football will start in the fall,” Mendenhall explained. “It’s too soon to tell whether it will start on time and what it will look like. The way that I think about it simply is that football supports and enhances humanity. It’s not in place of or more important than. And that’s the way that I’m going to support and run our team. When it’s safe and when it’s appropriate and when all can benefit, I’m for playing the game. If that’s contrary to benefiting others or the health of others or maybe even philosophically seeming more important, then I’m not for that.

“My hope is, because I believe it can help other people, that we can play it,” he added, “for a boost in spirit and a sense of community to rally around. And then, certainly the financial component, to help the athletic department and the other sports and the other coaches and the student-athletes have opportunities.”

The reality is that most have thought all along that football would be played this fall but worried given the uncertainty that it wouldn’t. So, this is at least good for fans (and those who cover the sport, if I’m being honest) to hear that the games are still on track to be played.

That being said, there’s a very real chance—if not a likelihood—at this point that the games will be played without fans in attendance, a potential reality that Mendenhall understands.

“It’s less than ideal,” he said, “And it’s no one’s favorite. Given the circumstances we’re in, and if it’s safe and if it’s appropriate and if that’s our only option, then there’s a possibility that by playing under those circumstances, as long as other students are allowed back on Grounds as well, whatever numbers those are, then possibly it would be the appropriate thing to do, to have the athletic department and the other sports and student-athletes to keep doing what they love to do.”

As most fans were aware, the announcement by the NCAA this week that programs would be allowed to hold voluntary workouts beginning on June 1st only means but so much. The situation really comes down to each state and each school. For now, both Virginia and the University are not in a position for players to come in for those workouts that soon.

“In this environment,” Mendenhall explained, “they’re really not determining what’s happening. The states and each institution are really determining what’s safe.”

In essence, UVa will not hold any workouts until the Commonwealth and the school have outlined the parameters and protocols for such a thing to take place. For now, there is no timetable on when that will be. As with questions that have to be ironed out above, figuring out the housing and other care for the players is part of the work that remains.

“Until then, our players will not be returning to Grounds,” Mendenhall said, adding later that everything has to be managed “in a completely different way” now.

One overriding concern for Mendenhall and his staff is that there be some “universality” to both workouts and practices leading into any type of season. He wants (and hopes) all schools will be on the same playing field as far as on-field time.

Following an NCAA-mandated two-week break, players are now back on meetings with their coaches and things are continuing forward. They get eight hours per week (two hours per day) with the players, Mendenhall explained, to use for team and position meetings. During this time, coaches are installing various schemes and talking about the season, emphasizing the goals, and checking on the well being of the players.

“It’s been really good to have that interaction and to be talking football,” he said, “and to add structure [for] our players.”

There are a handful who are taking classes during the first session of summer school with the bulk expecting to join their teammates for the second session. As referenced above, they’re not sure right now if the third session will remain online or move to in-person.

Mendenhall also said that there are expectations for all of the Zoom calls that players are on.

“I love habits, I love learning,” he said. “I think a Zoom screen can reflect intent. I think it can prove intent. So we ask our players to prove their intent by what the screen looks like. I’m talking about lighting, I’m talking about notebooks, I’m talking about pens, I’m talking about what they’re wearing.

“So, we have Zoom rules and we hold them accountable to those Zoom rules,” Mendenhall added. “I’m not currently evaluating practice but what I can evaluate is their intent to learn in not what they’re saying but just by looking at the screen.”

Speaking of virtual meetings, Mendenhall did confirm that the incoming class of 2020 signees can participate if they have completed their coursework even if they have not graduated or received a diploma. The transfers, on the other hand, must complete their coursework and also graduate from existing institutions. So in the case of Ronnie Walker, he’s able to participate in virtual meetings while Keyaton Thompson (sometime next month) and Ra’Shaun Henry (likely next week) will join soon.

As it stands today, the earliest recruits could resume on-campus visits is after the current dead period ends on June 30th. Even so, there will be no camps this year, which presents an interesting wrinkle to what’s been a fantastic spring for UVa on the trail.

Mendenhall attributes the success they’ve had during the pandemic to the organization and the way they shifted the focus from spring practice to “talent acquisition and the selection process.”

They put an increased emphasis on recruiting, he said, designing protocols and processes to utilize technology in a different way, and they simply worked really hard. They’re leveraging the momentum they have from the on-field success the past two seasons and the messaging has become very precise. He believes they put that with the right processes and the right emphasis.

“The yield,” Mendenhall said, “is reflected in that.”

He added that he doesn’t think “remote recruiting” will lead to more volatility given the lack on in-person visits prior to commitments, thanks in large part to the amount of time coaches are spending building genuine relationships with prospects. Though it’s virtual, it’s still “grounding, unifying, and galvanizing” he said, provided the program delivers on what it promises recruits they will get, which is the experience that other have gotten throughout the growth and development of the program in recent years.

Recruiting without human interaction is difficult given that there’s a lack of a “feel” of the person but the coaches have done their best to be “authentic and transparent through the virtual world.” The lack of in-person recruiting has made things “a little more disconnected” but they’ve made it work via the “depth” of the relationships they have with recruits.

The issue, though, comes with the lack of summer camps. Without those opportunities for players to come and work out in Charlottesville, coaches miss out on the chance to not only evaluate younger players but to coach them directly. That helps shape a great deal of the way they view that prospect. This will likely play at least a partial role in how things wrap up for the 2021 class but’s the 2022 cycle that’s most impacted.

“It’ll be difficult,” Mendenhall admitted. “We think there’s risk no matter how thorough your processes are. Seeing a player work in person mitigates almost all risk. So, it will effect our summer recruitment and I couldn’t tell you on how many prospects but certainly it will on some. Film is not as accurate as live, in-person evaluation. And live, in-person evaluation isn’t as accurate as coaching young people. Directing the drills, that’s the very best way to do it. So, we lose the capability to do that. However, a lot of our prospects we’ve known because we’ve been here four years.

“So recruitment now, we’re not so much in the finding phase, we’re in the relationship-building phase,” he added. “And so a lot of what would have been happening this time of year would have been for the next year’s class anyway, 2022. So that’s really where it will really set us back a little bit.”

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