Coaches
Bronco Mendenhall Head Coach
Bronco Mendenhall was named Virginia's head football coach on Dec. 4, 2015. He served as the head football coach at Brigham Young University for the last 11 years before joining the Cavalier program. Mendenhall, Virginia's 40th head football coach, has compiled an overall record of 99-43 in his 11 seasons as head coach at BYU to rank 12th in total wins among all FBS teams during that time. Mendenhall also ranks 13th in winning percentage (.697) among all active coaches with at least five years of FBS experience, and he ranks 10th among active coaches with at least 10 years of experience.
In the three seasons prior to Mendenhall becoming the head coach at BYU, the Cougars compiled an overall record of 14-21. Over the last 11 years, the Cougars are one of only 11 programs to advance to a bowl game each season (includes the 2015 season). BYU is joined by Alabama, Boise State, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Oklahoma, Oregon, Virginia Tech and Wisconsin on that list.
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Robert Anae
Offensive Coordinator/Inside Receivers
Anae (Ah-NIGH) came to Charlottesville after serving as Mendenhall’s offensive coordinator and inside receivers coach in nine of his 11 seasons at BYU. Anae helped BYU finish the 2015 regular season ranked No. 21 in passing offense after directing the 2014 Cougar offense to a No. 14 ranking in scoring offense, putting up 37.1 points per game, the most points by a BYU team since the 2001 season.
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Ruffin McNeill
Assistant Head Coach/Inside Linebackers
Ruffin McNeill was named to Bronco Mendenhall's UVA staff on Dec. 12, 2015 and is the assistant head coach and inside linebackers coach. McNeill comes to Charlottesville after spending six seasons (2010-15) as the head coach at his alma mater, East Carolina.
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Mark Atuaia
Running Backs
Atuaia (Ah-too-igh-ah) has been with Mendenhall since 2013 when he joined his BYU staff in 2013 as the running backs coach. In 2013 BYU's run game ranked No. 10 in the nation averaging 267.3 yards per game.
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Kelly Poppinga
Special Teams Coordinator/Outside Linebackers
Poppinga (PUH-ping-guh) has spent his entire collegiate coaching career at BYU, which began in 2009 as a defensive intern on Mendenhall’s staff. In 2010 Poppinga was a defensive graduate assistant and interim outside linebacker coach.
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Jason Beck
Quarterbacks
Jason Beck joined Bronco Mendenhall's UVA staff on Dec. 12, 2015 as the quarterbacks coach. Beck, a former Cougar quarterback and offensive intern on Mendenhall’s BYU coaching staff, returned to Provo in 2013 with six years of coaching experience, including stints at LSU, Weber State and Simon Fraser.
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Nick Howell
Defensive Coordinator/Secondary
Howell served on Mendenhall’s BYU staff in several roles from 2007-15, most recently as the defensive coordinator and secondary coach. Howell first came to BYU in 2007 as a defensive intern. From 2008-09 Howell was a defensive graduate assistant.
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Marques Hagans
Wide Receivers
Marques Hagans concluded his third season as a full-time assistant coach in 2015 after spending two years as a graduate coach, working with the offense. Hagans was named the wide receivers coach on Jan. 3, 2013.
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Shane Hunter
Defensive Line
Shane Hunter was named to Bronco Mendenhall's UVA staff on Dec. 21, 2015 as the defensive line coach. Hunter was a graduate assistant coach on Mendenhall's staff at BYU the last three seasons, where he worked with the defensive front seven and special teams.
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Garett Tujague
Offensive Line
Tujague (TOO-jay) was Mendenhall's offensive line coach at BYU from 2013-15 after serving 15 years at the College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, Calif., from 1997-2012, the last six as head coach. Under his direction, the COC Cougars earned a 43-25 record and received five bowl invitations in his six seasons.
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