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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 20, 2017

Bronco Mendenhall

Greensboro, North Carolina

BRONCO MENDENHALL: Really looking forward to playing another football game. We are making some progress in the early stages of our program here, gaining momentum, and working on confidence and being able to play our first road game.

So I'll take questions from there.

Q. On Nelson, if you don't mind. When he walked on, was that under you? Was he already coming to UVA or what do you remember about how he got to your program?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: What I remember about him coming to our program is he was running track here and then was trying to do both for a while, and then ended up moving completely from track to football.

So how he came and why he came originally, under what circumstances, I don't remember that. But I do remember the transition from track to football through Coach Howell, who was kind of managing that and was his point person, and that's about as detailed as I remember.

Q. You had mentioned in preseason that as much as you love the 3-4 defense, you appreciate quality defense even more, and that if a nose guard or nose tackle didn't emerge, you would be open to change. What has Eli brought that's allowed you to stay with that preferred front?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: He's consistent, he's productive and he's durable. All of those things are qualities I admire in any player. And when you have a player in the middle and with all that mayhem happening in there that can focus on the execution part of what he's supposed to do and be durable enough to keep doing it down in and down out and also make the plays that he is required or that the position asks of him, that's a high endorsement.

So he's really filled a void that we didn't know how or if that would happen, and we're certainly glad that he's doing well so far.

Q. In filling that void, is that, in turn, quite the assistance to someone like Micah, who has put up such good numbers there from the linebacker position?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: It really is. The traditional runs so far are being played really well, and any time the defensive front plays at a higher level, the linebacker's production goes up in our scheme. When you look at Jordan Mack's numbers as well as Micah's numbers, that's reflected a lot of how the defensive front is playing in front of him.

Q. Boise State has not allowed a lot of those chunk-pass plays, I think just three of 20 yards or more in three games. When we talked to Kurt, he said that's a scheme thing and they like to sit back and let everything go in front of them. He predicted he'll complete a lot of his passes this week but maybe not for long yards. What challenge will that present to your offense when you might not be able to get that downfield passing like you had last week against UCONN?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: Well, it's just harder offense. You have to play harder, longer and more consistently and that's a challenge. And so really what has to happen is you play harder, longer and more consistently in those drives and that time of possession has to yield points for the outcome to really go in your favor.

If you play hard and long and you are consistent for a while but then those drives don't turn into points, all that's really happened is really lack of production; ultimately points win the game. Those drives just have to end in points, especially if they are methodical like that.

Q. Is that something that you're familiar with; this isn't something new to Boise, the way they play defense, or is that new this year and how have you handled that in the past at BYU?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: Boise has always played strong defense and aggressive and physical. They have never really been known for being kind of soft or conservative.

And so I think all that's happening is they are just playing skilled in the secondary and focussing on the production of the opponent's points, which so farther doing a really nice job of.

I don't think that their lack of downfield completions is reflective on maybe a philosophical shift. I think it's just the secondary that's playing well.

Q. Even though it's only three games into the season, can you compare Kurt to where he was last year and is it more technical or mental in terms of what he's shown so far?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: I think it's really a change in every capacity. He's more physically capable in terms of body and condition and no injuries. He's certainly more experienced. He's more confident and I think he's more poised. It's just the next year with really good feedback that Kurt's applied to help his game and help our team.

So just a committed player with time to improve is what has led to his performance and improvement so far.

Q. Are you really excited to see how far he can just take his game and take the offense this season?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: He's still just starting. I mean, this is -- again, he's been the starter for one year, which is great, and three games, but he's improved.

Again, even though the Indiana game didn't go in our favor, he still in my opinion played better than the opener, and so he's improved in all three and that's what my hope is for each game is that he improves.

Q. This might be old news but was struck by the fact that your offense is huddling. What's the thinking behind that change of tempo?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: It's really a management of our team and our roster as we're building the program here at Virginia. We have limited resources and limited depth, and so our intent simply is to put the right players in the right spots at the right time to match their skill set and the situation. And when you go hard and when you go fast, a lot of times you're just leaving players out there and running plays with players that are pretty versatile and can do multiple things.

Where we currently are is maximizing each play with each player, doing what they are capable of doing from the right spot at the right time, and the pace slowing down helps our lack of depth in addition to that as a program.

Q. And maybe there's not a short answer to this but what's comparable to the rebuilding they are doing there, vis-a-vis your BYU experience?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: There isn't one. When I was at BYU as an assistant coach, there were three three years of losing football when I inherited the program. It was a lot of hard work but it was really rewarding.

So I would magnify that two or three times. It's really hard work but it's absolutely rewarding, and it's really nice to be wanted and needed for a chance to make a difference. I just love being with these kids and watching them learn and grow and develop, as well as the program, starting to show signs of improvement. It's really gratifying.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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