Bronco Mendenhall and his wife, Holly Johnston, pledged $500,000 to build a new football facility for the school.
A decade after stepping down in Provo to take the head coaching job at Virginia, Bronco Mendenhall is returning to the Beehive State.
Highlights
- Bronco Mendenhall is expected to be the next head coach of Utah State.
- Mendenhall tied the knot with Holly Johnston in 1997. They spend their free time riding horses.
- Bronco and Holly had three sons: Cutter, Raeder, and Breaker Mendenhall.
The former BYU coach is expected to be named the next head coach at Utah State, succeeding Blake Anderson and interim coach Nate Dreiling, who led the Aggies to a 4-8 campaign after a 42-37 loss to Colorado State in the season finale.
News of Mendenhall’s hire was first reported by Extra Points and confirmed by ESPN.
Mendenhall returns to Utah after one season at New Mexico, where he helped the Lobos to a 5-7 record, their most wins since 2016.
The Alpine native and American Fork High graduate, who played at Snow College and Oregon State, had been linked to the Utah State coaching vacancy several times.
Football Scoop indicated that Mendenhall was the “central focus” of the Aggies’ research following numerous campaigns under Dreiling.
According to the report, BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill and Montana State coach Brent Vigen spoke with Utah State leadership about the opening.
Mendenhall, though, denied any contact for the position as recently as Tuesday, telling the Albuquerque Journal during an end-of-season press conference that Utah State hadn’t contacted him.
Bronco And His Wife Holly Talked About Family, Faith, And Football In The Church News Podcast
Bronco Mendenhall married Holly Johnston in 1997. As per Bronco’s Facebook handle, they currently live in Provo, Utah.
Bronco and Holly are not active on social media, so only limited information is available about their personal life. However, they have been together for over 27 years.
Earlier, in 2023, during an episode of the Church News podcast, Sarah Jane Weaver and Sheri Dew interviewed Bronco and his wife Holly.
They spoke about family, faith, Football, and all they’ve learned since leaving the University of Virginia.
When Bronco was asked about other essential things than Football, he answered,
“I’m a member of the church. I work as hard as I can to be a disciple of Christ. I do all I can imperfectly to follow our Savior’s teachings. I do everything I know how to do.” “What they’re going to do out there will be more profound, more lasting and more eternal.”
Bronco Mendenhall
Later, Holly was asked about the value of aligning Football with faith. She answered,
“We didn’t swoop in and try and change people’s faiths,” “We embraced them, and we educated them — there was a lot of misinformation and just unknowing.”
Holly Johnston
Moreover, Bronco and Holly have donated over $500,000 to construct a new football facility in the school as part of a $180 million campaign the school launched.
According to Holly, her husband, Bronco, wants to help people become better human beings. In Virginia, she said, Mendenhall had a bookshelf filled with various books.
When players asked for advice, he gave them a reading assignment. She said,
The players would come to him and say, ‘Coach, what about this?’ And he would say, ‘Well, I’ve got a book for you,’”
Holly Johnston
Holly and Bronco also ride horses at their ranch in Bigfork, Montana, during their free time.
Bronco And His Wife, Holly Johnston, Shares Three Children
Bronco and Holly have three children: Breaker Mendenhall, Raeder Mendenhall, and Cutter Mendenhall.
While Brocno’s two sons, Breaker and Raeder, pursue football careers, his son Cutter has chosen a different path.
Originally from Highlands, Utah, Cutter, a junior at BYU, double majored in English and Spanish Studies from Brigham Young University.
His favorite credits include Dauntless in Once Upon a Mattress and Danny Zuko in Grease.
Since returning from his mission in Uruguay, he has been a member of two of BYU’s folk dance performing companies.
"A lot of us didn't really have family, your football family is your family." – @Jaime_Beck11
— Preston Willett (@PrestonWillett) October 29, 2021
Six years after Bronco Mendenhall and his coaching staff left BYU for Virginia, their families have built a connection deeper than just football: https://t.co/2btW9cgv9w pic.twitter.com/fiSgOEfhHX
According to his LinkedIn profile, he has worked as a Legal Clerk at McCullough Law in Provo, Utah, United States, since August 2021.
Bronco’s son Breaker is a football player from position S at Western Albemarle and wears Jersey No. 13.
He was honored with Academic All-Mountain West and Mountain West Scholar-Athlete in 2020.
Their son Raeder is also pursuing a career in Football. In May 2015, Raeder and Bronco were featured on Hooked On Utah.
However, nothing much has been revealed regarding Raeder Mendenhall.
Additional Information
- Bronco Mendenhall has an estimated net worth of around $12 million as of 2025.
- Mendenhall was named the head coach of the Virginia Cavaliers on December 4, 2015, after Mike London resigned on November 29, 2015.
- He is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
