As the BYU Cougars get ready to move to the Big 12 Conference, a big topic of conversation has been that a bunch of their planned future football games will have to be canceled to make way for a conference schedule.
On Monday, FBSchedules.com first reported that one series that, at least until recently was an emotional one, has been canceled.
That would be BYU’s series with the Virginia Cavaliers, where former Cougars head coach Bronco Mendenhall was the coach from 2015 until abruptly resigning on Dec. 2.
In addition to the matchup this season that the Cougars won 66-49, the two sides were also scheduled to meet in 2023 at Virginia and 2025 at BYU.
In that same story, it was reported that Virginia has canceled a series with Liberty, a school that, like BYU, will go from being an independent to being part of a conference (Conference USA).
According to the story, Virginia and Liberty were slated to play a four-game series between 2023 and 2030.
Elsewhere in BYU-Virginia relations Monday, the Cavaliers announced their coaching staff under Mendenhall’s replacement, Tony Elliott, and offensive line coach Garett Tujague is the lone coach out of a large group who followed Mendenhall from BYU to Virginia who will remain on staff.
Yahoo’s Pete Thamel had reported last week that offensive coordinator Robert Anae and quarterbacks coach Jason Beck were being eyed by Syracuse, while running backs coach Mark Atuaia was targeting a move to Washington State.
Mendenhall was slated to coach his final game for Virginia in the Fenway Bowl on Dec. 29 against the SMU Mustangs, but it was canceled because of COVID-19 issues within the Cavaliers program.