Virginia announces hire of UTSA’s Ricky Brumfield as Special Teams Coordinator

Virginia announced Saturday evening that, as has been previously reported, Bronco Mendenhall has hired Ricky Brumfield from UTSA as his new special teams coordinator.

Earlier in the year, the NCAA announced that all FBS schools would be allowed a 10th on-field assistant coach. Though Virginia already had 10 assistant coaches, Director of Football Performance Frank Wintrich is not an on-field coach, and therefore does not count against Virginia’s quota. Since then, Mendenhall has been thoughtful in filling the final opening on his staff.

“I had some specific criteria for this new position,” Mendenhall said in a released statement. “I wanted a great person. I wanted a great fit for our staff. I wanted a special teams expert. I wanted a very strong recruiter and I wanted someone who could be a mentor for the young men in our program. Ricky fits all of those things.

“I really like who he is as a person, his character and his values. Ricky is a great fit for our coaching staff and their shared philosophies. He has proven himself as a coach based on his past performance and the knowledge he brings from almost 20 years in the profession. Everywhere he has gone, he has improved the production of his units. I also like his ability to be a dynamic recruiter for us. He will be a terrific ambassador for our program and University.”

“I am excited to join the staff at Virginia and begin working with coach Mendenhall,” Brumfield said in the statement. “He has a reputation as a great coach, a great person and as a family man. I’m looking forward to getting right to work and to helping the program improve and build.”

From the full release:

In 2016, his first season with the Roadrunners, Brumfield helped guide the team to six wins and the program's first-ever bowl game, the 2016 Gildan New Mexico Bowl. His special teams set several school records, including season marks for touchbacks (27), points (79), extra points (43) and punting average (42.0).

This season, Brumfield saw freshman placekicker Jared Sackett earn freshman All-America honors from USA Today. Sackett made a UTSA school-record 19 field goals on 22 attempts. He also set the school mark with 80 points. Sackett was a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award presented to the nation’s top place kicker.

UTSA punter Yannis Routsas was a semifinalist for the 2017 Ray Guy Award presented to the nation’s top punter. UTSA was one of just three schools in 2017 to have both its placekicker and punter as semifinalists for those two national awards.

During the 2017 season, the Roadrunners went 6-5 with four of those losses coming by a total of 17 points. In the current NCAA FBS football statistics, UTSA ranks No. 6 in the nation in punt return defense. This season the Roadrunners allowed just eight punt returns for a total of 23 yards (2.88 ypr.). UTSA was No. 39 in the nation in kickoff defense by allowing 19.61 yards per return.

Read the full release here.

Welcome to Charlottesville, coach!