Why you should root for Bronco Mendenhall and Ken Niumatalolo this season

There aren’t a whole lot of free-agent fans in the college football landscape.

Whether they decided as a child that the team with the cool mascot, the fun colors, or the exciting play style was the team they wanted to cheer for, or they have cheered for the same team as their family since they left the womb, or they are loyal to their actual alma mater, college football fans tend to be diehard fans of their team.

But that doesn’t mean that fans can’t have additional rooting interests.

And CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli believes that, this year, fans from all walks of life should root for New Mexico because of Bronco Mendenhall and/or San Jose State because of Ken Niumatalolo .

Why root for the New Mexico Lobos?

Mendenhall came out of a self-imposed retirement to coach at New Mexico, a school he had previously coached at during his career.

During his introductory press conference in December, Mendenhall spoke fondly about his return to Albuquerque.

“The University of New Mexico has a special place in my heart otherwise I would not be here,” he said. “This program, I know, is capable of sustained success, continued success and excellence. I’ve been part of it. I’ve seen it. And I’m looking forward to recapturing that right not only occasionally, but consistently.”

Fornelli’s interest in rooting for Mendenhall and the Lobos comes down to two things:

• Style of play
• New Mexico’s rough history

“I love Bronco Mendenhall teams,” Fornelli wrote for CBS Sports. “They’re always tough and physical, but unlike many coaches who play that way, they don’t mind getting creative on offense. Mendenhall’s BYU teams were always fun to watch, and we shouldn’t overlook that the Cougars went 39-9 in six seasons in the Mountain West under Bronco and won the league in 2006 and 2007. Things got more difficult as the Cougars went independent and began playing trickier schedules, but he won 99 games in Provo.

“Mendenhall brought a similar approach to Virginia, a program long considered a sleeping giant that never consistently capitalized on its chances,” he continued. ”He inherited a team that had been to only one bowl game in the prior eight seasons. After a record of 2-10 in his first year, Mendenhall led the Hoos to three straight bowl appearances, with only the shortened COVID season ending the run.”

Fornelli continues: “The Lobos went to consecutive bowl games under Bob Davie in 2015 and 2016, but those are the only bowls they’ve played in since 2007. Given Mendenhall’s history, it’s only a matter of time before they’re back in the postseason. While I don’t anticipate it’ll be this year, I’m excited to see this team exceed expectations immediately.”

Why root for the San Jose State Spartans

Niumatalolo was fired as the head coach at Navy in December 2022 after leading the program from 2007 through 2022. It was a disappointing end to a historic tenure at Navy that included 10 winning seasons, 10 wins against rival Army and six Commander-in-Chief’s trophies.

Niumatalolo then worked at UCLA as the director of leadership throughout the 2023 season before being promoted to tight ends coach briefly.

When the San Jose State job opened up — after Brent Brennan took the open job at Arizona — it didn’t take long for Niumatalolo to land the gig.

For Fornelli, rooting for Niumatalolo and the Spartans this year comes down to:

• Loyalty
• Niumatalolo’s success

“Ken Niumatalolo spent 15 seasons at Navy, where he accomplished quite a bit,” Fornelli wrote. “He helped the Naval Academy transition from life as an independent into the American Athletic Conference, going 14-2 in conference play their first two seasons. He saw two of his quarterbacks drafted by the NFL (to be running backs), the first time that had happened for a Navy QB since Roger Staubach in 1964. Perhaps most important, he won his first eight games against Army, extending a win streak that began under Paul Johnson to 14 games. That’s Navy’s longest win streak ever against its arch-rival.

“But you know what he didn’t do? He never left. That kind of success at Navy led to several schools sniffing around Niumatalolo over the years, including plenty from power leagues. He came very close to leaving for Arizona until a tweet from then-Arizona QB Khalil Tate and some backlash from fans ended it,” he continued. “Niumatalolo was let go by Navy following a 4-8 record in 2022, the fourth losing record in five seasons for the Midshipmen.

“Now, after turning down previous opportunities, Niumatalolo has a head coaching gig outside the service academies, taking over a San Jose State program that showed it could succeed under previous coach Brent Brennan. Niumatalolo will not be running the option (which bums me out a little, honestly), but if he can win in San Jose, it could lead to more than a few programs wishing he hadn’t been so dang loyal to the Naval Academy.”

What other teams could you root for?

Fornelli isn’t only interested in New Mexico and San Jose State.

He also singled out Houston in the Big 12, Tennessee in the SEC and the remaining Pac-2 teams — Oregon State and Washington State — as programs to root for.

As he put it, “When you cover college football nationally, you quickly discover that many fans across the country are convinced you hate their team. It’s easy to understand why these fans know the ins and outs of every part of their program, while those of us responsible for tracking 134 different schools can never be so informed, which comes off as disrespectful to the fan. But I assure you that, from my vantage point, I do not hate your team. In fact, I love them. While I make no bones about being a fan of Illinois and want the Illini to win every game they play by 50 points, it has no impact on how I feel about anybody else.

“I want everybody to do well because I understand there are various definitions of ‘doing well’ for every program. Some want to win a national or conference title, while others simply hope to get to a bowl game or beat their rival. Hell, some teams are praying they can avoid a winless season. I hope every one of them achieves those goals, even if I know not all of them can. With all that being the case, every season there are a few teams I find I’m pulling for a little bit more than the others. For 2024, these are the programs tugging the hardest at my heartstrings.”