UNM football: Meet Bronco Mendenhall's first coaching staff

Dec. 20—After weeks of rumors and reports, New Mexico's coaching staff is finally official.

The Lobos announced the hiring of 14 new staffers on Wednesday — including 11 full-time coaches — set to work under head coach Bronco Mendenhall entering his first season at UNM.

The full list:

Jason Beck

Position: Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach

Previous stop: Syracuse offensive coordinator (2023)

Background: An Oxnard, California native, Beck transferred to BYU in 2004 after two seasons spent playing quarterback at College of the Canyons and Ventura College. He spent his remaining three seasons of eligibility backing up John Beck before serving as a graduate assistant with the Cougars and LSU.

After coaching stints at Weber State and Simon Fraser, Beck served as BYU's quarterbacks coach from 2013-15 and held the same role under Mendenhall at Virginia for six seasons. He was hired as Syracuse's quarterbacks coach in 2022 and was elevated to offensive coordinator the following season, with the Orange averaging 358.7 yards and 25.5 points per game.

Nick Howell

Position: Defensive coordinator

Previous stop: Vanderbilt defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach (2022-23)

Background: Howell, an Ogden, Utah native and Weber State graduate, started his career as a high school assistant in Utah before taking the head job at his alma mater, Ben Lomond High School. After leading the Scots for three seasons, he became a defensive intern for BYU in 2007 and slowly worked his way up the program, eventually being named the Cougars' defensive coordinator in 2013.

Howell followed Mendenhall to Virginia in 2016 and maintained defensive coordinator duties, helping the Cavaliers improve from the worst defense in the ACC (32.2 points per game in 2015) to one of the conference's best (20.1 points per game in 2018). Upon Mendenhall's resignation in 2021, he was hired as Vanderbilt's defensive coordinator and served in that role for two seasons.

After finishing 2023 with one of the worst defenses in the country, Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea announced on Nov. 29 that Howell had been demoted from defensive coordinator to secondary coach.

Shane Hunter

Position: Special teams coordinator/linebackers

Previous stop: Utah Tech co-defensive coordinator/safeties coach (2022-23)

Background: A former linebacker, Hunter played from 2007-10 at BYU before working as Snow College's defensive line coach and special teams coordinator. He went on to work as a graduate assistant with the Cougars for three seasons and spent the entirety of Mendenhall's tenure at Virginia (2016-21) as the Cavaliers' inside linebackers and safeties coach.

Hunter returned to Utah as Utah Tech's as the Trailblazers' co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach.

Famika Anae

Position: Offensive line coach

Previous stop: Campbell University offensive line coach (2022-23)

Background: A former BYU offensive lineman, Anae started two years under his father, former BYU offensive coordinator and assistant head coach Robert Anae, before joining the Cougars' staff as an undergraduate line assistant in 2014. He went on to hold a similar role at Virginia (2016-17) before coaching tight ends at Dixie State — now known as Utah Tech — and the offensive lines at Texas A&M Commerce and FCS Campbell.

Under Anae, the Fighting Camels allowed 27 sacks and averaged 149.7 rushing yards per game over 11 games in 2023.

Matt Johns

Position: Tight ends coach

Previous stop: William & Mary quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator (2022-23)

Background: Johns, a quarterback at Virginia from 2012-16, rejoined the Cavaliers as a defensive graduate assistant in 2018 for one season before FCS William & Mary hired him as its inside receivers/tight ends coach in 2019. He began coaching the Tribe's quarterbacks in 2020, culminating in a historic 2022 season that saw the program tie its single-season wins record (11) while earning an automatic bid to the FCS playoffs.

Kirk Garner

Position: Running backs coach

Previous stop: East Tennessee State running backs coach (2023)

Background: A Virginia cornerback from 2013-17, Garner worked under Mendenhall as a graduate assistant for three seasons. He joined Vanderbilt's staff as an offensive quality control assistant for the 2021 season and got his first nod as a position coach in 2023, leading FCS East Tennessee State's running back room.

Under Garner, the Buccaneers rushed for 1,704 yards and 15 touchdowns — an average of 154.9 yards per game, good for 47th in the country.

Micah Simon

Position: Wide receivers coach

Previous stop: Northern Colorado wide receivers coach (2023)

Background: After racking up 1,098 receiving yards and five touchdowns at BYU, Simon played briefly with the Carolina Panthers and B.C. Lions (CFL) before joining Syracuse as an offensive analyst in 2022. He moved on from the Orange after one season to become Northern Colorado's wide receivers coach, coaching two receivers with 40-plus receptions as the Bears struggled to an 0-11 season.

Jan Jorgensen

Position: Defensive ends coach

Previous stop: BYU defensive analyst (2022-23)

Background: If there's one name UNM fans might remember on this list, it's Jorgensen.

Aptly nicknamed the Janimal, Jorgensen started 52 games over four seasons at BYU and wrecked defenses to the tune of 28.7 career sacks — the second-most in Mountain West history. He later pursued a career in combat sports before returning to football as a graduate assistant with the Cougars in 2015.

Jorgensen went on to serve as Orange Coast College and Snow College's defensive coordinator and later rejoined BYU as a defensive analyst in 2022.

Charles Mack

Position: Defensive backs coach

Previous stop: Virginia Military Institute director of player personnel/safeties coach (2023)

Background: After playing four seasons at Richmond as a defensive back, Mack joined Mendenhall's Virginia staff in 2019 as a regional scout. He served as an offensive and defensive graduate assistant with the Cavaliers from 2020-22 before joining the Keydets in his now former capacity.

Donte Wilkins

Position: Defensive line coach

Previous stop: Lafayette defensive line coach (2022-23)

Background: A four year letterman at Virginia, Wilkins joined UCLA in 2017 as an assistant performance coach and returned to the Cavaliers as a regional scout in 2019. He spent the next two seasons in Charlottesville, Virginia, as a graduate assistant before taking on his first full-time position coaching role with Lafayette in 2022.

As the Leopards' defensive line coach, Wilkins led a group that helped put up 37 sacks — the fifth-best FCS mark in 2023.

Other roles — Nate Pototschnik, Head Athletic Performance Coach — Joe Spaziani, Director of Operations — Pat Hickman, Chief of Staff/Director of Player Personnel — Evan Butts, Director of Scouting