Leitao blames injuries for loss
By Whitelaw Reid / Daily Progress staff writer
January 4, 2006

After losing 78-68 at Western Kentucky on Monday night, University of Virginia coach Dave Leitao revealed that his team's two best players - Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds - have been suffering from nagging injuries.
Due to the heavy burden that is being placed on the UVa co-captains this season - because of the team's lack of depth - Leitao expressed reservations about his guards' long-term durability.

Singletary injured his hip during a practice in early December. It caused him to miss the first game of his career - the Cavaliers'

62-60 loss to Fordham.

Reynolds has been nursing a hamstring injury recently.

"Both of those guys are banged up," said Leitao, whose 6-5 team hosts Clemson on Saturday. "J.R.'s got a hamstring that's not real healthy, and Sean has a hip that still bothers him and will continue to throughout the year."

Leitao said he'll have to monitor the situation.

"We have to be real careful," he said, "because if not we could wear them down real good. By the time we get into conference play, they could be spent."

Against Western Kentucky, Singletary and Reynolds didn't show any signs of being hurt. They combined for 46 points in their best collective effort of the season.

"I thought they both played a pretty good floor game," Leitao said. "It's hard to ask them to play a perfect game with the amount of minutes they play."

Singletary, who scored 20 points and had a team-high six assists, played 38 minutes. Reynolds, who notched a season-high 26 on 9 of 14 shooting, logged 34 minutes.

Last season, Singletary averaged 29.9 minutes, while Reynolds was at 32.3.

With guard T.J. Bannister still trying to come back from a sports hernia injury, Leitao's options in the backcourt are very limited.

Walk-on Billy Campbell has spelled Singletary and Reynolds at times, but isn't a natural point or shooting guard.

Leitao has had to play Singletary and Reynolds a lot more than he would like.

"Unless I have those guys at 35-plus minutes, we're not going to be as good as team," Leitao said. "I try and steal possessions here and there, just before and after T.V. timeouts to get them rest."

After scoring a career-high 35 in the loss at Gonzaga, Singletary shrugged off his injury. He said it was just something he'd have to play though.

Monday night, Reynolds admitted he has been bothered by his ailment, but added: "I don't think anybody's 100 percent around this time. You just have to keep moving on. You can't rest."

The good news? Reynolds, who drained four 3-pointers against the Hilltoppers, said his game is feeling a lot better than it did a couple weeks ago when he was struggling in a couple of areas.

"I'm getting there," Reynolds said. "Each day I want to improve more. If I keep working hard, I'll get to where I want to be."

Through the first 11 games, Leitao has harped on getting maximum effort from his players for 40 minutes. However, somewhat strangely, he intimated on Monday night that it might not be possible because of the team's lack of bodies.

"Most of the guys have to pace themselves," Leitao said, "and that's not a good thing to have."

 

Fired Miami assistant calls Cavaliers for job
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
January 4, 2006

A buzz shot through the Atlantic Coast Conference on Monday when the University of Miami fired four assistant coaches.
One of those coaches - Vernon Hargreaves - could find a new home sooner rather than later.

Hargreaves has been in contact with Virginia coach Al Groh about filling one of the three vacant positions on the Cavaliers' coaching staff according to multiple sources.

Groh has three vacant positions on his staff. Former offensive coordinator Ron Prince (Kansas State), former defensive coordinator Al Golden (Temple) and former associate head coach Danny Rocco (Liberty) took head coaching jobs in early December. Another former assistant, Mark D'Onofrio, joined Golden's staff at Temple as the defensive coordinator.

Groh has filled one position already - he hired former Central Michigan coach Bob Diaco as special teams and linebackers coach - and published reports have said he offered another position to Houston Texans' assistant Mike London, who coached at UVa from 2000 to 2004.

At Miami, Hargreaves coached linebackers, a position that produced a number of NFL standouts, including

2000 Butkus Award winner Dan Morgan, and first-round-draft choices like Jonathan Vilma and D.J. Williams.

Hargreaves, 43, handled recruiting for the Hurricanes in the Mid-Atlantic states, including Virginia, but many said Miami coach Larry Coker was not satisfied with the progress in those states. Miami has no players on its current roster from Virginia and just one from North Carolina and Maryland, respectively.

Miami's defense was among the best in the country during the regular season, but the Hurricanes lost badly in the Peach Bowl, 40-3, against LSU.

"We had done a pretty job on defense. We were kind of going in the right directions," Hargreaves told the Fort Myers (Fla.) News-Press. "We played pretty good at linebacker. Now whether we were good enough - our defense only was ranked No. 3."

Hargreaves also has a familiarity with the Northeast part of the country, a recruiting hotbed for Virginia, having graduated and coached at the University of Connecticut.

After beating Minnesota 34-31 last week in the Music City Bowl, Groh said he planned to get his coaching staff filled out soon, but he did not give a timetable. London's chances of returning to Virginia were intensified on Sunday when the Texans fired coach Dom Capers.

Despite having two years left on a three-year contract with the NFL team, London and the remaining assistants have been allowed to look for other jobs.

"The other coaches will be given an opportunity to interview and seek other jobs around the league. And we'll certainly help them do that," said Houston Texans' owner Bob McNair on Monday

The only known candidate to have interviewed in Charlottesville for a position on Groh's staff was James Madison offensive line coach Curt Newsome.

Also, one candidate for Virginia's vacant offensive coordinator position found a new home on Tuesday. Frank Cignetti left Fresno State to become the offensive coordinator at North Carolina on coach John Bunting's staff. Cignetti was given a three-year contract with an annual salary of $200,000.

"I am here because of John Bunting; that's the primary reason," Cignetti told reporters. "I left a very good job. I had a great job at Fresno State. I worked for a great guy and it's a great place to live. But the opportunity to work for John Bunting, with the trust and respect that I have for him not only as a football coach but as a human being, speaks volumes for why I'm sitting here.

"The Cignetti family is in Chapel Hill today because of John Bunting."
 

Tech: Incident under review
The Roanoke Times

Virginia Tech athletic director Jim Weaver said Tuesday that his administration was embarrassed by Marcus Vick's unsportsmanlike conduct in Monday's Gator Bowl and that the incident will be reviewed and dealt with.

Vick, the Hokies' junior quarterback, stomped on the left calf of NCAA sacks leader Elvis Dumervil of Louisville when Dumervil lay on the ground after tackling Vick in the second quarter of the game in Jacksonville, Fla.

Vick later sprearheaded a fourth-quarter comeback and the Hokies topped Louisville 35-24, but the incident tainted the victory.

Vick called the incident "an accidental play, and football is football." He also said he apologized to Dumervil, a likely high NFL Draft choice, but Dumervil said no apology had been offered.

"A no-character individual," Dumervil told reporters leaving the stadium.

Replays don't seem to support Vick's claim that it was an accident. After rising from the turf, Vick seems to pause before intentionally stepping on Dumervil's leg.

He was not penalized on the play, but was rebuked at halftime by quarterbacks coach Kevin Rogers, who said he even considered pulling Vick from the lineup.

Rogers also was critical of his All-ACC quarterback, calling it a "stupid, knee-jerk reaction," and said if the Hokies are going to improve, Vick will need to be a bigger man.

"Nobody in that locker room condones that. Nobody does," Rogers said. "I spend a lot of time with [Vick]. It's no different that being disappointed in your own kids at times.

"I'm with him all the way, but we need to get that stuff corrected."

Vick's incident came a quarter after All-American cornerback Jimmy Williams was ejected from the game for bumping an official. Some teammates were concerned with both actions.

"Honestly, I think we've done become the bad guys of the ACC already," sophomore wide receiver Justin Harper said.

A message left by The Associated Press at the phone number listed for Vick in Virginia Tech's online student directory was not returned Tuesday night.

Williams said after the game that people outside of the program should beware of overreacting.

"Everything is going to be OK," he said. "We just wanted to give the younger guys some motivation to come back next year and go to the ACC title game, and, hopefully, we get to the show."

Coach Frank Beamer said afterward that he did not see the play and couldn't comment on any possibly disciplinary action against Vick until he had a chance to review it, and he and Rogers did not return phone messages left at their offices Tuesday.

Weaver also did not return messages left at his home or office.

In his statement, released shortly before 5 p.m., Weaver said Vick's behavior was "unacceptable" and "not reflective of Virginia Tech football nor of the values we hold at Virginia Tech. I and my colleagues in central administration are embarrassed and this athletic administration will not condone such acts of unsportsmanlike conduct.

"We will review and assess this incident further and deal with it accordingly."

The incident is the latest in a long line of trouble for Vick since he elected to follow his brother, Michael Vick, to Virginia Tech. The elder Vick led the Hokies to the 1999 national championship game and was the No. 1 pick in the 2001 NFL Draft by Atlanta.

But his act has proven difficult to follow for Marcus Vick, who played in 11 games as a backup as a freshman and then was suspended from school last season after he was arrested with teammates Mike Imoh and Brenden Hill for giving alcohol to 14- and 15-year-old girls. He pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge.

In addition, Vick later pleaded guilty to reckless driving and no contest to marijuana possession after police stopped him on Interstate 64 near Richmond in July 2004.

When Weaver informed Vick of his suspension in August 2004, he said that any further violations, either criminal, university judicial, or of athletic policy, will result in a permanent dismissal from Tech athletics.

"The university is doing the right thing in the name of discipline,'' Weaver said at that time. "I think Marcus understands where he is right now. I personally believe he wants to right the Vick name."

Upon his return this season, Vick was jeered by fans at road games, and drew additional negative attention by making an obscene gesture to fans at West Virginia, where he was called names like "child molester" and "rapist" throughout the game.

 

Tech wins bowl, not admiration
The Virginian-Pilot
© January 4, 2006

When young people dispense with a college degree for the money to be made as professional athlete, we all tend to wring our hands and lament about the opportunity lost. After his behavior in the second quarter of Monday’s Gator Bowl, few would bother with such regrets in the case of Marcus Vick, the incorrigible quarterback of Virginia Tech.

When the Hokie faithful should be celebrating the team’s first postseason victory since 2002, they are forced instead to hang their heads.

Monday’s game started dirty. The Hokies earned enough personal fouls and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties to give Louisville the lead, then All-American cornerback Jimmy Wilson was ejected for making contact with an official. The worst was yet to come.

That was from Vick. In an episode that will taint his already tainted career in Blacksburg, Vick tried to hurt another player. Then he lied about it.

First, Vick’s sin, which went unnoticed by the officials: After he was tackled by Louisville’s Elvis Dumervil, Vick got up and stepped on the back of the defensive end’s knee. Given the fragility of those joints, it was violence that threatened to destroy Dumervil’s professional future.

Vick compounded his sin by claiming afterward that he had apologized to Dumervil for the accident, an apology the victim said he never heard.

Still, Tech’s coaches, who saw him stomp Dumervil, let Vick play the rest of the game. Head coach Frank Beamer said he didn’t want to punish the entire team, but what that actually said — to everyone, including the team — was that a victory has become too important in Blacksburg.

Tech certainly isn’t alone. Sportsmanship is suffering everywhere, including at the University of Virginia, where offensive lineman Brad Butler tried to destroy the knee of a Boston College defender back in October. It took Cav coaches 48 hours to discipline Butler for what was — until Monday — the cheapest shot of the season.

Vick has received several second chances from Virginia Tech — to which he returned after he was suspended for a semester, and after convictions for marijuana possession and contributing to the delinquency of three underage girls. Witness Vick’s raised-finger salute to West Virginia’s fans earlier this year, a classless gesture for which he wasn’t disciplined.

College football inspires a kind of fanatical following and passion that is almost unrivaled in modern America. Most fans and players manage to keep things in proportion, and to keep the price they’re willing to pay for victory reasonable. The thuggery on display recently shows what happens when players and coaches don’t.

 

Vick's future with Hokies is uncertain
Marcus Vick
By KYLE TUCKER, The Virginian-Pilot
© January 4, 2006

Virginia Tech quarterback Marcus Vick may face disciplinary action yet again in the wake of actions in Monday’s Gator Bowl that athletic director Jim Weaver called unsportsmanlike and unacceptable.

Late in the first half against Louisville, Vick looked down, paused and stomped on the back of the knee of Elvis Dumervil — the Cardinals’ national Defensive Player of the Year.

Hokies quarterbacks coach Kevin Rogers yelled at Vick during the game and was critical of his actions in interviews with the media afterward. With a day to review the play, Weaver weighed in.

“The unsportsmanlike conduct of quarterback Marcus Vick ... is unacceptable behavior and contrary to the Hokies Respect Campaign,” Weaver said in a written release. “Such on-field action is not reflective of Virginia Tech football nor of the values we hold at Virginia Tech. I and my colleagues in central administration are embarrassed, and this athletic administration will not condone such acts of unsportsmanlike conduct. We will review and assess this incident further and deal with it accordingly.”

Officials on the field apparently did not see the play and no penalty was called, but the Hokies administration obviously agrees the stomp was intentional .

What isn’t clear is what Tech will do to Vick, who is no stranger to either crime or punishment.

During his stay in Blacksburg, the junior has appeared in court for charges that include reckless driving, possession of marijuana and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He’s had to perform community service, attend drug counseling and forfeit his driver’s license for eight months.

He’s a convicted criminal — purportedly rehabilitated — but also Virginia Tech’s All-ACC quarterback. He rallied the Hokies to a comeback Gator Bowl victory to cap a fine season. But it came a year after he served a semester-long suspension from school that cost him the entire 2004 season for prior indiscretions.

Taking into account the school’s comments in 2004 when he was suspended, along with Weaver’s statement Tuesday, Vick’s future with the team is uncertain. The day in August of 2004 when Vick was suspended, Tech president Charles Steger said that if Vick returned to the school and team, it would be a “last-chance opportunity.”

Steger added, “If there is any more trouble, his Virginia Tech career is effectively ended.”

His blanket statement did not indicate whether on-field infractions were included.

''I guess most of the incidents they were referring to were related to off-field incidents,” said Tech offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring, who maintained Tuesday he still hadn’t seen the stomp, but soon will. “But any time a policy is made or statements have been made, and a situation presents itself for review and investigation, you’ve taken the decision out of your own hands.

“Am I worried that this could be really bad for Marcus? That’s a good question.”

What is clear is that Vick has fallen short of his stated goal from that day. “I will work hard to improve myself as a person,” he said then. “I want to bring pride to the Hokies. I want to bring pride to the Vick name.”

But there wasn’t much pride in his apology earlier this season for flipping off fans in the West Virginia stands. Nor was there much glory in being called “a no-character individual” by Dumervil after the latest game and drawing reviews like the one from Rogers.

“I’m really disappointed in him,” Rogers said. “Really disappointed.”

And there was Vick himself, a year and five months later, having to apologize again and still talking about needing to grow up. “Unfortunately, sometimes I don’t know how to carry myself,” Vick said Monday. “That’s all about coming back and being polished and becoming a better person.”

When or if he’ll get to do that with the Hokies remains to be seen.

 

Vick taken to task over stomp
Virginia Tech athletic director Jim Weaver criticizes quarterback Marcus Vick for his actions in Monday's Gator Bowl.
BY DARRYL SLATER
247-4641
January 4, 2006

Virginia Tech athletic director Jim Weaver on Tuesday said he was embarrassed by quarterback Marcus Vick's "unacceptable" actions in Monday's Gator Bowl and promised to further review the situation. Late in the second quarter of the Hokies' game against Louisville, Vick was tackled by Louisville defensive end Elvis Dumervil. Vick got up. Dumervil was still on the ground. Then Vick stomped his right cleat into the back of Dumervil's left leg, and then ran to the sideline.

"The unsportsmanlike conduct of quarterback Marcus Vick in yesterday's Gator Bowl game against Louisville is unacceptable behavior ...," Weaver said in a written release.

"Such on-field action is not reflective of Virginia Tech football nor of the values we hold at Virginia Tech. I and my colleagues in central administration are embarrassed, and this athletic administration will not condone such acts of unsportsmanlike conduct. We will review and assess this incident further and deal with it accordingly."

Weaver's statement did not elaborate on a timetable for dealing with the matter. Calls to Weaver were not returned, as were calls to Tech football coach Frank Beamer, as well as ACC Commissioner Jim Swofford.

This is latest controversy for Vick, a junior who is a Warwick High graduate and the younger brother of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick.

He was convicted on Aug. 3, 2004 of reckless driving and marijuana possession. The same day, Virginia Tech suspended him for the fall 2004 semester.

"I think he feels badly that he's hurt his family and the university and the fans, and he wants to right the ship," Weaver said that day. "This (suspension) gives him a chance to do that. It is also crystal clear that if he is involved in any other kinds of trouble, whether it be judicial, athletic or through the university, his association with the university will be terminated. He knows that. He knows exactly where he stands."

Tech suspended Vick for the 2004 season because of the August convictions and because he was convicted in May 2004 on three charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

The charges stemmed from a Jan. 27, 2004 incident at Vick's Blacksburg apartment. The incident involved three teenage girls, Vick and teammates Brenden Hill and Mike Imoh.

Vick appealed those charges, which were merged into one charge for a plea agreement that let him avoid 30 days in jail. Vick, 21, re-enrolled at Tech in January 2005. He won the starting job and led the Hokies to an 11-2 season, which ended with a 35-24 win over Louisville in Jacksonville, Fla.

For the season, his first as a full-time starter, Vick completed 61.2 percent of his passes for 2,393 yards, 17 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

During a game at West Virginia on Oct. 1, Vick flipped his middle finger to fans behind Tech's sideline.

He apologized in a statement the next day. "What I did was wrong and I am sorry," he said. "My goal is to be the leader of this team and do things the right way."

After the Gator Bowl, Tech quarterbacks coach Kevin Rogers criticized Vick in conversations with reporters.

Meanwhile, Vick seemed contrite. "Sometimes out there on the field some things happen and, unfortunately, sometimes I don't know how to carry myself," he said. "That's all about coming back (for his senior season), being polished and becoming a better person."

He also said this of his actions: "It was an accidental play. Football is football."

Vick said he apologized to Dumervil and that Dumervil accepted his apology. Dumervil and Louisville officials said the players didn't speak after the game. Dumervil was the Big East Defensive Player of the Year and led the nation with 20 sacks. Vick was not penalized for the incident because officials apparently didn't see it.

Tech AD raps Vick
Weaver says stomp was embarrassing and action will be weighed
BY MIKE HARRIS
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Jan 4, 2006

No action has been taken yet against Virginia Tech quarterback Marcus Vick for stomping on the leg of Louisville defensive end Elvis Dumervil in Monday's Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla.

But there's been plenty of reac-tion.

After a play late in the second quarter of the Hokies' 35-24 victory, Vick raised a foot and brought it down on the prone Dumervil. No penalty was called. Vick said after the game he had apologized to Dumervil and that Dumervil accepted that apology. Dumervil said he received no apology.

Tech President Charles Steger and football coach Frank Beamer were not available for comment yesterday. Athletic Director Jim Weaver did issue a statement through the school's sports information office.

"The unsportsmanlike conduct of quarterback Marcus Vick in yesterday's Gator Bowl game against Louisville is unacceptable behavior and contrary to the Hokies Respect Campaign," Weaver's statement said.

"Such on-field action is not reflective of Virginia Tech football nor of the values we hold at Virginia Tech. I and my colleagues in central administration are embarrassed, and this athletic administration will not condone such acts of unsportsmanlike conduct. We will review and assess this incident further and deal with it accordingly."

Almost all of the reaction on talk shows, message boards and via e-mail yesterday was negative toward Vick. The Times-Dispatch received about 100 e-mails, many of them from Tech fans expressing displeasure with Vick. Hokiesports The Newspaper, the in-house publication of the Tech athletic department, also received a barrage of e-mails from people angry with Vick.

Vick was named all-ACC in 2005 after sitting out the 2004 season. He was suspended from school for a variety of legal transgressions and allowed to return with the stipulation that further trouble would lead to dismissal.