Offensive coordinator Bill Lazor to favor a physical, pro-style attack at U.Va.
By Norm Wood | 247-4642
January 30, 2010

There's something to be said for pedigree. Though Bill Lazor is far from a household name, he has studied under the watch of some of the best the game has to offer.

Now, Virginia is about to find out if the expertise he gained as an assistant under National Football League coaching greats Dan Reeves, Joe Gibbs and Mike Holmgren can translate to the college game.

Lazor, 37, has just two years of play-calling as an offensive coordinator under his belt. Those were lean years in 2001 and 2002 at the University of Buffalo, as the Bulls were relative newcomers to the Championship Subdivision and didn't finish above 100th in the nation in total offense and 101st in scoring offense.

He returns to college football as an offensive coordinator armed with knowledge he gained in the NFL. He'll get a chance to show what he has learned right away.

Q: What kind of offense do you plan to run at Virginia?

A: First and foremost, it's going to be an extension of what coach London believes in. That's important, and probably everyone understands that will be the case, but I think it'll be important as we go forward it'll be the University of Virginia's offense. It won't be coming from elsewhere. ... In football today, you've got to find ways to score, and being explosive is a part of that. It's also very important to be physical. It doesn't matter how many times you decide to run the ball in a game. If you do, you better be physical, and you better be able to come off the ball. I think probably when people watch from the outside they would say it's a pro-style attack because you'll see us be under center as well as be in the shotgun.

You've worked for a lot of big-name NFL coaches. What have you learned from those guys that maybe you'll bring to Virginia?

When I think about going to the (Atlanta) Falcons and working for Dan Reeves, my first opportunity to be in the National Football League and to work for just a legend. ... I watched a man who had been doing it a long time, but just had such great poise and such control and just understood what he was going to do in a football game. I thought he was just excellent at calling plays and putting the whole package together and seeing the big picture. The most time I spent in the National Football League was with coach Joe Gibbs with the (Washington) Redskins. ... If you tried to pin him down, he'd tell you what's important is trying to run the football and throw it deep for big plays…I spent a lot of time with someone who really understood how to play offensive football and build a team and how to be physical and how to have a great attitude on offense. When I went to the (Seattle) Seahawks, one of the things coach (Holmgren) told me was that if you're going to coach the quarterbacks, you better wear an iron jock strap. Coach Holmgren has a real unique way on how to coach the quarterbacks, and the quarterbacks coach. ... He was very quick to see when his team did not look the way he wanted it to look and to get it corrected.

When you left (the University of) Buffalo to go to the Falcons, did you make the decision that you wanted pro football to be your career? If so, or if not, did you have to make any kind of decision as to returning to college this time?

When I left the University of Buffalo, I really enjoyed what I was doing. It was a hard job. In 1998, I was at Cornell University in the Ivy League, and we played the University of Buffalo. At the time, they were a scholarship I-AA school, and we were in the Ivy League so it's a non-scholarship I-AA school. We played them and we knew that they would be going to I-A the next year. When we played them, we beat them, and I said, 'If they're going to I-A, they're in trouble.' Two or three years later, I was at that school as the offensive coordinator. I got there and started working and I found out that my original thought was correct. ... We certainly didn't have the success that we were striving for, but I had a lot of fun in that job. ... When I left there to go to the Falcons, probably the number one reason was the opportunity to work for Dan Reeves. Certainly, when I was at that point, I felt like there was a whole lot in my career that I had not experienced.

I really believe the University of Virginia should be an excellent football program. It should win football games. ... The first conversation that got me interested was with somebody I really trust talking about the kind of person Mike London is. It really got me excited about the chance to get to know this guy. ... I'm also excited to have a chance to have a great impact on the team again in that role — not that you don't in other roles. I've always felt that I had a great impact on the team, but you do it in a little different way when you're the offensive coordinator.

It's been a long time since you've called plays and since you've recruited. Can you speak to the adjustment in both those areas?

One thing I know is that I've got some studying to do in the recruiting book. We used to take pride in who could get it done faster when I worked at Cornell. ... I need to study if I want to catch up with these guys, but I'll do that. I'm excited to get back into having the chance to meet young men and work with them and kind of watch them grow. I think that's one of the fun parts of recruiting. ... There's been one guy I've coached, and I only had the chance to coach him for one year, who since then has gone on to become a Catholic priest. There's been guys I've coached that have gone on to become everything from investment bankers to Secret Service agents and probably things where I couldn't remember the list.

As far as the play-calling, the way I look at it, it's something I enjoy doing and thought I was good at it when I did it. I can't imagine having a better seven years of study behind people that do it very, very well. I'll be very disappointed in myself if I don't bring as many as those lessons I've learned from some of the greatest minds in football with me.

Football: More on, and from, Bill Lazor

Just got off the phone with Bill Lazor, Virginia's new offensive coordinator (and quarterbacks coach). Lazor has connections to the Washington area, having been the Redskins' quarterbacks coach under Joe Gibbs from 2004 to 2007 and then going to the Seattle Seahawks to replace former Redskins coach Jim Zorn during the past two seasons.

While Lazor coached the Redskins, he lived in Leesburg and made treks to Charlottesville. Once the coaching staff is completed, I'm going to go in depth on all the coaches in this space, but for now, here are some quick nuggets from Lazor:

- The timeline of his hire started "two to three weeks ago" when Lazor and Coach Mike London were put in touch with each other through "mutual friends." London was in the process of speaking to other offensive coordinator candidates, but the phone conversations between London and Lazor and discussions with mutual friends prompted the process to intensify last week. They spoke "very specifically" on Sunday. Lazor flew to Charlottesville on Monday, met with London, and it "moved quickly" since then.

- Lazor said the offense will be "an extension of what Coach London believes in." London and Lazor have spoken to specifically about the visions for the offense, which includes "being explosive."

"In football today, you got to find ways to score and being explosive is part of that," Lazor said. "And it's also very important to be physical. It doesn't matter how many times you decide to run the ball in a game, but when you do, you better be very physical. You better be able to come off the ball. Probably when people watch from the outside, they will say it's a pro-style attack because they'll see us be under center as well as being in the shotgun. But really, the specifics of that, will match the strengths of the players that are here and playing for us in that first game."

- Lazor has worked with some notable coaches in his NFL career. Here's what he learned from a few of them:

From Dan Reeves: "I watched a man who had been doing it a long time and had such great poise, such great control and just understood what he was going to do in that football game. He was excellent at calling plays, and putting the whole package together and seeing the big picture."

From Joe Gibbs: "If you tried to pin him down, he would tell you what's important is to try to run the football and throw it deep for big plays. I wouldn't always say that's the case on the every play. But spending a lot of time with someone who really understood how to play offensive football, knew how to build a team, knew how to be physical and had a great attitude on offense."

From Mike Holmgren: "When I went to the Seahawks, one of the things coach told me is, 'If you're going to coach the quarterbacks for me, you better wear an iron jock strip.' Coach Holmgren had a really unique way of coaching the quarterbacks. He was very honest with me up front. He had a real specific vision of what he thought offensive football should look like. He was very quick to see when his team did not look the way he wanted it to look, and he corrected it. ...And he also had a very specific way that he believed you coach the quarterback. It wasn't a very touchy-feely way, but it's a way that's been proven over time to develop quarterbacks."

- Lazor is excited to recruit again, citing past players who've gone on to have success outside of football -- including one who's a priest, and another who's an investment banker. He said he needs to study and learn the recruiting book.

- Lazor does not expect a big hurdle in calling plays again. It's something he enjoyed doing during his last college stint at Buffalo, and believes his training in the NFL will only improve those skills.

- Lazor said a big reason for taking the job is his belief in Mike London and confidence in what Virginia football could -- and should -- be.

By Zach Berman

U.Va.‘s new OC inherits struggling offense
By Michael Phillips
Published: January 30, 2010
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As a young assistant at Cornell, Bill Lazor watched his team beat Buffalo one year, thinking that the Bulls, who were about to move to the I-A level, were in big trouble.

Three years later, he was hired on as the offensive coordinator there.

"I was very excited, then I got there and found out that my original thought was correct," he said. "Some days I felt like we would do anything to get a first down."

Lazor's coaching journey then took him through the NFL ranks, where he had the opportunity to learn from some of the biggest names in coaching, and has brought him to Virginia, where he will serve as Mike London's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Yesterday he said that he's also had thoughts about the Virginia program over the years, mainly from getting the opportunity to visit Charlottesville while he was an assistant with the Redskins.

"I have a certain picture in my mind of this school and what this football program should be," he said. "I really believe that the University of Virginia should be an excellent football program and should win games."

If that's going to happen, Lazor's efforts will be a big part of it. He's taking over an offense that lacked an identity last year, as the Cavs experimented with a spread offense, then pulled the plug on that idea just three weeks into the season.

Lazor (pronounced laser) said that he's on board with London's vision of a pro-style offense that lines up under center in addition to the shotgun formation that's popular right now.

"It's also very important to be physical," he said. "It doesn't matter how many times you decide to run the ball in a game, but when you do, you better be very physical."

Having spent most of the last decade in the NFL, most recently as the Seahawks quarterbacks coach, he's also having to refamiliarize himself with the nuances of the college game, including a rotating cast and recruiting.

He's been reading up on guys in his hotel at night, but he's only been in town since Monday, so he said he's still working on meeting the players. He's also jumping in at a busy recruiting time as coaches work to finalize commitments from high school seniors in advance of next Wednesday's national signing day. Lazor remembered his recruiting days as a rewarding struggle.

"It isn't always fun when you have to stop at a fast-food drive-through for a couple meals in a row," he said. "But it's fun when you get to the point where you're sitting with young men and their families and you're trying to figure out what makes them tick in life. And it's especially fun when they come to school and you get a chance to watch them grow."

Lazor will get that opportunity out of the gate with the current crop of quarterbacks. Only Marc Verica has any sort of experience at the position, with freshmen Ross Metheny and Rico Smalls, as well as true freshman Michael Strauss, all looking to get into the mix this year.

London will formally announce his coaching staff at a free meet and greet event next Friday night at John Paul Jones Arena that will be open to the public, but yesterday's news about Lazor helps bring clarity to the situation.

It appears that former U.Va. star Shawn Moore will coach the wide receivers, and London's offensive coordinator from Richmond, Mike Faragalli, will handle the running backs.

Lazor plans pro-style attack
By Jay Jenkins
Published: January 30, 2010
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Working alongside former Virginia offensive coordinator Ron Prince at Cornell University, Bill Lazor gained a lifelong friend.

It was through that acquaintance that Lazor made his first trip to Charlottesville.

Named Virginia’s offensive coordinator Thursday after two seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, Lazor is now back in Central Virginia for the immediate future under new coach Mike London.

Considering he has met very few players and witnessed very little film of the 2009 season in his 48 hours on the job, it will be interesting to see what the 37-year-old’s offense will look like.

For now, expect the upcoming “pro-style offense” to attempt to dominate in the trenches.

“There are a lot of different ways to do it, but in football, you’ve got to find ways to score, and being explosive is part of that, and it’s also very important to be physical,” Lazor said Friday. “It doesn’t matter how many times you decide to run the ball in a game. When you do, you had better be physical and you better be able to come off the ball.”

Virginia returns four starters on its offensive line, but must find a new starting quarterback following the graduation of senior Jameel Sewell.

The new signal-caller will get plays called into him by Lazor, who has not performed that specific duty in almost a decade. He served as the offensive coordinator at the University of Buffalo in 2001 and 2002.

This time around, however, Lazor has the experiences of having worked under standout NFL head coaches such as Dan Reeves, Joe Gibbs and Mike Holmgren and the assistants they managed.

“The way I look at [calling plays] is it’s something I enjoy doing and thought I was good at when I did it, and I can’t imagine having a better seven years of study behind people who do it very, very well,” Lazor said. “I’ll be very disappointed in myself if I don’t bring as many of those lessons I’ve learned from some of the greatest minds in football with me.”
 

U.Va. likely to finish asst. coach hires with another former Washington Redskins asst.

It appears U.Va. coach Mike London will tap another former Washington Redskins assistant coach to fill the final full-time assistant coaching position on his Cavaliers staff.

Scott Wachenheim, a native of Woodland Hills, Calif. who coached tight ends this season for the Redskins, is likely to be added to U.Va.'s staff, according to a source with knowledge of the search. He'll join Bill Lazor, who was hired Thursday to be U.Va.'s offensive coordinator, as former Redskins assistants on the Cavaliers' roster of coaches.

Wachenheim, 47, coached for 21 seasons at the college level before spending this season in the National Football League. He wasn't retained by new Redskins coach Mike Shanahan after Jim Zorn was fired. Wachenheim brings a pretty impressive offensive resume with him to Charlottesville.

Though the Redskins didn't prove to have much in the way of a consistent offense this season on their way to a 4-12 finish, Wachenheim's tight ends had their moments. Chris Cooley went out for the season with a broken right ankle in Washington's seventh game, but not before he had a reasonably productive 29 catches for 332 yards and two touchdowns.

Fred Davis filled in for Cooley, and responded with 48 catches for 509 yards and six touchdowns on the season. Backup Todd Yoder added four catches for nine yards and three touchdowns.

Prior to going to Washington, Wachenheim was coach Danny Rocco's offensive coordinator from 2006-08 at Liberty University. In '08, Liberty finished ninth in the Championship Subdivision and led the Big South with an average of 446.7 yards per game, paving the way to an average of 33.7 points per contest.

In '07, Liberty led the conference with an average of 429.6 yards per game to go along with 42.6 points per game. In '06, Liberty tied for first in the nation in FCS in fewest turnovers lost (eight), ninth in sacks given up (one per game) and 19th in rushing offense (185 yards per game).

He was also an offensive assistant for 12 seasons (1994-2005) at Rice, including the last five as the Owls' offensive coordinator. His Rice offenses specialized in running the triple option. In '04, the Owls led the nation in rushing offense with 306.5 yards per game.

In '03, Rice finished second in the nation in the Bowl Subdivision in rushing yards per game while gaining a school-record 3,800 rushing yards. In '01, Rice set school records for points scored (333) and total offense (4,846 yards).

In addition to his stops at Liberty and Rice, Wachenheim was also an assistant at Utah State, Colorado, Arkansas and Air Force, his alma mater - where he was a four-year starter on the offensive line.

Posted by Norman Wood

Tech looking at seven-member class in 2011 recruiting
Doughty doesn’t believe it
By Doug Doughty

The University of Virginia’s appointment of Mike London as head football coach does not necessarily come at a good time for Virginia Tech, or so the Hokies feel.

One of London’s missions is to make the Cavaliers competitive with Tech in in-state recruiting and that might not be difficult next year.

The Hokies almost always are at the Division I-A scholarship level and they stand to lose only seven scholarship players following the 2010 season -- Rashad Carmichael, Steven Friday, John Graves, Davon Morgan, Andre Smith, Tyrod Taylor and Beau Warren.

That means that Tech could have as few as seven scholarships available for 2011, according to director of football operations John Ballein.

“Seven?” Jim Cavanaugh, the Hokies’ recruiting coordinator said. “I thought the number was eight.”

Cavanaugh is willing to yield to Ballein on matters of roster size and scholarship numbers. To borrow a term that deals with salaries more than roster sizes at the NFL level, Ballein is the Hokies’ resident “capologist.”

“You can go with that,” Cavanaugh said. “I totally agree.”

Ballein, who has a PhD and requires some of his friends to address him as Dr., said the Hokies will sign no more than 12 players for 2011. It reminds me of an infamous online chat involving Dr. Ballein, head coach Frank Beamer and cheezy beamerball.com host Greg Roberts in 2008.

“We have 10 rising seniors,” Beamer said. “So, our plans now are to have 10 signees in our next class.”

That was Beamer’s projection for the entering class of 2009. In checking the archives, I see where Tech signed 21 players in 2009.

Cavanaugh told me today that he would put the number for 2011 at 15. I offered him a wager of a dinner. If Tech signs more than 15 in 2011, he owes me. If Tech signs 15 or more, I’ll owe him.

“I’ll take you up on that,” said Cavanaugh, “but it’s got to be 15 come August.”

In other words, Tech might sign 20 again. Some might not qualify academically and will require prep school; some might be “greyshirted” and enroll in January, which could count toward 2012.

Tech used to have more attrition than it does right now. Ten wins per year will do that. Players want to be part of a successful operation.

“I’d like to think we’re doing a good job of recruiting the right people and recruiting the right students,” Cavanaugh said.

CAVANAUGH SAID THAT the first sign of the reduced scholarship targets will come when Tech’s staff attempts to set numbers for recruits it will take at different position. It is possible that there might be a position or positions where Tech can’t take a single player.

Even if the Hokies are limited in the number of players they can offer or sign, it’s going to look like the Cavaliers are making inroads if they get as few as 10 in-state players, which would be double what they have this year -- which is up two from what they had at the time of Al Groh’s dismissal.

But here’s the rub: When the Hokies despair over the number of available grants they have last year, they aren’t taking into account that Virginia could have numbers issues of its own.

At the end of the 2009 season, UVa had 15 scholarship players who projected to be fourth- or fifth-year seniors in 2010. Some of those are certain to be back, including rising fourth-year juniors Ras-I Dowling, Danny Aiken and Dontrelle Inman.

But of the 12 rising fifth-year seniors, how many will take their degrees – or just check out – without playing another season of football? That could be their choice or the staff’s choice.

The 12 with remaining eligibility are offensive lineman Isaac Cain, linebacker Darnell Carter, defensive lineman John-Kevin Dolce, wide receiver Raynard Horne, safety Matt Leemhuis, cornerback Mike Parker, running back Keith Payne, center Jack Shields, tight end Joe Torchia, quarterback Marc Verica and defensive back Trey Womack.

The only starters in that group are Shields and Torchia. Verica is a former starter who is expected to contend for the starting job in 2011. Outside of Dolce, I don’t know who else would be a good bet. Moreover, much of the late recruiting that London and Co. are doing now is with the thought that there will be a fair degree of attrition.

UVa had 74 scholarship players with remaining eligibility after the 2009 season, according to my records, and the Cavaliers have 15 commitments to date, so they have to lose a few players to get down to 85 for the 2010 season. That shouldn’t be hard.

To think that Virginia will have 25 scholarships for 2011, or even 20, is pretty unrealistic. The Cavaliers might do better in the state next year because that certainly seems be an emphasis for London in putting together a staff. But I don’t see them having many more scholarships than the Hokies.

UVA NOTES: Scott key to UVa’s chances
By Whitey Reid
Published: January 30, 2010
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There are obvious reasons why Virginia let Thursday night’s game against Virginia Tech slip away in the final minutes — poor shot selection, turnovers and defensive breakdowns quickly come to mind.

But there was a less blatant factor that led to the meltdown — the Cavaliers’ failure to keep forward Mike Scott involved in the offense.

In the first half, Scott was extremely effective. The 6-foot-8, 239-pound junior had 14 points and six rebounds.

“He was working hard,” said Virginia coach Tony Bennett, following his team’s 76-71 overtime loss. “I think he really caught them off guard early and we got a few sets to get a few looks at him.”

However, Scott had just seven points and two rebounds after the break. He was scoreless in the last 11 minutes of the game, taking just one shot. During that stretch, Virginia took way too many perimeter shots.

In the overtime, Sylven Landesberg, Sammy Zeglinski and Jeff Jones accounted for all of the team’s shot attempts.

“I think there [were] some times when we had opportunities to go to him and didn’t,” Bennett said. “We just didn’t make the next pass.”

After the game, Scott — who had drained his first 3-pointer of the season to put Virginia up by 10 with 12:59 to play — said he was frustrated.

“I guess it was just the heat of the moment,” he said, when asked why teammates didn’t make a better effort to get him involved.

Freebies?

Until Thursday, Virginia had done an excellent job from the free-throw line, shooting an ACC-best 78 percent as a team. But against Tech, UVa was just 68 percent (15 of 22) from the stripe. That included a crucial miss on a one-and-one by Landesberg in overtime.

“We’re not doing anything different from the line as far as practice,” said Bennett, when asked about the free-throw shooting. “We’re shooting a lot of them, trying to make it competitive.

“As I’ve said before, sometimes shooting free throws is a little bit like putting — you just keep your routine, step up and shoot them. When they’re going in, it makes it a little easier to win down the stretch, there’s no question.”

Switcheroo

Virginia guard Sylven Landesberg struggled down the stretch. Tech coach Seth Greenberg said his decision to switch Malcolm Delaney onto the Cavaliers’ leading scorer paid dividends.

“I think we knew we had one bad matchup on him,” Greenberg said. “Dorenzo [Hudson] is better at guarding shooters. [Landesberg] is such a great player. We tried to slow him down, gave him a lot of help.

“But that is Malcolm — he is such a competitive player and wants to give us any edge to win. That wasn’t one guy stopping [Landesberg] – you’re not stopping him with one player. He is so elusive. Malcolm did a good job of trying to get him off some spots — and as a team we did a good job of being alert — helping and getting back to shooters.”

Dunks

The Cavaliers tied a season high with 16 turnovers. ... The crowd of 13,449 was the largest at John Paul Jones Arena this season. ... Scott’s 21 points was an ACC career-high. He scored in double figures for the 12th time this season and the 32nd time in his career. ... Landesberg (18 points) scored in double figures for the 18th time this season (every game) and 41st time in his career. Landesberg remains the only player in the conference to score at least 18 points in every ACC game this season. ... Senior center Jerome Meyinsse scored nine points, a career high in ACC action.