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UVA FOOTBALL
Groh: Pick is justified

By DOUG DOUGHTY
THE ROANOKE TIMES

   PINEHURST, N.C. - In its preseason predictions, the ACC media didn't tell Virginia football coach Al Groh anything that he hadn't already told his team.

    "I told the players this in March: 'Fellas, when all these predictions come out, we're going to be picked to finish seventh or eighth,'" said Groh after the voting had been announced Monday. "That's the way I would rank it.

    "As the coach of the team, do I necessarily think it's going to finish that way? No. Do I understand it? Yes. If it had been much higher, I would have said, 'What are you looking at?'"

    The Cavaliers, who tied for seventh last year, were picked eighth at the end of the ACC Football Kickoff.

    Florida State was picked first on 82 of 86 ballots and was a landslide choice as preseason favorite. The Seminoles had 770 votes, followed by North Carolina State, Maryland, Georgia Tech, Clemson, North Carolina and Wake Forest.

    Virginia received the only last-place vote that didn't go to Duke, which has lost 23 consecutive games.

    "Based on last year, who would you rank us above?" Groh asked. "Wake Forest beat us. North Carolina beat us. Maryland? They're the defending champion. N.C. State? They beat us.

    "We're a transition team with a lot of young players. People used to say that you lose one game for every freshman you play. In that case, we'd already have two seasons accounted for."

    Groh contends that he will not use the preseason poll as a rallying cry, but his players, aware that Maryland won the championship last year after being picked seventh, are unlikely to let the matter die.

    UVa has not finished eighth in the ACC since 1970, but that would have been impossible between 1970-1978, after which Georgia Tech filled the spot vacated by South Carolina.

    "I told the players in the spring, 'If you play good, you're going to win, and if you play bad, you're going to lose,'" Groh said. "Now, we've got to work on playing good."

    PLAYERS REPORT: Virginia, which plays Colorado State on Aug.22 in the season's first college game, will welcome 22 signees and six invited walk-ons for the start of preseason practice Friday. Veterans will report Wednesday.

    "It's definitely been a short summer," said senior linebacker and co-captain Angelo Crowell, looking sleek at 233 pounds, down from 242 in the spring. "Summer creeped up on us. It was July4 before you knew it."

    Groh said he expects to play as many as 18-19 freshmen or redshirt freshmen. Redshirt freshmen who would start if the season began tomorrow include defensive tackle Brennan Schmidt and offensive tackle Brian Barthelmes.

    Signee Tom Hagan from Cave Spring will be the punter in the Jim Thorpe Classic against Colorado State and will remain the punter "even if his first kick goes backward," Groh reiterated Tuesday.

    "And, if his second one goes sideways, he's going to kick the third one. He's our punter. I've told him that. I want him to understand, not only do I have confidence in him, but I'm depending on him, too. That's the way he's been as an athlete. He knows how to step up to the plate."

    CAVALIER REP: Jim Dombrowski, an All-American offensive tackle for the Cavaliers in the mid-1980s, was among the guests on hand Sunday and Monday as the ACC prepared to announce the 50 players on its 50th anniversary football team.

    Dombrowski, who enjoyed a lengthy professional career with the New Orleans Saints, has settled in New Orleans, where he is a financial analyst and has three children. He is a 4-handicap golfer who won two long-drive prizes Sunday in an annual tournament for ACC coaches and dignitaries.

    Dombrowski was introduced to the media as one of the 50th Anniversary honorees, along with ex-North Carolina running back Don McCauley, Clemson defensive back Terry Kinard and Duke wide receiver Clarkston Hines.

    A full alphabetical list will be released to the media at mid-morning, but efforts to announce the top 10 vote-getters were rejected by the conference. Selected voters were asked to rank their choices 1-50.

 

 

Groh ready for challenge of new season
by JERRY RATCLIFFE / Daily Progress sports editor
Jul 22, 2002
PINEHURST, N.C.

The 25th year of Al Groh's coaching career could be the most challenging as he attempts to rebuild a Virginia program that was predicted to finish eighth in the conference this season by media covering the ACC Football Kickoff.

Because 12 to 14 true freshmen and four to five more redshirt freshmen could possibly play in the Cavaliers' season opener on Aug. 22 and because the offensive line isn't exactly the most well stocked line in the league, Groh and his coaching staff have their work cut out. Add that to a schedule that includes nine bowl teams and the challenge increases.

But Groh's been there before. He knew that putting Virginia back near the top of the ACC wouldn't be an overnight job. Most experts believe it might take until the 2004 season before the Cavaliers can threaten for the league title again.

"It bears some similarities in some ways to when we went to New England and to the New York Jets," Groh said to a group of sportswriters.

When Groh refers to "we," he usually means he and legendary coach Bill Parcels, who turned both of those organizations around in a hurry. But even that first year in New England got to Parcels.

After a horrible start in which the Patriots had reached double digits in losses, Groh remembers Parcels coming in after a loss and saying, "I don't know if I can do this."

Somehow the team finished strong and the next year it was a Super Bowl contender. The story with the Jets was similar.

In each case, those teams were turned around due to significant roster changes via the draft, trades and free agency.

In Virginia's case, it's through recruiting. While The Cavaliers enjoyed what was ranked as one of the Top 10 (Top 5 in some cases) recruiting classes in the nation last February, it's going to take time to bring those players along.

That's one reason why Groh jumped at the chance for a 13th game this season. When he saw that UVa's opener would be at Florida State, followed by a home game against South Carolina, the coach was more than a little concerned.

"Considering the last game that some of these young players played in, they arrived to that game in a big, yellow school bus, I thought it would be good to give them a taste of college football before they travel down to Tallahassee," said Groh.

The Jim Thorpe Classic people came calling and offered up a game prior to the trip to Seminole Country. Groh accepted and was given a list of potential opponents. He chose the toughest one on the list, Colorado State, because he didn't see any benefit of playing a weak opponent in the opener.

"A lot of our future is in these younger players," said Groh. "This gives them more opportunity. The sooner we begin the process, the better. These players have to be exposed to what college football is all about. The first three games is a pretty good sample."

While some coaches dread the thought of playing true freshmen, it has become more of a reality in today's college game with programs cut to 85 scholarships. In fact, due to attrition, Virginia has only 75 players currently on scholarship, something that will take some time to catch up on.

"I'm not afraid of young players," said Groh.

That's why he has already told incoming punter Tom Hagan of Roanoke that he is the starting punter. He also assured Hagan that if his first punt goes sideways, he's going to punt the second time. If the second punt goes sideways, he's going to punt the third time.

"I looked around the country last year and there's a lot of good teams that featured freshmen in prominent roles," said Groh.

What most coaches don't want to do is force true freshmen to play on the offensive line before they're ready. Not only does it take strength and technique to play well on the offensive line, it takes intelligence to learn all the blocking schemes against various fronts, blitzes and stunts, particularly having to adjust on the fly.

Nearly bankrupt of talent on the offensive line, Virginia will start redshirt freshman Brian Barthelmes, who has obviously never played in a college game. He will likely be backed up by D'Brickashaw Ferguson, a proto-type left tackle and a true freshman.

There could be freshmen backing up at several other offensive line positions as well and true freshman Kwakou Robinson could be the first guy coming into the game at defensive end.

One of the biggest challenges of this coaching staff is to integrate the new talent and get them on the same page with the veterans. Oh, yeah, and do it in three weeks beginning this coming weekend.

Now, that's a challenge.

 

 

UVa football picked to finish eighth in ACC
By JOHN GALINSKY / Daily Progress staff writer
Jul 22, 2002
PINEHURST, N.C. - Thank goodness for Duke. If not for the Blue Devils, who knows how low expectations would sink for Virginia's football team in the ACC this year?

The Cavaliers were predicted to finish eighth in the nine-team league by members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Writers Association on Monday. In their annual preseason poll at the ACC Football Kickoff, the assembled media made Florida State a near-unanimous top pick and Duke a near-unanimous choice to bring up the rear.

Of course, the ACC media have been known to be wrong. Last year, for instance, Maryland was picked seventh and ended up winning the league championship. Oops.

But if they're right about Virginia, it would represent another step backward for a program that was once among the best in the conference. In 2001, the Cavaliers tied for seventh with Wake Forest at 3-5 (5-7 overall). Before that, they had finished no worse than fourth (or tied for fourth) for 14 straight years.

Talking to the media before the poll was announced, UVa coach Al Groh said he envisioned a return to prominence for the Cavaliers in coming seasons. But he rejected the notion that 2002 will be a rebuilding year, even though he anticipates using more than twice as many freshmen as seniors.

"I certainly don't see it that way. It's our aim to win every one of these games," Groh said. "Do I think this team is as powerful as it's going to be in the future? Probably not. But does that mean I've accepted the excuse that because we have a lot of young players on the team that we can chalk things off to that? No, I haven't accepted that."

Florida State was picked to finish first on 82 of 86 ballots, with N.C. State receiving the other four first-place votes. The Seminoles ruled the ACC for nine years, going 70-2 in league play from 1992-2000, but they dropped two conference games last season and finished as runners-up to the Terrapins.

So are they slipping? Don't count on it. As Groh pointed out, FSU leads the ACC in returning starters (17) and figures to resume its reign of terror.

"There's nothing like experience and we didn't have it last year," said Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, who needs one victory to pass Bear Bryant for second place among college football coaches. "The plan is to challenge for the national championship. I think those expectations are realistic if we stay healthy."

Following Florida State, the media predicted a pecking order of N.C. State, Maryland, Georgia Tech, Clemson, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Virginia and Duke.

All of those teams have a number of question marks, which make prognostications dicey. One indication of league balance is that every team except Florida State and Duke was picked to finish eighth on at least one ballot. Only one voter had the Blue Devils, losers of 23 straight games, anywhere but the cellar; he (or she) had them sixth.

Most of the ACC coaches and players in attendance at the Pinehurst Resort were in agreement that the Seminoles are the team to beat.

"I'd say our conference still goes through Tallahassee," said Clemson coach Tommy Bowden.

"They're always going to be the big dogs of the conference," said Maryland linebacker E.J. Henderson, the reigning ACC player of the year. "They're always going to have a stacked squad, three deep at every position."

But the Terrapins won't give up their ACC title without a fight.

While members of other teams said that they hoped to become "the next Maryland," Henderson said, "There's only going to be one Maryland and that's us. We want to stay on top of the ACC at all costs."

 

 

ACC gets past tense by not ranking top 50
BOB LIPPER
TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST 		Jul 23, 2002

PINEHURST, N.C. Just to bring you up to speed on Jim Dombrowski - you might remember him as the early-'80s, defender-flattening of fensive tackle for Virginia's Cavaliers - he's 38 going on 50. This is not to say his body didn't survive 11 seasons of grunt work in the NFL. It is to say he made the cut and final roster that defines the best football players in ACC history.

Celebrating its golden anniversary, the ACC thought it would be a swell idea to trumpet all-time teams in various sports - even clearcut-No. 2-in-the-pecking-order football. That's how come Dombrowski got a call at his north-of-New Orleans home last month, inviting him to the league's Football Kickoff as U.Va.'s on-site representative for the all-stars. The full squad is to be announced with proper flourishes today.

"I didn't even realize it was the 50th year of the conference," Dombrowski said. "I didn't know anything like this was being planned. It's a nice honor. It's nice to get recognized for the hard work you've done."

Dombrowski works these days as a financial planner. The ACC works as a corporate entity, with designs on fat TV contracts, stable business relationships and limited creative tension. Expecting a top-50 roll call you can debate at the water cooler? Look elsewhere. The ACC, in a bland-on-bland effort to unleash as few ripples as possible, will reveal its team in alphabetical order and not a 1-through-50 format.

Gridiron greats
The top 10 football players in ACC history, as rated by Bob Lipper:
Player, team Pos. Years
1. Randy White, Maryland Defensive tackle 1972-74
2. Charlie Ward, Florida State Quarterback 1990-93
3. Lawrence Taylor, UNC Linebacker 1978-80
4. Ted Brown, N.C. State Running back 1975-78
5. Peter Warrick, Florida State Wide receiver 1996-99
6. Don McCauley, UNC Running back 1968-70
7. Terry Kinard, Clemson Safety 1978-82
8. Derrick Brooks, Florida State Linebacker 1991-94
9. Roman Gabriel, N.C. State Quarterback 1959-61
10. Jim Ritcher, N.C. State Center 1976-79

This is about as jazzy as fullback up the middle. The ACC, in fashioning this squad, assembled a group of media and PR types, gave them a list of nominees from each school and included in the packet a ballot with 50 fill-in-the-blank spaces. Each position was assigned a point value in roughly descending order - think NASCAR with no grease under the fingernails - so the ACC's election board could arrive at totals that would determine who was in and who was out.

In other words, an inventory exists that begins with the player who got the most points and the player who got the fewest but still squeezed into the top 50 - but it's locked away in a drawer at ACC headquarters in Greensboro, and you won't see it. Was Amos Lawrence (UNC'80) a better runner than Thomas Jones (U.Va.'99)? Should William Perry (Clemson'84) have been shoehorned into the top 10? The ACC could've created a buzz here. Instead, it created oatmeal.

And it's not as if we're talking about an issue so sensitive that it would tear the league apart or prompt Wolfpackers to despise Tar Heels any more than they already do. Here, for instance, is my own off-the-cuff top 10:

  • 1. Randy White, Maryland defensive tackle, 1972-74: Most dominant defender in league history.
  • 2. Charlie Ward, Florida State quarterback, 1990-93: A whiz with his right arm or his feet.
  • 3. Lawrence Taylor, North Carolina linebacker, 1978-80: Found a position late in career and revolutioned it.
  • 4. Ted Brown, N.C. State running back, 1975-78: Lone four-time all-ACC, plus league-record 4,602 yards.
  • 5. Peter Warrick, Florida State receiver, 1996-99: Quicksilver moves, turned short receptions and punts into TDs.
  • 6. Don McCauley, North Carolina running back, 1968-70: Then-record 1,720 yards as senior and stellar return man.
  • 7. Terry Kinard, Clemson free safety, 1978-82: Twice an All-American, 17 career interceptions.
  • 8. Derrick Brooks, Florida State linebacker, 1991-94: Sideline-to-sideline tackling machine.
  • 9. Roman Gabriel, N.C. State quarterback, 1959-61: In a non-throwing era, he could really wing it.
  • 10. Jim Ritcher, N.C. State center, 1976-79: Outland winner, two-time All-American, great strength and agility.

    There. I think we can agree we got through that without mortar rounds exploding or egos being bruised. Look, Jim Dombrowski's a big galoot. He could've handled being ranked 35th instead of 22nd, if that's how it played out.

    "No skin off my nose," he said. "Even if you're No. 50, that's not such a bad deal. Better than being No. 51."

    And who was that odd man out? Don't ask the ACC. It knows, but its lips and ballot box are sealed.

    •  

     

    ACC NOTES

    		Jul 23, 2002

    Preseason poll
    The 2002 ACC preseason football poll as voted on by 86 media members attending the ACC Football Kickoff (first-place vote in parentheses):
    Team Points
    1. Florida State (82) 770
    2. N.C. State (4) 642
    3. Maryland 572
    4. Georgia Tech 460
    5. Clemson 434
    6. North Carolina 331
    7. Wake Forest 298
    8. Virginia 275
    9. Duke 89

    NO-BRAINER: This was not a decision with which University of Virginia football coach Al Groh had to wrestle. Of course he'd hire Anthony Poindexter, an All-America safety for U.Va. in 1997 and '98.

    "We have a guy who's a native Virginian, who's one of the greatest players in the history of the University of Virginia, a Virginia graduate who wants to get his coaching career started," Groh told reporters yesterday in Pinehurst, N.C.

    Poindexter, 25, starts work this week as one of Groh's graduate assistants. The former Jefferson Forest High star will work with U.Va. players in the weight room.

    "In my mind, it's similar to some of these young players coming in," said Groh, who took over as the Cavaliers' coach in December 2000. "It's the interjection of hungry, talented people in your program."

    Al Golden, now defensive coordinator, was a graduate assistant at U.Va. early in Poindexter's playing career there. Mike Groh, who coaches Virginia's wide receivers, played with Poindexter.

    "Both of those guys were like, 'Wow, if we could have Anthony around here,'" Al Groh said. "He's a good addition. Although his role will be limited here in the early going, it's a good break-in position. He'll learn and get an inside perspective on how coaches live and what coaches do."

    Poindexter suffered a major knee injury late in his senior season at U.Va. and never fully recovered. He played for the Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens two years ago but spent last season out of football.

    INTO THE FIRE: Virginia will open practice Aug. 1, and its starting linemen will include only one senior, Groh said.

    The first-teamers on defense: sophomore Chris Canty and redshirt freshman Brennan Schmidt at the ends, sophomore Andrew Hoffman at nose tackle. On offense: sophomores Elton Brown and Mark Farrington at the guards, junior Kevin Bailey at center, senior Mike Mullins and redshirt freshman Brian Barthelmes at the tackles.

    Sophomore Patrick Estes (Benedictine High) and redshirt freshman Heath Miller will battle for the tight end job.

    Virginia has only eight seniors on its roster. Only Duke (one) has fewer in the ACC. Not coincidentally, perhaps, the Cavaliers and the Blue Devils were picked to finish eighth and ninth, respectively, in yesterday's preseason poll of ACC media.

    ON THE HOT SEAT? Clemson fans aren't as enamored of Tommy Bowden as they were in 2000, when, in his second season as coach, he guided the Tigers to a 9-3 record. A year ago, after rising to No. 13 in The Associated Press poll, Clemson (7-5) lost four of its final six regular-season games.

    At a school that expects its football team to compete for the national title, another lackluster season wouldn't improve Bowden's job security.

    "I don't know if they'd push the button," said his father, Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, "but that's a school that would do that."

    OLD FRIENDS: The ACC had four new coaches last season: Groh, North Carolina's John Bunting, Wake Forest's Jim Grobe and Maryland's Ralph Friedgen. The lone newcomer this year is Georgia Tech's Chan Gailey, a former head coach of the Dallas Cowboys who spent the past two seasons as the Miami Dolphins' offensive coordinator.

    Groh, 58, and Gailey, 50, need no introduction. In 1979, Groh was Air Force's defensive coordinator, and Gailey was its secondary coach. "We worked closely for a year," Gailey said, "and we lived 250 yards from each other."

    This is Gailey's third stint as a college head coach. He went 19-5 and won a Division II national title in two years at Troy State and went 5-6 in one season at Division I-AA Samford.

    CAROLINA BLUES: Bunting said dismissing star receiver Bosley Allen from the team "hurt me more than any decision I've made. But I think in the long run it will help the team. The players know that talent alone doesn't win football games."

    Allen, who had 46 catches for 789 yards and eight touchdowns in 2001, was sent home from the Peach Bowl in December. Bunting finally booted him in May for repeatedly violating team rules.

    "These are 18-, 19-, 20-year-old kids, and they'll mess up," Bunting said. "Just don't mess up multiple times. Learn. Learn from history." - Jeff White

     

     

    Ex U.Va. player returns
    By Dave Johnson
    Daily Press

    Published July 23, 2002

    PINEHURST, N.C. -- One of the best defensive football players in the University of Virginia's history is coming back as a graduate assistant coach.

    Anthony Poindexter, an All-American safety whose career was cut short by a serious knee injury midway through his senior year, has joined Al Groh's staff and will work with strength and conditioning. Poindexter played sparingly for two seasons in the NFL before being released, his knee never completely healed.

    "A lot of players aren't great fans of football; they're participants," Groh said. "Sometimes their awareness of former players has a short time span. But this is one of the great Virginia players who many of our current players are familiar with. He's a guy who has an infectious, positive outlook on things."

    The fifth-year seniors on this year's roster were true freshmen in Poindexter's final season.

    "The rookies coming in are wondering, was Poindexter really that good?" said senior linebacker Angelo Crowell, who entered the program a year after Poindexter left. "The older guys are like, 'Yeah, he was that good.' The enthusiasm he brings by just being there is great for the team."

    Two of Virginia's assistant coaches remember him well. Defensive coordinator Al Golden was a graduate assistant coach himself at Virginia during Poindexter's true and redshirt freshman years. Wide receivers coach Mike Groh was the Cavaliers' starting quarterback those two seasons.