Virginia picked to finish 4th in Coastal
Lyles expected back for start of practice
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
July 24, 2006

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. - Virginia coach Al Groh gave the media some props on Monday in his first public interview since the end of spring practice.
Fresh off a trip to Italy, Groh arrived at the ACC Football Kickoff to find out that his program was predicted to finish in fourth place in the ACC’s Coastal Division. Miami, which received 52 of 65 first-place votes, was picked to win the division with 374 points. Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech finished second and third, respectively, while UVa edged out North Carolina by just one point, 166-165, for fourth. All 65 ballots turned in had Duke pegged to finish last in the division.
“Since we are one point ahead of the team that y’all picked fifth, I don’t see much difference in fourth, fifth,” Groh said. “Given who I look at above us, that is probably pretty accurate, pretty smart thing to do if you want your postseason standings to mirror your preseason standings.”
Florida State was picked to defend its Atlantic Division title. Clemson, Boston College, Maryland, N.C. State and Wake Forest rounded out the division in order.
With four new assistant coaches, a number of holes to fill with first-time starters on offense, defense and special teams, Groh knows that numerous questions must be addressed for the Cavaliers to challenge for a spot in the ACC Championship game.
Would the coach like to finish higher than fourth in the Coastal Division?
“Always,” he replied. “Even higher than that, but we always try to look at the reality of things, too. We are going to try to win them all, but kind of know where we are as a team and what we need to get.”
One of the factors in getting Virginia into a title race relies partly on getting leadership, Groh said, and from multiple players, not just veteran captains such as quarterback Christian Olsen and cornerback Marcus Hamilton.
“As you try to build the culture of your program and what you stand for, and every team is really trying to do that, [leadership is] what gives you some continuity,” Groh added. “That’s what kind of holds it together year to year. I think we have seen some positive signs of that here throughout the offseason program and the summer with this particular group.”
The question remains whether or not the team will get enough of the intangibles.
“Well, we will find out,” Groh said. “It’s not just about your captains. You need leaders at every level. You need leaders by class. You need leaders by position. That’s going to be an interesting dynamic on this team because there are so many positions that don’t have any veteran players.”
Virginia could be getting back two players that would instantly bring much-needed experience to the roster.
Junior safety Nate Lyles is expected to be ready to participate without restriction in the first practice of the season on Aug. 3, and Groh said a decision would soon be made about the return of another safety, senior Tony Franklin.
Lyles played nine games last season before injuring his neck on a would-be tackle against Georgia Tech. He underwent offseason surgery and missed spring practice.
Groh said Lyles’ condition is “very positive.”
“Right now, we are anticipating him to be part of the first practice of training camp,” Groh said. “Actually I talked to the trainer on the way down here in order to ask him to schedule a meeting with the doctor who did the surgery, just from the standpoint that, obviously when dealing with a player that has had a neck injury, we want to be extremely thorough and detailed and have every bit of information necessary to proceed.”
Groh said he is obviously being cautious with the situation.
“Obviously I am a parent to my own children, but in many respects I’m a surrogate parent to all of them,” Groh said in reference to his players. “I have their welfare as my concern.”
The meeting with the doctor “wasn’t necessary,” but Groh said “we just want to touch every base with this and make sure we are on top of everything and have Nate in attendance at the same time so we are all hearing the same thing. The information that I have been getting, but again it is from somebody else, I want to hear it from the surgeon, but the surgeon is ready to go.”
Franklin, a team captain and the fourth-leading tackler last year, was dismissed from the program prior to the start of spring practice after he was placed on probation for a misdemeanor charge of possession of marijuana.
Groh did not offer a definitive answer on Franklin’s status but said the ultimate decision will come following a face-to-face meeting between the two.
“We will just have to see,” Groh said. “I am not putting any percentage on it.”
When will the meeting take place?
“We start practice in a week,” Groh answered. “It can’t be too much further off.”
Feeling good
Groh fielded a number of questions on players returning from injuries, including tackle Eugene Monroe. The sophomore missed a majority of spring practice after suffering a knee injury.
Monroe is “progressing nicely,” Groh said, but went on to stress that the current condition was not nearly as important now as it would be for the season opener against Pittsburgh on Sept. 2.
“The only feeling that really counts is where he is on Sept. 1,” Groh said. “How I feel about him right now … it might be a lot better in a week or a lot less.
Groh said he expects Monroe to participate in the first practice session, “but he will be one of the guys that is discussed as we get closer to the opening.”
Another sophomore lineman, guard Branden Albert, also received a stellar referral from the Cavaliers’ coach.
Albert, who played in every game a year ago, was held out of spring practice not for an injury, but to focus on academics.
“He’s done real well, much to his credit,” Groh said. “He’s really a hardworking, purposeful, very ambitious kid. I give him a lot of credit.”
Sounding off
During interviews with the print media, Groh was asked about the decision to name his son, Mike, as the team’s offensive coordinator. Former offensive coordinator Ron Prince left in December to become the head coach at Kansas State.
“We all know that if Michael wasn’t the coordinator, the first time something went wrong offensively, everybody would say that he should have been,” Groh chirped. “That’s coming from 62,000 people who didn’t put 100 hours into deciding what we should do. Whether you’re the quarterback coach, the offensive line coach, the head coach or the special teams coach, when you get into this business you know that it’s basically a business of being second-guessed. And if you listen to that, you are listening to the wrong people.”
Extra points
At this point, Ian-Yates Cunningham is the frontrunner to start the season’s first game at center. “We are going to start it out here with Ian at center and Jordy [Lipsey] behind him,” Groh said. The coach added that Cunningham could play guard, “but the hunt is on for a good-performing center. Hopefully, we will see some players behind [Marshall] Ausberry and Albert [at guard] that will give us some depth there and allow Ian to concentrate on becoming the kind of center that we need to have.” … D.J. Bell, who can play guard and center on the offensive line, was not listed in the media guide, but Groh said the lineman is currently enrolled in school and his status “will be determined here throughout the summer.” Bell would have only one year of eligibility remaining if he was to rejoin the team.
… Groh confirmed that two former walk-ons, fullback Josh Zidenburg and linebacker Jon Copper, have been awarded scholarships. With those additions, the program’s scholarship numbers are currently at “80 or 81,” Groh said. … Part of Monday’s festivities included a golf outing with an odd captain’s choice pairing. Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer and Olsen were put in the same group together. Olsen a former high school golfer said he had a great time and even drew cheers from the Hokies’ coach on a successful putt. Hamilton, who was playing an actual round for the first time in his life, took a little longer to get going. The cornerback’s first shot of the day would not have earned the Cavaliers’ a first down. “I got a lot better as the day went on,” Hamilton said.

 

Not a lot of surprises in predictions
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
July 24, 2006

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla.

Bobby Bowden sat back in his chair and quickly did a rewind with his 76-year-old mind, all the way back to 1992, when his Florida State program was brought into the football ambitious ACC.

“Gene Corrigan (then commissioner of the conference) and the ADs desired to get Florida State in there so that the other teams could build up to that,” Bowden said Monday afternoon at the annual ACC Football Kickoff. “And I’ll guarantee you, it’s getting done.”

Well, that depends upon whom you talk to.

When the ACC media voted on its preseason poll during this pigskin gathering at Sawgrass Marriott Resort & Spa just outside Jacksonville, Fla., there were few surprises, if any. Florida State was picked to win the Atlantic Division and play Sunshine State rival Miami in the league’s championship, back here in Jacksonville in early December.

Always on top

FSU, which has been picked the league’s preseason favorite for the past 14 straight seasons, was a runaway favorite in the Atlantic Division, while Miami, the team that Bowden campaigned for to also join the league back in ’92, was easily the pick of the litter in the Coastal Division.

Following Miami in the Coastal were Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Virginia, North Carolina and Duke. After Florida State in the Atlantic were Clemson, Boston College, Maryland, N.C. State and Wake Forest.

The obvious choices

Voters also had to pick who they believed would win the championship game and Miami essentially broke Florida State’s grip on the preseason poll for the first time since the Seminoles joined the league.

Miami received 31 of the votes to 23 for FSU. Clemson and Virginia Tech got five each, Georgia Tech had one.

“It certainly looks pretty accurate on the top,” said Virginia coach Al Groh when shown the predictions. “I would say you guys really went out on a limb up there on the top. I applaud you for making some controversial choices.”

It could get hot in Miami

OK, Big Al had every right to gig us a little. About the boldest thing the voters did was pick someone other than the Seminoles to win it all, which probably puts even more pressure on Miami coach Larry Coker, who hasn’t smelled the league title since coming in two years ago.

In the offseason, Coker fired some of his long-time assistants, which means he’s probably even more on the hot seat this time around because there’s no one else left to blame for what might go wrong.

Actually, this columnist was one of the 15 bold souls who picked Clemson to win the Atlantic and the whole shootin’ match.

Why?

The Tigers went 8-4 last year and lost those four games by a collective 14 points, one in a triple-overtime loss to Miami, another an overtime loss to Boston College. They have 15 starters returning in addition to their kicker and punter.

And, as Saint Bobby put it on Monday, “Yes, it surprises me that we were picked by that wide a margin over Clemson because they’ve beaten us two of the last three years. They beat us bad last year (35-14).”

But the Tigers have a difficult task in that most of their big games are on the road, two critical early ones are back-to-back trips to Boston College and Florida State. They must also go to Virginia Tech later in the season.

That’s why Tommy Bowden, Bobby’s son, and Clemson’s head coach, figured things were about right in the picks.

“I’d say where my father is would be accurate,” the younger Bowden said. “Ever since they’ve been in the conference, that’s where they’ve been.”

A lot of folks believe that if Clemson is going to make a move to the top, then this is the year. Still, Tommy Bowden remained as skeptical as anyone.

“Florida State has been there at the beginning and they’ve been there at the end,” the Clemson coach said. “I’ve been there at the beginning, but I’ve never been there at the end.”

Tommy Bowden believes you could throw a hat over the Tigers, Boston College, Maryland and N.C. State because they’re all so evenly matched.

The voters didn’t see it that way.

As for Groh, most believed the Cavaliers would likely be picked to finish fifth in the Coastal, one spot behind Carolina. Well, Virginia beat out UNC in the poll by a single point, which was essentially one vote that could have gone either way.

“Since we are one point ahead of the team that y’all picked fifth, I don’t see much difference in fourth, fifth,” Groh said. “Given who I look at above us, that is probably pretty accurate, pretty smart ... We might be able to be that high if we can make some kind of late-season field goals that we have in the past.”

Now, that doesn’t mean that Groh’s mailing in the season, even though he’s going to have a lot of young, inexperienced players.

“Our aspirations are always higher than that,” the UVa coach said. “We want to win them all. But we always try to look at the reality of things, too.”

The reality is a familiar one to the rest of the ACC: Florida State and Miami are football factories and have been for a long time. Most of the rest are still trying to do what Corrigan and the ADs desired some 15 years ago - catch up.

 

Admissions losses don't stun Groh
Eight football signees can't enter U.Va., but coach says he was aware of possibility
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Jul 25, 2006

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- On national signing day in 2005, University of Virginia football coach Al Groh lauded the academic credentials of his recruiting class, which included numerous superb students.

A year later, Groh made no such comments about his latest class, perhaps for good reason. Of the 24 players who signed in February, eight failed to clear admissions at U.Va.

The toll, believed to be unprecedented at U.Va., has stunned many observers outside the program. But Groh told reporters yesterday at the ACC Football Kickoff that he knew the class could suffer significant casualties.

"I wouldn't say it took a hit," Groh said. "I'd say it followed the plan. We and each one of the individual players were all aware of potential circumstances."

Groh is starting his sixth season as coach at his alma mater. Each of his first four recruiting classes included at least one player who had to detour to prep school before enrolling at U.Va. All of the 22 players who signed in February 2005, however, enrolled at U.Va. that summer.

"I look at it as a unique situation this year," U.Va. Athletic Director Craig Littlepage said yesterday. "I tend to think that it's not [the start of] some sort of trend."

Coaches at Virginia speak regularly with the university's dean of admissions, Jack Blackburn, Littlepage said, "and he's very clear about what he's looking for. We do have discussions to evaluate where [recruits] are and make sure everything's spelled out. This year doesn't necessarily, at least from my standpoint, prompt any additional discussions."

At least four of the recruits who were denied admission this year are likely to sign with the Cavaliers again in 2007 defensive lineman Asa Chapman, offensive tackle Billy Cuffee, linebacker Almondo Sewell and safety Ras-I Dowling.

They'll attend prep schools this academic year. Three other recruits -- linebacker George Johnson, quarterback O.C. Wardlow and defensive lineman Gavin Smith -- have said they'll matriculate at other colleges.

Where defensive back DeAndre Filer will end up in 2006-07 isn't clear.

At Virginia Tech, 20 recruits signed football letters of intent in February. Coach Frank Beamer said yesterday that three or four members of that class might not gain admission at Tech this summer.

"As you get more selective in your recruiting, and I really believe we are getting more selective, you try to make sure academically they have a good chance of qualifying," Beamer said. "Our university is getting tougher . . . you have to keep working on that end of it.

"I'd like to get it down to everybody's a fantastic student, everybody's going to make it. That's what you strive for."

Groh is familiar with the academic culture at U.Va., one of the nation's elite public universities. Not only is Groh an alumnus, his older son, Mike, is a U.Va. graduate, and his younger son, Matthew, is in law school there.

In recruiting, Groh said, the football staff has "a very specifically defined profile: those players who, as we say to ourselves, are the right guys for Virginia, the right guys for how we want to put a team together, the right guys for the personality of this institution, the right guys for the academic standards of this institution. Just like some years there are more speed receivers than other years, some years there are more students of a certain nature than other years."

Not every target accepts a football scholarship U.Va. offers, Groh noted. Some of the better students whom Groh and his staff coveted in the Class of 2006 signed with other schools.

"Just as it goes with any institution in the overall admissions process, just because they send out letters of acceptance doesn't mean that [the students] all take them," Groh said.

At least one recruit who was denied admission at U.Va. for 2006-07 -- Johnson, who's from Glassboro, N.J. -- met the NCAA's minimum standards for freshman eligibility. Instead of spending the 2006-07 academic year at prep school and then trying again to get into U.Va., Johnson opted to enroll at Rutgers, where he'll be eligible this season.

Asked if U.Va.'s standards are too high, Groh shook his head."No," he said. "We've had good teams at Virginia for quite a long time here now."

The Cavaliers have commitments for 2007 from 11 players, many of whom are outstanding students, and all of whom are expected to meet NCAA eligibility requirements.

"It's been players that we targeted that, as I said earlier, really seem to fit our model," Groh said.

 

Hokies: Thuggish image not justified
By Randy King
981-3126

PONTE VEDRA, Fla. -- In a boiling pot that exploded with Marcus Vick's infamous leg stomp of Louisville's Elvis Dumervil, the national image of Virginia Tech's football program has taken its share of hits the past seven months.

Scan the Internet long enough and you'll find published reports, blogs and opponents' message-board posts that describe the Hokies in unsavory terms. Cheap-shot artists. Thugs. Dirty.

"The perception seems to be like we're kind of the [Oakland] Raiders of the NFL, kind of dirty or whatever," Tech senior center Danny McGrath said Monday during the ACC's preseason football media gathering. "Is Virginia Tech a thuggish team? I don't think it's true.

"I think sometimes, back and forth, games can get out of hand ... you're talking and pushing and shoving after the whistle and stuff."

Heading into November last season, all was angelic for Tech. The Hokies were 8-0, ranked third in the nation and the least penalized team in the ACC.

Then mischief rolled into Blacksburg. Tech was penalized eight times for 56 yards in a 27-7 home loss to No. 5 Miami. Hurricanes star tailback Tyrone Moss left the game with a season-ending knee injury that later reports included inferences that Moss was hurt when his leg was twisted by a Tech player under a pile.

Despite 11 penalties for a combined 123 yards, Tech ripped Virginia 52-14 and North Carolina 30-3 the next two games. However, in the ACC Championship game, the Hokies were killed by a rash of needless personal fouls and 143 penalty yards in a 27-22 loss to Florida State.

Tech's reputation was soiled big time in its 35-24 win over Louisville in the Gator Bowl. First, the Hokies' All-America cornerback Jimmy Williams drew a pair of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties that led to his ejection from the game. Then came the Vick fiasco in which he stomped on the back of the left leg of Dumervil after he was stopped on a scramble.

"[Beamer] had some incidences that I'm sure that were embarrassing to him," Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said Monday. "I've had them also. Boys will do things that you don't want them to do. Yeah, a kid shouldn't do what [Vick] did. You can't get away with that ... not in today's time."

Despite a bowl win and an 11-2 season, Beamer couldn't celebrate much. His team's late-season antics crawled under his skin.

"Quite a bit," Beamer said Monday. "We had put so much into the year and several of our players had played so well and so hard for most of it. But we had some situations at the end that we weren't very proud of. It just wasn't us."

"I told every alumni group I talked to [in the offseason] that I always try to make them proud about the number of games we win at Virginia Tech, but I also want to make them proud of how we play on the field and how we act off [the field]. That's what I believe in and that's how we're going to do it."

In spring practice, Beamer laid down the law to his returning players. He will soon inform them of stricter consequences that will be paid by those drawing personal fouls and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.

"I think everybody knows how Virginia Tech wants to do it. We want to play hard and aggressive, but do it the right way ... fair and square. We're going to get it right," he said.

Miami linebacker Jon Beason said Monday that he's never heard Moss, a one-time Tech recruiting target, say his knee was damaged because was twisted by a Hokies defender.

"I don't think at all that Tech has a thuggish mentality or a reputation behind them," Beason said. "I think they're good players. They're a great team and I think people are trying to bring them down ... like they have with us.

"Football is an aggressive sport, it's modern-day combat, gladiators fighting to the finish. There are some guys who play between whistles and there's other guys who play after whistles. It's football."

Bowden said he knows Beamer and his coaches would not teach "dirty football."

"I think there's a difference between dirty and just tough as heck," Bowden said. "They play it the way I like to see it played. I wish my team could play like his team. That's just hard-hitting football."

So don't believe everything you read, said Tech senior rover Aaron Rouse.

"No doubt we come to play all the time ... play hard with great emotion," Rouse said. "That's why people love watching Virginia Tech. I hear it all the time. How do you guys get 11 people to the ball every tackle? And that's something you just love hearing."
 

Early commitments up the recruiting ante
By KYLE TUCKER AND ED MILLER,
© July 25, 2006

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. - National signing day for college football, the first day high school seniors can sign binding agreements with their school of choice, isn't until the first week of February.

But for many colleges these days, recruiting classes are more than half full by the end of summer. That's certainly the case at Texas, where the Longhorns already have verbal commitments from 22 players.

And it's true in the ACC, where six of the league's 12 teams have at least 11 verbal commitments for the class of 2007. North Carolina leads the way with 14, while Virginia Tech is giddy over its 13 commitments - more than the Hokies have ever had at this point in the process.

Most colleges only take between 20 and 25 high school players in each recruiting class, and historically they've landed the bulk of those numbers closer to the February signing day.

"This is a new trend," said Mike Farrell, a national analyst for Rivals.com, the country's largest recruiting Web site. "By my estimation, the recruiting process has sped up by six months or so in the last two years."

But why has this happened? And is it good for college football? The first question has multiple answers. To the other: it's both a blessing and a curse.

Farrell thinks the popularity of summer camps and combines - not to mention the ever-exploding world of Internet recruiting services like Rivals that provide stats and highlight videos on hundreds of prospects around the country - have increased coaches' familiarity with players earlier in their high school careers.

Virginia Tech is a perfect example. After hosting a camp July 8 for players who just completed their junior seasons, the Hokies made several scholarship offers.

That explains Tech's interest in the prospects. But what has made recruits so eager to return the love? In the two weeks following the Hokies' camp, they received 10 verbal commitments.

Coach Frank Beamer thinks that fear of being left out may be driving some of these early decisions.

"Every program in the country definitely has more offers than they can take," Beamer said. "If someone's going to be part of the program, sometimes they need to jump on board."

Miami coach Larry Coker thinks some schools have as many as 200 scholarship offers out to prospects "just to stay in the game."

And Virginia coach Al Groh thinks players are smart enough to have figured that out. Thus, he said, prospects have become "pretty good businessmen."

"Sometimes it's to their advantage to be able to make their decision early, because the reality is there are only so many rooms at the inn," said Groh, whose Cavaliers already have 11 commitments for 2007. "If A says yes before C does, then A's got the room."

Therein lies the first major problem with early commitments: players change their minds.

De-commitment has become a dirty word in college football, as there have been several high-profile prospects in recent years who switched their allegiance in February, signing with a different school.

"Most of them are just reservations," said Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen, who is in favor of having an earlier signing day. "I wish they'd move it up. Let's make your word your word. If you want to commit, sign the paper. Let's do away with all this hypocrisy."

But Beamer says that'll never happen. Because while coaches hate losing a prospect at the last minute, they'd hate even more giving up their vacations to recruit all summer if signing day was in August.

Both Beamer and Florida State's Bobby Bowden also agree that even a December signing day would produce problems.

"Then you'd have to recruit during the season," Beamer said. "You're trying to win a football game, plus entertain kids."

Thus, with nothing holding prospects to their word, coaches have been forced to fight - from now until it's official in February - to keep players in the fold.

Many programs have to recruit a prospect just as hard after he's committed. And often, opposing schools don't back off until a player has signed on the dotted line.

"Nobody right now, including us, nobody stops when they commit," Clemson coach Tommy Bowden said. "We've got 11 commitments. Right now, for the next six months, everybody takes shots at those 11 guys."

By the same token, Bowden is in hot pursuit of safety Chris Culliver, who has already committed to N.C. State.

"If a guy is committed, we won't stop," Bowden said. "In our profession, no means go."

But that's not the only problem with having a huge early haul.

Bowden's father Bobby, for one, has always preferred to be a late closer. Florida State has become famous for starting slow, then racking up star prospects in the days just before February - and almost always stealing a few big-timers on signing day.

"I still think some of the greatest ones don't commit until signing day," Bowden said. "I think you have to be very careful. You'll fill your roster up and find out you didn't get the best kids.... Then here comes a great player that decides he wants to go to your school, and you ain't got any scholarships left."

After all, he points out, prospects who are committing this summer have yet to even begin practice for their senior seasons.

That's a lot of projection, based largely on 40-yard dash times and junior season stats.

"I think the biggest challenge is not to make a mistake," said Boston College coach Tom O'Brien. "Kids mature at different rates. A lot of kids mature their senior year."

The flip side of that, several coaches said, is discovering a talented player early, offering him before anyone else and beating other schools to the punch.

Still, Bowden - whose Seminoles have just six commitments, second-fewest in the conference - stands by his methods.

"We're trying to wait for the best," Bowden said.

Not to be lost in all this, of course, is the final pitfall - the one which rears its head long after signing day has come and gone.

The one that bit Virginia this year, when eight of the 24 players the Cavs signed failed to qualify academically.

Not only have players who commit in the summer yet to play their senior seasons, they've also yet to complete their high school course work. And a prospect who doesn't end up making the grade is of little use.

"We're really paying more attention to that," Beamer said. "We have to make sure academically they have a good chance of qualifying."

But at such an early stage, it remains a calculated risk.

"I just think we have to be careful where we're going with this thing," Friedgen said. "Getting kids that early, it's always going to be a gamble."

 

Non-qualifiers don't deter Groh
BY DARRYL SLATER AND NORM WOOD
July 25 2006

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLA. -- When it became apparent this summer that eight of Virginia's 24 recruits didn't academically qualify and wouldn't be on the roster this fall, some people were surprised.

Not U.Va. coach Al Groh.

"I wouldn't say (the recruiting class) took a hit," Groh said. "I would say it followed plan."

Groh said he and the players were aware that the kids might not clear U.Va.'s stringent admissions. At least one of the eight, highly touted linebacker George Johnson, won't attend U.Va. Johnson will play this fall at Rutgers. Groh said he's not sure how many of the other seven will attend U.Va. in fall 2007.

The other players are defensive lineman Gavin Smith, defensive lineman Asa Chapman, offensive lineman Billy Cuffee, wide receiver Ras-I Dowling, defensive back DeAndre Filer, linebacker Almondo Sewell and quarterback O.C. Wardlow. "We have a very specifically designed profile of those players who are the right guys for Virginia," Groh said.

Asked if he thought admission standards were too high, Groh said no, then said: "We've had good teams at Virginia for quite a long time now."

Boston College coach Tom O'Brien, a former Virginia assistant, said he faces similar academic issues now as he did at U.Va. "When we start to recruit a kid, we have to take his transcript to the director of admissions, and they tell us if we can recruit a kid or not," he said. O'Brien said every year he has to back off 10 to 15 recruits who would clear NCAA academic standards but not Boston College standards.

"It doesn't do you any good to bring him in if he's not gonna succeed and not be there," O'Brien said.

Groh said all four of the players who missed spring practices because of academic problems - linebacker Olu Hall, left guard Branden Albert, wide receiver Emmanuel Byers and fullback Kevin Bradley - will be ready when preseason practices start Aug. 4.

Asked if safety Tony Franklin - whom Groh dismissed before spring practices - would be on the team, Groh said: "We'll have to see. I'm not putting any percentage on it." Franklin was enrolled in summer school, and Groh said he'd decide whether Franklin would return after meeting with the player in the next week.

Groh said safety Nate Lyles likely would take part in the first practice. Lyles' 2005 season ended after he injured his neck against Georgia Tech. Lyles underwent offseason surgery. Groh wants to meet soon with Lyles and the doctor who performed the surgery, to make sure Lyles is ready to go.

Eugene Monroe, slotted to take over for All-American D'Brickashaw Ferguson at left tackle, likely will be healthy for the first practice, Groh said. Monroe missed most of spring practices after injuring his knee.

Of the six players who sat out last year with academic problems - Philip Brown, Ron Morton, D.J. Bell, Devonta Brown, Davon Robb and Chris Johnson - only Robb is on the roster. But Groh said Bell is in school and might return for his senior season.

Fullback Josh Zidenberg, a Poquoson High graduate who came to U.Va. as a walk-on in 2004, is now on scholarship. He was the only walk-on to play in 2004 and excelled on special teams.

BEAMER CHEERS A 'HOO

It's difficult to find a soft spot in Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer's heart for the U.Va., but he had a moment of weakness Monday during a round of golf.

Beamer played in a foursome at the ACC football media days golf outing that included U.Va. quarterback Christian Olsen. After Olsen drained a long putt, Beamer couldn't help but clap for Olsen, a 6-foot-3, 234-pound senior.

"That's the loudest cheer I've heard a Hokie give a Wahoo in a long time," Beamer said.

His attitude became a little more serious in the afternoon as he discussed Tech's own quarterback situation and areas on field that are creating some heartburn.

Beamer said he's nervous about Tech's offensive line (where Tech will have three new starters) and tight end (another new starter). He also said he hopes to develop more depth at defensive tackle and linebacker.

As for quarterback, he said sophomores Sean Glennon and Cory Holt and redshirt freshman Ike Whitaker will continue to compete for the starting job in August. Greg Boone will get work at quarterback and tight end.

INTRODUCING ...

Safety Kareen Taylor punched his ticket to the University of North Carolina three years ago the hard way. Spending two years at Fork Union Military Academy isn't the conventional way to make it to an NCAA Division I-A football program.

Taylor, a 6-foot, 200-pound native of Hopewell, graduated from Hopewell High, but didn't qualify academically to accept a scholarship offer from a I-A university.

After a year at FUMA, he still was unable to attain a qualifying SAT score. He had options: either head to a junior college, try to go to another prep school or come back to FUMA. He opted for another year in the stiff wool uniforms at FUMA.

"It's hard, I ain't gonna lie," Taylor said. "I look at it as me not being selfish. What I mean by that is that I wasn't going to take the easy way out and pick one of the little schools to go to (after his first year at FUMA) instead of giving myself the chance to play at one of the big schools. I came back because of the work I was putting in, and people were telling me I should do it."

Todd Nolen, a former Hampton High wide receiver, was presented with a similar scenario last week. He committed to Virginia Tech in February 2005, but didn't qualify academically and went to FUMA. He still hadn't qualified academically by the end of his year at FUMA. Though he had the option to try to attend another prep school or possibly return to FUMA, Nolen has decided to enroll at a junior college, according to his mother, Linda. She said it was the decision that best suited Todd.

Taylor wasn't enamored with the junior-college route. He qualified after his second year at FUMA, and is on track to graduate from UNC this coming school year with a degree in sociology.

In addition to getting on track academically, Taylor, a senior, also has asserted himself on the football field. He has started 15 consecutive games, and had 61 tackles, 3 1/2 sacks and two interceptions last season.

NUMBER OF THE DAY

4: Number of houses along the TPC Valley Course at the Sawgrass Marriott Resort and Spa that Florida State linebacker Buster Davis allegedly plunked during Monday's golf outing.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

One reporter asked North Carolina State coach Chuck Amato about his technique for signing autographs, since he signs so many.

"I've got great penmanship," Amato said. "People have said, 'He didn't sign this. A lady had to do this. That's a woman's handwriting. That's not a man's handwriting.' I said, 'If I had bad handwriting, I'd be a doctor.' "

PRESSING QUESTION

For a random poll, six ACC players were asked to name the league's hardest hitter.

Leading the voting, with three, was Virginia Tech safety Aaron Rouse, listed at 6-feet-4 and 225 pounds.

North Carolina running back Ronnie McGill couldn't pick just one hard hitter. "You can write the whole Virginia Tech defense down," he said.

Maryland cornerback Josh Wilson picked McGill. "It's because he knocked me out last year," Wilson said. "I can't remember it, but I figure it had to be a good hit to knock me out."

EXCUSE ME?

In the wake of a Friday morning shooting near the University of Miami campus involving Hurricanes safeties Willie Cooper and Brandon Meriweather, Florida State coach Bobby Bowden was asked how he handles players who own guns.

Bowden doesn't rank firearms monitoring as one of his primary concerns. He said he does his best to make sure all guns are accounted for, but he doesn't want to handcuff any outdoorsmen on his team.

"Kids like to hunt, so a lot of them have guns," Bowden said. "We make them register (guns) with (FSU's coaching staff) and we keep them. ... Does that slip by sometimes? I don't know. I don't keep up with it that much."

Cooper was shot in the buttocks at 6:30 a.m. Friday during an altercation outside the apartment he shares with Meriweather.

After Cooper was wounded, Meriweather responded by pulling out his own gun and shooting at the assailant. Cooper is expected to make a full recovery. Meriweather wasn't charged with a crime because he had a permit for his gun.

Assistant turnover shakes up ACC teams
David Teel
July 25 2006

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLA. -- In the here-this-morning-gone-by-happy-hour universe of major college coaching, ACC football is the very model of stability. The conference hasn't seen a head-coaching change since Ted Roof took over at Duke midway through the 2003 season, a glacial turnover rate that none of Division I-A's 10 other leagues can match.

But as fans ponder the upcoming season - Can Miami win its first ACC title? Will Virginia Tech return to the championship game? Can Virginia establish a school record with a fifth consecutive bowl appearance? - they need to consider the extraordinary offseason attrition among the conference's assistant coaches.

More than a quarter of the league's full-time assistants, 30 of 108, are new. Nine of 12 ACC programs had multiple changes, while only the staffs at Florida State and Boston College returned intact. Compare that with the previous offseason, when 13 jobs turned over.

Now before dismissing this as insider blather, remember that no head coach thrives without a quality staff - the NCAA permits nine full-time assistants in Division I-A. Assistants serve as the primary teachers, game-planners and recruiters, while the boss acts as CEO, bankrolls seven figures and tries not to confuse his courtesy country-club memberships.

Indeed, at the ACC's preseason gathering Monday, a reporter asked Boston College coach Tom O'Brien to identify the most vital element of the Eagles' sustained success.

"I've had great assistant coaches," he said immediately.

BC's Dana Bible, Virginia Tech's Bud Foster, Florida State's Mickey Andrews and Miami's Randy Shannon - coordinators all - rank among the game's top assistant coaches. Not coincidentally, those programs rank among the game's best.

As in all rackets, reasons vary for staff turnover. Some assistants get better gigs; others bail to escape a tyrannical boss; some are encouraged to seek alternative employment, while the most unfortunate get publicly whacked.

The ACC's turnover ran that gamut. Virginia assistants Al Golden, Danny Rocco and Ron Prince became head coaches at Temple, Liberty and Kansas State, respectively. Mark D'Onofrio left to join Golden's staff as defensive coordinator.

At Virginia Tech, Kevin Rogers and Lorenzo Ward departed for NFL positions, Tony Ball for an assistant's job at Georgia. Danny Pearman was reassigned, against his wishes, within the athletic department, prompting him to accept an assistant's post at North Carolina.

The greatest upheaval, and carnage, transpired at Miami, where head coach Larry Coker fired five assistants and another left for the NFL. Four of the firings came three days after the 40-3 loss to Louisiana State in the Peach Bowl.

"It was very difficult," Coker said tersely of the offseason changes. "You don't relish them."

Relished or not, turnover means change - in personalities, teaching techniques and philosophies. And while those changes may be largely invisible to outsiders, they will have an immeasurable impact on the conference race.

For example, Maryland's coordinators, Charlie Taaffe on offense and Gary Blackney on defense, resigned during the offseason, prompting head coach Ralph Friedgen to restructure his staff. Rather than appoint a new offensive coordinator, Friedgen took over the play-calling and hired Phil Zacharias to oversee running backs.

"I think the kids see a different side of me," Friedgen said. "I'm more involved."

Meanwhile, Chris Cosh, a former Virginia Tech linebacker, comes from Kansas State to coordinate the Terrapins' defense. Cornerback Josh Wilson called the change striking.

"You get an interception and take it for a touchdown (in practice) and he's running right behind you," Wilson said of Cosh. "He's high-energy. He makes me realize we're doing something we love. He just brings a different way to look at stuff."

Virginia coach Al Groh described the transition of his four new assistants as "pretty seamless" and said the changes eliminate any complacency that might exist among players.

"They've got new (position coaches) to impress," Groh said. "There's no way anyone can get playing time based on past performances."

O'Brien served as a Virginia assistant to George Welsh for 15 seasons, and six of his nine Boston College staff members have been with him for at least eight years.

"It's been important to us especially in terms of recruiting," O'Brien said of the stability. "The (assistants) know the profile of the kids we're looking for. But sometimes you can get stale as a staff. At what point is that? Five years? Six? I don't know."

ACC due for team to excel
Caulton Tudor, Staff Writer

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLA. - The ACC's football players and coaches, as usual, are talking a mean game as the start of a new season approaches.
Eleven of the 12 teams honestly think they'll get bowl bids.

Three players -- receivers Calvin Johnson of Georgia Tech and Chansi Stuckey of Clemson and offensive tackle Steve Vallos of Wake Forest -- are contenders to go high in the 2007 NFL draft.

"Great things should happen in this league this season," Boston College defensive back Ryan Glasper predicts.

But dating back to the 2000 season, ACC players and coaches have talked a better game than they've played.

During the past five seasons, not one ACC team has finished among the top five in the national rankings.

The 2000 Florida State team wound up No. 5 in the final Associated Press poll after losing 13-2 to Oklahoma in the Bowl Championship Series title game. In the years since, the Seminoles have failed to finish among the AP top 10.

On paper, 2006 looks like more of the same for the Seminoles and the league they once dominated. The league lost its best group of defensive players ever to the NFL after 2005. The two top quarterbacks -- Marcus Vick of Virginia Tech and Charlie Whitehurst of Clemson -- have moved on. Throughout the conference, coaching staffs have been shuffled and reshuffled during the offseason.

"But football can be strange," Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said Monday during ACC Football Kickoff interviews.

"It may not be us, but some team in this conference is due to bust out, just bust right out. I can't put my finger on why, but I sure sense it."

Bowden is right a lot more often than he's wrong.

If he's correct about the ACC producing a strong national contender in '06, it'll likely be rooted in softer nonleague scheduling.

Bowden's team is the prime example. Other than the season finale against Florida (in Tallahassee), the Seminoles shouldn't break much of a sweat against Western Michigan, Rice and Troy outside the league.

Boston College will face Central Michigan, Brigham Young, Maine and Buffalo. Virginia Tech has Northeastern, Cincinnati, Southern Miss and Kent State.

Other than a trip to Louisville, Miami has three gimmies -- Florida A&M, Houston and Florida International.

Maryland will visit West Virginia but has William & Mary, Middle Tennessee and Florida International visiting.

The most difficult nonleague schedule in the conference confronts Georgia Tech, which opens against Notre Dame and ends at Georgia. But even so, the Yellow Jackets should go no worse than 2-2 by claiming wins over Troy and Rice.

"I see it as a season of opportunity," Miami coach Larry Coker said. "There are too many good teams in the ACC for one of them not to break through."

The best bet is the team Coker coaches. And again, the schedule is why. Miami's road games in the league are Duke, Georgia Tech, Maryland and Virginia. The most difficult of the four should be Georgia Tech, but the Hurricanes are already pointing to that game (Oct. 28) as a result of the startling win by the Yellow Jackets last season in Miami.

At home, the Canes will have to deal with Florida State (opening game), North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Boston College. It's an imposing lineup, but things haven't changed so much that Miami is easy to beat in the Orange Bowl.

Even with a mostly new offensive line and several marginally inexperienced starters on defense, the Hurricanes have a reasonable shot at 12-0.

"We've got the talent, but do we have the determination?" quarterback Kyle Wright said. "I think I know, but we can't just think it. We've got to show it."

That's especially true when you take into account the fact that when last seen, the Canes were getting worked over to no end by LSU, 40-3 in the Peach Bowl.

"That game," Wright said, "has a lot to do with why I think we'll be a team with a purpose."

Me? I buy it. Last season, no one really was hot on Texas in preseason. More of the experts could see Mack Brown getting chased than winning a national championship.

It's not exactly apples and apples, of course. There's not a Vince Young playing quarterback anywhere in the ACC, and quarterbacking is the key to everything in football.

But the ACC is just due. For all of the league's warts, rough edges and disappointments of the past two or three seasons, it's time for some team in the conference to get lucky. Miami is the most likely.

 

UVa will find safety in numbers
By Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
July 25, 2006

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. - One of Virginia’s starting safeties from the beginning of last season will be back come August. The other one will find out if he will be in the next week.

The word from Cavaliers head coach Al Groh at the ACC Kickoff at the Sawgrass Resort on Monday was that junior safety Nate Lyles is expected to be ready to go at the start of training camp in August.

Meanwhile, senior Tony Franklin, who was dismissed from the team at the start of spring football along with Vince Redd and Ahmad Brooks, will meet with Groh in the next week to discuss whether he will be allowed to come back.

Lyles, Virginia’s hardest hitter, missed the final three games of last season after injuring his neck while making a tackle on Georgia Tech running back P.J. Daniels last Nov. 12. Despite months of rehab, he was held out of spring ball, though he did conditioning drills on the sidelines during practice.

Lyles, Groh and UVa’s trainer will have a meeting with the doctor who performed the surgery at some point this week.

“Obviously, I’m a parent to my own children, but in many respects I’m a surrogate parent to all of them,” Groh said. “I have their welfare as my concern.”

Barring any unforeseen setbacks, Lyles will be cleared to practice, something he’s been chomping at the bit to do ever since the injury.

“Every practice at which he’s been able to be, he’s been there,” Groh said. “(After his injury) when offered the option to go home for Thanksgiving or stay at school - obviously he wasn’t going to play the next week - he looked incredulous when I told him he had an option. It was like, ‘Hey, I’m on this team. I’m staying here.’”

Through nine games last year, his first as a starter, Lyles made 39 tackles, two for a loss, broke up two passes and had two interceptions.

Franklin, a co-captain who finished with 55 tackles last year, fourth most on the team, was suspended twice before being dismissed in March. He missed the Georgia Tech game for an undisclosed violation of team rules and did not make the trip to Nashville for the Music City Bowl after being charged for marijuana possession.

Groh did not say if it was likely Franklin would be back.

“We’ll have to see,” Groh said. “I’m not putting any percentage on (his chances).”

Regardless, Virginia’s secondary has more depth than it ever has in Groh’s five years. In addition to Lyles and possibly Franklin, the Cavaliers have senior Byron Glaspy and juniors Jamaal Jackson and Ryan Best vying for playing time at safety.

The cornerback position is equally deep. Preseason All-American candidate Marcus Hamilton has one corner spot locked up, while junior Chris Gorham, sophomores Chris Cook (Heritage) and Mike Brown and redshirt freshman Vic Hall (Gretna) will compete for the other starting job.

Contrast that to last October at Boston College, when injuries whittled the number of UVa cornerbacks capable of entering the game to two, and Groh has a lot less to worry about in the defensive backfield, at least in terms of numbers and experience.

“Unless there are some real surprises, we certainly shouldn’t have the degree of (on-the-job training) back there that we’ve had in the past,” Groh said.

 

ACC finally starting to walk the walk
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
July 26, 2006

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- So, this is what John Swofford must have had in mind a couple of years ago when he was trying to push expansion of the ACC from nine to a dozen teams.

The league’s commissioner walked to the podium with a bit of a swagger Tuesday morning when he ended the ACC Football Kickoff event with a bang. After one year as a 12-team conference, there was a lot for Swofford to boast about, particularly concerning football.

Biggest news was the announcement that the ACC had made a contractual agreement to send its football champion to the Orange Bowl, just like the SEC normally sends its winner to the Sugar Bowl. Should the ACC champ be ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in the nation, that team would play in the national championship game (wherever that contest happens to fall).

Essentially it was yet another step that allows the ACC to pound its chest and flex its muscles. It also was another strategic move for the ACC to gain more power in the football-rich state of Florida.

For years, the Sunshine State has been considered an SEC state, a Florida Gator state. Now that the ACC has two teams (Miami and Florida State) in the league and plays its championship game in Gator Bowl Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla., then sends that champion to the Orange Bowl, the ACC is spreading its brand from South Beach to the Georgia border.

Swofford said the Orange Bowl deal makes South Florida the “Home of the ACC Champion.”

He also indicated positive signs that the ACC Championship game will remain in Jacksonville for a while. Honestly, this columnist believes the game will never leave Jacksonville, which has rolled out the red carpet to the league over the past year.

“Our first championship game was a huge success,” said Swofford. “Jacksonville did a tremendous job hosting the game.”

Jacksonville and the ACC signed a two-year contract to host the first two league championship games, the first one a Florida State upset victory over Virginia Tech last December. After this season’s game, Jacksonville and the league have an option for extending that agreement for two more years.

“That looks very good,” Swofford said.

The Orange Bowl deal begins this season (Jan. 2, 2007 at Dolphin Stadium).

There was more bowl news as well.

While Swofford didn’t announce it, some folks attending the ACC Kickoff at Sawgrass Marriott Resort & Spa just

outside Jacksonville, confirmed that the ACC and the Atlanta Sports Council are talking about creating a second bowl game in Atlanta, possibly in 2007.

It would likely move into the ACC’s bowl lineup as the No. 8 out of eight bowls tied to the conference and feature an ACC team against a Big Ten opponent. Obviously, Atlanta already hosts the Peach Bowl but showed earlier this year that it can handle two bowl games within a matter of days when the city hosted both the Peach Bowl and the Sugar Bowl because of the hurricane devastation in New Orleans.

The ACC appears to be trying to break its tie to the MPC Computers Bowl in Boise, Idaho, after this year’s game on Dec. 31. Currently, the Boise bowl is the No. 8 game in the ACC.

What Swofford did confirm, was a new pecking order in the ACC’s current bowl lineup.

Formerly, the ACC would send its champion to the BCS, followed by the Gator Bowl, Peach Bowl, Champs Sports Bowl (in Orlando, Fla.), the Meineke Car Care Bowl (Charlotte, N.C.), and the MPC Computers Bowl. While that was the order, the selection process didn’t always go that way.

Schools didn’t like the way bowl destinations were determined. Virginia felt it was snubbed several times. Georgia Tech got some of that treatment last season as did Boston College, which was treated shabbily by some Boise officials last December, probably leading to an eventual parting of the ways between the ACC and the MPC.

With new bowls on board, Swofford announced a new selection process that could settle some of the past shortcomings.

Here’s the deal:

The ACC champion will go to the Orange Bowl (or the BCS championship game if it is ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in the nation).

The ACC runner-up will play in the Peach Bowl, which moved ahead of the Gator Bowl. After FSU beat Virginia Tech in the new ACC Championship game in Jacksonville early last December, Hokies fans were less than enthusiastic about a return trip to Gator Bowl Stadium only a few weeks later for the actual Gator Bowl game.

Sensing that could be a problem over the years, the ACC and Gator Bowl decided it would be best if the runner-up played elsewhere in the future, thus the Peach Bowl.

After the Peach, the Gator gets the next choice, followed by the Champs Bowl.

Here’s another change in the process. The next three bowls (the Music City in Nashville, the Meineke in Charlotte, and the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco), and probably the second Atlanta bowl when it comes on board, will attempt to decide among themselves what teams they want for their games.

Swofford said that if things don’t fall into place among those three bowls (possibly four) and no agreement can be reached, the conference’s one-win rule will come into effect. That means there can’t be more than a two-game differential in records between ACC candidates for that bowl.

Say, Nashville wants a 6-5 Clemson team, but Boston College is 8-3 and hasn’t been selected yet, then BC would go to the Music City and not be cast to Boise, which is essentially how the Eagles were treated last season.

This year, any way, Boise will be the ACC’s No. 8 pick for sure.

“A lot of our expansion was about positioning this conference for the future,” Swofford said. “This is just another step beyond expansion. This league is on tremendously sound footing.”

Also at Sawgrass ...

... The league had plenty of news to report Tuesday. Here’s some of the highlights:

l To no one’s surprise, Duke’s J.J. Redick won the ACC Male Athlete of the Year award, called the McKevlin Award, while Maryland’s Paula Infante, the national field hockey player of the year, won the league’s Female Athlete of the Year, named the Mary Garber Award. The winners were selected in voting by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association, which voted Redick ahead of FSU track champion Garrett Johnson and Maryland soccer star Jason Garey. Infante beat out FSU track standout Lacy Janson and UNC shot putter Laura Gerraughty.

l The ACC also announced, in conjunction with ISP Sports, the formation of a national radio network that will carry live broadcasts in football as well as men’s and women’s basketball. The network will debut this fall with eight games, starting with the FSU vs. Miami game on Sept. 4, then seven Thursday night games the first season. In the future, the network will broadcast between 13 and 15 ACC football games, including the championship. Former UVa football coach Sonny Randle will work as the network’s color analyst along with play-by-play man Bill Rosinski.

Wahoo sellout

Meanwhile, Virginia announced Tuesday that it has sold out its allotment of season football tickets for the third straight year.

The 39,347 went quicker this year than ever before. Only single-game tickets remain now for a few UVa home games: the North Carolina game on Oct. 19; the Sept. 9 home opener against Wyoming; and the Sept. 16 homecoming game against Western Michigan.

Fans can purchase tickets through UVa’s web site (www.virginiasports.com) or by calling the ticket office at (800) 542-8821.

The annual Meet the Team Day will take place Aug. 17 at Scott Stadium.

 

A method to Groh's madness
BOB LIPPER
TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST Jul 26, 2006

It's good to know Al Groh has a plan.

Otherwise, we'd all maybe get the idea he's recruiting classroom stragglers purely by accident.

Groh is the high-priced football coach at Virginia, and two days ago he explained to reporters at a posh resort in Florida how it came to pass that one-third of the schoolboys he'd signed for summer of '06 delivery to Charlottesville had failed to gain admission to the school.

It wasn't bum luck.

It's not that Simon Cowell suddenly became U.Va.'s dean of admissions.

It isn't that Groh and his assistants didn't do their homework.

It's a plan.

That's the message Chairman Al carried to Ponte Vedra Beach, where he parried suggestions his incoming freshman class might've been whopped upside the transcript.

"I wouldn't say it took a hit," Groh said. "I'd say it followed the plan. We and each one of the individual players were all aware of potential circumstances."

"Potential circumstances" being Groh-ese for, "Uh, Bubba, didn't you say your guidance counselor told you that you made 1,450 on the college boards?"

The raw numbers go like this: U.Va. signed 24 high school players last winter. Of that group, eight were denied admission when their grades and test scores landed at Peabody Hall. Eight out of 24! We're not talking downsizing here, we're talking GM layoffs. We're talking plant closings.

The Rejected Eight included defensive linemen, linebackers, defensive backs, an offensive lineman, even a quarterback. Obviously, Groh looked up and down the depth chart and decided to recruit players for a variety of posi tions who might not qualify for admission rather than stockpile all the question marks at one spot. That's what's known as a plan.

Some of you are probably skeptical. Some of you - likely the same ones who grumble about Groh's 3-4 defense - might be wondering how a coach can possibly miscalculate on his recruiting targets to the extent that 33.3 percent of them have to be tossed back into the talent pool like so many smallmouth bass whose size falls below the legal minimum.

Please, listen to Groh. He might tell you that by sacrificing eight players to U.Va.'s admissions standards, he's providing a potential clientele for Fork Union, Hargrave and other post-grad havens, where players get their report cards and weight training in order.

One of the Spurned Eight decided against detouring to a prep school and instead will enroll at Rutgers. Groh would maybe say it's only fair he throw a bone to New Jersey as payback for all the players he's lured from the state since arriving at U.Va. for the 2001 campaign.

Groh might also tell you that whiffing on one-third of the freshman class is a why-not proposition.

Consider: What did those highly regarded recruiting classes from early in Groh's tenure yield except a bunch of low-end bowl dates and high expectations (well, that and a salary bump to $1.7 mil per annum - wowie)?

Now he's lost four assistant coaches, his quarterback, his tailback, his best blocker, his two leading tacklers and three banished frontliners from a squad that finished fifth in its division. Why not try something different? Why not - instead of importing another loaded crop of prospects who'll just goose anticipation and prompt more charges Groh is overrated if/when he doesn't deliver - shrewdly construct a class that's short on numbers and notoriety?

That's what Groh has done.

When he tells you the Cavs lack depth at several positions, remember that he has a plan.

 

ACC bolsters bowl process
Conference champ will have annual tie with Orange Bowl
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Jul 26, 2006

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. Eight months after Boston College "got shafted," as BC safety Ryan Glasper so delicately put it, the ACC and its bowl partners have reached an arrangement the conference hopes will ensure that its football teams get appropriately rewarded for their regular-season success.

Also yesterday, Commissioner John Swofford announced that the ACC champion will play in the Orange Bowl every year unless that team has earned a spot in the Bowl Championship Series title game.

For years, the ACC's bowl-selection process has been something of a free-for-all in which deserving teams regularly get slighted. Bowls have valued fan support how well a team "travels" -- more than regular-season results.

In 2002, for example, Virginia tied for second in the ACC with a 6-2 conference record, yet ended up in the Continental Tire Bowl in Charlotte, N.C. Clemson (4-4 in ACC play), meanwhile, claimed a spot in the more attractive Tangerine Bowl.

In 2005, Boston College went 5-3 in the conference and tied for first in the ACC's Atlantic Divi- sion with Florida State. Yet the Eagles found themselves in the MPC Computers Bowl in Boise, Idaho -- the least-coveted postseason destination for ACC teams -- while Virginia (3-5) and N.C. State (3-5) received invitations to more desirable bowls in Nashville, Tenn., and Charlotte, respectively.

"Last year, there was some heartburn with this . . . in the selection process," Swofford acknowledged yesterday in his state-of-the-conference remarks at the ACC Football Kickoff.

And so the conference came up with a more equitable system, the details of which were revealed yesterday. Had this system been in place last year, BC wouldn't have been sent to Boise.

Starting this season, the ACC has tie-ins with eight bowls, including the Bowl Championship Series.

The winner of the ACC title game -- and, perhaps, an at-large team from the ACC -- will advance to the BCS. Then the Chick-fil-A (Dec. 30 in Atlanta) will pick from the conference's remaining bowl-eligible teams.

The Gator Bowl (Jan. 1 in Jacksonville, Fla.) will pick after the Chick-fil-A, followed by the Champs Sports (Dec. 29 in Orlando, Fla.). As was the case last year, those three bowls cannot choose Team A over Team B if Team B had two conference victories more than Team A during the regular season.

The ACC's remaining bowl-eligible teams will go into a pool from which the Music City (Dec. 29 in Nashville), the Meineke Car Care (Dec. 30 in Charlotte) and the Emerald (Dec. 27 in San Francisco) will choose. Starting this season, none will be allowed to pick a team with two fewer ACC victories than another available team.

Ideally, the ACC would like officials from those three bowls to decide among themselves which teams would go where. If the bowls can't agree, then the Music City would pick first, the Meineke Car Care second and the Emerald third.

When those three bowls have selected their ACC representatives, the MPC Computers (Dec. 31 in Boise) will pick from what's left.

 

Groh deals with lots of new faces
The Cavs' coach says turnover this year is a little high, but most of the changes are routine.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

PONTE VEDRA, Fla. -- Four months have passed since Al Groh said his Virginia football program is "rebuilding" and he still does not feel comfortable using that term.

"First of all, if I used the term 'rebuilding' once; it was the only time I used it," Groh said Monday at the ACC Football Kickoff. " I never use the term 'rebuilding.'

"The way I think of it is, every year you've got to put the team back together. Rebuilding? That word is either something you never do or something that you always do. It's not a once-in-a-while thing."

Groh emphasized the departure of more than a half-dozen valued seniors from the 2005 Virginia team that finished 7-5 after a victory over Minnesota in the Music City Bowl.

However, he also got questions about the nearly 20 scholarship underclassmen or recruits who have been lost since the end of the 2004-2005 school year, including eight of this year's 24 signees.

UVa has never lost that many recruits between February's signing day and the start of the season.

All eight had academic issues -- either with the NCAA or the university.

One, prized New Jersey linebacker George Johnson, will enroll at Rutgers after being turned down by UVa's admissions office. Most of the others are headed to Virginia prep schools.

"I wouldn't say [the recruiting class] took a hit," Groh said. "I would say it followed plan. We and each one of the individual players were aware of potential circumstances."

It wasn't just recruits, however. In March, on the eve of spring practice, Virginia released a roster that did not include former All-ACC linebacker Ahmad Brooks, starting safety Tony Franklin and promising defensive end Vince Redd.

Franklin and Redd were among a group of players who were suspended during the 2005 season for a violation of team rules. Brooks, recently chosen by the Cincinnati Bengals in the NFL's supplemental draft, took five drug tests this spring to try and dispel rumors of his drug use.

Redd transferred to Grambling, along with cornerback Philip Brown and defensive lineman Chris Johnson, who had been on academic suspension for the 2005 season.

To some, it might have seemed that Groh was sending a message.

"I wouldn't be fair to the individuals involved to try to use them to get other players' attention," Groh said. "If the players' attention had been lost to that degree, then nothing would have gotten it back anyway.

"There were situations that had to be addressed and each was addressed in its own circumstance. It just so happened that everybody became aware of them on the same day."

In fact, there is a possibility that Franklin, a 2005 co-captain, could be reinstated this fall. A decision on that could come soon.

Also, Groh said that D.J. Bell, a reserve lineman earlier in his career, has been taking steps toward a comeback. Bell was among the group that became academically ineligible in the summer of 2005.

Some of the attrition could not have been planned, such as the decision by All-ACC linebacker Kai Parham to make himself available for the NFL Draft with a year of college eligibility remaining. He went undrafted before signing with the Dallas Cowboys as a free agent.

Groh didn't comment directly on the Parham situation, "but our plans were always such that probably Ahmad would not be playing for the team this year," he said.

"We had one circumstance there that might not have been expected but that happens to almost every team in the country."

In addressing the situation of how a coaching regime could be rebuilding after five years, Groh cited a core of seniors who played early in their UVa careers and completed their eligibility in 2005.

That included offensive lineman D'Brickashaw Ferguson, who was the No. 4 pick overall in the NFL Draft; place-kicker Conner Hughes, the top scorer in UVa history; tailback Wali Lundy, who set the ACC record for TDs in a career, and nose tackle Brennan Schmidt, who set a school record for consecutive starts.

"Frankly, I'd probably rather have Conner Hughes back than almost anybody for what he did for the team," Groh said. "Every one of those guys started a lot more games than Ahmad Brooks ever did."
 

ACC teams dining on cupcakes
David Teel
July 26 2006

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLA. -- Last season Virginia Tech and Florida State shared the honor of competing in the ACC's first football championship game. This season the Hokies and Seminoles share the dishonor of crafting the conference's worst non-league schedules.

And that's saying something, for when it comes to playing weak outside opponents, the ACC in 2006 has few, if any, peers.

"A mixed bag," said commissioner John Swofford, who must be looking for charitable tax deductions.

As the conference concluded its annual preseason media gathering Tuesday, Swofford touted the ACC as a nouveau football force. But truth be told, the conference's fans get shafted this season.

Swofford blamed the NCAA's late decision to allow a 12th regular-season game this year, which he said left schools scrambling for opponents. Or, as Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer said, "Sometimes you have to take what you can get."

Thankfully, future schedules - more on those later - are more appealing. But they won't gussy up the pig that is 2006.

Virginia Tech and Florida State scheduled all four of their non-conference games at home. Clemson's lone outside test away from home is on "neutral" ground in nearby Charlotte, N.C., against Temple (0-11 last year).

Maryland has arguably the most daunting non-league assignment, at West Virginia on a Thursday night. But the Terrapins also play Middle Tennessee, Florida International and Division I-AA William and Mary, all at home.

Duke and Wake Forest, bless their crazy hearts, scheduled over their heads. The Blue Devils, 1-10 last season, travel to Alabama, while the Deacons, 4-7 last year, head to Connecticut and Mississippi. In fact, Wake Forest and Virginia (at Pittsburgh and East Carolina) are the only ACC teams playing two non-league road games.

"I'm envious of some other non-conference schedules," Deacons coach Jim Grobe said with a wide grin.

Hard to blame him. While the ACC's bottom-feeders scheduled reasonably, the elite did not.

Among Virginia Tech's quartet of Southern Mississippi, Kent State, Cincinnati and Division I-AA Northeastern, only the former is credible. Florida State has its annual clash with Florida, but Troy, Rice and Western Michigan won't make the Seminoles' season-ticket holders happy. Miami travels to Louisville but saddles its home fans with Florida A&M, Houston and Florida International.

One non-conference road game combined for the ACC's three premier programs? That doesn't strike me as the way to convince us skeptics that ACC football is on a par with the Southeastern Conference, Pacific 10, Big Ten or Big 12. Or on a par with ACC basketball or baseball.

The only conference more unwilling to hit the road this season is the SEC. Five of its teams - Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, LSU and Georgia - do not play a non-conference game on an opponent's home field.

But no one doubts the SEC's football chops. Conversely, ACC teams are 1-7 in Bowl Championship Series games, far and away the worst record among the six contracted conferences. Why, the much-maligned Big East is a respectable 4-4, including West Virginia's Sugar Bowl victory last season against Georgia - in Atlanta.

Moreover, no ACC team has finished among the Associated Press' final top five since Florida State in 2000. And the last ACC team other than Florida State to crack the final top five was co-national champion Georgia Tech in 1990.

One sure way to change the ACC's image is to schedule, and beat, more prominent non-conference opponents. Opportunities begin next season when three ACC teams - Georgia Tech, Boston College and Duke - play at Notre Dame. Also, Miami hosts Texas A&M and travels to Oklahoma; Virginia Tech heads to Louisiana State; and Florida State plays Alabama in Jacksonville, Fla., and travels to Colorado and Florida.

Other upcoming series include Miami-Florida, North Carolina-Colorado, Virginia Tech-Nebraska and Miami-Ohio State.

"You do have to be careful that you don't overload your non-conference schedule," Wake's Grobe said. "If you do, you're not being fair to your kids. ... The kids would play the Green Bay Packers if you'd let them."

Clemson coach Tommy Bowden would prefer the Green Bay Pop Warner league. His Tigers play an annual non-conference game against state rival South Carolina, and that's enough indigestion for him.

Bowden's ideal non-conference schedule?

"Easy," he said. "Because of the strength of the conference, there's no reason to beat yourself up. You can schedule yourself out of a national championship. I want my other three games to be where I can play some young guys, mess up and still win."

Fans can only hope Bowden's attitude does not prevail.