Groh's flawed 'plan'
David Teel
July 30 2006

Al Groh miscalculated - several times. He compounded the errors by speaking carelessly and copping an attitude. But before University of Virginia football faithful and/or faculty flame-throwers storm the McCue Center, some context and perspective are in order.

Not to apologize for Groh, entering his sixth season as the Cavaliers' head coach. His public manner is brusque, his 37-26 record just above average. And he is overpaid handsomely - a minimum $1.8 million this year - to navigate the inevitable crises of major college football.

The current tempest underscores the timeless tension between athletics and academics: Of the 24 prospects Virginia signed to scholarships this year, eight failed to earn admission.

Losing one-third of a recruiting class, some temporarily, others permanently, is a big deal for any school. For a school that fancies itself a public Ivy and boasts lofty graduation rates, it is an XXL deal. Moreover, it further hamstrings a football program that lacks the depth to contend for ACC championships.

But in his first preseason meeting with reporters, at the ACC's football kickoff in Florida, Groh chafed at such suggestions. He said the Cavaliers' incoming class "followed plan."

I'm betting Groh's next paycheck that scores in the Virginia community - faculty, fans, alumni, administrators - recoiled at those words. The "plan" was to subject the athletic department, university and the eight athletes to the scrutiny and ridicule that accompany academic shortcomings? The "plan" was to lose, for at least a year, touted linebackers, linemen and defensive backs? Of course it wasn't, and for Groh to suggest otherwise is patently absurd.

The guy attended Virginia, for heaven's sake. Lettered in football and lacrosse, graduated in 1967, and sent his son Mike to play quarterback there for George Welsh.

More than most, Groh should appreciate the culture of Virginia athletics. More than most, he should recognize that vigilant recruiting can prevent later suspensions and expulsions.

When the grades hit the fan, all Groh needed to say was, "While we are disappointed that these young men are unable to enroll for the upcoming term, we understand the difficult decisions made by the admissions office. The University of Virginia takes pride in our academic standards, and with this particular class, the football program fell short of those standards. We wish the best for the young men who have selected another university and encourage those who will attend prep school to work as diligently in the classroom as they do on the field."

Groh's four prior recruiting efforts reflected those standards. From 2002-05, the Cavaliers signed 88 prospects, only nine of whom the admissions office red-flagged.

Yes, "only" is the proper modifier, even at Virginia. Any Division I-A program with serious national ambitions - the expanded and renovated Scott Stadium symbolizes the school's commitment - gambles on several recruits each year.

Among the non-qualifiers, some vanish while others head for prep school, presumably to enhance their academic credentials. Hampton High graduates Marques Hagans and Almondo Curry attended prep school for a year before enrolling at Virginia, where they distinguished themselves on the field and earned a degree.

But eight rejections from the admissions office in one year are excessive. The program's previous high under Groh was four, in 2002. Last year, all 23 signees enrolled on schedule.

The state's other Division I-A program, Virginia Tech, has experienced similar attrition. Each of the Hokies' last five classes has included two to four admissions casualties.

Totals for 2002-06: Virginia 17, Virginia Tech 14.

The aberration, we hope, is Virginia's eight. Not that Groh is willing to call this an aberration.

He loathes to concede weakness or missteps, a trait both admirable and maddening. Admirable when he pushes athletes to their limits, maddening when he dismisses anyone who dares question the "plan."

Last year's plan was flawed, and Groh and his staff are accountable. They evaluated the prospects, viewed their transcripts and offered them scholarships.

Please note the root word.
 

Truck fire doesn't upstage appearance by Groh, Beamer
Beamer pledges better conduct
Doug Doughty

Here’s what it was like Thursday night at the Salem Civic Center when Virginia football coach Al Groh and Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer addressed the Roanoke Valley Sports Club: As Groh was headed out of the building after the program, he was greeted by a couple of Tech fans, one of whom had learned by cellphone that northbound Interstate 81 was still backed up as the result of a truck fire.

Groh had witnessed the truck fire on his way to Salem and been delayed in his arrival, so he was only too happy to accept an invitation from a couple of Hokies who volunteered to steer him out of town by an alternate route.

Earlier in the evening, Beamer had peered into the crowd, marvelled at the fact that Tech and UVa coaches could be on the same program this close to the season, and pointed out, “I don’t see any fights breaking out.”

There weren’t a lot of scoops for the one newspaper reporter in attendance, although Beamer turned heads when he said that Tech’s quarterback situation would be evaluated after one week of preseason practice.

Most of us – well, at least one of us – thought that redshirt sophomore Sean Glennon definitely would start Tech’s opener against Northeastern.

“We said Sean Glennon was our guy coming out of the spring; Glennon’s definitely in the lead right now,” Beamer said when pressed by a questioner in the crowd.

“I think Glennon brings a lot to the table. He led his team to a state championship [at Westfield High School]. I thought he threw better in the spring than I thought he might.”

There is a similar situation at Virginia, which also has a seldom-used veteran, fifth-year senior Christian Olsen, ahead in the quarterback race. Unlike Beamer, Groh did not mention any of his other quarterbacks.

“He had a better spring than I would have expected him to have,” Groh said.

Groh talked about the players that Virginia needs to replace, including the school’s all-time leading scorer (Connor Hughes), the ACC all-time touchdown scorer (Wali Lundy), the school’s leader in consecutive starts (Brennan Schmidt), the school’s highest draft pick since 1942 (D’Brickashaw Ferguson) and playmaker quarterback Marques Hagans.

“But, honestly, how many people knew about those players five years ago?” Groh said. “We’ve got some big shoes to fill, but that’s college football.”

Groh said it was the 34th time he had spoken to a group of some sort since the end of spring practice in April and that he was all talked out. He still spoke longer than Beamer, then took six or seven questions.

Groh and Beamer were both asked about the growing trend to early commitments, although, in the Cavaliers’ case, there have been years when UVa has had more commitments than it has now (11). Virginia Tech has 15 commitments – almost all of them this month (Virginia’s last was on June 30). Tech has never had that many at this stage.

Beamer was asked about the sanctity of an oral commitment, which has been a peeve of his in the past. A big reason that Tech scaled down its recruiting in Florida was the way other schools came after the Hokies’ recruits. It happened last year when Florida lineman Budd Thacker committed to the Hokies, where his father had played in the 1970s, then signed with Florida State after a late offer from the Seminoles.

“To me, it’s not right and I’m not happy to say we’ve done it some,” Beamer said. “I think it’s dead wrong..”

There are regular calls for an early signing period for football, “but I think it makes too much sense,” Beamer said. “We’re just nuts. If it favors us as coaches, some people aren’t going to want to do it.”

Beamer said that his team’s grade-point average in the spring was higher than it has been during any point during his 19-year tenure. Moreover, only five Tech players were required to attend summer school.

“When I got here, that number must have been 35,” Beamer said.

Beamer did not gloss over the on-field conduct issues that eventually led to the suspension of quarterback Marcus Vick.

“Before I came over here, I read that Phil Steele makes Tech a six-point favorite before we ever take the field,” said Beamer, who got a lot of laughs when he added, “I’d like to put those six points on the scoreboard.

“Rivals.com has ranked Lane Stadium as the top home-field advantage in college football. I don’t think there’s a group of fans in college football that helps its team as much as you do.

“We hade some great games during the year, some games with great effort that couldn’t have gone better, but, I’ll tell you this: At the end, we had some things we didn’t like that just were not acceptable.

“All of us can be proud of the games we’ve won, but I’m also going to try and make you proud of the way we play on the field and the way we act off the field, so you have my pledge on that.”

The world's a stage for QB Olsen
Senior signal-caller Christian Olsen finally gets starting role after five years of waiting
Barney Breen-Portnoy, Cavalier Daily Sports Editor

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- As both a drama major and a quarterback who has spent the past four years as a backup at both Notre Dame and Virginia, senior Christian Olsen knows something about being an understudy. Now, however, Virginia football coach Al Groh has given Olsen a chance to star in the spotlight. With the graduation of Marques Hagans, Groh has made it clear all spring and summer that Olsen will be his choice to fill the void under center.

"As long as he gives us the best chance to win, he's our guy," Groh reiterated Monday.

Groh's confidence in him, however, does not mean that Olsen has relaxed his preparations for the upcoming season. In fact, he has only intensified those efforts. Olsen has been in Charlottesville all summer working out to get into the best shape possible for fall.

"There are about ten of us including Marcus [Hamilton] and Chris Long who have been here all summer," Olsen said. "We've just been working out, running and throwing the ball as much as we can. I think it's been the best summer since I've been here and this is my third summer here."

The New Jersey native is also comfortable with his starting role heading into the start of training camp next week.

"I'm looking at it right now that it's my job and that's what we've been talking about with Coach Groh the whole time," Olsen said. "I don't have to go out there everyday and worry that if I throw an interception that I'll lose the job. I have confidence going in there. But I'm not going to go out there lackadaisically. I'm going to go in there like I'm fighting for the job."

After enrolling at Notre Dame in 2002, Olsen became stuck behind Carlyle Holiday on the depth chart. He had looked seriously at Virginia out of high school and decided in 2003 to leave South Bend for Charlottesville.

"Things happen for a reason," Olsen said. "[Coming to Virginia] is probably the best decision I ever made."

Olsen described his quarterbacking style as much closer to Matt Schaub's than Marques Hagans's.

"I'm a drop-back passer," he said. "I'm not going to run the ball a lot. I'm just going to go out there and not try to do too much. I know that I don't have to go out there and win the game like Matt had to do. We've got a lot of good players right now with our tight ends, running backs and receivers. I just got to go out there, give them the ball and be the point guard of the team."

Over the past three years at Virginia, Olsen has gained a deeper understanding of football's intricacies as he has stood on the sidelines. Now he wants to convert what he has learned into results on the field.

"I've definitely matured since I left Notre Dame," Olsen said. "I'm better able to understand the overall concepts now and read defenses. It takes a long time to learn this offense, as intricate as it is. It's been tough sitting around for three years but I definitely think that it's been to my advantage."

Olsen is incorrectly listed in the Virginia media guide as Anthropology major. In reality, after failing to gain admission to the Education School, he decided to major in drama.

Groh laughed when asked about Olsen's major.

"I just hope he's not a drama queen," he said.

No matter what happens during training camp, the real evaluation of Olsen will not begin until Virginia takes the field in Pittsburgh Sept. 2. Olsen is looking forward to that date.

"We're a lot better than people are giving us credit for," he said. "I'm excited to get out there. I've been waiting 23 years for this."


 

Rocco ready to ignite Flames' football program
By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
July 29, 2006

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Danny Rocco doesn't play much golf, yet he bounced eagerly around the Ballantyne Resort Thursday on a sweltering day, chatting up assistant coaches, meeting new people, pressing as much flesh as possible. Already comfortable in his new surroundings in Lynchburg, Liberty's new football coach took advantage of every opportunity at the Big South media days to spread the same message to conference opponents that he's been telling folks back home, even if he didn't play in Thursday's golf outing.
Don't expect to see the same old Liberty in 2006.

As easy as it is to talk that talk, Rocco knows that the time to back his words up have arrived. In a little more than a month from now, Rocco's Flames will face Division II St. Paul's in a Thursday night opener. Players report to campus Wednesday and practice begins Thursday.

Time to put talk into action.

"I've spent so much time thinking about," Rocco said. "I've had feelings of excitement about this job and the start of camp as early as January or February. Now it's time to produce."

An improved Liberty team wouldn't be a surprise to anyone in the Big South. The Flames were a program-worst 1-10 in 2005 but lost their four conference games by a combined 15 points. Liberty blew a 12-point fourth-quarter lead at Charleston Southern, lost in triple overtime to Coastal Carolina and missed a short field goal late in the fourth quarter that would have sent the VMI game into overtime.

"They underachieved last year," Gardner-Webb coach Steve Patton said. "Liberty is a good team, and I would love to be taking that over. It reminds me of when I came to Gardner-Webb. They were 2-9 and we went 8-3 the next year. There were good players here. We just had to tweak a few things."

Liberty was voted fourth in the five-team league in the preseason poll, behind Coastal Carolina, Charleston Southern and Gardner-Webb but ahead of VMI. Three voters picked the Flames to win the league.

Rocco's eagerness level is matched by that of new VMI coach Jim Reid, a close friend of former coach Cal McCombs. Reid took over for the fired McCombs in December. Despite having a roster loaded with seniors, VMI went 3-8 last year, and the lack of progress ultimately led to McCombs' dismissal.

Liberty is approaching this season as if last year's painful year never occurred. VMI is taking a different tack. McCombs still lives in Lexington and works as a scout for the Denver Broncos, and Reid asked McCombs to join his coaching staff. McCombs declined, but he still attends some practices and

keeps contact with players in the program.

Reid, who spent nine years as Richmond's head coach and led the Spiders to two Atlantic 10 titles, said he was intrigued by the mystery of VMI.

When he first arrived on campus, he was fascinated by the natural level of discipline and commitment the students displayed. The first goal: Regain a high level of both in the football program.

"Right now, it's hard to find a foundation," Reid said. "You need to build on some great quality. We need to build a foundation of great persistence on every snap. They used to say VMI never quits. We've got to get back to that."

Reid acknowledged that 2006 will be a bit of a rebuilding year. The Keydets have major depth issues at wide receiver and defensive back and face an extremely challenging schedule. Plus, those 28 seniors from 2005 are gone.

Rocco will make no such concessions. The only time he'll mention the word "rebuilding" is when he speaks of the reconstruction of the turf at Williams Stadium.

"It shows my commitment to this year's team, and it shows the seniors that I'm not looking at this thing in a long-term manner in terms of not giving them the opportunity to enjoy the success," Rocco said. "I'm going to do everything in my power to make this 'now' and not look at it in any other way."