All things being equal, parity defines ACC
It hasn't become the dominant conference envisioned in 2005
Tuesday, Jul 22, 2008 - 12:07 AM
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

GREENSBORO, Ga. -- The ACC's final season as a nine-team football league was 2003. Virginia Tech and Miami joined the conference in 2004, and Boston College followed in '05, the first season in which the ACC staged a championship game.

Expansion was supposed to produce a powerful football league, but that hasn't happened. The ACC has yet to send an at-large team to the Bowl Championship Series. Worse, the ACC's champion has dropped eight straight BCS games, a streak extended by Virginia Tech's loss to Kansas in the Orange Bowl in January.

"Now, there's no question that [the ACC has] to do better in the BCS," Hokies coach Frank Beamer told reporters yesterday at the league's preseason media event. "We let the Atlantic Coast Conference down last year. We didn't play the way we needed to play in that type of ballgame, representing this conference."

Tech is not the only ACC team to struggle in the postseason. The conference's bowl record over the past four seasons -- 14-16 -- ranks fifth among the six BCS leagues. Only the Big Ten (11-17) has a lower winning percentage. The ACC continues to churn out first-round NFL draft picks at an impressive rate, but the league hasn't been so successful on the field.

"The main thing that would help us is beating other schools," Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said yesterday. "We need to beat schools in the SEC and schools in the Big Ten and schools in other conferences. That way we can claim we're as good as any of them."

Bowden is one of five ACC coaches left from the pre-expansion era, along with his son Tommy Bowden at Clemson, Al Groh at Virginia, Ralph Friedgen at Maryland and Jim Grobe at Wake Forest.

"One thing I didn't think would happen that has happened is the parity," Friedgen said. "I think it's a lot tougher league now than what it was, because everybody can beat everybody else, and that makes it tough week in and week out. It reminds me a lot of the NFL, to be honest with you."

In 2007, for example, Virginia Tech was the only ACC team that didn't lose at least two conference games during the regular season. Such parity is not a bad thing, Groh might argue.

"Within the conference," Groh said, expansion "has created some tremendously competitive games, and that's what the ACC fans who are sitting in the stadiums get to see every week.

"There's a lot of different ways to measure conferences. One of the ways to measure it is the quality of the competition within the league. If one team wins every week and wins most of the games by 35 points and then wins the national championship, is that a good league?"

The dramatic decline of Miami and Florida State in recent years has, of course, marred the ACC's national reputation. When the ACC voted to expand, conventional wisdom held that the Hurricanes would represent the Coastal Division and the Seminoles the Atlantic in the ACC championship game most years.

"Both of them were at the top of the pile," Tommy Bowden said. "Virginia Tech was close. Boston College had a nice run going, and I think everybody anticipated, 'Gosh, this was going to be a dominant conference.'"

That's yet to occur, but Bobby Bowden believes the quality of play in the ACC has improved, one reason his program has dropped off.

"Everybody's gotten better," the elder Bowden said. "We ain't as bad as you think . . . Our conference is not bad. Our conference is pretty darn good. I don't know if the SEC is the toughest conference from top to bottom. It might be. But we're not very far behind."

Groh, for one, said he's pleased by what expansion has wrought in the ACC.

"The race to win the division and the chance at the conference championship, which sustains teams throughout the course of the season, has been very significant," Groh said. "From our perspective, it's been all good."

 

Hokies, Cavaliers lean on stability
David Teel
July 22, 2008
GREENSBORO, GA.

Frank Beamer is preparing for his 22nd season as Virginia Tech's head football coach, Al Groh for his eighth at Virginia.

The other four ACC Coastal Division big whistles have a combined two years of experience at their schools.

That tenure gap should serve the commonwealth well in 2008.

Yes, Miami's Randy Shannon is an acclaimed recruiter, and North Carolina's Butch Davis owns Super Bowl and national-championship jewelry.

And yes, ACC rookies Paul Johnson and David Cutcliffe bring sterling reputations to Georgia Tech and Duke, respectively.

But leadership changes — sports is no different than politics or pipefitting — require time and nurturing. Moreover, in a season where the difference between second and fifth place figures to be minimal, familiarity could prove critical.

"No shorter than three years (of transition)," Groh said Monday at the ACC's preseason media gathering. "It takes awhile for the culture of the team to become ingrained. 'This is who we are. This is how we do things.'

"It's really at the core of the business. It's much more about that than the (offensive and defensive) schemes."

As at most, if not all, Division I-A programs, there are some Virginia faithful who wish the program were less stable. Not Amy Winehouse erratic, mind you, but certainly more fluid.

They thought Hall of Famer George Welsh stayed too long (19 years), and early last season they wanted Groh tarred and feathered on the Downtown Mall — some incurables still do.

But the Cavaliers overcame a ghastly opener at Wyoming, won seven straight, finished 9-4 and made Groh the ACC's Coach of the Year for the second time in six years.

Why, in today's cutthroat world, Beamer never would have survived his sixth season at Virginia Tech, a 2-8-1 swoon that dropped his record to 24-40-2. Fifteen consecutive bowl appearances later, Beamer is Hokies football.

Will any or all of the Coastal's newcomers match the longevity of a Groh or — crazy long odds here — a Beamer?

Shannon served as a Hurricanes assistant for 13 seasons, the final six as defensive coordinator, before succeeding Larry Coker in the corner office. But recruiting success and injuries notwithstanding, his first year as head coach was discouraging as Miami went 5-7, losing six of its final seven, the final three by 48, 30 and 14 points.

While many question Shannon, few doubt that Davis has North Carolina primed. He's assembled a quality staff and returns 18 starters from a 4-8 debut — six losses were by a touchdown or less.

As an assistant to Jimmy Johnson with the Dallas Cowboys and at Miami, Davis shared in championships. As a head coach, he helped the Hurricanes recover from NCAA sanctions prompted by violations committed under Dennis Erickson.

Davis said completing a program's overhaul takes at least two years. Last season, for example, he found himself switching players' positions almost weekly, often from offense to defense, or vice-versa.

"There's so much experimentation," he said. "When you recruit your own players, there's a lot less experimentation."

As the head coach at Mississippi and an assistant at Tennessee, Cutcliffe coached quarterbacks Eli and Peyton Manning, offensive creativity he'll need in long supply if Duke football (remember Steve Spurrier in Durham during the late 1980s?) is ever to matter.

"His talent? His rap sheet? He's a winner," Blue Devils receiver Eron Riley said of Cutcliffe.

Convincing Duke players that they can win — the Devils have lost 25 consecutive conference games — clearly is Cutcliffe's most pressing challenge. But with an ACC-high 19 returning starters, he believes his transition "is on the fast track."

"I think (the players) understand the intensity of the league," he said.

The most extreme makeover, however, is at Georgia Tech, where former coach Chan Gailey ran a balanced, pro-style offense.

In five seasons at Georgia Southern and the last six at Navy, Paul Johnson developed an option offense rooted in misdirection and the ground game. Last season, for example, the Midshipmen attempted 804 runs and 136 passes.

"It's a big change," offensive tackle Andrew Gardner said. "It's about as different as two systems can be. … (But) even some guys who don't like it, who would prefer something else, say, 'Well, he's won, it's worked.' It makes it easier to buy in to what he's trying to do."

Worked is an understatement. Johnson guided Georgia Southern to two national championships and Navy to five consecutive bowls.

Yet Johnson is not delusional. He understands how his new players will judge him.

"You hope they've bought in," he said.

"We'll see.

"They're going to evaluate us when the bullets start flying, and I don't blame them. I would, too."



 

Clemson picked to win ACC, beat Virginia Tech in title game
By David Teel | Daily Press
11:37 AM EDT, July 21, 2008

GREENSBORO, GA. - Clemson, absent an ACC football championship since 1991, is the overwhelming choice of conference media to win the league this season.

Defending champ Virginia Tech is the odds-on favorite to capture the Coastal Division and face the Tigers in the ACC title game Dec. 6 in Tampa, Fla.

Of the 65 reporters who voted at the ACC's preseason media gathering, 59 picked Clemson to win the Atlantic Division, 58 tabbed Virginia Tech to repeat in the Coastal, and 51 chose the Tigers to prevail in Tampa.

Clemson has never gone this long without an ACC championship.

Coastal Division

Virginia Tech (58): Credit this pick to the Hokies' history -- 15 straight bowls and counting -- and the division's flaws. The Coastal's lone top-25 program, Tech needs to find playmakers at tailback and receiver.

North Carolina (4): If quarterback T.J. Yates reduces his interceptions, the Tar Heels could contend for their first title since 1990. The ACC opener Sept. 20 at home against the Hokies is huge.

Miami (1): The Hurricanes lost six of their final seven, sent their best players to the pros and have no quarterback with college experience. Plus, they play at Florida and Texas A&M in September. Ouch.

Georgia Tech (1): New coach Paul Johnson could well endure his first losing season since 2002, his inaugural year at Navy. The Jackets return a league-low eight starters and must learn his quirky offense.

Virginia (1): The division's surprise last season has impressive tailbacks in Cedric Peerman and Mikell Simpson, plus solid linebackers. But quarterback issues and crossover games against Clemson and Wake Forest bode ill.

Duke: Given the division's sad state and their league-high 19 returning starters, the Blue Devils should end their 25-game ACC losing streak. Win two and new coach David Cutcliffe looks like a genius.

Atlantic Division

Clemson (59): The Tigers boast the ACC's top returning rusher, receiver and passer in James Davis, Aaron Kelly and Cullen Harper. Plus seven returning starters on defense. Enough said.

Wake Forest (5): The Deacons are poised for their third consecutive winning ACC season, which has never happened. That's why colleagues consider Wake coach Jim Grobe among the nation's best.

Florida State (1): This marks the first time in their 17 seasons as members that the Seminoles haven't been picked to win the conference or their division. The offense, especially the line, figures to struggle.

Boston College: The defending Atlantic Division champion lost ACC Player of the Year, quarterback Matt Ryan, who was the No. 3 selection of the NFL draft by the Atlanta Falcons. But the Eagles' defense should be solid.

Maryland: Nine returning starters on offense and a cushy non-conference schedule should allow the Terps to avoid a fourth losing record in the last five years that would jeopardize coach Ralph Friedgen's job.

North Carolina State: The Wolfpack lost their final two games last season by 20 and 37 points, and more drubbings could follow if an inexperienced defense does not develop quickly.

 

ACC looks for vindication
Despite recognition of its top players in the NFL draft, the expanded ACC has come up short on the field in competition against heavyweight conferences such as the SEC.

GRADING THE ACCThe ACC has led the other BCS conferences in the number of first-round NFL picks over the past three seasons.
But the league itself has not fared as well.

The ACC has lagged behind others in a measure of winning percentage, strength of schedule and other factors such as winning margin and opponents' schedule strength. How the leagues have ranked:
200520062007
1. Big 12Big EastSEC
2. Big TenSECBig 12
3. ACCBig TenBig East
4. Pac-10Pac-10Big Ten
5. SECBig 12Pac-10
6. Big EastACCACC

GREENSBORO, GA. - Georgia Tech defensive tackle Vance Walker hears far too much about the SEC from his friends back home.
Walker grew up just south of Charlotte in Fort Mill, S.C., along with South Carolina Gamecocks fans who crow about the SEC's superiority over the ACC.

"They just say that the SEC is better," Walker said. "And the thing is, I can't argue with that. Because the bottom line is, the SEC has been beating us."

Other conferences have been beating the ACC, too, and coaches and players have had difficulty explaining why that is while gathering this week to talk football with the media.

Over the past three years, the ACC leads all conferences in players selected in the first round (25) and overall (115) in the NFL draft.

Despite that high-caliber talent, the ACC's teams have struggled on the field compared with other BCS conferences. The ACC has lost eight BCS bowl games in a row and hasn't had a team in the BCS championship game since Florida State lost to Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl at the end of the 2000 season.

Over the past three seasons, the ACC is a combined 32-41 against opponents from other BCS conferences.

"We have to win those games," N.C. State coach Tom O'Brien said. "That's the only way we're going to get credence as the top conference in the country. We have to go out and beat people and beat them at the highest level. Until we go out and do it, we're going to have to answer those questions."

Expanding to 12 teams in 2005 was supposed to raise the ACC's profile in football. Miami and Virginia Tech were national powers, and Boston College was competitive in the Big East.

Problem is, Miami and longtime ACC power Florida State have slumped to a combined record of 26-25 over the past two seasons. Miami offensive tackle Jason Fox said he has friends all over the country who tease him about the ACC being weak.

"As soon as we [Miami] get back on top, I think that will help the ACC ranking," Fox said. " ... We do have athletes, and we had some problems in the past that don't have anything to do with talent. We just need to put all that stuff behind us and move on."

Coaching lacking?

Miami is one of five ACC schools that fired its coach over the past two years.

The dismissals at almost half the ACC schools indicate coaching in the conference has been lacking. Recent hires O'Brien at N.C. State, Randy Shannon at Miami and Paul Johnson at Georgia Tech have players optimistic.

Duke defensive tackle Vince Oghobaase said first-year coach David Cutcliffe has inspired confidence that has been lacking as Duke added to its 25-game losing streak against ACC opponents.

North Carolina's Deunta Williams considered departed coach John Bunting a friend and mentor, but said the hiring of Butch Davis was the best thing that ever happened to him. Davis moved Williams from wide receiver to free safety, where he is a defensive leader as a sophomore.

"You never know what a coaching change is going to do," Williams said. "It brings change and new ideas. I think it's been good for North Carolina."

Defenders cite depth

Some ACC players and coaches reject the idea that the conference has struggled.

They say the lack of a BCS championship game participant indicates that the ACC has excellent depth that prevents one team from dominating.

The ACC's defenders say the draft shows the conference's strength. Six of the 12 top-four picks from the past three years -- N.C. State's Mario Williams, Georgia Tech's Calvin Johnson, Clemson's Gaines Adams, Virginia's Chris Long and D'Brickashaw Ferguson, and Boston College's Matt Ryan -- played in the ACC.

But some consider the ACC inferior because that talent hasn't produced wins against other conferences. In each of the past two seasons, one of the ACC's marquee programs met the eventual national champion from the SEC.

ACC champion Virginia Tech was clobbered 48-7 by LSU last season. In 2006, Florida State lost 21-14 to Florida, which owns four straight wins in that ACC-SEC series.

Georgia Tech has lost seven in a row to SEC rival Georgia.

"Everybody anticipated, gosh, this was going to be a dominating conference [after expansion]," Clemson coach Tommy Bowden said. "But with any conference, there are going to be pendulum swings. ... The pendulum swung to the SEC, but I think it will swing back."

The ACC will get an early opportunity to swing back. In the opening week of the season, Virginia meets Southern California, which is among the national title favorites.

Clemson (vs. Alabama in Atlanta) and N.C. State (at South Carolina) open against SEC opponents.

"It's going to definitely be a big statement week for the ACC," Clemson quarterback Cullen Harper said. "If we can come out of there, ACC 2, SEC 0, that would be a big step to starting it off right."

For a week anyway, that might keep the Gamecocks fans from taunting Vance Walker about the SEC.

 

Catch a tiger
By Jay Jenkins
Published: July 21, 2008

GREENSBORO, Ga. — As expected, Virginia was given the Rodney Dangerfield treatment on Monday.

The Cavaliers and the reigning ACC Coach of the Year were given no respect.

On the heels of a nine-win season and a trip to the Gator Bowl, Virginia garnered just 161 points and was predicted to finish fifth in the six-member Coastal Division in the ACC’s preseason poll as voted on by members of the media at the league’s annual kickoff. UVa, which was picked to better only Duke (85 points), trailed Virginia Tech (383), North Carolina (288), Miami (253) and Georgia Tech (195).

Clemson, which landed 59 of the 65 first-place votes in the Atlantic Division, tied Virginia’s Tech point total and easily distanced Wake Forest (304), Florida State (265), Boston College (154), Maryland (147) and N.C. State (112).

Virginia did, however, land one first-place vote as one pollster predicted that the team would advance to the ACC Championship game in Tampa on Dec. 6.

“I bet all of you guys are laughing at him,” Virginia coach Al Groh laughed.

It marked the lowest that the Cavaliers had been picked in the preseason balloting since 2002 when they were pegged as the league’s eighth-best team, which also bettered only Duke.

The task of proving the naysayers wrong will be the same as it was seven years ago when the program finished tied for second with Maryland behind Florida State.

Where would Groh place Virginia, a program in need of replacing six starters on offense and defense and its punter and placekicker?

“I don’t even play that game,” he said. “I have a hard enough time coaching the team, trying to go from game to game.”

That was just one of the more head-scratching questions thrust Groh’s way during a 90-minute session as reporters chased column-producing topics.

“I don’t really concern myself with when the early-signing date ought to be, who should be in the playoffs, should we have playoffs?” he commented. “Is it a good conference or isn’t it?

“Look, we try to play who they give us and each one of us does our job. I am just trying to do what my job is supposed to be.”

The job description is unique this season with numerous holes to fill on the inside of the offensive line and the outside of the defensive line. Replacing the well-rounded leadership skills of two first-round draft picks is also a must, but Groh leaned on history.

“There’s a lot of young players on the team that the coaches are looking forward to coaching,” Groh said. “When Chris Long and Branden Albert were getting ready to start, I don’t recall that there were any people saying, ‘Oh wow, this is incredible, these guys are going to start.’

“Now everybody is saying, ‘What are you going to do without these guys?’ None of those people were saying, ‘Isn’t it fantastic that you are going to start playing them,’ which is a credit to the players. Nobody was saying, ‘This is unbelievable. I can’t wait to see Clint Sintim play.’ Now everybody is talking about Clint Sintim being a big-play player. There are players coming up who are going to have the opportunity to do what those players did — go from no-name players in the eyes of people who didn’t know to people who everybody is saying, ‘What are you going to do without?’”

High marks

Just weeks after a gut-wrenching loss to Texas Tech in the Gator Bowl in January, the program was dealt a black eye when four players, including quarterback Jameel Sewell and cornerback Chris Cook, were deemed ineligible academically.

From the academic results during the spring semester, it would appear that the members of the program learned a valuable lesson from their counterparts.

“We took the circumstance very seriously,” Groh said. “When a player comes [to Virginia] he should be expectant of success and we all have a role in that. Every hallway that he walks down in school, we want a high level of success.

“We did have, in the spring semester, the highest grade-point average in the program in the last nine years.”

Groh said it was a result of “diligence on everybody’s part” inside the McCue Center.

“We have always been diligent with it,” he said, “but perhaps the results got the attention of some players in some ways. It is pretty obvious to everybody what happened.”

Perfect timing?

Playing Southern California, regardless of the depth chart, is a daunting task.

Groh admitted that Monday.

Opening the season with the Trojans, however, could be the best-case scenario (as odd as that sounds).

“It’s as good a time as any in that we only wanted to play it the first game and they only wanted to play it the first game,” Groh said. “We thought in that respect it was a good time … given who the opponent is and as much importance as we put on conference play and finishing in our division to try and get in the championship game.

“What would it be like if we were playing a major conference game and then we have got Southern California? Regardless of what the result was, whether you won or lost, it would be distracting certainly and perhaps harmful in terms of our conference, so we wanted to play it first.”

Groh has watched countless hours of film on the Trojans and proclaimed that they were “the most talented college football team” he had witnessed since doing pre-draft work on Florida State in the mid- and late 90s.

“They had the most guys drafted last year,” he said, “and a couple of NFL general managers told me that they might have more drafted this year.”

Grab a dictionary

On Sunday, Sintim was asked to describe quarterback Peter Lalich, the favorite that many expect to be the team’s top quarterback.

“Me and John [Phillips] agreed on the word ‘eclectic,’” Sintim said. “He absorbs different cultures and he just uses them. He listens to rap, techno, all different types of things.

“He knows a lot, he knows a lot of miscellaneous information. Petey is just eclectic.”

When told of the description of Lalich, Groh offered a hearty chuckle.

“I am impressed with Clint,” Groh said. “[Clint and John] are roommates, so they probably had to think about that for a while, collaborate on which word they were going to drop.

“It was based more on his iPod than his throwing ability.”

A holding pattern

The fate of cornerback Mike Brown, a junior, could be determined in a local courthouse on Thursday.

Likely waiting on the proceedings, Groh was unwilling to offer an update on Brown’s status with the program.

“I think that’s an issue that we’ve addressed two or three times,” he said. “I think we’ve addressed it pretty thoroughly, and until there is something to re-address, we will just let it sit there.

Groh said a decision will be made about Brown, who was charged with a series of felonies, “whenever the information I am looking for comes to me.”

Extra points …

Incoming rookie Jimmy Howell remains the leading candidate to assume the starting punting duties. “Jimmy will have a real good shot at this job,” Groh said. “He was aware of this quite some time back, so he has had a good prep period, both mentally and physically, to get ready for this camp coming up.” … Wide receiver Kevin Ogletree, who had a team-best 52 receptions in 2006, has added a “greater sense of purpose, Groh said. “He sees that given his circumstance that it is not just all about talent.” Despite missing last season recovering from ACL surgery, Ogletree has blossomed as a specimen. “He has a lot more body on him, more muscles, more size.” … Denzel Burrell and Aaron Clark will open training camp on Aug. 4 in a tight race to replace former outside linebacker Jermaine Dias. “I have been pleased with what the reports are about what they have done in the offseason program,” Groh said. “I would suspect that they’ll stay in that competition throughout training camp. I am looking forward to that competition, frankly, and I think that this is a spot where there’s a chance that the players might be able to very clearly determine it themselves.”

 

UVa hoops Canada-bound
By Whitey Reid
Published: July 21, 2008

The Virginia men’s basketball team’s trip to Canada over Labor Day weekend is officially set.

UVa will play three exhibition games within a two-day span, beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday, Aug. 30. The Cavaliers will take on St. Lawrence University in the morning and then play Concordia University in the afternoon. The games will take place at Concordia, which is located about 20 minutes north of Montreal.

On Sunday morning, Virginia will play in downtown Montreal at McGill University (alma mater of basketball inventor Dr. James Naismith).

None of the games will count toward Virginia’s 2008-09 record. The main value of participating is the 10 days of extra practice time that coach Dave Leitao is allotted leading into the trip.

For a team that returns only two seniors and lost its best player, Sean Singletary, to graduation, that could prove invaluable.

“They get a little cultural experience,” said Basketball Travelers Tournament Director Jason Sarkies. “They get to establish some continuity, some chemistry. It’s a bonding scenario.

“The coaches can experiment with different lineups because the games don’t mean anything with regard to wins and losses.”

The games will be played using FIBA rules. That means a 3-point line that will be about three inches closer — the college line has been moved back one foot to 20 feet, 9 inches for the upcoming season — and the use of a trapezoidal three-second lane.

Sarkies estimates that the Canadian schools in the event usually range in talent level from low Division I to mid-Division II. Last season, McGill defeated Illinois in the event.

“It should be some solid competition,” Sarkies said.