CHRIS OLSEN TRANSFERRING TO VIRGINIA
by GoBlueandGold.com

The Virginia Cavaliers are getting a big-time transfer, and he's on his way to C'Ville right now.
"I'm in the car heading to UVA now," said 6-foot-4, 225-pound quarterback Chris Olsen, who received his release from Notre Dame this past week and has decided to join Al Groh and company. "I sign everything on Monday, start classes on Wednesday and join the team then as well. I have to sit out this season and then I'll have three years of eligibility left."

Olsen, who was the No. 17 pro-style quarterback in the country as a senior in high school, chose Notre Dame over Virginia and others back in 2002. However, he committed to Bob Davie and not Ty Willingham. Willingham took over for Davie during the recruitment of Olsen and he signed with the Irish.

"If I had to do it all over again, I would have looked at Virginia a lot harder," he said. "But I don't have any regrets. Notre Dame was a good experience, it just didn't work out for me the way I wanted or expected it to."

Selected as the Offensive MVP in the spring’s Blue-Gold Scrimmage, Olsen was the No. 2 quarterback heading into this season. However, freshman Brady Quinn has made a strong push for the top slot behind Carlyle Holiday.

"It wasn't a football decision only," said Olsen. "But I was the backup and I would probably have played some this year. Things just didn't work out."

And what about rumors that his brother, star recruit Greg Olsen (tight end), would be following him?

"Those are just rumors," he said. "Greg needs to make his own decisions and as far as I know, he's happy at Notre Dame. I know we want to play together and always have, but as of right now I don't see him leaving there. Things could change of course, but who knows if they will."
 

Olsen Talks About His Transfer
by Rick Schutt

Sophomore quarterback Chris Olsen announced that he will be leaving Notre Dame and transferring to Virginia. Irish Today caught up with Olsen to conduct a phone interview Sunday night as Olsen was driving from South Bend to Charlottesville.

Q: Chris, why the transfer to Virginia?

Olsen: "I just think that it's a real good opportunity for me. They have a Heisman Trophy candidate right now as the starting QB who has no eligibility left after the season. The job is going to be open for the next three years and there's only two other QBs there right now. I feel I've got a good shot at getting in there and competing for that job in the spring."

Q: Did you not feel that you were competing for the starting job at Notre Dame?

Olsen: "I just wanted a new start. I didn't think things were going as well as I think they should have been going for me. I think things weren't going as I planned it out to be and I just think with me trying to pursue other options, that it would be very good for me in the long run."

Q: What other schools were you looking at besides Virginia?

Olsen: "I considered Boston College, Iowa, N.C. State, Rutgers and Maryland."

Q: What did Coach Willingham say when you told him?

Olsen: "He was shocked. I don't think he saw it coming. I explained the situation and how I was feeling. I think he really understood where I was coming from and he said whatever you need, if you need help. He was very polite with me and didn't say anything bad, just, 'If you want to leave, if you need any help, let me know.'"

Q: Was it something where you thought Brady Quinn was moving ahead of you?

Olsen: "I feel I was the solid No. 2 coming out and even the day I left, I was the No. 2 guy. It had nothing to do with where I was sitting on the depth chart. I felt the opportunities were better at other places. I wasn't scared off by the competition. It had nothing to do with Brady or how I'm going to sit or how Carlyle is going to be the starter the next two years. I just thought getting a fresh start and pursuing some other options I had would be the best thing for me."

Q: What did your teammates say?

Olsen: "They were supportive of it. Everyone was in the locker room when I went to clean out my locker. Everyone gave me a hug and said good luck and they're going to be watching. Everyone was real supportive and I think they understand what was going on in my situation and I think they all realize it was for the best."

Q: It's got to be hard leaving you're brother at Notre Dame.

Olsen: "Yeah, he's real upset right now. I don't know what's going on. I haven't talked to him very much today. I know he's upset and he wanted me to stay, but I think it's the best for me and my life."

Q: Is Greg going to stay at Notre Dame?

Olsen: "I have no comment on that. I believe right now he's still enrolled at Notre Dame and he's starting classes on Tuesday. Right now, he's still at Notre Dame."

 

Cavs Happy With Safety Net
By Jim Reedy
Special to The Washington Post
Monday, August 25, 2003; Page D05

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Aug. 24 -- Jerton Evans, Shernard Newby and Chris Williams almost seemed as if they would play for Virginia forever. From their debut as freshmen in 1999 through the first 10 games of last season, no other Cavaliers started at the safety positions. But senior year comes and goes for all college athletes, and so this season Virginia will move on without them.

The new triumvirate is junior Jermaine Hardy, sophomore Willie Davis and junior Jay Dorsey. Only Davis, who edged Newby from the starting lineup for the final four games last season, has started at safety in college.

"It's a little bit different, because we had some older kids back there last year," defensive backs coach Bob Price said. "Jerton was certainly the leader and Shernard was excellent. . . . But these guys have a lot of confidence and they all work hard. They all work hard as a group."

"We have no veteran leaders at the safety spot, because we're all coming in playing this season new," said Hardy, who is in line to start alongside Davis after shifting over from cornerback. "We've just all got to come together as one unit."

The safeties' primary goal this offseason was cementing their knowledge of the Virginia defense. Davis and Dorsey had relatively little experience on the field -- though Dorsey had learned in practice for two seasons -- while Hardy hadn't played safety since he was at Hargrave Military Academy in 2000.

Last season Evans, Newby, Williams and fellow senior Alex Seals were available for pointers on how to get signals from the sideline, change coverages and communicate with teammates.

"Almost every game, every practice I was sitting there asking questions," said Davis, a precocious talent who was in for 358 plays last season. "Every question I asked, they answered. Helping me out every play, helping me get better. . . . If I didn't have Jerton and Shernard Newby and Chris Williams and all those other safeties that we had last year helping me out, there's no way that I could have" started four games.

Hardy, who is also playing cornerback in Virginia's nickel defense, has been able to draw on his prior experience at safety while learning the complexities that come with playing the position in college. He and Price said the process has gone smoothly.

"There's a lot more to do at safety," Price said. "A lot more calls to make and you have to be a little bit more verbal with things, but he's made the transition very well. He studies, comes in extra, does what he needs to do. Physically he's very gifted, so he's just had to make the transition mentally. He did very well."

Dorsey moved past Davis on the depth chart during spring practice and held the starting job for about 10 days this preseason before Davis took it back. Yet Dorsey still is "playing the best that he has since he's been here," Virginia Coach Al Groh said.

"The defense is like second nature now," Dorsey said. "I've been waiting, I've been seeing, so now I know it. I'm just trying to show everybody what I know and what I've learned. It put me in the position I'm in now."

Senior cornerback and defensive captain Almondo Curry shares his optimism about life after Evans, Newby and Williams.

"We miss those guys, but I think we gained a little bit more speed with the guys that we have back there," Curry said. "We could put any of them in and I think they could get the job done."

Cavaliers Notes: Offensive linemen Kevin Bailey and Mark Farrington returned to practice on a limited basis this week after missing spring workouts and the first two weeks of preseason practice because of knee surgery. Bailey, who was expected to anchor the line last season but was injured in the second game, will practice at both center and tackle. "Especially in Kevin's case, as soon as he's cleared, he's going to play," Groh said, noting that right guard Elton Brown is the only starting lineman playing particularly well in practice right now. . . . Junior Ottowa Anderson (flanker) and senior Art Thomas (split end) are the first-team wide receivers at this point, Groh said.
 

Irish backup QB will transfer to Virginia
Quarterback Chris Olsen will have three years of eligibility at UVa beginning with the 2004 season.
By DOUG DOUGHTY
THE ROANOKE TIMES

Chris Olsen, the offensive most valuable player of Notre Dame's spring game, has received a release from his scholarship by the Fighting Irish and will enroll this week at Virginia.
Olsen, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound quarterback from Wayne, N.J., was redshirted last season at Notre Dame and will have three years of eligibility at UVa starting with the 2004 season.

"Chris had a lot of interest in Virginia when he was in high school," said his father, Chris Olsen Sr., who coached him at Wayne Hills High School. "He visited Charlottesville twice. The second time, I went down with him and felt he should have committed on the spot.

"He made a very early commitment to Notre Dame in July before his senior year. What can you say? You can't say he made a bad choice, but he just wasn't happy there. This has been coming for a while. There was no hidden agenda."

Olsen was considered the clear-cut backup to Carlyle Holiday after the spring, but reports this preseason indicated that recruit Brady Quinn was pushing for the No.2 job.

"Not if you can believe what they told Chris," Olsen's father said. "In the presence of his mother, they told him that he was a clear-cut No.2."

Olsen's mother is still in South Bend, Ind., where the Olsens' younger son, Greg, is a freshman tight end. The Olsen brothers are close and Greg was upset initially, but "he's still there," their father said.

At Virginia, Chris Olsen will enter a situation where UVa will be looking for a successor to Matt Schaub, a fifth-year senior this year. Candidates include redshirt freshman Anthony Martinez and freshman Kevin McCabe.

"Everybody at that level is going to have quarterbacks in the system," Chris Olsen Sr. said, "and some places, it's going to be more than that.

 

U.VA. NOTES
Aug 25, 2003

STATUS UNCERTAIN: It's unclear whether basketball player Nick Vander Laan will return to the University of Virginia for his final season.

His mother, reached at the family's home in Sacramento, Calif., declined comment yesterday when asked if Vander Laan would attend U.Va. in 2003-04. Vander Laan did not return a call from The Times-Dispatch.

Vander Laan began his college career at California. After his sophomore year at Cal, he transferred to U.Va. to play for Pete Gillen, who as Providence's coach had tried to recruit the 6-10, 250-pound center.

Virginia had more newcomers than scholarships in 2001-02, but that didn't deter Vander Laan, who paid his own way that school year.

Attempts to reach Gillen yesterday was unsuccessful.

Vander Laan, after sitting out the 2001-02 season, started 14 games in 2002-03 and averaged 5.3 points and 4.5 rebounds. He played about 15 minutes per game. Vander Laan had 13 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots in U.Va.'s win over Brown in an NIT first-round game.

If he leaves U.Va., Vander Laan would not be eligible to play again in Division I. He could, however, play immediately in Division II or Division III or at an NAIA school.

PLAN AHEAD: Because of construction on John Paul Jones Arena, finding parking spots for U.Va. home football games will be more difficult than usual for part of this season.

The new parking garage near the intersection of Ivy Road and Emmet Street won't be completed before the Cavaliers' home games against Duke (Aug. 30), Wake Forest (Sept. 27), Florida State (Oct. 18) and Troy State (Oct. 25). The garage is expected to open before Virginia's fifth home game, Nov. 22 against Georgia Tech.

U.Va. officials say alternatives include the Hospital South parking garage on the corner of 15th and Crispell streets, about a 15-minute walk from Scott Stadium. This garage generally has about 400 spaces available on game days. Additional spaces can be found in downtown Charlottesville. Shuttle buses run to and from downtown to the stadium.

BUILDING DEPTH: A season ago, football coach Al Groh played 14 true freshmen, and many distinguished themselves. Even so, Groh looks forward to the time when his program is so stocked with experienced talent that he can redshirt most newcomers. He didn't have that luxury in 2002.

"When I think about being a so-called 'mature program,'" Groh said, "that's what really goes into it."

He cited starters Raymond Mann, Jamaine Winborne and Almondo Curry, each pressed into action as a true freshman in 2000. "The good news for is they got to play a lot early," Groh said. "The downside is they're not going to be here as mature fifth-year players."

Groh said last week that he might play "five or six" true freshmen in the opener against Duke on Saturday night. That group figures to include inside linebacker Ahmad Brooks, offensive guard Ian-Yates Cunningham and outside linebacker Vince Redd.

The 6-6, 310-pound Cunningham is a cousin of the late Arthur Ashe. His grandparents, Rudy and Becky Cunningham, live in Ettrick. Rudy Cunningham is a former athletic director at Virginia State whose late sister was Ashe's mother.

Cunningham graduated from high school in Texas but has lived in Williamsburg, Manassas and Ettrick. His father played basketball at Matoaca High. Groh said that because of Cunningham's "family connections here, he was about 50 percent a Virginian when [the recruiting] process started."

THE BUDDY SYSTEM: Defensive line coach Mike London assigns a "big brother" to each of his first-year players. Junior nose tackle Andrew Hoffman works with Keenan Carter, sophomore end Brennan Schmidt with Allen Billyk and junior end Chris Canty with Chris Johnson.

"Charlottesville's finest," Canty said of the 6-6, 280-pound Johnson, a graduate of Charlottesville High. "I really like Chris Johnson's size, just the way he looks in pads. He just looks like a football player."

Billyk and Johnson are expected to redshirt this season. Carter might play.

GROWING BOY: Offensive tackle Brad Butler, who weighed about 265 pounds when he started against West Virginia in the Continental Tire Bowl, is around 290 as he enters his second college season. The added strength should make the 6-7 Butler a formidable tackle, Groh said.

"This is a player who has unusually good athletic skills for the position, so that gives him an asset that most offensive linemen aren't blessed with," Groh said. "Once he adds pushing power and that kind of explosiveness to his game, he's going to have the whole package." - Jeff White