U.Va. football reaches for a lofty goal
Al Groh
By ED MILLER, The Virginian-Pilot
© August 28, 2003

CHARLOTTESVILLE — The pronouncement was big and bold, considering that it didn’t emanate from Tuscaloosa, Ala.; Lincoln, Neb.; or South Bend, Ind. It came instead from a university founded by Thomas Jefferson, who once said that games played with balls “were too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind.”

We want a football team that can compete for a national championship, University of Virginia officials said as they introduced new coach Al Groh.

Had they made the statement 20 years earlier, they might have been laughed out of the room. Had they made it 10 years earlier, eyes would have rolled.

But by January 2001, when Groh was hired, it was apparent that the landscape of college football was changing. The sport was no longer a closed shop dominated by a cadre of traditional powers. Just the year before, Virginia Tech had played for the national title. Kansas State, once a seemingly hopeless case, had burst into the top 10 and showed no signs of vacating.

Scholarship limits, TV exposure and an arms race in facilities construction had created a more egalitarian environment. Instead of laughing at Virginia, people took notice. Virginia had tossed its plumed hat into the ring.

But does Virginia have what it takes to crash into a still-exclusive club?

There’s no single blueprint for success. Virginia Tech made steady progress under coach Frank Beamer, then made a leap forward behind quarterback Michael Vick. Kansas State loaded up on junior college players. N.C. State, which has its own national title aspirations, has used coach Chuck Amato’s recruiting connections in Florida to bump up the talent around quarterback Philip Rivers.

Two seasons into the Groh era, Virginia has taken some noticeable strides, not the least of which was winning nine games with a young team last year and landing in the preseason top 25 this year. Groh has expanded the recruiting base, going head-to-head with the big boys for top-shelf players and landing his share. He’s also expanded the fan base to the point where season ticket sales are at an all-time high this year.

Formerly a member of a good football conference, Virginia will soon find itself in a great one. With Miami and Virginia Tech set to join a league that already includes Florida State and rising programs N.C. State and Maryland, the ACC should be a major player in the national title hunt most years.

“Looking back, the goal of the national championship when Al was hired was probably something that seemed to be elusive,” athletic director Craig Littlepage said. “But when you look at what this conference will be in two years’ time, now it’s a question of who it is that will continue to do the things necessary to be in a position to win the national championship.”

What does it take to make a run at the title? A look at some of the ingredients:

Bring the attitude

The first step toward winning a title is being audacious enough to declare it as a goal.

Virginia served notice of its serious intentions by luring Groh from the New York Jets with the promise that the administration was behind the goal of competing for a national title. “That type of mentality was probably a prerequisite” for taking the job, Groh said.

Rather than downplay expectations, Groh and his staff have embraced them, getting the word out to fans, players and, most important, recruits.

“The excitement level and the expectations of the program have changed,” said Mike Groh, an assistant coach who played quarterback at Virginia in 1994 and 1995. “We’re here to win, and we’re here to win championships.”

That type of talk is fairly new in Charlottesville. When George Welsh was hired in 1982, his challenge was to make a woeful program respectable. Welsh exceeded that goal and took the Cavaliers to 12 bowl games in 19 years, won two ACC championships and established Virginia as a credible football school.

“Had Coach Welsh not had the level of success he had here, this job would never have been attractive in the first place,” Al Groh said.

Nevertheless, the program lost traction in Welsh’s final years. Recruiting fell off. Virginia went 13-11 in Welsh’s final two seasons and was routed in a pair of off-brand bowl games, the Micronpc.com and the Oahu.

Still, the infrastructure Welsh had built was in place. All the program required was a shot of energy.

Enter Al Groh.

“There was a definite step up in the operation,” said defensive end Chris Canty, a holdover from the Welsh regime. “I’m not saying any one way is right or wrong, but there was an increase in the intensity level. Coach Groh is more of an in-your-face coach.”

Attract some players

Without talent, all the attitude in the world will get you nowhere. The first step was convincing recruits they could be a part of something big at Virginia.

Recruits like Ahmad Brooks, a linebacker from Woodbridge who was one of the nation’s most sought-after players in the class of 2002.

Brooks’ initial impression of his state university was that it had a nice little team. But he wanted to play with the big boys.

“I wouldn’t go to a school that wasn’t capable of going to the national championship,” Brooks said. “I never really thought of Virginia as being a team that goes to the national championship or as a football school at all.

“I always thought about Florida State, Tennessee, Penn State, schools like that.” Brooks turned them all down to sign with Virginia. After spending last season at prep school, he’s penciled on the depth chart as a backup inside linebacker — for the moment, anyway. It seems just a matter of time before he’s a fixture in the Cavaliers’ 3-4 defense.

What changed Brooks’ mind about Virginia? The fact that Al Groh and company were bringing in other good players.

“I knew the players they’re getting here basically have the ability to take the team to the national championship,” Brooks said.

Indeed, Virginia’s last two recruiting classes have been rated among the best in the nation. Speed wins, and the Cavaliers have added it all over the field.

In its recruiting pitch, Virginia sells the school’s academics, Al Groh’s NFL connections, its top-notch facilities and its membership in the ACC, among other things.

Mike Groh noted that Welsh built a program while his staff was meeting in trailers and his team was playing in front of just 28,000 fans.

“If he was able to do it with what he had to work with, we’re pretty excited about the product we have to sell,” the younger Groh said.

Find a niche

Unlike Kansas State, Virginia won’t elevate its program by stockpiling junior college players. Unlike some schools, it has refused to risk its graduation rate to bolster its winning percentage.

The school has said its mission is to win with players who are serious about their studies and are able to cut it in a difficult academic environment.

Virginia’s trying to become one of those rare schools that has it all — rigorous academics and championship-caliber football. It’s a tightrope act if there ever was one, but it’s one a handful of schools have been able to accomplish.

“There have been schools that have looked like the University of Virginia that have done it over periods of time,” Littlepage said, citing Penn State, North Carolina under former coach Mack Brown, Texas and UCLA.

“Notre Dame and Stanford are among those types of schools that have demonstrated they can pursue excellence athletically without negative consequences in terms of compromising academic excellence,” Littlepage added.

Virginia’s academic standards will keep it from pursuing certain skilled players. But it will open the door to others, college football analyst Lee Corso said.

“Virginia has the kind of school that you can go all over the country academically and get good football players to come there,” Corso said.

Keep up with the Joneses

N.C. State pumped $26 million into a new football facility. Even Duke — yes, that Duke — has a new state-of-the-art training center.

While bricks and mortar alone can’t guarantee success, the lack of high-quality facilities can put a program at a disadvantage in recruiting.

The success that Virginia enjoyed under Welsh led to the expansion of Scott Stadium in 2000 and the construction of new training and support facilities. An $86 million expansion and face-lift has transformed Scott Stadium into one of the most picturesque settings in college football.

Virginia also has the requisite football building, the McCue Center, which contains coaches’ offices, meeting rooms, academic support staff, weight and training rooms, and a locker room.

“We’ve got everything we need,” Canty said.

But first, take over the neighborhood

To compete for a national title, a school must first win in its conference. For Virginia, that will mean winning in an upgraded ACC.

The neighborhood just got rougher, thanks to expansion.

“The bar has been raised, yes, but that’s the company we’re in as a program,” Littlepage said.

While the challenges will be greater, the rewards will be greater as well. The team that makes it through the new ACC is going to be positioned to compete for the title many years.

“If we rest on where we are right now, we are going to find ourselves in the middle of the pack, and that’s certainly not what our goal is to be,” Littlepage said.

Al Groh said the ACC’s addition of Virginia Tech and Miami has only added to the sense of urgency surrounding the program.

“Things have changed,” Al Groh said. “Everything has got to get better.”

Hope to strike gold

When Virginia Tech recruited Vick, they knew they were getting a very good player. The Hokies could not have known they were getting a playmaker who would become the icon of the program and lead them to the brink of a national title.

Could something similar happen at Virginia?

“If they can get lucky, I mean really lucky, and get one great football player that can maybe get close to winning a Heisman, that immediately attracts other great players,” Corso said.

Could Brooks be the next LaVar Arrington? Would a Heisman run by quarterback Matt Schaub be enough to get young players dreaming of coming to Charlottesville?

Time will tell with all of it. Al Groh said he has no timetable for success. But things are moving faster than he anticipated, with Virginia winning nine games last year and beginning this year at No. 17 in the Associated Press poll.

“They’re on the right step now, with Al Groh, and they have a chance to keep continually moving forward,” Corso said. And to change the perception of what’s possible for Virginia football.

“There’s a lot of tradition we have to compete against,” Mike Groh said. “But you don’t win national championships based on the size of your trophy case.”

 

By ROY CUMMINGS rcummings@tampatrib.com
Published: Aug 28, 2003

TAMPA - It usually takes two or three years to determine which team
got the best of a trade in professional sports.
In the case of the Bucs' springtime swap of talent with the Arizona
Cardinals, it took about three weeks.

When the Cardinals waived wide receiver Marquise Walker last week,
the prospect they got for running back Thomas Jones, the nod went to
the Bucs.

``That was a big move we made in that trade,'' Bucs quarterback Brad
Johnson said.

It was actually something of a panic move. After all, the deal for
Jones was made just days after projected starting running back
Michael Pittman was arrested and charged with domestic violence for
the third time in three years.

In retrospect, it appears to have been a brilliant move. For Walker,
a third-round draft choice who is now with his third team
(Cincinnati) in two years, the Bucs got a back who so far has
outperformed everyone, including Pittman.

Through four exhibition games, Jones leads the Bucs in carries (38),
rushing yards (175), total yards from scrimmage (223) and touchdowns
(three). As a result, there is suddenly a lot less worry over what
might happen should Pittman be lost.

``The guy has come in here and made plays [in the running game]; he's
made plays as a blocker; and he's made plays as a receiver,'' Coach
Jon Gruden said. ``He's definitely somebody we're excited about, a
guy who really has made the most of his opportunity.''

Oddly, Jones' opportunities may be dwindling. Pittman, who is not
scheduled to face a court date associated with his arrest until at
least Sept. 15, is still projected to be the Bucs' starting running
back when the season opens Sept. 8 at Philadelphia.

That means Jones may wind up spending most of his time, at least
early in the season, on the sideline. For a player who struggled to
find his niche with the Cardinals after being drafted seventh overall
in 2000, that's not what you would call progress.

Listen to Jones, though, and you get the feeling he wouldn't
automatically trade his likely place on the sideline in Tampa for a
place between the lines in Arizona.

``I'm a lot happier here at this point than I ever was in Arizona,''
Jones said. ``In Arizona, it was more of a businesslike atmosphere.
Here it's football. It's fun. It reminds me of when I was at [the
University of] Virginia.''

It's not just the atmosphere around One Buc Place that's conjuring
memories of Jones' time at Virginia. Jones' play is doing the same
for the scouts who spent weekends there evaluating him.

Once again, they are seeing him move quickly through holes and shift
into a higher gear when he hits the open field. They're also seeing
him battle for extra yards on runs between the tackles.

``Our scouts had first round written all over him,'' said Gruden, who
has been most impressed with Jones' consistency.

``That's what I needed to see,'' Gruden added. ``Can you bring it
every day? Can you catch the ball today, tomorrow and the next day?
Can you line up proper and make all the adjustments against the blitz
every day? So far he has.''

Improved health has a lot to do with that. Pneumonia and pleurisy
slowed Jones late in his rookie season. Then, after a relatively
healthy 2001 campaign, ankle and hand injuries ruined a 2002 season
that started off well for Jones.

Through four games, Jones ranked third in the NFC and eighth in the
NFL in rushing with 310 yards on 69 carries. He also ranked 12th in
the NFC in total yards from scrimmage though the first month.

``A lot of people didn't know that,'' Jones said. ``I mean, I did
some things in Arizona. I just didn't get much exposure there. I
think that happens to a lot of guys who go there.

``Look at Simeon Rice. No one really knew what Simeon could do until
he came here. Same with Michael Pittman. He was in Arizona, then he
comes here and has a great year and now people know who he is.''

Jones has been riding the same path as Rice and Pittman for a month
now. Whether it continues is uncertain. A judge may have as much say
in where the next turn goes as Gruden or fate.

For now, Jones can accept that. His objective is not to make the
Cardinals look silly for dealing him for a third- round draft pick
who has already washed out of two camps, but he'd sure like the
opportunity to do so.

``Every back wants the ball,'' he said. ``But if they only need me on
special teams, to return kicks and maybe give Mike a blow, I
understand. I'm just thankful to be here. That's where my mind is.''

SHADOW PLAYERS
A GLOOMY PROGRAM, DUKE SEEKS ITS SEASON IN THE SUN
BY BOB LIPPER
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Aug 28, 2003

Virginia wide receiver Billy McMullen broke away from Duke defenders in the Cavaliers' 27-22 victory last season. Such scenes have been typical of the Blue Devils' football fortunes in recent seasons.
(AP)
Duke football lies in slumber and shadow. It's visited two minor bowls since its glory days ended more than four decades ago. It's managed one winner since Steve Spurrier left in 1989. It is dwarfed on its own campus by the colossus of Duke basketball. It hasn't won an ACC game in four years.

It opens the 2003 campaign Saturday night at Virginia.

Its practitioners swear they see rays of sunshine just around the cloud cover.

"People say, 'What's it going to feel like when you win your first ACC game?'" said senior defensive tackle Matt Zielinski. "To us, it's what's it going to feel like when we win our fifth ACC game. One game isn't enough."

Or, as tailback Alex Wade observed about the potential impact of an ACC breakthrough, "It'll mean something, but that's not our goal for the season. Our goal is to make it to a bowl game."

Duke hasn't cracked the postseason lineup since 1994. Every other ACC school has made at least two bowl appearances since then. More recently, ACC teams have had their way with the Blue Devils - 25 straight times in all since Duke outpointed Wake Forest 48-35 toward the tail-end of the 1999 season.

The losing streak is a league record. Duke returns 20 starters from a 2-10 edition that fell five times by five points or less, so there's room for optimism. Still, coach Carl Franks sounds a more cautionary note than some of his players.

"It's certainly our goal and expectation to win more than one conference game," he said, "but we've got to start somewhere."

Franks is entering his fifth season in Durham. His record is 5-40 - the worst four-year start in league history. His players have grown accustomed to having their fans outnumbered by visitors ("You don't feel you're playing a home game," Zielinski said). They also suspect their approval ratings might swell with more success.

"I know that the students at Duke want to believe in Duke football," Wade said. "I mean, what college student doesn't want the excuse to get drunk at a football game?"

Basketball's Cameron Crazies are legend at Duke. Football's counterparts staged a rare demonstration last Aug. 31 when the Blue Devils defeated East Carolina 23-16 to snap a 23-game losing skid that began the week after that'99 win over Wake Forest. The goal posts came down. Spirits sank even lower in the season finale when - on the brink of ending its ACC drought - Duke fell at home to North Carolina 23-21 at the gun on a 47-yard field goal by Tar Heel kicker Dan Orner.

"It was a serious blow, I'll admit that," Wade said. "When they were about to kick that field goal, I didn't think he'd make it. He'd missed two earlier in the game. As soon as it went in, there was dead silence. If ECU was my proudest moment on a football field, UNC was my biggest disappointment. We should've won that football game."

But they didn't, and it was on to basketball season. Those Blue Devils had another fine year, claiming their fifth straight ACC championship and reaching the NCAA tournament's Sweet 16. Urchins by comparison, the football guys hope they can stage a revival that might modestly emulate basketball's clout.

"I can remember in'95, those guys were horrible," Zielinski said of a season during which Duke went 13-18 and won only two ACC games - but began a stretch of five consecutive finishes atop the league standings two years later. "Yeah, it'd be nice to have the glory. But put it like this - if we win some games this season, it'll feel so much better than if we'd already won a bunch of games."
 

Taking Stock
Based on recent performance, is Virginia Tech in a period of decline? Is Virginia on the rise?
BY MIKE HARRIS
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Aug 28, 2003

BLACKSBURG During the past decade, Virginia Tech has established itself as a college football force.

The Hokies have reeled off 10 straight winning seasons and 10 straight bowl appearances. Only six other schools have a bowl streak as long.

Only one school has been ranked in The Associated Press poll for more consecutive weeks than Tech.

As recently as the 1999 season, Tech went undefeated and played for the national championship.

Clearly, this is one of college football's elite programs.

But the fast-start, slow-finish seasons of 2001 and 2002 have left Tech in an unusual situation for a team so well regarded. It must do a little proving this season.

Yes, Tech remains quite good. Yes, Tech remains a bowl contender. But Tech coach Frank Beamer has always said a fine line separates the top programs from those trying to get to the top. Tech needs to position itself a little further from that line in 2003.

Consider:

Tech had a losing record (3-4) in Big East Conference play in 2002, its first since the league started round-robin play in 1993. It went longer than any other league team without a losing conference record. Since its 7-0 mark in 1999, Tech's league record has been worse each year.
The Hokies are only 7-7 in the league the past two seasons. Six of the victories came against Temple, Rutgers and Boston College. They haven't beaten Miami since 1999. They haven't beaten Pittsburgh or Syracuse since 2000.
Going to play at Tech's Lane Stadium doesn't appear to invoke the fear it did not long ago. West Virginia and Pittsburgh won there last season, at night no less when the Hokies used to be darn near invincible.
Tech is 14-1 in games played before November the past two seasons and 4-7 (including bowls) in games played in November and beyond.
Beamer, whose 17th season as coach at his alma mater begins Sunday at home against Central Florida, said much of it has to do with the improvement of the Big East. He has a point. Three Big East teams (Miami, Tech, Pittsburgh) are in the AP's preseason top 10.

But if the league is improving, Tech must improve as well or it will get caught.

This year, Beamer also sounded some notes of caution. Several times, Beamer has mentioned the team's numerous high preseason rankings aren't as important as where the team eventually finishes. He's always felt that way. This year, he has expressed it much more.

"I get concerned that a lot of people say you should be good and then you don't do anything to make sure you are good," Beamer said. "There's nothing in particular about how we prepared this summer or last spring.

"It's just that a lot of good things are being said about your team, and I don't want anyone to start listening to them instead of working."

Opponents, of course, say they don't see a program in decline.

"Not if you've watched the tape as we have for some time and understand the people returning," said UCF coach Mike Kruczek. "I think this is a year they're looking forward to, changing what took place last year. This is a strong football team, and I think it can make a run."

Said West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez, "I don't think there's any question they're still going to be one of the best teams in the country. It's still going to be tough to get them."

The 2002 Tech team was supposed to be one that struggled early. It was breaking in a bunch of new starters and faced the likes of Louisiana State, Marshall and Texas A&M in the season's first four weeks after an opener against Arkansas State. Betting on a 4-0 start seemed like a good way to go bankrupt, yet the Hokies won those four and the next four as well. Most of the victories came in convincing fashion.

Tech proceeded to lose its next three.

It was a "what's happening?" season all the way around. People wondered what was happening when the supposedly rebuilding Hokies were looking so good, then wondered what was happening when the supposedly strong Hokies started losing.

"Definitely an unusual year," Beamer said. "You win 10 games, go to a bowl and win that - take the team you started out with on paper and you'd say, 'Heck yeah.' You get to eight wins, you've overachieved, you think this could be a heck of a year.

"Then you lose three straight and underachieve a little. Some of it reminded me of those weeks years ago when we were struggling to get over .500. I didn't sleep a whole lot."

This is Tech's final season in the Big East. The Hokies, along with Miami, are moving to the Atlantic Coast Conference. With Temple and Rutgers perennial strugglers, the Big East presents five real challenges a year now. Given the current caliber of the programs in the two leagues, Tech will have at least eight ACC opponents as strong or stronger than that Big East quintet (Tech went 1-4 against those five last season).

"It will be the best football conference in the country," Beamer said.

But before he worries about that, he has one more campaign in the Big East. Tech was picked third in the league's preseason poll, behind Miami and Pittsburgh "and those are the people who should know us the best," Beamer said. "Last year just showed how good the Big East is and there are some good teams in there this year. We didn't get beat by bad teams, we got beat by some good teams."

Tech appears better equipped going into the season than it did last season. It has experience at every position, which wasn't the case last season. It has more experience on its second unit.

It can be better than third in the Big East, much better. It can also be worse.

"We do have some good potential," Beamer said. "Having experienced backups is really important to a football team as the season goes on. Number one, you have great competition and, if you have that, your team continues to get better.

"The other part of it is, if anybody gets hurt you have a guy who can step into that bigger role. We didn't always have that last year."

Another thing Tech didn't have last year - or any year - is the need to rebound from a losing season in the Big East. The Hokies say they are ready.

"We definitely think we have something to prove to everybody and it starts this Sunday," center Jake Grove said.

"I think [last year] was the most disappointing 10-4 season ever. We can't afford to lose non-conference games, we can't afford to lose conference games. We have to win every game if we want to be happy with what we do."

Said cornerback Garnell Wilds, "I think we let ourselves down moreso than anybody toward the end of the season. We're just trying to get back to Virginia Tech football. We just had a lack of toughness at the end of the season and that's what we're known for - playing tough, hard football."
 

great divide
There was a time when state teams played together nicely
BY BOB LIPPER
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Aug 28, 2003

Richmond's Spiders sauntered into Lane Stadium in 1985 and whipped Virginia Tech, and nobody fainted. Well, maybe Bill Dooley felt a little lightheaded. He was Tech's football coach at the time. His program had produced the likes of Bruce Smith and bowl bids, and this sort of thing was definitely not supposed to happen.

But it did.

Routinely.

You could look it up. Richmond handled Virginia Tech three times between 1978-85. William and Mary defeated Virginia in 1976 and again in 1986. And VMI snared three wins apiece over Tech and U.Va. between 1973-81.

Even more than those upsets, there were relationships. William and Mary and Tech faced off annually between 1929-85, for instance. VMI and Tech met every year but once during that span. The Keydets played Virginia 80 times between 1893 and 1987. Richmond had ongoing - though more sporadic - engagements with Cavaliers and Hokies.

They all pretty much worked the same side of the street back then - no I-A or I-AA divisions to separate them. Tech and U.Va. were larger and had brawnier intentions, but it wasn't as if they looked down their chin straps at their neighbors. The five schools - and they competed for an unofficial Big Five championship into the'70s - had more in common than terrain. They faced similar issues, similar concerns.

"There was a lot of fellowship among the schools," former UR athletic director Chuck Boone said recently. "We'd get together and discuss problems. It was a great time. It was good for everyone. But those times are gone forever."

U.Va. and Tech are monsters now, pushing for TV dates, bowl bids and poll position against all those Oklahomas, Ohio States and Georgias that seemingly have ruled college football forever. The Hokies enter the 2003 campaign ranked ninth nationally in the Associated Press poll. The Cavs are 18th. They both figure to challenge for conference championships and possibly something grander.

They've also left Spiders, Tribe and Keydets in the dust.

Consider facilities alone. You could wad up UR Stadium, Cary Field and Alumni Memorial Field and plunk the whole into Lane Stadium in Blacksburg or Scott Stadium in Charlottesville and still have seating room left over. Tech and U.Va. boast state-of-the-art football support buildings and weight rooms. They travel first-class. The top-shelf recruits they chase would have it no other way.

Hokies and Cavaliers also get the sort of media attention given pro franchises. The quarterback duel at Tech between Bryan Randall and Marcus Vick is national news. Ditto the recruiting classes Al Groh has imported to U.Va. And when these depth charts collide in late November, an entire state is transfixed. The W&M-Richmond matchup is of less seismic proportions.

"The landscape certainly has changed," W&M coach Jimmye Laycock said. "If you look at Virginia and Virginia Tech, you're looking at two schools that are competing at the highest levels. You can look at the commitment in regards to facilities and everything else. It's very impressive."

The field tilted when the country's powerhouse programs affected a breakaway that prompted the creation of Division I-AA - fewer scholarships, smaller stadiums, etc. - in 1978. UR, W&M and VMI fought the pull of gravity for a few years but eventually succumbed to the reality of it all. Now they scuffle for loose change while Tech and U.Va. play for high stakes.

"They really took giant steps, didn't they?" said Boone.

And all in the relative blink of an eye.

 

Taking Stock
Based on recent performance, is Virginia Tech in a period of decline? Is Virginia on the rise?
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Aug 28, 2003

CHARLOTTESVILLE Adelegation of four University of Virginia officials, led by President John Casteen, flew into a Long Island, N.Y., airport Dec. 29, 2000.

Their mission: to talk to Al Groh, then the New York Jets' head coach, about the vacant position at his alma mater.

Their message: U.Va. wants a football program that can compete for the national championship.

"That kind of mentality," Groh recalled this month, "was a probably a prerequisite" if the job were to interest him.

The 1967 graduate of U.Va. accepted the position the next day. By doing so, Groh accepted the challenge of rebuilding a program that had ascended to unprecedented heights and then slowly declined under longtime coach George Welsh.

The Cavaliers open their third season under Groh this weekend, and his revitalization process is ahead of schedule. Groh's first team finished 5-7, and his second team was picked to place eighth in the nine-team ACC. Instead, the Wahoos tied for second with Maryland - which they hammered 48-13 - and finished 9-5 in 2002.

And now, eight months after walloping West Virginia 48-22 in the Continental Tire Bowl, Virginia is a consensus top-20 team in the preseason polls. Groh insists he never had a timetable for putting U.Va. back in the national spotlight but admits he's pleased with his team's progress.

"We're certainly not behind where we might have wished we were," he said.

Beginning in 1987, U.Va. won at least seven games for 13 straight seasons under Welsh. But the coaching staff's recruiting efforts and, consequently, the talent level in the program flagged in Welsh's final years. Virginia went 7-5 in 1999, a season that ended with a 63-21 loss to Illinois in the Micronpc.com Bowl, and followed that with a 6-6 campaign in 2000. That season, after which Welsh retired, ended with a 37-14 loss to Georgia in the Oahu Bowl.

Groh inherited a program that included few players of the caliber of Welsh's biggest stars, such luminaries as Shawn Moore, Herman Moore, Ray Roberts, Chris Slade, James Farrior, Jamie Sharper and the Barber twins, Tiki and Ronde. Six Cavaliers were chosen in the 1999 NFL draft, including first-rounder Patrick Kerney, and four were picked in 2000, led by first-round choice Thomas Jones.

In the next three drafts, however, only six Cavs were taken, and four went in the fourth round or later.

Enter a former Wake Forest head coach who lives to recruit. Coaches move from the college ranks to the NFL in part, conventional wisdom holds, because they no longer want to spend untold hours trying to win over 18-year-olds. But Groh seems to enjoy few things more than recruiting, and he's surrounded himself with assistants - most younger than 40 - who share his passion for the chase.

"Every guy on this staff, I think, understands that the way to win is to accumulate talent," tight ends coach Andy Heck said.

The freshman class that entered U.Va. in 2001 - many of whose members committed when Welsh was coach and were persuaded by Groh to stay on board - included such players as Alvin Pearman, Heath Miller, Elton Brown, Patrick Estes, Brian Barthelmes, Marques Hagans, Jermaine Hardy and Brennan Schmidt.

Groh's staff landed all of the players who entered U.Va. in 2002, a class recruiting analysts ranked among the nation's top 10. It includes Darryl Blackstock, Wali Lundy, D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Jason Snelling, Kwakou Robinson and Willie Davis. A top-20 class followed last winter.

The Cavaliers are bigger and faster and stronger than in Groh's first two seasons, and his program is stocked with young talent. Still, the 59-year-old head coach is realistic. Groh knows Virginia has little depth on the offensive line and that its receiving corps is unproven. Senior quarterback Matt Schaub's backups are untested. U.Va. ranked near the bottom of the ACC in both rushing offense and rushing defense last season.

"We're not a dominant team," Groh said. "For one thing, we have too many young players on the team, too many players who have not yet arrived at competitive maturity."

The goal, Groh said, is to have a roster loaded with players at whom opposing coaches will "look and say, 'Whoa, how are we going to handle this guy?'

"If the day ever comes when you can sit there on a Saturday morning and say, 'I got 15, 16 guys that the other guys are going to have a hard time handling,' that's a pretty Utopian situation."

The Cavaliers aren't there yet, but their future looks as promising as it has in many years. Of the 50-some players on the depth chart, only nine are seniors: Schaub, fullback Kase Luzar, center Kevin Bailey, wideouts Art Thomas and Ryan Sawyer, linebacker Raymond Mann, long-snapper Ryan Childress and cornerbacks Almondo Curry and Jamaine Winborne. The first-team punter and kickers are sophomores.

If they can develop a capable replacement for Schaub, the Cavaliers could well field their strongest team in 2004. But they're determined to make this a memorable year, too.

"After the successful season we had last year, I think it's important to follow it up with another productive, successful season," said Schaub, whom U.Va. is touting as a Heisman Trophy candidate.

"Not just for the future, but to show that last year just wasn't a fluke, that we weren't just a Cinderella team. To show that we belong with the top teams in the country."
 

Coach stays in job despite Duke's streak
By Dave Johnson
Daily Press
Published August 28, 2003

Duke's 220-page media guide never acknowledges it, which shouldn't come as a surprise. If your job is to promote Blue Devil football, which streak would you highlight? Left tackle Drew Strojny's 31 consecutive starts or the program's 25 consecutive ACC losses?

It's been 1,384 days since Duke last won a conference game, and none of the 91 players on the Blue Devils' 2003 roster was a part of it. That 48-35 victory against Wake Forest on Nov. 13, 1999, came before the millennium, before the Bush/Gore election, before 9/11.

Yet three weeks after Duke completed its eighth straight losing season, its fourth under him, Carl Franks was granted a three-year contract extension. "As Duke continues to rebuild its football program," athletic director Joe Alleva said at the time, "we feel it is imperative to have Carl Franks as head coach."

Never mind that Franks' career record is 5-40, which computes to a winning percentage (.111) that ranks last among all 117 Division I-A coaches. Alleva saw progress last fall, even if outsiders did not. Though it went 0-8 in the conference for a third straight season, Duke was 16 points shy of a .500 ACC finish and, perhaps, a bowl game.

Four games got away down the stretch:

Oct. 5, Virginia: The game was tied 13-13 going into the fourth quarter, but Matt Schaub passed for 181 of his 315 yards from there to lead the Cavs to a 27-22 victory.

Oct. 19, N.C. State: Down 14-0 early, Duke cut it to 17-15 in the fourth quarter before losing 24-22.

Nov. 2, Clemson: The Blue Devils led 24-10 in the fourth quarter but lost 34-31 on a last-second field goal.

Nov. 23, North Carolina: It was a 14-all tie in the final period, but UNC won 23-21 on a 47-yard field goal as time expired.

A new year brings optimism. Franks has 22 starters returning: 11 on offense, nine on defense, plus both specialists.

"Our guys feel like they've gained a lot of confidence from last year from being able to play with a lot of people," Franks said. "We had not been in that situation before where we had been as competitive as we were last year. Now, we've got to get in a close game and win it. I mean, that's probably what needs to happen for our team. That could make a big difference."

For Franks as well, who though contracted through the 2006 season knows he'd better get something done long before then. Alleva told the Raleigh News & Observer last week that the coach needs to win an ACC game this season to help his case.

SETTLED (WE THINK). It's a muddled quote that can mean about six different things, but Virginia coach Al Groh indicated that offensive coordinator Ron Prince will call the plays this season.

He didn't flat-out say it, of course. That would have been too easy. Asked about his game-day setup during Wednesday's ACC teleconference, this was as close as he got to answering it:

"Ron Prince is going to sit in the press box with (quarterbacks/receivers coach) Michael Groh and they'll work the game. They're the mainstays in the running and passing game, and (otherwise) they'd be doing their conferring over the phone.

"Michael gets the best overview of the passing game and coverages from there, and in calling the game, I believe the best place for the play-caller to be is in the press box. I thought that would be a good arrangement for them to be in concert, literally elbow to elbow."

Draw from that what you will.

SHORTS. Maryland will be without three significant players in tonight's opener at Northern Illinois: tailback Bruce Perry (ankle), wideout/return man Steve Suter (hamstring) and guard Lamar Bryant (foot). Quarterback Scott McBrien, who has a strained hamstring, is expected to play.
 

More Than Ever, Area Football Worth a Look
By Michael Wilbon
Wednesday, August 27, 2003; Page D01

You live in the South or the Midwest, it's pretty standard stuff to grab the college football schedules when they come out to see which opponents the schools where you live are playing that fall. Not just your own team, but everybody's teams, all the ones that allow you to look forward to the end of summer.

But if you live around here, around greater Washington, the pickings are usually a little sparse, particularly these last 10 years when it comes to big-time college football. Virginia Tech has become a staple, with or without young men named Vick, which is why the Tech people would have sold their souls to Lucifer to get into the Atlantic Coast Conference. But when Tech became a really big deal, Maryland hit the skids. And there was no great rush to see Virginia, either, these last few seasons. Far too often, local college football has been a way to waste time until college basketball practice starts in the middle of October.

And that leads me to right now, the first real week of college football, which finds Virginia Tech ranked in everybody's top 10, and both Virginia and Maryland ranked in virtually every top 20 preseason poll of consequence. Virginia's quarterback, a kid named Matt Schaub who was benched in last season's opener, is an honest-to-goodness Heisman Trophy contender. And that's a phrase not legitimately uttered around here (not counting Michael Vick) since Boomer Esiason was a senior at Maryland 19 years ago. Maryland is good enough to not even fret much over a glut of summer camp injuries. And Tech, which has another Vick on the depth chart at quarterback, might have enough to make a run at a BCS bowl.

Who says you won't see Vick play on Sunday? While Marcus Vick won't start, he'll play for the Hokies, who'll begin their season ranked No. 9 in the Associated Press poll, Sunday against Central Florida. Maryland, which opens the season Thursday night against Northern Illinois, is ranked 15th. And Virginia, which jumps into the ACC schedule Saturday against Duke, opens at No. 18.

Okay, so it's not Florida, Florida State and Miami, but it's pretty good. There are actual dates worth circling on the calendar for games that could be of national significance. In fact, Maryland gets Florida State in the second week of the season, Sept. 6. Even if the Terrapins lose that game, they should be 8-1 entering Thursday, Nov. 13, when they host Virginia on national television. The Cavaliers get to play Florida State at home in Charlottesville on Oct. 18 and Virginia Tech at home on Nov. 29. But they're on the road for Clemson, highly ranked North Carolina State and Maryland.

There's no question Tech is the most talented and the deepest of the three. When your second-string quarterback is Vick's kid brother, and your returning feature running back (Kevin Jones) rushed for nearly 900 yards as a backup, life is good. And they both could receive second billing to DeAngelo Hall, the cornerback-wide receiver with the Deion speed. Let's face it, getting to watch a fledgling Vick for the next few weeks is better than watching none at all. And what folks observe about Michael and Marcus so far is that they laugh alike, they walk alike, at times they even talk alike, which means some defensive coordinators will lose their minds when quarterbacks are two of a kind. You want another name? Sophomore safety Jimmy Williams; he's 6 feet 3, 213 pounds, and a masher. Tech is loaded on offense, loaded on defense, experienced, the whole deal.

But Tech also has a November schedule (Miami, at Pitt, at Virginia) that might knock anybody out of BCS contention. Even so, Tech is a perennial threat, even if a relatively new one.

Maryland and Virginia would love to be in such a position, which Maryland Coach Ralph Friedgen spoke to yesterday. Being ranked in the top 20 means essentially nothing to Tech. But to Maryland, "it means we're starting to earn respect nationally, which is important to how we're viewed," Friedgen said.

Of attempting to battle for room at the top with the likes of Tech, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Michigan, Ohio State, Tennessee, the three Florida schools, etc., Friedgen said: "The question isn't what we've done [21-5 the last two years], but what can we continue to do? Have we arrived, or do we expect to go further? We've gone from nobody pointing at us to a lot of people pointing at us. The question becomes, 'Can we handle that or not?' Good teams can and bad teams can't."

Well, neither Maryland nor Virginia is a bad team, but Friedgen's larger point is this: It's one thing to have a breakthrough season, even a couple of really nice seasons. But it's quite another to become an elite program in college football, one of those programs that agonizes over going 7-4. The best thing Maryland and Virginia have going for them are their architects, their coaches, Friedgen and Al Groh. Not coincidentally, both coached at the college level, both went to the NFL, and both are back in college, now two of the best in their business. They have experienced the best of both worlds and can communicate it well it enough to drive points home to their players and recruits.

Virginia's Schaub, after throwing 28 touchdown passes last year, ought to be even better this season. He's not new to this offense, he's not looking over his shoulder because he's worried about being benched. Yes, it could be a problem that he has no proven receivers because of graduation and injury. The top eight receivers have barely 40 career receptions.

But coaches make a radical difference in college sports, and here's where Groh comes in. Virginia finished last in total offense, even though Schaub was the ACC player of the year, and next-to-last in total defense. But they finished tied for second in the league and return 14 of 22 starters. The coach found ways to squeeze more victories than one would expect out of the Cavaliers.

Friedgen has better talent and a deeper team now than he did last year, or the year before. Even so, Tech and Frank Beamer have already negotiated the difficult roads Maryland and Virginia will begin to drive this season, the difficult road games and trying to play through injuries and the weight of expectations. So yes, people are pointing at Virginia and Maryland, and we'll find out pretty quickly whether both programs are ready to dig in and make autumn around here a lot more fun than it has been.