TE commits to Virginia

Andrew Devlin, a Mount Lebanon, Pa., tight end with 32 scholarship offers, said Saturday that he has made an oral commitment to Virginia.

Devlin, a 6-foot-6, 255-pounder, said he picked the Cavaliers over Michigan, Pittsburgh and Boston College.

Devlin committed to Virginia after returning from Michigan, where he was told that the Wolverines wanted to see more tape before making a scholarship offer. He said that Michigan coach Lloyd Carr was not on campus at the time of his visit.

"I had let it be known that I wanted to make my decision before school started," he said. "There was no way I could pick them. They may still offer me, but I'm going to be a Cavalier."

Devlin had 12 receptions as a junior but expects his team to be more pass-oriented this coming season. The 13th player to commit to the Cavaliers, he also plays defense for Mount Lebanon High School and would not be opposed to playing defense for UVa.

Devlin has a 4.4 grade-point average and scored 1,850 on the SAT under the new grading scale (1,260 on the conventional scale).

-- Doug Doughty
 

Acting confident
Olsen has right attitude to lead Virginia in 2006
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
August 6, 2006

The first thing you notice about Christian Olsen, other than his warp speed speech pattern, is his confidence - which can be a really big deal for a guy who has waited five years to start his first game as a college quarterback.

A lot of what will make or break Virginia’s fifth-year starter revolves around confidence because he and everyone else who follows the Cavalier football program knows that he’s the biggest question mark on the team heading into training camp.

A hotshot prep quarterback out of Wayne Hills High School in Wayne, N.J., where he played for his father, Chris, the younger Olsen was lured to South Bend’s Golden Dome by the Notre Dame mystique. He had looked at Virginia and other schools, but there was something about Notre Dame until he actually got there and discovered it wasn’t the place for him.

Even though he moved into the backup quarterback role as a true freshman behind starter Carlyle Holiday and was voted the offense’s most valuable player of the Irish 2003 Blue-Gold spring game, Olsen looked elsewhere. That elsewhere was UVa, where he has patiently sat and learned as an understudy to two of the best quarterbacks in Cavalier history, Matt Schaub and Marques Hagans.

Now, it’s Olsen’s turn.

That has left some Wahoo fans nervous, that the offense will be in the hands of a rookie. Some observers are concerned, while others are downright worried.

Olsen isn’t one of them.

“I’ve been waiting 23 years for this,” Olsen said. “I’m not trying to do too much. I know I don’t have to go out there and win the game like Matt [Schaub] had to do three years ago because we have a bunch of good players now with tight ends, running backs and receivers. I’ve just got to go out there and be the point guard of the team and get them the ball.”

Olsen is more like Schaub than Hagans in that he’s a dropback passer who has a good mental grip on UVa’s version of the West Coast offense. Unlike Hagans, Olsen prefers to dump a short pass off to a running back or checkdown to a tight end rather than take off running.

Still, there’s that little doubt among fans who have only seen him perform in mop-up duty. He has completed 17 of 23 passes in two seasons (73.9 percent). But he’s made only eight appearances.

Olsen acknowledged in the spring that he realized Virginia fans would be more comfortable with a quarterback who could boast more experience. But as he noted, he has been through five training camps with the same offense (Notre Dame then ran a similar version of UVa’s offense), and has worked hard in practice, knowing that he was only an injury away from becoming the starter.

When he realized over the winter that he would have an opportunity to earn the starting job, Olsen took things even more seriously. He won the job in the spring and heads into training camp intending upon keeping it, knowing full well that backup candidates Jameel Sewell and Kevin McCabe aren’t that far behind him in the pecking order.

In fact, he displayed such confidence and performance during the spring that he was voted one of the Cavaliers’ four co-captains, something he didn’t expect, but was honored to receive the endorsement from his teammates.

“He’s done about all he could do to this point,” said Virginia head coach Al Groh. “Christian had a good point to start from because he has a very good likeability with the team. Players started out very favorable to him and I think they were rooting for him to do well because he is so likeable.”

But it takes more than that to gain the confidence of 100 other guys.

“Throughout the spring, as [the team] could see his performance, they could anticipate a certain level of dependability on his part,” said Groh. “He starts training camp with a level of likeability and dependability as evidenced by being voted one of the captains at the end of spring practice.”

Groh said that had the vote been taken prior to spring drills, Olsen likely would not have been elected.

During those few weeks of April, Groh said that Olsen surpassed the coach’s expectations.

“The most significant thing he did was for his own confidence,” said Groh. “Look, he sees the same situation we see: this team has had four years of quarterback-driven play by two of the better quarterbacks who have ever played at Virginia ... He must say to himself, ‘Now, I’m supposed to go in there and I’ve never played before.’ There’s a lot of belief and hope on his part, but no tangible evidence, so I’m sure he had some of the same questions, probably even more dramatically than anyone else does.”

Maturation process

While admittedly standing on the sidelines for the past several years has been difficult, his sagging confidence boosted constantly by his brother, Greg, a junior tight end at Miami, Olsen has come to realize that the experience made him not only a better quarterback, but a better person, at least in his own mind.

“I have definitely matured since I left Notre Dame. I understand things a lot better now in terms of football,” he said.

A bright guy, Olsen always knew the plays. Now, he better understands how to put the concepts together and understand defenses. Because UVa’s offense is extremely intricate, although simplified recently by new offensive coordinator Mike Groh, it takes a long time to thoroughly learn, which Olsen believes has been to his advantage by watching from the sidelines.

He has taken lots of reps in practice, particularly the last two seasons when Hagans was either sore or tired. Having learned how important film study was from both Schaub and Mike Groh, Olsen has submerged himself into that phase of preparation.

He has watched Schaub on film, studied things that Hagans did, critiqued film of himself, he has concentrated on watching opposing defenders at pre-snap from the sidelines, and noticed what happens when his hot key is on the right side and that the left corner bails out at the last second, meaning he’s not in man coverage. He has picked up immense knowledge by watching.

Because UVa’s offense hasn’t changed that much in six seasons, since the day Bill Musgrave was the OC, followed by Ron Prince, now Mike Groh, the new quarterback has a good grip on things.

Working with Mike Groh on a daily basis has accelerated his learning. While he knows he can’t make up for three years in only one season, something he and Al Groh have discussed at length, he can certainly absorb three years of knowledge by working harder, studying harder and picking Coach Mike’s brain about the subtleties of the game.

“We watch Matt Schaub film at least once a week,” Olsen said.

The new QB learned a bundle by watching Schaub in person, but perhaps more about how to be a quarterback than the technical side of things.

“Just the way Matt carried himself, I learned a lot about how to act like a quarterback and how to be the starting quarterback for Virginia,” Olsen said. “I watched how Matt worked hard in the weight room, how hard he worked on the practice field, how many hours he put into film study. Coaches teach us the technical stuff, but I learned a lot of the other from Matt.”

Football knowledge

Olsen owes everything he knows about Virginia’s offense to Mike Groh. The two meet daily and go deep into football knowledge conversations.

“Once in a while we’ll talk about a few technical things, like my drop or something,” said Olsen. “But most of the stuff now is about being prepared what to expect from Pittsburgh and games in general.”

Because Mike Groh played the position, he easily relates experience to Olsen and the other quarterbacks. That’s pretty much the way it was before, because Prince was so busy with the offensive line that the quarterbacks had little interaction with him personally, but with Mike Groh, who was quarterbacks coach.

“Coach Mike was not only a quarterback, but a Virginia quarterback,” Olsen said. “At Notre Dame, our quarterback coach had never played the position. He could tell you what to do, but he had never been in there when the bolts were flying. Coach Mike understands what it’s like to go to Florida State or Virginia Tech and play. He understands the game of football and has been around it his whole life, just like I have.”

Olsen believes that the UVa offense is a thinking man’s offense, designed not necessarily dependent upon how physically skilled one might be, but rather understanding what one is doing. Certainly the comprehension level helps lead to higher percentage passing figures.

Schaub completed 69.7 percent of his passes his senior season, Hagans 62.1.

Now that the offense is even more simplified, the percentages should remain just as high if not go higher.

“Coach Prince knew so much about this offense that he threw everything he could at us,” said Olsen. “That wasn’t a bad thing. But Coach Mike took all that and simplified it to make it easier for younger guys who come in and play earlier. Because we were so complex, it was tough for young running backs and young guards and centers to come in and play right away.”

Milestone start

When Olsen steps onto the turf at Heinz Field on Sept. 2, for Virginia’s opener, it will be a milestone for the veteran backup.

When he arrived a Notre Dame in the fall of 2002, he had no intentions of ever leaving. But he’ll readily tell you that he never missed South Bend after deciding to leave.

“The best decision I ever made was to leave there and come here to Virginia,” Olsen said. “Obviously I came here knowing there was competition. Anthony Martinez was here, Kevin McCabe, Marques Hagans, and of course, Matt. But I wasn’t going to shy away from any competition. Of the places I thought about transferring, I thought Virginia was the best fit, not only as a football player, but as a person.

I don’t think I would have hesitated if they had told me that ‘You’re probably not going to play for three years, you’ll get your turn.’”

Some believe Olsen didn’t want to sit behind Holiday or that he feared the competition from newcomer Brady Quinn, who is one of this year’s preseason favorites for the Heisman Trophy. But Olsen claims his reasons for leaving had nothing to do with football.

“I really didn’t want to be at Notre Dame from my first semester on to be honest with you,” Olsen said. “It was more of a case of I thought it was a school where I didn’t fit in. I felt I was more suited for a school like Virginia.

“[Notre Dame] was a little uptight,” Olsen continued. “It wasn’t what I was looking for. And, as cold as it gets in Charlottesville, it’s nowhere as cold as it gets in South Bend. It was cold, gray and gloomy. Some people love that and grow up Notre Dame fans.

I didn’t grow up a Notre Dame fan. Instead, I fit in more here with the regular student body.”

About the only contact the Virginia quarterback has had with his old Irish teammates since came in June when one of his former teammates invited him to Madison Square Garden to watch former Notre Dame safety Tom Zbikowski launch his professional boxing career. Zbikowski won easily, knocking out opponent Robert Bell in just 49 seconds.

“I hung out with Brady and the receivers that I came in with,” Olsen said of the fight night. “There were probably 65 Notre Dame guys and me. It was kind of awkward at first, but it got comfortable.”

Model behavior

Olsen has certainly won over the acceptance of his teammates, perhaps partially due to some good-natured ribbing.

It seems that last year, he and a high school buddy were in New York and just for kicks were photographed for a modeling portfolio. While some of his teammates believe Olsen was serious about the matter, he insists it was just a joke.

Somehow, then-roommate, Brian Barthelmes got hold of the photos and put them up on the Internet so everyone could see. But first, Barthelmes pulled a good one on Olsen with Coach Groh’s assistance.

“We were sitting there in a team meeting and I had no idea what was happening. Everybody was laughing and when I looked up, Coach Groh had put [the modeling photos] up on the big screen,” Olsen said. “Then everybody got the pictures and there was e-mails going all over school. It was kind of embarrassing.”

However, Olsen admitted that as a drama major (“I just hope he’s not a drama queen,” jabbed Groh), that he might pursue that somewhere down the road. He enjoyed drama, but didn’t have the time to dedicate to acting in anything more than one-act plays, none of the major plays on stage. He also worked on the lights, sound and scenery.

The only stages he’s concerned about right now are the ones that go 100 yards and it won’t take long to find out what he’s made of.

While Groh has assured Olsen that he won’t get the quick hook if he throws an interception, everyone who follows Virginia football also knows that Groh won’t put up with inefficiency very long.

So, there is a certain amount of pressure, especially with Sewell coming on like gangbusters and McCabe poised to jump in.

“It would be ridiculous to say that [Olsen] has a high competitive maturity because he hasn’t been in very many games,” said Groh. “But he does have a personal maturity through some personal circumstances, through his transfer and that he had to watch another very good player play in front of him.

“But he’s been through four preseason camps, he’s gotten on the bus, he’s gone to the stadiums, he’s been on the headsets, he knows what’s going on,” said Groh. “But now, he’s got to move from the understudy and knowing his lines, but not having to recite them, to being on the stage and being the guy. I can’t tell how it’s going to go. All I can say is that to this point, he’s done all the right things.”

All the film study, conversations, practices, and the like don’t mean diddly if a guy can’t carry that over to the real games.

“All that’s a good starting point for him, but he has to be confirmed by performance,” said Groh. “The only performance that’s going to mean anything is what happens in the early games.”

 

Snelling to be featured
Former fullback slims down for tailback spot
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
August 6, 2006

Flashback to Aug. 25, 2003. As Virginia coach Al Groh addressed the media that day, he offered few details but said Jason Snelling would likely miss the season because the fullback had “health issues he’s dealing with.”
Little talk was made at the time about how redshirting the running back would make Virginia better in 2006. The main concern at that point was for Snelling’s overall well-being. Teammates talked about how Snelling’s medication was not helping a medical condition that still remains undisclosed.
At that point, Snelling was listed at 6-foot-1 and 228 pounds and was fresh off a rookie season that saw him catch 31 passes for 314 yards and four touchdowns.
Snelling returned to the field in ’04 as the team’s starting fullback and started the first five games only to have an injury limit him to just seven games and ultimately skewed his final stat line - the former L.C. Bird standout carried the ball 26 times for 189 yards and one TD.
Last season, Snelling took positive steps forward, as he played in every contest for the first time in his collegiate career. He was a standout on special teams and led ACC fullbacks with 325 rushing yards despite limited playing time as UVa typically used one-back, two-tight end sets.
Fast forward to Friday as Virginia opened its sixth training camp under Groh, Snelling was in the process of writing another chapter in his Cavalier career.
This time, however, Snelling starts the year as the featured back, having made the transition from fullback to tailback.
That process entailed Snelling shedding a few pounds and while Groh did not have the official measurements from a team weigh-in on Friday, the coach said the senior “was certainly lighter than he played at last season” when he opened 2005 at the listed weight of 245 pounds.
“Of course, his role has changed,” Groh said. “He has got more roles and different roles, so his stamina and his endurance is going to be a factor too, not just his ability. We weren’t necessarily seeing circumstances last year where he might he might be on the field for 12, 14, 15 plays in a row and then go in for special teams.
“He was more of a role player last year and he has got the opportunity to take on a more significant role this year. That has affected his conditioning and how we see his weight.”
While the job appears to be Snelling’s to lose, Groh is confident that sophomore Cedric Peerman and senior Michael Johnson will challenge for carries.
As a redshirt freshman, Peerman amassed 237 yards on the ground, but 178 of those yards were gained in the first three games of the season.
Johnson, who like Snelling benefited from a redshirt season in ’03, finished with 267 rushing yards last year on 50 carries. He scored two rushing TDs.
“I think we have some talented running backs,” Groh said. “We are going to have a good ball carrier in there to start the first game and let the competition begin.”

BEING WATCHED: Statistically speaking, junior Emmanuel Byers enters the season as the team’s leading returning passer having thrown for 90 yards and one score last year.
Fear not Christian Olsen, Byers completed just one pass. Virginia’s starting quarterback might have competition from redshirt freshman Jameel Sewell, but Byers brings his obvious versatility to Virginia’s offense as a wide receiver.
For his career, Byers has 25 catches for 250 yards and two completed passes for 122 yards, but his progression hit a snag in the spring when Groh held him out of drills to focus on academics.
Grades from summer school will not be available until after exams next week, but the pass catcher was at practice on Friday night and had athletic tape wrapped around both of his cleats to support his ankles.
Groh has not discussed specific injuries with Byers, but the coach said the training staff will monitor Byers throughout camp.
“We have a little concern with him, simply that he has had some foot problems and some tendon problems that he had to deal with last year also,” Groh said. “That’s just a situation with him and it probably is going to be that way with him for a while, so we are ready to go [in training camp].
“He is ready to go, but we have also spoken with him about that we have to be sensible and there may be some days here when we are going at a constant pace that we have to accommodate him a little bit.”

EXTRA POINTS: Today’s practice, which starts at 2:45 p.m., will mark the first in shoulder pads for the Cavaliers. The first two practices included only helmets as NCAA legislation mandates. … Fans have four opportunities to watch practice next weekend. The dates and times are as follows: Friday (2:30 p.m.), Saturday (8:45 a.m. and 6:45 p.m.) and Sunday, Aug. 13 (2:30 p.m.). … Virginia’s annual “Meet the Team Day” will be held at Scott Stadium on Aug. 17.

 

Devlin added to class of 2007
Position still undecided for Pittsburgh prep
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
August 6, 2006

When Al Groh announced Virginia’s practice schedule he forgot to send a copy to Andrew Devlin.

Without knowledge that the Cavaliers were holding their first football practice Friday night, the prized recruit from Pittsburgh tried calling every number he had for Virginia’s coaching staff.

He wanted to deliver good news to the staff, including his chief recruiter, assistant coach Bob Price, but no one answered.

“I didn’t even know they were practicing,” Devlin told The Daily Progress. “I thought they were opening up this weekend because that’s when most of the schools around here are starting.”

Finally technology came to Devlin’s rescue as a text message to Price let the Pennsylvania native know that practice was almost over.

“I figured something was going on,” Devlin said. “I wasn’t too afraid, but it was a little nerve-racking.”

With Devlin’s commitment, Virginia gained its second verbal in as many days and the 13th overall for the Class of 2007. Anthony Mihota informed the staff of his decision earlier in the week.

Devlin picked Virginia over offers from Boston College, Iowa, Stanford, Virginia Tech and Wisconsin among others.

Michigan, the school many considered a frontrunner to land Devlin, had not officially offered, but a recent trip to Ann Arbor helped the three-star recruit rule them out.

“I went up there and they were supposed to call me back this week some time, but I was not impressed,” Devlin admitted. “I said, ‘You know what, Virginia is where I want to go and where I want to be.’ So I just decided.”

Devlin, who stands at 6-foot-6 and 255 pounds, plays both ways for Mt. Lebanon coach Chris Haering.

Last year, he registered seven sacks and while he was unsure of his total tackles he said, “I have had my fair share.” Devlin also caught 12 passes for 100 yards, but the numbers are a bit misleading.

“We ran the ball, I think, 90 percent of the time,” Devlin said. “We had three stud running backs so it was all about blocking last year and every once in a while catching a pass.

Devlin made his opportunities count.

“I think I converted two third downs and two fourth downs,” he said.

Where does Devlin want to play in college?

“Wherever I can play the earliest,” Devlin answered. “My coach and I look at it as though I am being recruited to be a football player. Wherever they put me is where they put me, but I think it is going to be at tight end at first.”

Devlin said he was excited to have his decision over and done with before his final campaign with the Blue Devils, a team that went 8-4 last year and advanced to the Class AAAA semifinals.

“I am just excited to know where I am going and be able to focus on my senior season,” said Devlin, who sports personal bests of a 350-pound bench press and 450-pound squat. “It makes it so much easier. I knew all along that I wanted to make my decision before the season.”

Devlin praised the recruiting efforts of Price and raved about the “family” atmosphere within Virginia’s program.

“My mom feels comfortable calling Coach Price,” Devlin joked. “It is almost like a family there. The coaches and the people at Virginia stuck out in my mind.”

Devlin, an accomplished student (4.4 GPA, 1260 SAT), also had a message for Price as Virginia fills out its recruiting class.

“I told him, ‘If you need me to call someone, I will call them up,”’ Devlin said.

And Devlin will likely answer the call.

 

U.VA. NOTES
Richmond Times-Dispatch Aug 6, 2006

WELCOME SIGHT: Members of Virginia's first-team defense wear orange jerseys in practice. Among those in orange Friday night for the Cavaliers' first practice of the summer was Nate Lyles.

"It's definitely a great feeling just to be out on the field with the guys," Lyles said after practice.

A junior from Chicago, Lyles hasn't played since hurting his neck Nov. 12 at Scott Stadium. With about 4 minutes left in the first quarter that day, Lyles tried to tackle Georgia Tech tailback P.J. Daniels. When Daniels leaped to try to avoid the tackle, his knee struck Lyles under the chin - a "freak accident," Lyles said. As Daniels continued down the field, Lyles lay on the field near the 50-yard line, motionless.

His first thought?

"Why can't I feel my body?" Lyles recalled Friday night.

After about two minutes, however, Lyles regained feeling in his limbs, and he was able to comfort his parents, who were at the game and met him in the tunnel at the stadium.

Lyles, who's known for his ferocious tackles, had suffered a stinger against North Carolina the previous month and had to be helped off the field at Kenan Stadium. He later returned, however, and finished the game.

His recovery was more complicated this time. In February, Dr. Mark Shaffrey, a neurosurgeon at U.Va., operated on him, Lyles said, and fused two vertebrae. Lyles said he was cleared for contact last month.

"It's good to be back," said Lyles, whose jersey number, 30, is cut into the hair on the back of his head.

The barber was teammate Byron Glaspy. "He does quality work," Lyles said, flashing his trademark smile.

EVERY-DOWN MAN: Don't look for defensive end Chris Long to take many breaks during games this season. Long, a 6-4, 282-pound junior, is an all-ACC candidate and the Cavaliers' most disruptive defender.

To be good, coach Al Groh said, a defense "needs some players on it that can create havoc for the other team, and Chris is one of the best candidates for us to do that."

When Groh was an assistant with the New York Giants, he recalled, the team's coaches "weren't ever too worried about getting Lawrence Taylor a rest. Because when he was getting rest, that offensive tackle and tight end were getting even more rest."

At the other end spot, redshirt freshman Jeffrey Fitzgerald (Hermitage High) and sophomore Alex Field will see significant time. Other defensive ends on U.Va.'s roster include redshirt freshman Jason Fuller and 6-4, 256-pound true freshman Sean Gottschalk, a graduate of Deep Run High in western Henrico County.

SENSE OF PERSPECTIVE: Cornerback Marcus Hamilton sealed U.Va.'s 34-31 victory over Minnesota in the Music City Bowl with a last-minute interception. That the Cavaliers won without several key players, including Tony Franklin, Ahmad Brooks and Kwakou Robinson, made the victory especially impressive, and it helped them avoid a season-ending three-game losing streak.

"I think it was important for us to win that game. We had lost a couple players, lost some [assistant] coaches," Hamilton told reporters last month. "But I also don't think, had we lost the game, then that would have been the death of the Virginia program. It would have left a sour taste in our mouth for this offseason, but when we started the season again, we'd start 0-0.

"Maybe if you win the national championship, you might have a carryover effect or something, but I don't really feel as though going into August practice we're sitting around thinking, 'Wow, we won the Music City Bowl, how great does that feel?' You just want to win every game because as a competitor you want to win."

PLAYING CATCH-UP: In Virginia's 3-4 scheme, sophomores Jon Copper and Antonio Appleby opened training camp as the first-team inside linebackers. Appleby isn't likely to lose his job, but Copper figures to face competition from 6-1, 259-pound redshirt freshman Rashawn Jackson.

Jackson had offseason surgery on his shoulder and couldn't participate in contact drills in spring practice. Groh knew that operation was coming and tried to accelerate Jackson's development late last season.

Even though Jackson wasn't going to play in the Music City Bowl, Groh said, Virginia's coaching staff "tried to give him a lot of turns in December - or let's say a lot more than a player in those circumstances might normally get - to try to give him some of the things we knew he wasn't going to get in spring practice, because the surgery was already planned." - Jeff White
 

Virginia's 2007 team gains two commitments
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Aug 6, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- July didn't produce much recruiting news for the University of Virginia football team, but the silence has lifted this month.

U.Va. received two commitments this weekend, giving it 13 recruits for 2007. Joining the class were Anthony Mihota, a 6-5, 270-pound defensive end from Massaponax High in Fredericksburg, and Andrew Devlin, a 6-6, 255-pound tight end from Pittsburgh. Both are strong students.

Mihota, who lived in Pennsylvania for much of his boyhood about an hour's drive south of Pittsburgh -- also had scholarship offers from Northwestern, Duke and Marshall.

In last year's state Group AAA, Division 5 semifinals, Mihota sacked Hampton High quarterback Tyrod Taylor three times in Massaponax's 21-16 loss.

Devlin, a senior at Mt. Lebanon High, chose U.Va. over Pittsburgh, Boston College and Michigan.

His parents are Pitt graduates. Virginia's opening game this season? Sept. 2 at Pitt. The Devlins plan to attend.

"We were fighting about it this morning at breakfast, over pancakes," Devlin said yesterday. "They said they're not going to sit with me."

Devlin carries a 4.4 grade-point average and scored 1,260 on the math and verbal portions of the SAT. Depending on how much he grows, Devlin could end up playing offensive tackle for the Cavaliers.

"They're recruiting me as a football player," he said. "Wherever I can get on the field the quickest is where I'll play."