Top receiver Williams hopes to be back Sept. 21
By ED MILLER , The Virginian-Pilot
August 18, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Virginia wide receiver Deyon Williams said Thursday that he hopes to return for the Georgia Tech game Sept. 21, the Cavaliers' fourth of the season. But he admitted that timetable is based more on wishful thinking than on information from doctors.

"They told me sometimes these injuries take five weeks, sometimes they take three months, sometimes they could take a year to recover from," he said.

Williams, Virginia's leading receiver last season, had surgery for a stress fracture in his right foot last Friday. He'd been complaining of soreness after a few days of practice.

Williams came to Virginia's "Meet the Team" day with his right foot in a boot. But while he's been unable to run, he hasn't been idle, he said.

"I sit down and catch, 200 balls a day," he said. "I lift weights. I watch film. I go to meetings. I do all the stuff a good wide receiver should do while he can't be out there running."

Williams, a senior, made 58 catches last season, third most by a receiver in school history. He played as a true freshman and would have a redshirt year available.

Williams admitted that thought has crossed his mind.

"We've looked at the worst-case scenario, the best-case scenario," he said. "We've got a plan for everything."

Salem grad feeling good at new linebacker spot

Virginia's leading tackler last season, Kai Parham, played inside linebacker. More specifically, he played the "Mike" inside linebacker position, in the Cavaliers' 3-4 defense.

With Parham gone, that spot will be manned this year by another Virginia Beach product, Antonio Appleby.

A sophomore from Salem High, Appleby played in every game as a true freshman last year, starting the final two at the "Jack" inside linebacker spot in place of Ahmad Brooks.

Appleby moved from "Jack" to "Mike" in the spring, and said the differences between the positions are subtle.

"Mike's a bigger guy, a little more of a run-stopper," he said. "Jack runs a little more free."

At 6-foot-4, 248 pounds, Appleby's by far the bigger of Virginia's two starting linebackers. Jon Copper, 6-0, 232 pounds, is scheduled to start at the other spot.

Appleby made 14 tackles in his two starts last year, at Miami and against Minnesota in the Music City Bowl. Prior to that he played mostly on special teams. But when Brooks got hurt, he found himself starting.

"Coach (Al) Groh saw that I could step up and play a little bit, so he kind of put me in the fire," he said.

Appleby was recruited as a tight end/linebacker. Though he's just 19, he's the only player on the roster to have started a game at inside linebacker.

With two starts and a spring practice under his belt, he practically feels like a veteran.

"I'm reading the plays a lot better, reading them a lot quicker," he said.

Smaller Snelling looking sharper at tailback

F ullback-turned-tailback Jason Snelling weighed in at 232 pounds, about 10 pounds lighter than a year ago, and was noticeably quicker in open practices last week.

"You can certainly tell he's a streamlined version of his past self, very much," Groh said.

Though he's moving faster, Snelling is not exactly running away from the competition at tailback, Groh said. Snelling remains penciled in as the starter, but Cedric Peerman, Michael Johnson and Mikell Simpson have also looked sharp.

"I'm sure there's not going to be a solitary ball carrier on this team," Groh said.

Bulked up Lipsey in fight to earn starts at center

Since coming to Virginia in 2003, Jordy Lipsey, once billed as the top high school center in the nation, has appeared in just eight games, two as a starter.

Lipsey's main drawback has been a lack of bulk. At 260 pounds, he was considered too small for full-time duty on the offensive line.

Lipsey reported this season at 282 pounds, and is pushing Ian-Yates Cunningham for the starting job at center. Groh said he expects the battle to continue through camp.

Cunningham can also play guard on a line that Groh said is a work in progress. Just two starters, guards Marshall Ausberry and Branden Albert, return.

"We're going to need more from that group, as we go into competition, than we're getting right now," Groh said.

Season-ticket allotment sold out once again

Virginia has sold out its allotment of season tickets, nearly 40,000, for the third straight season. Single-game tickets, priced at $40, remain for the Wyoming, Western Michigan and North Carolina games.

 

Williams hopes to return by 4th game
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Deyon Williams was in full uniform, minus a helmet, when Virginia held its annual meet-the-team function Thursday

When he'll see action again is anybody's guess.

Williams, who underwent surgery last Friday for a broken right foot, targeted the Cavaliers' trip to Atlanta for their Sept. 21 date with Georgia Tech.

"They say sometimes it takes five to eight weeks," said Williams, who had a team-high 58 receptions in 2005, seven for touchdowns. "Right now, I'm just trying to stay positive, being with my team and learning a lot of stuff about myself and the game.

"I'm still going to be a captain and the leader that I'm supposed to be."

Williams had been running pass routes throughout the summer but did not experience any discomfort until the first week of practice. X-rays taken after that revealed a stress fracture.

"When I found out it happened, I was stunned," Williams said. "I was very disappointed. When adversity comes, you've just got to overcome it. I don't know why it happened. One day, maybe I'll figure it out.

"Maybe it happened so I can come back and have even a better season."

Williams said doctors tell him that players have taken as long as a year to return from his surgery. He has a redshirt season available.

A similar situation occurred in 2003, when senior Michael McGrew sustained a broken foot in preseason practice. He returned for a fifth year in 2004.

"It's undetermined," Williams said. "It's how I go about the rehab and how strong I am coming back. Obviously, I've looked at the worst-case scenario and the best-case scenario. We've got a plan for everything."

Greenbaum rewarded

Groh said that senior place-kicker Noah Greenbaum has received a scholarship. Greenbaum, a walk-on from Collegiate in Richmond, kicked a 41-yard field goal against Temple last year and hit a game-winning 37-yarder in UVa's spring game. Virginia has at least 84 players on scholarships, based on Groh's preseason comments. The NCAA limit is 85.

Updated weights

Virginia passed out an "updated" roster Thursday on which freshman running back Keith Payne was listed at 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds. Turns out, a wrong roster was printed. By the end of Groh's news conference, a new roster was being passed out that listed Payne at 6-3, 243.

Some of the more interesting weights included quarterback Christian Olsen's, down from 234 last year to 222. Offensive tackle Will Barker, listed at 261 last year as a true freshman, entered camp this year at 306. He is one of six 300-pounders on the team, headed by offensive tackle Eugene Monroe, down from 327 to 315.

Status undetermined

A UVa assistant said that 2006 Virginia signee DeAndre Filer, a cornerback from Indian River High School, is at home in Chesapeake and is undecided on his next move.

Contrary to earlier reports, Filer is not going to Hargrave Military Academy, where three of his fellow UVa signees reported Monday for preseason camp.

Odds 'n' ends

Signee John Bivens, slated to play safety at the start of preseason drills, has been getting "reps" at inside linebacker. Bivens was measured at 6-2, 213. ... Groh said that wide receiver Emmanuel Byers, who had 21 receptions last season, has decided not to have surgery for an Achilles problem that so far has not prevented him from practicing. ... Groh said that the competition at center between fourth-year juniors Ian-Yates Cunningham and Jordy Lipsey is too close to call. ... To accommodate fans who do not subscribe to ESPNU, the network that will carry the Pittsburgh game, Virginia will open the John Paul Jones Arena for a telecast of the game.
 

Family ties bind coaches at Virginia
BOB LIPPER
TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST Aug 18, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE Jeff Bowden and Skip Holtz, eat your hearts out: Nepotism steamrolls the competition in Naperville, Ill. That's where North Central College is located, where John Thorne coaches the football team, where his son, Jeff, calls the plays as offensive coordinator, and where nobody sneers and hollers up to the press box, "Who's your daddy?"

That's because the Cardinal racked up 5,021 yards last season and went a best-in-school-history 9-2. Granted, we are talking Division III here. Even so, Papa John believes his Sunday morning quarterbacks could hold their own with the caterwauling big boys if so moved.

"We've got alumni who want us to win, too," Thorne was saying a few days ago. "They're real happy right now. If things weren't going well, yeah, things could be a little touchy. It's worked really, really well here. I can see in some other situations where it might not work."

It didn't work for the Holtzes of Columbia, S.C.

It's not working for the Bowdens of Tallahassee, Fla.

Now come the Grohs of Charlottesville.

Al and his son, Mike.

Mike, the new offensive coordinator.

Might it work for them? Who knows? What's known is that Groh the Younger inherits an offense that's lost its quarterback, tailback, two best blockers, kicker and - until healed from foot surgery - top wideout. Not a stacked deck, in other words.

Groh the Elder must trust Groh the Younger to play his cards well. He said as much when he related some advice he once got from his mentor, Bill Parcells, after Parcells asked Groh if he cared what other people think.

"It's probably revealing more of myself than I really like," Groh said at yesterday's media op, "but I said to him, 'At this point in my life, other than probably on issues of morality and ethics, probably not.' [Parcells] said, 'Good, just coach the team the way you think the team needs to be coached every day.' That's what we did in this particular circumstance."

About Mike Groh: He's 34 years old and has never coached for anyone except the old man. He's also an ex-U.Va. quarterback who's been on staff the past five years. If he wasn't working for his dad, people might not scrutinize his credentials and calls so closely. But he is. And they will.

That's what's happened at Florida State. Sandy D'Alemberte, the school's president at the time, has said he had misgivings when Bobby Bowden named Jeff Bowden his offensive coordinator. Five years, 20 losses and one lackluster running game later, 'Noles rooters have all but run Jeff out of Doak Campbell Stadium on a flaming spear.

At South Carolina - where Skip Holtz had left UConn's head coaching job to become his father's OC - Lou Holtz himself wielded the ax. The spring after 2003's 5-7 finish, Holtz demoted Skip, who got the news from a local newspaper reporter. No telling how Father's Day was celebrated that year.

Precedent isn't encouraging, in other words. Tough enough to be the offensive coordinator. Tougher still to call the shots for daddy dearest.

"It's a lightning-rod position in any program," Al Groh said. "The lightning is mostly directed inaccurately by the public at that position. Sixty-two thousand people [in the stadium] think they know what he should have done. You can't be impacted by that. Yeah, it was something to consider. But we had to consider what's the best way for the team to be coached at this point."

Memo to Chairman Al: Those 60-some-thousand pay the freight. Some even know an X from an O. Give 'em something to gripe about, and they just might give you an earful.

 

For London, it's all about passion play
U.Va.'s new defensive coordinator brings energy to Cavaliers
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Aug 18, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE In his left ear, Mike London wears a diamond stud. That's not really his style, but how could he refuse his daughter Ticynn, whose impact on his life has been so profound?

"Judge me by the content of my character, not on my outer appearance," London said with a broad smile yesterday at Scott Stadium, where the University of Virginia's football players and coaches met with reporters.

London, 45, is the Cavaliers' new defensive coordinator. He's back at U.Va., where he was defensive-line coach from 2001 to 2004, after spending last season in that position with the NFL's Houston Texans.

The former University of Richmond defensive back was easy to spot during U.Va.'s open practices this month. He was the guy - baseball cap on backward - racing around the practice fields, exhorting his defensive charges.

All he asks for is more passion, more enthusiasm, more effort. A U.Va. defender who makes a big play can expect a bear hug or high-five from London.

"The energy he brings is unparalleled," senior cornerback Marcus Hamilton said.

That's always been a part of London's personality, but his experiences with Ticynn, who's now 10, have amplified his natural zest for life.

"Now it makes it even more important that the people that I'm around and have a chance to influence understand that nothing's guaranteed," said London, a graduate of Bethel High in Hampton. "Here today, gone tomorrow. Make the most of your opportunities, because every day, whether it's me or someone else, you're being looked at and evaluated."

When Ticynn was 5, she was diagnosed with fanconi anemia. It's a rare blood disorder, the only cure for which is a blood-marrow transfer. Two years later, with her health deteriorating, she received a transfer at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

The donor was her father.

The transplant saved Ticynn's life, and she's doing "extremely well" now, London said. Ticynn and the rest of London's family, in fact, are vacationing in the Bahamas this week.

Ticynn's illness - and recovery - changed his life, London said, in "that you recognize the fact that life is short, that you live it with energy and passion because you never know when you're going to be here.

"And if there's anything I bring to the group here defensively is that passion and energy, because I've been on the other side, not knowing what's going to happen to her, in terms of her overall long-term outlook. But now the way she's come back from that, my outward actions are just an extension of how I feel inside. And that's the way I coach and teach."

London, whose brother Paul played defensive back at U.Va., also has been an assistant coach at UR, William and Mary and Boston College. First, however, he was a detective in the Richmond police department. An incident in South Richmond made football look especially attractive.

During a struggle, a suspect pulled a gun and aimed it at London's face.

"He pulled the trigger, and it didn't go off," London told The Times-Dispatch in 2001. "At that point, I decided, 'Maybe there's something else I can do with my life.'"

When Al Golden, Virginia's defensive coordinator from 2001 to 2005, left after last season to become the coach at Temple, London's ties to the state, his personality and his coaching prowess made him the immediate front-runner for the job.

It didn't hurt, of course, that the Texans played a 3-4 defense in 2005. That's the scheme Virginia coach Al Groh has long favored.

"Obviously, Mike picked up some very good things," Groh said yesterday. "Some of them are particularly pertinent to us because he was in a system that has some overlap with what we do, so he was able to bring some points to us about that."

X's and O's aside, Groh said, the "main attraction to Mike being here was his leadership ability and his ability to relate to players."

 

Cavaliers, Hokies announce 2006-07 basketball schedules
From staff reports Aug 18, 2006

The University of Virginia basketball team will quickly become accustomed to its new home as the Cavaliers will play 17 games in the John Paul Jones Arena during the 2006-07 season, beginning with a Nov. 12 inaugural game vs. Arizona.

Gonzaga and Stanford are the other marquee, non-Atlantic Coast Conference opponents booked into JPJ. Gonzaga will appear on Jan. 3 for a 9 p.m. game with Stanford following on Jan. 7 for a 5 p.m. game. ACC opponents visiting Charlottesville will be North Carolina State, Maryland, Wake Forest, Duke, Miami, Florida State, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech.

The Cavaliers will play a three-day, three-game tournament in San Juan, Puerto Rico, opening against Appalachian State on Dec. 19. U.Va.'s only nonleague game on an opponent's court will be Nov.29 at Purdue.

Virginia coach Dave Leitao was quoted in a school press release as saying, "I can't imagine there are too many teams in the nation playing eight conference home games against the caliber of teams we play in the ACC, and then scheduling nonconference home games against opponents like Arizona, Gonzaga and Stanford."

Virginia Tech and the 10 other ACC teams also released their 2006-07 schedules yesterday. The Hokies will play 14 games at home with the primary nonconference attractions being Iowa (Nov.29), Old Dominion (Dec.6) and Richmond (Jan.3). ACC teams coming to Blacksburg are Wake Forest, North Carolina, Maryland, N.C. State, Virginia, Boston College, Miami and Clemson.

The Hokies will play a three-game tournament in Orlando, Fla., opening vs. Western Michigan on Nov. 24. Tech plays at Marshall on Dec. 30 and meets George Washington at the Verizon Center on Dec.3 and UNC Greensboro at the Greensboro Coliseum on Jan. 10. The Hokies still plan to add an additional, early-season home game.

Coach Seth Greenberg was quoted in a press release as saying, "This season's schedule will be one of the most difficult in school history. It's important for us to play a schedule that, if we are successful, will position us to earn a place in the NCAA tournament."

VIRGINIA SCHEDULE

Nov. - 12, Arizona, 7 p.m.; 19, Morgan State, 3 p.m.; 22, UNC-Asheville, 7 p.m.; 26, Maryland-Eastern Shore, 3 p.m.; 29, at Purdue, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. - 3, N.C. State, 3:30 p.m.; 16, Hampton, 2 p.m.; 19-21, San Juan (P.R.) Shootout; 28, American U., TBA.

Jan. - 3, Gonzaga, 9 p.m.; 7, Stanford, 5 p.m.; 10, at North Carolina, 9 p.m.; 13, at Boston College, 2 p.m.; 16, Maryland, 8 p.m.; 21, Wake Forst, 1 p.m.; 24, at N.C. State, 9 p.m.; 28, at Clemson, 1 p.m.

Feb. - 1, Duke, 9 p.m.; 3, Miami, 7 p.m.; 6, at Maryland, 9 p.m.; 10, at Virginia Tech, 4 p.m.; 13, Longwood, 7 p.m.; 17, Florida State, 7 p.m.; 21, at Miami, 7:30 p.m.; 24, at Georgia Tech, 3:30 p.m.

Mar. - 1, Virginia Tech, 7 p.m.; 3, at Wake Forest, 1 p.m; 8-11, ACC Tournament at Tampa, Fla.

 

Schedules set for ACC teams
ACC programs will face 26 non-conference opponents that qualified for last season's NCAA tournament.
BY DAVID TEEL
247-4636
August 18, 2006

Virginia will christen John Paul Jones Arena with its most ambitious men's basketball schedule in memory.

The ACC unveiled schedules for all 12 conference teams Thursday, and in addition to eight league opponents, Virginia will host Arizona, Gonzaga and Stanford. The Cavaliers also will welcome Hampton and American, guided by former Virginia coach Jeff Jones.

Virginia Tech's non-conference schedule is tamer but includes a home test against Iowa in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, and a game against George Washington at the Verizon Center, home of the NBA's Washington Wizards.

ACC teams will play 29 non-conference games against 26 programs that qualified for last season's NCAA tournament, according to the conference office. Among the highlights:

Virginia opens its arena Nov. 12 against Arizona and begins January with a four-game stretch against Gonzaga, Stanford, North Carolina and Boston College, the latter two on the road.

Virginia Tech hosts Old Dominion on Dec. 6 and begins conference play 11 days later, at home, against Wake Forest.

Preseason ACC favorite North Carolina plays consecutive home games Nov. 29 and Dec. 2 against Ohio State and Kentucky.

On successive Saturdays, Duke hosts Georgetown on Dec. 2 and George Mason on Dec. 9.

Clemson travels to Old Dominion on Nov. 12. Tigers coach Oliver Purnell is an ODU graduate and former Monarchs coach.

Florida State, denied an NCAA tournament bid last season because of its weak non-conference schedule, plays Pittsburgh, Wisconsin, Providence and defending national champion Florida.

The ACC stages its conference tournament in Florida for the first time, March 8-11 in Tampa.