The state of the program
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: August 2, 2009

EDITOR’S NOTE: Daily Progress sports editor Jerry Ratcliffe had his annual sitdown chat with University of Virginia director of athletics Craig Littlepage to discuss various issues affecting the Cavaliers’ athletic program.

First in a two-part series.

Q. Your mission when you were promoted to director of athletics in 2001 was to build a program that could consistently finish among the nation’s top 10 overall. Having reached the top 10 for the first time this year, how do you feel about it?
Littlepage: I frequently have said in meeting with our donors and friends that we cannot do it without their help. To see what we have done in terms of winning championships in the ACC over the last six or seven years — more than any other school in the conference — and putting ourselves in the top 10 of the Director’s Cup standings this year, was certainly what we had envisioned.

At the same time, I realize that for many people, they will measure ours or any other program’s success, by what you do in football and men’s basketball, and I understand that. Our charge is to continue doing what we have, and for football and men’s basketball to achieve at the levels that not only do we want, but that the coaches and kids who participate in those programs want. I don’t think we’re far away at all.

Q. What did it mean to you personally to meet that top-10 goal? There were no guarantees that you could crack into that select group.

A. There was a certain level of satisfaction in accomplishing the challenge this one year, but I’m even more excited by the challenges that lie ahead and the opportunity to sustain that level of success. This wasn’t something that just happened in one year.

We think that men’s tennis, for example, is positioned to do this for the long term. Same for women’s lacrosse, baseball, rowing, whatever the case may be. There are still things we want to do. There are still areas where we can improve and our goal now is to put together a game plan for what we need to do for all our programs to achieve our full potential.

Q. Speaking of football and men’s basketball, critics will argue that even though both of those programs have enjoyed glorious moments over the past 25 years, that because of the manner in which the University of Virginia is structured, that the environment is not conducive to allowing powerhouses in either one of those sports. Is that a bunch of hooey, or is there validity to that theory?

A. I hear those same questions being asked or same comments being made and I understand why people might feel that way. But I don’t necessarily agree that’s the case.

I think that if you look at Duke basketball or Stanford basketball over a period of time — and, granted, it might be a little different in basketball because you’re dealing with fewer kids — but still, if you look at some of the models in Northwestern and Notre Dame football, I think you can have a sustained level of success in all our programs, including football and men’s basketball at the University of Virginia, even given some of the unique things that exist at UVa in terms of administratively, academically, et cetera.

Q. Some have recommended that some changes need to be made to specifically help those two sports flourish like the other sports at UVa, that they are so different in myriad ways, that they need more help. If some tweaking isn’t done, isn’t Tony Bennett just inheriting the same set of problems that Dave Leitao and Pete Gillen experienced, or Al Groh might be experiencing?
A. I will say that there are any number of people who have ideas about what needs to be done and one of the topics I’ve heard most about over a number of years and received a lot of curiosity, has been about the majors. Are there enough areas of academic interest to meet the needs of student-athletes generally? I would expand that to be a discussion about whether the academic interests of students generally are being addressed, with student-athletes being just a small part of that.

There are probably some things like that which line up better with the student-athletes’ interest, but I don’t think that necessarily those are the things that are going to help make the changes. I think that it’s a matter of things lining up such as having consistency among our coaching staffs, having consistency with regard to the approach and what it is that needs to be done in this particular sport to be not only good, but to be good over a period of time.

I would say the one thing that has helped our overall athletic program generally is that there has been some consistency in the coaching staff. We haven’t had a lot of turnover in the big picture.

Q. If the Board of Visitors or whomever came to you and granted any wishes to empower the athletic department to have whatever it wanted, to make UVa football and basketball annual contenders for the ACC title and make your life easier, what would you ask for?

A. The answer may surprise you, and I feel this sincerely. It would be for a better understanding and a better appreciation for how difficult it is of what we’re trying to do.

We have coaches that are so good at what they do that it might sometimes look easy. But what this group of coaches is trying to do isn’t easy. What Brian Boland has done in men’s tennis is not easy. What Brian O’Connor did this year is not easy. What Dave [Leitao], and Al [Groh] and Debbie [Ryan], and Dom Starsia have done, is not easy.

Q. Elaborate, please, on that thought.

A. If there could be a full appreciation of how difficult this line of work is, coaching in a very, very difficult environment of Division I athletics, and coaching at an institution that demands the kinds of things that are demanded in terms of integrity and doing things the right way, etc., while being in one of the top conferences in the country in so many of these sports is very challenging.

Just for people, whether it’s people within the University of Virginia, or whether it’s in the university community or people connected to the university, who have its best interests at heart, I would say, if they could just understand how difficult it is and how well these men and women are doing in leading our programs — that would be one thing that I would wish for.

Now, there are other things that relate to that, like trying to continue to work on facilities, and I mentioned the topic of the academic programs and academic offerings ... those are very important as well. The respect that goes with seeing these coaches as the leaders, teachers, and educators they are, and respecting them in terms of what they do, that would be a big thing for me.

Monday: Last in a two-part series. Why isn’t Ralph Sampson in the College Basketball Hall of Fame? Could some of UVa’s greatest athletes of the past even get into the school today?
 

Cavs can be optimistic about ‘09
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: July 31, 2009

Virginia coach Al Groh comes from a coaching tree that believes that while it takes more than three things to have a really good football team, there are three certain things a coach has to have above all else: good quarterback play; a good kicker; and a good defense.
That’s what gives the Cavaliers’ coach hope for the upcoming season as he readies for August’s training camp.
A closer examination of Groh’s past eight UVa teams produces significant evidence that his theory has proven correct over the long haul and with three experienced quarterbacks on his roster, the prospects of better place-kicking, and the potential for good defensive play, there’s room for optimism in Camp Wahoo.
The keys to success
Perhaps Groh’s best four teams over those eight years were led by strong quarterback performance, good defense and reliable kicking.
In 2002 and 2003, Matt Schaub was nothing short of spectacular, while Connor Hughes came on strong as a kicker, and the defense was there. Schaub-led offenses compiled more than 5,000 total yards both seasons and the Cavaliers won back-to-back bowl games over strong teams from West Virginia and Pittsburgh.
UVa signed highly-sought after in-state quarterback Anthony Martinez as the guy of the future, but he failed to pan out, leaving the Cavaliers to elevate Marques Hagans to quarterback after he had played various other positions. In his first season behind the wheel, Hagans struggled some, but still led Virginia to eight wins and a loss in the Micron Bowl to Fresno State.
However, Hagans got it going his final season and helped produce 4,509 total yards and a bowl win as Hughes put together a great year and the defense was again strong.
In ’06, Christian Olsen and Kevin McCabe faltered out of the blocks at quarterback as freshman Jameel Sewell was thrust into the picture earlier than he was prepared to do.
The transition from Hughes to Chris Gould was highly ineffective, so two of the three necessary factors to good football teams were missing. Virginia played good defense and still lost, going against the old adage about defense winning championships.
Sewell came on in ’07 and Gould had a terrific year as evidenced in a good win at Carolina where he made 5 of 5 field goals. Usually, 4 of 5 is a good day, but if Gould misses one kick that day, Virginia loses.
So, with decent quarterbacking, good kicking and a very strong defense, the Cavaliers won nine games and were on the brink of winning 10 for only the second time in school history before letting explosive Texas Tech off the hook in the Gator Bowl.
Last year was another rollercoaster ride with the quarterbacking and the kicking was way off the norm. The defense wasn’t as good as the year before, but was good enough to win.
Focusing in, it seems that how the quarterback goes, so goes Virginia’s team over the past eight seasons. That’s one reason why Groh is hopeful.
With Sewell, Vic Hall and Marc Verica all returning with some experience and well suited for a spread offense, there’s a strong belief that quarterback play should be more than solid.
Robert Randolph, who took over the starting kicking duties late last season, returns but could be challenged by preferred walk-on Drew Jarrett of First Colonial. Former UVa defensive coordinator Bob Pruett swore by Jarrett, so it will be interesting to see how the rookie, ranked the No. 12 kicker in the country by Rivals last season, fares.
The defense should be solid, boasting the best UVa secondary since the Ronde Barber days of the mid-’90s, and some experience up front to keep the blockers off of some new starting linebackers. Defensive end Matt Conrath and nose tackle Nick Jenkins were expected to see only 12 to 15 plays a game last season but ended up playing 45 to 50. Their experience should greatly aid the linebackers this time around.
Special teams haven’t been overlooked and that’s a place where Groh and his coaching staff believe they can change the scoreboard. Virginia Tech scored only one more offensive touchdown than did UVa last season, but the Hokies’ “Beamerball,” helped put Tech into the ACC championship game against Boston College. Tech has more of those since 1992 than any other team in the ACC.
Virginia is stressing more production from its special teams this season and with Ron Prince back to direct the effort, the Cavs hope to spring a few surprises on opponents.
What does all this mean?
It means there’s indicators that the Cavaliers could be in store for an improvement. Certainly none of this guarantees success, but as Groh and others in his coaching tree like to say: “the best predictor of future performance is past behavior.”
If that proves true, then Virginia’s got a chance.
 

White: Exam Time for Football Players
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 07/30/2009
By Jeff White
jeffwhite@virginia.edu

CHARLOTTESVILLE – Whoops and shouts of encouragement shattered the early-morning silence outside the McCue Center. Some groans were audible, too.

The occasion was the conditioning test for UVa football players, who have been training this summer under the direction of Brandon Hourigan and his staff. The Cavaliers gathered before dawn today on the practice field – NCAA rules prohibited Al Groh and his assistants from watching – for an exam that began at 6.

As the sun rose, the players ran, and ran, and then ran once more. And when the session ended, around 6:35 a.m., the players quickly dispersed.

“Going back to bed!” one Cavalier yelled to his teammates as he sprinted off the field.

The test consisted of a series of three shuttle runs, with each run covering 300 yards. Players had two minutes of rest between runs. The team was split into four groups: offensive linemen, defensive linemen, big skill (linebackers, tight ends, fullbacks and quarterbacks) and skill (tailbacks, defensive backs and wide receivers).

Each group had a standard to meet, with the offensive linemen given the most time to finish. Those who passed the test – save the true freshmen -- are through with organized workouts until Aug. 7, when training camp opens.

The few players who failed have another date next Thursday with Hourigan, director of the team’s strength-and-conditioning program.

“This is basically the ticket into camp,” fifth-year senior Chris Cook said. “You have to pass this test before you can even start training camp.”

Cook, an all-ACC candidate at cornerback, passed. So did redshirt sophomore Nick Jenkins, the returning starter at nose tackle.

“The summer was great,” Jenkins said. “I feel like I’m in 10 times better shape than I was last summer. Coach Hourigan’s done a great job getting us ready to go for the season. This is the best shape I’ve ever been in my entire life.”

That’s good news for Virginia, of course, but the summer program is designed to do more than get the players ready for the grind of training camp.

At the start of the program, Groh said this afternoon, the coaching staff “emphasized to the players that the two primary goals were to develop the type of mental strength, individually and collectively, that we’ll need to face all the challenges that any season presents, and to develop the type of unity that creates a team rather than just a collection of individuals.”

Grueling workouts foster that sense of togetherness among the players.

“You have some people straggling,” Jenkins said, “and you have some people that are having a tough time making it, but everybody’s out there pushing each other and trying to get them to make it.”

Hourigan, who came to U.Va. in January from the University of Richmond, has seen the team’s personality begin to take shape in recent weeks, a process that will accelerate during training camp.

“You start to see other guys kind of get on other guys,” Hourigan said. “At the finish of that [300-yard] run, for instance, you start hearing guys say, ‘Hey, stand up. Get up. Don’t sit down.’

“For the first part of the summer, that was me saying that on a continuous basis. Now I’ve left my role to them. And what I tell them is, ‘Guys, I’m not playing. You are. This is your team. I’m just giving you the program. It’s up to you to decide what you want to do as a team.’
“So they’re the ones that have to be the generals of the thing, and they’re starting to come together in that fashion."

This time last summer, Cook was out of school and out of the football program while serving an academic suspension.

“I missed it all,” Cook said, even the grueling pre-dawn workouts.

Of the summer workout regimens he’s followed since enrolling at U.Va. in 2005, “this might be my favorite one of all, because we concentrated on keeping our bodies together more,” Cook said. “We’re really not as beat up as we usually are around this time. I feel like everybody feels good about their body and everything going into camp.”

Hourigan wasn’t thrilled with the condition in which some of the incoming freshmen reported, but the class “did pretty well” this morning, he said. “I was happy with the shape that they’ve gotten themselves in since we’ve started.”

The first-year players, who have been training together since early this month, will continue to meet for 6 a.m. workouts with Hourigan until the start of training camp.

“Our principal objective with the rookies,” Groh said, “is to get their legs and their cardiovascular conditioning such that they have a chance to keep up in training camp. That is, we’re not going to get them to a college strength level in three-and-a-half weeks, but we want to narrow the gap” between the newcomers and the returning players.

One of those true freshmen, wideout Quintin Hunter, was heading back to bed as he left the locker room this morning. Bed is where the veterans will be tomorrow morning when Hunter and his classmates report for more conditioning.

“I’m looking forward to getting a chance to sleep in a little bit,” Jenkins said, smiling.

That’s fine with Hourigan, who liked most of what he saw from the players this morning.

“I thought they did great,” he said. “All in all, I think the guys wanted to get this thing done so they can just start prepping for football."


 

Cover models
By Aaron McFarling

Thank you all for gathering here tonight. We've got a great show for you. Abbey Road Live is here. Bucky Bernstein, a world renowned Elvis impersonator, is here. Separate Ways -- that tribute to Journey we all know so well -- is here.

Cover bands as far as the eye can see.

But we know why you're really here. You're ready for the 22nd annual Covey Awards, a salute to the best and worst of ACC football media guide front pages. (If you're not here for that, please leave the Roanoke Civic Center now and go back to Big Ten country. This hackneyed awards show will proceed regardless).

Without further ado, the envelopes please:

Best "Home Improvement" redux: Boston College. Helloooooo, Al Borland! Oh, wait. That's new coach Frank Spaziani grinning on the cover? Never mind.

Best attempt to make a cliche sound inspiring: Boston College again. Our first multiple winner, folks! Unfortunately, splashing "THEY HAVE THE POWER TO SUCCEED BECAUSE THEY ARE CONVINCED THEY CAN" across the top did not convince voters that the Eagles indeed have such power. In the preseason poll, BC is playing pingpong in the Atlantic Division basement.

Most patriotic: N.C. State. Love the Wolfpack if you will, dear media guide reader, but by all means, love America first. So suggests the image of Old Glory in the center of the page.

Best attempt to make up for years of playing a guy at the wrong position: Virginia.

Vic Hall has more than just the No. 1 quarterback job heading into the fall. The former cornerback/special teams performer is also the lead image on the Wahoos' cover, with Will Barker, Denzel Burrell and Mikell Simpson in the background.

Most unlikely cover boy: Denzel Burrell. Forty-eight tackles last year, good for sixth on the team. But he was voted the most improved defensive player during spring drills, so maybe it's breakout time for him.

Most likely to reward Linus' faith: Virginia Tech. "On Halloween night, the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumpkin patch and flies through the air with his bag of toys for all the children." Only this time it's Frank Beamer, fist in the air, rising out of a stack of oranges. The guy looks pretty darn confident. Are Hokie fans the children about to be blessed in 2009? Surely this patch has been sincere enough, hasn't it?

Best in show: Miami. Nice tribute to history here. The front features rings from all five of the Hurricanes' national championship seasons. The back highlights 10 Pro Bowl players currently in the NFL. And the Covey Awards committee is a sucker for the Sportsflicks-style multi-imaging. Extra points awarded for not mentioning the 12-13 record in the Randy Shannon era.

Best choo-choo train: Georgia Tech. They're "full steam ahead" this year. Get it? Sadly, there were no other nominees in this category. Any chance we can get Purdue in the ACC?

Best use of a Xerox machine: Maryland. No cover? No glossy, side-bound media guide? Just 21 double-sided photocopies stapled together in the upper-lefthand corner? I know Ralph Friedgen has been shedding pounds, but nobody said anything about shedding pages from a recruiting tool. Apparently, the Terps are cutting costs, going green and giving up. Or maybe they're just dropping me a hint that I need to bump my alumni donation over $9.38.

Most unenthusiastic fist-pump: Duke. It's good that the Blue Devils got a prominent image of coach David Cutcliffe on the cover this year, rectifying the league's biggest media-guide gaffe of 2008. But that fist-pump -- or hand signal, or whatever it is -- will inspire fans only to skip the game and play Yahtzee.

Best menagerie: Wake Forest. Eleven players on the cover. Not bad at all. See if you can't get a team photo next year, Deacs.

Sweatiest mass of humanity. Bud Thacker, Florida State. This man threatened the Covey Awards committee to give him something, so we came up with that.

Before we go, I'd like to thank Clemson and North Carolina for coming tonight. I'm certain they'll take home an award just as soon as they make their covers more mockable.

Speaking of covers and mockability, please get on your feet and enjoy the following rendition of "Wheel in the Sky."...