It’s go time for Cavaliers
By Jay Jenkins
Published: August 8, 2009

Jared Green looked around in disbelief.

It was long before the first horn signaled the official opening of Virginia’s training camp and the practice field was littered with players.

Some were new faces. Others were savvy veterans longing to return the Cavaliers to the postseason.

A season that starts Sept. 5 against William & Mary was weeks away from being kicked off, but the sophomore wide receiver noticed something special.

“It was an awesome day. It really was,” Green said. “It was kind of like a Homecoming [game]. People were out here 20 minutes before practice started.

“I thought I was pretty early and everybody else was already out there. It was sweet.”

It was an encouraging site for Green in a season that will ultimately determine the tenure of coach Al Groh, who has missed the postseason in two of the past three years.

“Our motto right now is redemption. Purely redemption,” Green proclaimed. “We want to do what we have to do to get our name back up to where it used to be.”

With holes on both sides of the ball following the departures of starters at numerous positions, the opening practice centered on tweaking and installing packages.

It will not come over night, but the Cavaliers are happy to have 15 practices left in training camp.

“We have a big task at hand,” Green said. “We know that. But that is the best thing about this.”

Perhaps the biggest news from the opening season centered on the players in camp and not those missing from the field.

While future tackle Morgan Moses, who said he would report to Fork Union in two weeks, was in street clothes, quarterback Jameel Sewell and cornerback Chris Cook participated fully.

Sewell ran with the second-team offense and had an open-field burst that drew raves from teammates.

“It was wild,” said right tackle Will Barker.

Cook, running with the first team alongside cornerback Ras-I Dowling, shined even brighter.

“It was a lot of fun today,” said Cook, now wearing jersey No. 2 for the second chance he seeks.

“I made a couple of plays of course so that made it a lot more fun. I was a little gassed though at some point, but that will come in time.”

Extra points

In-state placekicker Drew Jarrett is in camp as one of the players on the 105-man roster allowed per NCAA rules. … One player that was not in uniform on Friday was offensive lineman Cody Wallace. The would-be freshman from New Jersey has left school due to what was termed as personal reasons. ... Former Virginia defensive end Brennan Schmidt attended practice. Schmidt recently returned to Northern Virginia from a stint in Italy, where he coached a football team. … Former Virginia standout Chris Gould is working out with the Cavaliers’ kickers during training camp.
 

White: A Legend Returns
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 08/07/2009
By Jeff White

CHARLOTTESVILLE - One of the greatest football players in University of Virginia history is back on the team.
Chris Slade's playing days are behind him, but he's been hired as the sideline reporter for UVa football games. He takes over for another former Cavalier, Tim Sherman, who decided not to return this season.
Slade, 38, was the first UVa football player to be named a first-team All-American in consecutive seasons. All but unstoppable at defensive end, Slade set UVa and ACC records with 40 career sacks, 31 of them unassisted. He made the all-ACC first team twice and the second team once and is among the 10 former players to have had their jerseys retired at UVa.
He'll work with play-by-play announcer Dave Koehn and former UVa star Frank Quayle on the game-day radio crew.
"UVa has always been dear to me in my heart," Slade said yesterday at University Hall. "I've always wanted to come back here and do something with the university at some capacity, and when this opportunity opened up, I thought it was a good chance for me to come back."
Koehn said: "While we'll miss Tim, we can't wait to have Chris join our broadcast team. Chris has such a wealth of football knowledge with 10 years of NFL experience and a Pro Bowl on his resume. The fact that he also knows Virginia football inside and out, having played here for four years and worked with a number of the coaches on staff, makes it a no-brainer. We feel like putting Chris on the sidelines is a home run."
Slade will travel from his home in Atlanta to UVa's home and away games. "It's easy," he said. He expects his transition to an on-air role to go smoothly, too.
He had a radio show when he played for the Patriots and also appeared regularly on TV, so this is not foreign to Slade. And he's talked to Sherman about what the sideline job entails.
A native of Yorktown, Slade starred at Tabb High School with Terry Kirby, who then joined him at UVa. After graduating from Virginia in 1993, Slade spent nine seasons in the NFL, the first eight with the Patriots.
Slade, who made the Pro Bowl in 1997, played in Super Bowl XXXI.
In New England's 3-4 defense, Slade played outside linebacker. His position coach - and a mentor - from 1993 to '96 was Al Groh, the Patriots' defensive coordinator. They've stayed in touch through the years.
"He and I have not just an on-the-field relationship, but we've also had a pretty close bond off the field," Slade said. "He was very inspirational in my development as a player and as a person."
Groh isn't the only person Slade knows in the McCue Center. Football administrators Gerry Capone and Tom Sherman worked for George Welsh when Slade played at UVa, and Slade needs no introduction to assistant coaches Anthony Poindexter and Ron Prince.
Moreover, the Wahoos' new linebackers coach, Bob Trott, was on the Patriots' defensive staff in 1993, '94 and '95.
Slade said he's well-versed in the program's recent history. Throughout his NFL career, Slade said, "I kept up with the team closely. I've been very close to the program even before Coach Groh got here, when George was still the coach."
As for the familiarity with the 2009 team, "I know quite a bit," Slade said. "I watched a lot of games last year. I know the scheme, I know the system, I know what they're running defensively."
Slade said he recently sold his Planet Smoothie franchise. He's been working for FBU - Football University - as an instructor at football camps for high school players.
"I hope we can get some of those guys to become Cavaliers," Slade said with a laugh.
 

Morgan Moses up in the air
Commitment to UVa solid for now
By Doug Doughty

As his University of Virginia recruiting class prepares for the start of preseason practice, the plot thickens for Parade All-America offensive tackle Morgan Moses.

Until Thursday, I had never spoken to Moses, who did not meet NCAA requirements for “initial” eligibility.

Ten days earlier, UVa head coach Al Groh had addressed the matter at the ACC Football Kickoff in Greensboro, N.C.

“Morgan will be going to Fork Union this year, which was much the expectation from the start,” Groh said. “He’s very positive about it. The family’s very positive about it.”

Groh was asked if he would have to re-recruit Moses.

“Technically, we do,” Groh said. “He says he’s pretty recruited.”

It sounded like a done deal until a poster by the name of “de-cavs” made a post on the UVa rivals.com site, cavscorner.com. De-cavs matter-of-factly wrote that Moses would be enrolling at Hargrave Military Academy.

In a subsequent phone interview, Fork Union coach John Shuman told me that Moses and his parents had visited Fork Union but had not submitted the paperwork required for enrollment.

Later that day, Hargrave coach Robert Prunty told me that he had not spoken to Moses and would be “extremely shocked” if Moses ended up at Hargrave.

WELL, ACCORDING TO MOSES, he has had a conversation with Prunty.

“That was done, like, a couple of weeks ago,” Moses said Thursday.

It didn’t seem as if Moses was trying to hide anything. When asked if he was going to Fork Union or Hargrave, he responded, “I’m not sure yet.”

Those postgraduate football teams report the same day, Aug. 17, so Moses has 10 days in which to make his decision.

Moses has one overriding concern:

“Really, I’m just trying to get out as soon as possible [and] try and get the stuff done in one semester,” said Moses, whose aim is to enroll at a Division I-A program in January.

“I think I can get it done at both.”

Moses said he remains as committed to Virginia as he was when he signed but didn’t rule out the possibility that he might re-open his recruiting.

“Not sure yet,” he said.

That could hinge on the future of Groh and his staff, who face a make-or-break season after going 5-7 in 2008.

Moses said he doesn’t want to say anything that he will have to take back later on.

WHILE SEARCHING for Moses’ quotes on my microcassette recorder, I came across some unused thoughts from Mark Bendorf, the football coach at Robinson High School in Fairfax, on the day that linebacker Brian Laiti committed to Virginia Tech.

“He’s not the kind of player who was really relishing the attention,” Bendorf said. “It’s not his nature. His feeling was, ‘after September 1, when they’re allowed to call, I’m going to come home from practice fact and I’m going to have all these messages,’ and I think he wanted to focus on his senior season and his schoolwork.

“He’s been recruited since his sophomore year. He’s been down to Blacksburg on at least three occasions. Coach [Bud] Foster, the coach who was recruiting him, was also the linebacker coach and coordinator. He’s seen the success that Cary Wade, Mike Imoh, Jon Kinzer and some of those guys [from Robinson] have had.”

Bendorf put Laiti’s speed in the 4.7 range.

“His strengths are his quickness more than his straight-ahead speed,” Bendorf said. “They’re recruiting him as an inside guy right now but that sometimes changes when you get on campus. He’s a ‘mike’ for us in a 4-3.”

A QUICK CHECK of the virginiapreps.com Web site reveals that the University of Richmond has taken an oral commitment from Andrew Brown, a 6-foot-1, 216-pound linebacker from Jefferson Forest High School in Bedford County.

Brown, a 3.8 student who attracted some Division I-A interest, had 81 tackles (including nine sacks) as a junior at Jefferson Forest, where he played defensive end. Brown picked Richmond over hometown Liberty.

WITH THAT, I’M OFF to Charlottesville for the start of UVa’s preseason practice, where the main objective is to check out who’s there and who’s not there.

I’ve been told that former starting quarterback Jameel Sewell is good to go after a year’s academic suspension, but the Cavaliers have 108 players listed on their preseason roster and only 105 can be in camp.

Groh has said that place-kicker Drew Jarrett, not on the list, will be in camp. So, that’s at least four roster players who won’t be.

Trimming the roster is a bigger deal at Virginia Tech, where there is no room for 15-20 players who participated in spring drills, although they can try out again after the start of school, when rosters can increase.

Virginia Tech’s John Ballein told me that there’s a formula for roster sizes once school begins that is based on Title IX rules. Tech can have 120 players after the start of classes.

I’ll try and get a number at Virginia, but roster size has seldom been an issue at UVa. It says something that the Cavaliers are in position to turn players away because, most years, they’ve been safely under the 105.
 

Peninsula District products getting a chance at U.Va.
By Norm Wood
247-4642
August 8, 2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Since the end of spring practice at the University of Virginia, linebackers Jared Detrick and Aaron Taliaferro — both Peninsula District products — have gained motivation heading into this season from different sources.

While Detrick has gathered advice about how to set a better pace in practice and games from U.Va.'s former All-Atlantic Coast Conference linebacker Clint Sintim, Taliaferro's drive is derived from a well-intended slap to his pride whenever he comes home. It's right there on the wall in the computer room of his stepfather's house.

Blown up to almost poster size is a photo of Taliaferro from last season's 17-14 loss at Virginia Tech. It's the one of him terribly out of position on a 3-yard touchdown catch by Tech's Jarrett Boykin, who was Taliaferro's responsibility on the play.

It's the image that just won't go away.

"He's still got them up there," said Taliaferro, a Gloucester High graduate. "Every time I go home, I see it. It's like a big picture. That really motivates me and gets me focused to really do better this year."

Taliaferro, a 6-foot-2, 230-pound sophomore, realizes his stepfather doesn't have any bad intent by keeping the photo on the wall. It has only served to get Taliaferro fired up for this coming season — something he knows he needs with heavy competition going on at U.Va.'s four linebacker spots.

U.Va. has 15 linebackers in camp this month, including nine freshmen, redshirt freshmen or sophomores. Only senior Denzel Burrell has significant starting experience. Along with Burrell, seniors Aaron Clark and Darren Childs and redshirt freshman Steve Greer are listed atop the preseason depth chart at the linebacker positions.

Taliaferro is playing inside linebacker, a position he was moved to in the spring after playing outside linebacker last season and only getting into the Tech game. He's fighting for a No. 2 spot on the depth chart. He's also slated to play defensive end in the dime package.

Taliaferro admitted having trouble last season in a pretty fundamental area — knowing his role in plays. He said new linebackers coach Bob Trott has been helping him get more comfortable on the field.

"That was my problem last year," Taliaferro said. "I just didn't remember all my plays. Now I'm building a relationship with the coaches and trying to make sure I've got my plays straight."

Detrick, a 6-1, 235-pound junior who graduated from Woodside High, is listed No. 2 on the depth chart at an outside linebacker position, but he worked with the third-team defense for much of Friday's first preseason practice.

After getting in six games last season and logging just 10 tackles, Detrick decided to seek out the counsel of a guy who knew his way around the outside linebacker position at U.Va. He started having conversations and became text-message pals with Sintim.

Sintim, who was selected in April in the second round of the NFL draft by the New York Giants, started 49 games at outside linebacker for U.Va. He finished with 29 sacks, a school record for the position.

Sintim's evaluation of Detrick? Gotta play faster ... a lot faster. Detrick plans to practice this month with Sintim's advice foremost in his thought process.

"I just try to take what he tells me, incorporate it in my game and hopefully get better," Detrick said.

"I really need to be more active out there. Instead of letting things come to me, I've just got to go out there and attack and be more aggressive."

Cavs must find answers
Virginia opens football practice
Date published: 8/7/2009

The University of Virginia opens football practice today in Charlottesville. Staff reporter Taft Coghill looks at five pressing questions for the Cavaliers.

Ninth-year head coach Al Groh has five new coaches on his staff. It's a pivotal year for Groh because he's coming off the third losing season in his tenure, and the University chose not to extend his contract last December.

Groh took over as defensive coordinator after the sudden off-season resignation of Bob Pruett. The biggest change, however, is a shift in offensive philosophy. The Cavaliers will operate a spread offensive attack under first-year offensive coordinator Gregg Brandon. They've yet to bring in a recruiting class with the spread offense in mind, so it could take time to click.

Groh constantly praises senior QB Vic Hall for his leadership and toughness. He said Hall will take the first snap of fall practice today. But the former Gretna High star quarterback has started just one game at the position in college and didn't complete a pass. The ex-CB rushed for 109 yards and two touchdowns in a 17-14 loss to Virginia Tech last season. He showed some passing ability in the spring game when he completed 11 of 16 passes for 98 yards. His potential backups are much more experienced. Jameel Sewell has started 22 games in his career, while Marc Verica started nine last year.

The senior RB was one of the Atlantic Coast Conference's breakout stars in 2007. A memorable performance against Maryland propelled him to a season in which he amassed 972 total yards and 10 touchdowns in just five starts. But he struggled last season, averaging just 3.0 yards per carry through nine games before a broken collarbone ended his season. Simpson's versatility should make him an ideal fit for the spread offense.

The Cavaliers usually have experienced linebackers under Groh, but this year that's not the case. After the graduations of Clint Sintim, Jon Copper and Antonio Appleby, there's a major void at the position. It appears Virginia will have to count on a redshirt freshman (Steve Greer), a player who has started just two games in his career (Darren Childs) and one who is coming off a serious knee injury after just one start (Aaron Clark). This is a position where an under-the-radar player may make a difference.


The Cavaliers haven't had a reliable kicker since Chris Gould departed following the 2007 season. Ex-soccer player Yannick Reyering struggled last season. This season, Robert Randolph and Chris Hinkebein will battle for the job. Randolph converted 3-of-4 attempts last season and all six extra-point attempts, but his longest kick was just 37 yards. Hinkebein handled kickoff duties for a five-game stretch last season, but didn't attempt a kick. If Hall remains a full-time QB, the Cavaliers will need to find a new punt returner.