White: Training Camp Notebook
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 08/10/2009
By Jeff White

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Of Al Groh's assistants at UVa, secondary coach Anthony Poindexter might be the most animated during practice. But Latrell Scott isn't far behind.
Scott, 34, is in his first year as Virginia's wide receivers coach. During drills, he can be heard exhorting his charges to make cleaner breaks, run sharper routes and work harder after the catch.
"He's not going to settle for mediocrity," sophomore wideout Kris Burd said after practice today.
Scott, a former Hampton University tight end, coached at Fork Union Military Academy, Western Carolina University, Virginia Military Institute, the University of Richmond and Tennessee before coming to U.Va. this year.
"He definitely brings out the best in everybody," Burd said. "He prides himself on toughness, and I feel like our group is getting tougher every day."
In addition to Burd, Scott's options at receiver include Jared Green, Javaris Brown, Matt Snyder, Dontrelle Inman, Staton Jobe, Raynard Horne, Riko Smalls and true freshmen Tim Smith and Quintin Hunter.
Injuries have limited Burd's and Inman's work in training camp thus far, but Burd said he expects to be cleared soon.
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Horne played tailback at UVa before switching to wideout before the start of spring drills. The 6-0, 215-pound junior, one of the team's most explosive athletes, teamed with quarterback Marc Verica on a 21-yard touchdown pass in the April 18 spring game at Scott Stadium.
"It helped my confidence a lot," Horne said. "It let me know I could do the job and help the team win."
Of his move to wideout, Horne said the "hardest adjustment so far is running routes, because you've been catching passes your whole life, but when you play against good corners like ours, it's hard to just jump out and run routes. But I've been working hard with the coach, and the other receivers have been teaching me."
Horne made seven tackles on kickoffs and six on punts in 2008. After the season, he received the George Welsh Special Teams Award for his prowess.
"Special teams is fun," Horne said. "That's what I tell all the young guys. Getting on special teams is the easiest way to get on the field."
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On his teleconference this morning, Groh was asked about the possibility of academic casualties. To stay eligible, several players needed to do well in summer school, which ended late last week.
"While I have not had put on my desk the official grade report," Groh said, "every indication that we've gotten unofficially is that we did quite well."
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Today's practice, the fourth of training camp, was the first one that fans weren't allowed to attend. A special-teams drill Saturday proved to be a crowd favorite.
At one of the field were Virginia's new special-teams coordinator, Ron Prince, and four punt-returners: Javaris Brown, Vic Hall, Javanti Sparrow and Tim Smith. The four took turns fielding punts, but with a twist: Prince told the return man to wait with a football in hand for the incoming punt.
As that ball approached the return man, he was supposed to toss into the air the ball he'd been holding, catch the punt and then gather in the second ball before it hit the ground.
Not surprisingly, this proved challenging. But when Hall pulled it off in spectacular fashion, Groh cheered and then turned to the fans, who responded in kind.
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Tight ends have been featured in UVa's offense throughout Groh's tenure as head coach. Might that change in the spread attack that new offensive coordinator Gregg Brandon has installed?
"Actually," Groh said, "the role in which we have used those players has changed periodically ... based on the skills of the player.
"So some of things that we did with Heath [Miller] were a little bit different than what we did with Tom Santi. What we did with John Phillips was kind of a combination of what we did with the two of them. So whatever we're doing with them right now probably isn't dramatically different than what we have done with them at one time or another during the previous eight years, but clearly there will be a higher percentage of open formations."
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UVa's roster includes three Canadians: sophomore Austin Pasztor and true freshmen Hunter Steward and Brent Urban.
Pasztor, however, played for FUMA's postgraduate team in 2007, and Steward starred for Kellam High in Virginia Beach last year. Urban, a 6-7, 280-pound defensive end, came directly to UVa from Mississauga, Ontario, where he did not face great competition.
Still, Groh said, Urban appears to be "probably somewhat further developed than we might have expected. As we all realize, football's not the national sport of Canada. So while he certainly looks like a football player, maybe many of the people of that population, had they lived in America, would have been playing football, but they were off playing hockey and lacrosse and things like that."
In the videos the UVa staff saw of Urban in high school, the opponents "tended to include quite a few smaller players," Groh said, "and [in college] he's going against, obviously, players that look like him ... But he's very athletic. He was a hockey and lacrosse player besides football, and so that part especially stands out."
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Eugene Monroe's replacement at left offensive tackle, sophomore Landon Bradley, continues to impress.
"Landon learns very well. What [offensive line coach Dave Borbely] teaches him in the meeting shows up [at the next] practice," Groh said. "That's a talent certain players have: the capacity to take input, whether it's initial direction, constructive criticism, reinforcement, and to use that to progress their game."
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Don't expect Groh to name his starting placekicker anytime soon. The candidates are sophomores Robert Randolph and Chris Hinkebein and true freshman Drew Jarrett.
Groh has been pleased with the kickoffs so far, but he said it's likely that "this placement work is going to be a full camp project to find out just where we are and who we're going to do it with."


 

The "Italian Stallion" Returns
Aug. 10, 2009
2:08 p.m.

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Visitors during football training camp have included a highly successful coach, Brennan Schmidt.

That's the same Brennan Schmidt who, beginning with the 2002 season, started a school-record 51 games for UVa at defensive end. Schmidt, 26, wasn't big enough to stick in the NFL, but he's still involved in football.

Schmidt is the head coach of the Napoli Briganti club in Naples, Italy, where American football ranks well behind soccer and other sports in popularity. But his first season with the team could not have been more rewarding for Schmidt.

"It was unbelievable," he said Friday outside the McCue Center. "It was unreal."

He inherited a team that in 2008 had gone 1-7. Schmidt was a one-man coaching staff, but he produce an immediate winner, and he has accepted the club's offer to return as coach in 2010. He'll get a pay raise and be allowed to hire an assistant coach, and after having about 40 players on his roster in 2009 - including the police chief of nearby Pompeii - he expects the number to grow to 70 or 80 next season.

Until he heads back to Italy, Schmidt is working for his brothers' deconstruction and demolition company, Go Green, in the D.C. area.

If UVa fans at the first practice didn't recognize Schmidt, that's understandable. When he played for the Cavaliers, he weighed around 275 pounds. He's probably 50 pounds lighter now and looks more like a triathlete than a defensive lineman.

-- Jeff White

 

Virginia's Groh Goes About His Business
With Revamped Staff, Embattled Coach Says This Season Is 'About the Team'
By Zach Berman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 10, 2009

He left an NFL head coaching post to oversee Virginia's football program, which he has led to five bowl games in eight seasons while annually producing NFL-ready talent at a university with rigid academic standards.

He also has endured two losing seasons in three years, is 1-7 against intrastate rival Virginia Tech and spent the offseason overhauling a coaching staff that has a new coordinator for each unit.

The conflicting views of Al Groh are an undercurrent to the 2009 season, Groh's ninth as Virginia's head coach and perhaps his most important. His contract is set to expire following the 2011 season after Athletic Director Craig Littlepage declined to exercise an option to extend it into 2012 in November.

Speculation about Groh's future at his alma mater is a polarizing topic on Virginia message boards and talk radio in Charlottesville, yet Groh insists his coaching future is not a topic he even considers.

"It's not about me. It's about the team," Groh said. "I don't address it with me, so why would I address it with them?"

Even if Groh does not address it with the team, Virginia's players understand the perception that Groh enters 2009 under pressure to avoid another mediocre season.

"We're very aware of that," senior quarterback Vic Hall said. "We work hard to win games, not only for ourselves but for Coach, because he puts in hours. And a lot of people don't understand how many hours he puts in on his job. He's at the McCue Center day in, day out. Monday through Sunday during the season, his car is never gone. It does create a sense of urgency. We understand that, and everybody is working hard."

The urgency was apparent throughout an offseason of upheaval. After last season concluded with a disappointing 17-14 loss to Virginia Tech that clinched Groh's third 5-7 campaign at Virginia, the coach went through the annual evaluation of himself and the program. He starts with internal analysis, then seeks opinion from those within the program. Groh finishes with outside opinion from those he trusts, likely including confidants such as Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick, Super Bowl-winning coaches with whom Groh has coached.

"I'm fortunate to have as a resource people who have proven to be very good in this game," Groh said, "and I take what they say very seriously."

Changes for 2009 are most evident on the coaching staff. Groh replaced offensive coordinator and son Mike Groh with former Bowling Green coach Gregg Brandon, named himself the defensive coordinator and brought in former assistant Ron Prince, who was fired as Kansas State's head coach, to coordinate the special teams. He also has a new linebackers coach, wide receivers coach, defensive line coach, and strength and conditioning coach, and shuffled the duties of the coaches who previously were on his staff.

The team lost 11 starters, and the Cavaliers were picked to finish fifth in the ACC's Coastal Division -- ingredients that only add to the season's uncertain subplot.

Amid the upheaval, Groh's accomplishments can sometimes be forgotten. He twice has been named ACC coach of the year and produced 28 NFL draft picks at a program with only one major bowl appearance in school history (the Sugar Bowl after the 1990 season).

Plus, Groh's players remain intensely loyal. When the Cavaliers slipped to 1-3 last season, including an embarrassing 28-point loss to Duke, the team could have unraveled. But Groh kept the group together and the Cavaliers went on a four-game winning streak, including victories over Maryland, North Carolina and Georgia Tech, all bowl-bound teams. But that winning streak preceded a four-game losing streak.

"I think fans need to take a real good look at that and see that academics is a precedent at U-Va. Football and sports are second," said Washington Redskins wide receiver Marques Hagans, who played at Virginia for Groh from 2002 to 2005. "So they need to lay off Coach Groh, because for the last [eight] years, he has five or six players in the NFL every year. You can almost go to any team and see players I've played with or players that played before me in the U-Va. program in the NFL. So, I think he's done a great job with the players he's had and [critics] need to get off his back and appreciate the job he's been doing."

Even though his players come to his defense, Groh publicly remains unfazed by the issue. He will say he is coaching this season like any other season -- even amid speculation that it could be his last.

"We see every season as its own season," Groh said, "and we'll leave the assessment to everyone else."


 

Linebacking is Childs play
By Jay Jenkins
Published: August 11, 2009

Without time to consider the magnitude of the situation, Darren Childs sprinted onto the field as fellow linebacker Antonio Appleby hobbled in the opposite direction.
Miraculously, Virginia escaped with a thrilling 16-13 victory in overtime hours later against North Carolina inside Scott Stadium.
Appleby was left with a high ankle sprain. Childs was left with the first meaningful playing time in the base defense in his career, something he relinquished when Appleby returned to the field weeks later.
Childs, now a fifth-year senior, could use his brief stint in the limelight to hang his hat on as he continues to work with the first-team defense.
For now, the team’s lone native of California is too busy.
In a role he would never have imagined to own, Childs is currently teaching understudies how to anchor the middle of the field in a defense that relies on its inside linebackers.
“I am just trying to make this defense better,” said Childs, who had 20 of his 22 career tackles last year. “If that means helping out the younger guys with stuff that I have seen, well, that’s fine by me.”
Childs remains reserved in comments, constantly shying away from chatter about his role on the defense.
That does not come as a shock to fellow veterans.
“He is not a man of many words,” joked outside linebacker Denzel Burrell. “He just likes to let his play speak for himself. Actions speak louder than words.”
Four days into his last training camp, Childs has shown leadership traits that have impressed Burrell, making it apparent that the time shadowing Jon Copper and Appleby paid off.
“He learned an awful lot from those guys,” Burrell said. “It was definitely evident against North Carolina and in some other games when he stepped up and made big contributions.”
What happened last year to outside linebacker Aaron Clark against USC (he suffered a season-ending knee injury) and what occurred with Appleby continues to serve as a reminder to Burrell, Childs and others that depth at linebacker will be needed.
“Hopefully nothing happens like last year, but we realize that we need depth everywhere,” Burrell said. “Last year, we had somebody go down on the outside and somebody go down on the inside. We will need that depth throughout the season.
“Darren is definitely teaching with that in mind. He has taken on an elder role, a fifth-year role and
being more of a teacher. It is paying off for us.”
Despite knowing all summer that one of the starting spots at inside linebacker was his to lose, Childs said he approached the summer training program and training camp with the same mentality.
“All of it has been a lot of fun. I don’t think of it as a lot of pressure,” he said. “I just think of all of this as an opportunity. Really, this is my last one so I am just trying to seize the opportunity.”
Extra points …Virginia coach Al Groh said that he had not received final grades from the final summer session, but all signs point to a promising return. ... Groh praised the advancements of left tackle Landon Bradley, expected to be a first-year starter in place of Eugene Monroe. ... Work on special teams will continue this week, but the biggest praise to date was given to the kickoff unit. ... The Cavaliers’ practice on Thursday, which will start at 2:30 p.m., will be open to the public. It will be the final open session during training camp.
 

White: Singletary Back on Familiar Ground
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 08/10/2009
By Jeff White

CHARLOTTESVILLE - When Sean Singletary is working on his shooting, rebounding for him isn't the most strenuous activity. Mike Curtis, UVa's new strength-and-conditioning coach for men's basketball, can attest to that.
I stopped by the practice gym at John Paul Jones Arena the other day and caught the end of one of Singletary's workouts. The former UVa point guard shot and shot and shot, and then shot some more, with astounding accuracy.
Curtis's job essentially was this: Stand near the basket, collect the ball after it dropped through the net - which happened probably 80 percent of the time - and then pass it back to Singletary on the perimeter.
With summer school over, most of the current Virginia players have headed home for one final break before the start of fall classes. One of the Cavaliers' all-time greats, however, is in town for a few more days, preparing for his second season in the NBA.
Until last week, Singletary had not been back to his alma mater since February, when his number - 44 - was retired in a ceremony at the JPJ. Back then, Dave Leitao was the Cavaliers' head coach and Shaun Brown oversaw the team's strength-and-conditioning workouts, and Singletary was close with both of them.
Leitao and Brown left in the spring, after the coaching change at UVa. Singletary admits it was a little strange not to see them at the JPJ.
"When you first get here, you kind of wonder why things are the way they are, but everything happens for a reason," Singletary said. "I still talk to those guys."
Singletary met Leitao's successor, Tony Bennett, for the first time last week and came away impressed.
"He's a pretty cool guy," Singletary said. "We talked about Charlotte and his career, and how he hopes to build a strong program here, and I have total confidence that he can do that."
Bennett spent three seasons as a backup point guard for the Charlotte Hornets. Singletary spent part of his rookie season as a backup point guard for the Charlotte Bobcats. But Charlotte wasn't his only employer in 2008-09.
A second-round pick of the Sacramento Kings in the 2008 draft, Singletary was traded to Houston that August. Less than two weeks later, he was shipped to Phoenix. Then, in December, the Suns dealt him to the Bobcats.
Singletary finished his rookie year with combined averages of 2.4 points, 0.9 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 0.3 steals.
He recently wore another NBA uniform - that of the Detroit Pistons. In last month's NBA summer league, Singletary averaged 7.4 points, 3.6 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.2 steals in about 16 minutes per game to help Detroit go 4-1.
Will he play for the Pistons this season? That's a possibility, but Singletary's agent is also talking to four other NBA teams. The goal is a guaranteed contract for Singletary, whose self-confidence hasn't wavered.
"I know I can play," he said.
At UVa, he was a four-year starter and a three-time member of the all-ACC first team. In the NBA, he's often been a spectator. Still, Singletary said, he's not discouraged by his professional odyssey.
"I know everything's a business, and you've just got to wait your turn," he said. "Somebody close to me, that played in the NBA and coached in the NBA but is just around the NBA now, said it's like a roulette table. For some people, guys like me, you have to wait till it hits you. Your time's going to come; you just have to wait for it."