UVa takes action on Groh contract
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7247
December 1, 2006

University of Virginia Athletics Director Craig Littlepage decided Thursday to keep the contract of football coach Al Groh as it stands, through Dec. 31, 2010.

Had Littlepage not stepped in, Groh’s multi-year, multi-million-dollar contract would have been automatically extended through the end of 2011.

“A decision has been reached and coach Groh’s contract will continue under current terms with four years remaining,” Littlepage said in a statement Thursday. “The expectations for our program are higher than a 5-7 season.”

Virginia finished its season at 5-7 overall and out of the postseason picture for the first time in five years.

Groh, who boasts a 42-33 record in six years at UVa, was, and will remain, among the highest paid coaches in the country.

Through an annual 5 percent cost-of-living raise, Groh will be compensated $1.87 million in 2007, $1.96 million in 2008 and more than $2 million for each of the remaining years of the deal.

For 2007, $264,600 is included in Groh’s base salary, the figure that would be of main concern to Littlepage.

Should Groh’s contract be terminated “without reason,” UVa “shall be obligated to pay a severance benefit to the coach in cash in an amount equal to his annual base compensation … multiplied by the number of full and fractional years of the remaining term of this agreement as of the employment termination date,” the contract reads.

Had Littlepage allowed the contract to roll over, as it would have today, Virginia’s buyout of Groh would have increased around $321,000 for the 2011 season.

To many, including former Virginia cornerback Marcus Hamilton, the failure of the school to add the extra year is of no consequence. “That’s not a big deal at all,” Hamilton said. “I don’t even think it is a real issue to be honest with you.”

Others, however, fear that the move may hurt Virginia recruiting efforts for the 2007 class and beyond.

Hamilton disagrees. “I don’t think as a recruit that would be much of an issue either,” he said. “As a recruit, you know that it can change at any time. A coach can get fired or hired at any time. That is not an issue, especially since his contract is through 2010.”

For now, the only numbers Groh is crunching concern the 2007 season.

When asked Tuesday how long he would like to continue coaching, the 62-year-old stressed that the upcoming season is “as far into the future” as he is looking.

“I think it’s a real honor and privilege to be the head coach at Virginia,” Groh said. “I love my job. I have a lot of fun. I love the players and the team. I like competition.

“I’m very confident in myself and the team. I think we are going to have a good team next year.”

Littlepage offered a similar assessment.

“Going into the year, many felt it would be a rebuilding year, in that we lost a large number of players that contributed from the 2005 team,” Littlepage said earlier in the week. “In hearing and reading some of the comments by the players and coaches, I know no one is satisfied that we didn’t have more success this year.

“With the experience, however, that has been gained by so many players this year, the outlook for Cavalier football is very good. I think Al Groh and his staff have worked hard at bringing along a young team this year. Their thoughts have already turned toward evaluating this season and preparing for the 2007 season. I believe coach Groh and his staff have positioned the team for success on the field in 2007 and beyond.”

Virginia will lose only four players who started in its final regular-season game, two from defense and two from offense.

While the Cavaliers’ defense ranked 26th nationally in scoring, their offensive counterparts struggled mightily under Groh’s son, Mike, who was in his first season as offensive coordinator. The unit ranks 113th out of 119 programs in total offense.

Rich Jones, a Palmyra resident and UVa fan since 1982, expects to see drastic improvements in 2007 and supports Groh.

“He’s trying to take the program in the right direction and that’s my opinion,” Jones said. “He wants Virginia to be successful and be at the top of the ACC, and for all the fans that stand up and say, ‘He needs to go’ … they don’t understand how a program works.”

Other supporters of the program have complained about the declining attendance figures at Scott Stadium – the Cavaliers averaged 57,732 fans per game, down from 60,973 per contest in ’05 – as ticket prices climb and the Virginia Athletics Foundation seeks increased assistance from donors.

Long-time season-ticket holder Myron Ripley of Charlottesville heard the grumbling reach a new level in Virginia’s final home game against Miami.

“Most people understand that the ‘U’ needs more money to support athletes but sitting in a stadium that had lower attendance throughout the season and a coach who people think is not living up to his compensation left a sour taste in most people’s mouths,” Ripley said.

Hamilton knows that firsthand. For the first time in his four-year career, he heard the boobirds inside Scott Stadium, but he remains certain the best person to revive Virginia’s football program is Groh.

“He is definitely the guy for the job,” Hamilton said. “He taught us a lot and I definitely think he has done and will continue to do a great job.”

 

Cavs making forward progress
Reyering, Cristman provide UVa a lethal scoring combination
By Drew Hansen / dhansen@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
December 1, 2006

ST. LOUIS -- When Virginia forwards Yannick Reyering and Adam Cristman sat down together at a press conference in Charlottesville just before heading off to the College Cup, a reporter jokingly asked if the pair was related.

Sure, both players were wearing matching orange polo shirts and blue jeans. And it certainly didn’t help that they both have blond hair that would make members of a boy band envious.

In truth, the similarities don’t go much further on the soccer pitch. Cristman relies on his speed and mobility to score, while Reyering excels at using his 6-foot-6 frame to get himself in position on long crosses and set pieces.

With their skills combined, the Cavaliers have arguably the best forward duo in the country and now stand just two wins away from the program’s sixth national title.

“Reyering and Cristman, they’re a handful,” said UCLA coach Jorge Salcedo, whose team faces the Cavs in today’s first national semifinal in St. Louis. “They’re guys that are physically strong. Cristman, he’s got good speed, and Reyering has a nose for the goal. They are guys we definitely have to deal with on set pieces as well, broken plays … They’re two of the best.”

Reyering, a sophomore from Germany, has been the Cavaliers’ leading scorer in each of his two years with the team. He has recorded 12 goals to go with eight assists this season and has remained healthy late in the year despite starting 20 of the Cavs’ 21 games.

“The health issue was a big thing last year for me,” Reyering said. “It was kind of different to play two games a week. Usually the seasons in Germany are over a year or like 10 months. So that was a different thing, and I kind of learned from it my first year.”

Cristman, a senior, has 10 goals and five assists on the season and has really come on late for the Cavaliers. The Godwin High product has scored seven of Virginia’s last 16 goals reaching back to a win at Virginia Tech on Oct. 20. Cristman notched a hat trick that game and was named the national player of the week by multiple soccer publications.

“I kind of had a drought at the beginning of the year,” said Cristman of a slow start. “Sometimes the goals start coming, sometimes they don’t. I wasn’t sharp in my finishing. As the season went on, I got more comfortable and relaxed and just played, and the goals started coming.”

The reliable scoring presence of Reyering and Cristman gives Virginia something UCLA has largely lacked.

While midfielder Sal Zizzo has been on a postseason tear for the Bruins, recording 11 points in their last three games, the forward position has been up for grabs up until just recently.

For an idea about how unsteady the position had been for Salcedo’s squad, in Virginia’s 1-0 win over UCLA on Sept. 4, Jason Leopoldo and Andrew Sinderhoff were the Bruins’ starting forwards.

Today, Leopoldo plays in the midfield while Sinderhoff is no longer on UCLA’s official traveling roster.

“We’re a different team in that our personnel is playing different spots on the field and that we have a much better balance,” Salcedo said. “… Our mentality is different - our balance on the field - and I think these guys feel like we’re in a much better spot now than we were [in the loss to UVa].

But Reyering and Cristman give Virginia a constant. Even if one is having the off night that even the best strikers experience, there is always the other side of the field for the Cavaliers.

In fact, in just two of Virginia’s 21 games have neither player found their name in the points column.

“They’re unlike any two forwards in the country, that’s for sure,” said Virginia coach George Gelnovatch.

Today, Virginia will make no secret of what it will try and do on offense. Midfielders Nico Colaluca and Jonathan Villanueva will work the wings and to try create chances for the two forwards.

In facing a talented UCLA squad that appears to be finding its legs at just the right time, the Cavs must get something from its imposing and reliable pair.

“No matter what, this is my last three or four days of playing soccer in college,” Cristman said. “Personally, I am trying to give it everything I can. We have a lot of seniors and older players [who] are feeding off that and ready just to fight and give everything they have.”

 

Diane's play a bright spot
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7247
December 1, 2006

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - During the ESPN highlights of Virginia’s huge upset of Arizona on Nov. 12, one of the station’s anchors mispronounced Mamadi Diane’s name.

After UVa’s second win of the season, a reporter completely botched Diane’s name when asking coach Dave Leitao a question. That didn’t make Leitao happy - and led to one of the most awkward press conferences in sports history.

On Monday, Purdue coach Matt Painter praised Diane, but admitted he had no idea how to pronounce his name.

Maybe one of these days people are going to get the sophomore’s name right.

If the former DeMatha Catholic standout keeps playing the way he has through the first five games of the season, it could be soon.

Diane (whose name is pronounced Mom-uh-dee Dee-on-ee) was one of the few bright spots in Virginia’s 61-59 loss to Purdue on Wednesday night.

The 6-foot-5, 197-pounder played a career-high 38 minutes - more than any other UVa player - and scored 17 points of 7-of-11 shooting. He also had three assists, two rebounds and committed just one turnover.

“I’ve been on him and he’s been working hard,” Leitao said. “But more than working hard, he’s been working consistent. That’s the only way that I know that you can overcome things that may not have been positive for you in times gone by.

“Fortunately for us and him, his consistency and his effort on a day-to-day basis has been paying off in the first few games of the year. He’s averaging more points and averaging more minutes, and is more involved in the game - more emotional. That’s what happens when guys come into programs and work their tails off. They eventually get better.”

Diane is shooting 65 percent from the field this season - a remarkable figure for a guard who has averaged nearly five 3-point attempts per game.

Last season, Diane struggled with his consistency, particularly on the road. His performance against Purdue was definitely a positive development.

“It was [important] for myself and the team - not doing so well on the road last year,” Diane said. “I was just coming in with the idea that this is a new team and we’re a lot better this year.

“This is a step we needed to take to become a good team on the road. It’s just disappointing that we didn’t get the win.”

Although Leitao questioned his players’ mindset following the loss, Diane believes the team has a different mentality than last season when it went just 2-11 on the road.

“We came in here with a lot of confidence and played strong and hard - something we haven’t always done on the road,” Diane said, “so I can tell that something has changed. There is a difference.”

Singletary wanted the rock

One of the most curious postgame developments occurred when Sean Singletary expressed his frustration with not getting the ball for the last shot of the game. Virginia had just 1.2 seconds to go the length of the court. Although he was standing near his own foul line - some 80 feet from the basket with a defender right on him - Singletary wanted Diane to inbound the ball to him.

“I really wanted the ball,” Singletary said. “I knew I was going to make that shot. You can’t get everything you want. I told [Diane] that he has to keep his head up because he played a great game - he had a great second half. He was the reason why we were in the game. He put some buckets up there.”

Diane wound up throwing a pass to J.R. Reynolds near the half-court line that went out of bounds.

“He was down on himself that he didn’t give me the ball,” Singletary said, “but I told him he just had to turn the page. He’s a young guy.”

On the boards

Reynolds and Adrian Joseph didn’t shoot well - they were a combined 5 of 18 - but they each set career highs in rebounds with 9 and 10, respectively. Joseph was making his return to the lineup after missing Sunday’s game against Maryland Eastern Shore with a sprained ankle.

Meanwhile, Jason Cain, who played one of the best games of his career against Maryland Eastern Shore - 22 points and eight rebounds - had just four points and two rebounds against Purdue.

Freshman-itis

After an impressive 16-point, 8-rebound performance against Morgan State, freshman Will Harris has struggled in his last three games, scoring just 10 points total. Against Purdue, Harris played just nine minutes and missed all four of his shot attempts.

Fellow freshmen Jamil Tucker and Jerome Meyinsse didn’t fare any better. Tucker, who was making his return to his home state, had zero points in four minutes. Meyinsse did not play.

 

Sending a message?
U.Va. administration declines its option to extend Groh's pact
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Dec 1, 2006


The University of Virginia has decided against extending football coach Al Groh's contract, on which he has four seasons remaining.

Groh's contract, which he signed before the 2005 season, runs through Dec. 31, 2010. Starting this year -- and continuing in 2007 and'08 -- U.Va. has the option each December of adding a year to the deal.

Had the school done so this year, the length of Groh's contract would have remained at five seasons. If U.Va. decides next December to add a year, the contract would stay at four seasons.

"The expectations for our program are higher than a 5-7 season," Athletic Director Craig Littlepage said in a statement yesterday. "I understand many young players gained their first significant experience during the 2006 season. I believe Coach Groh and his staff have positioned the team for success on the field in 2007 and beyond."

Virginia finished 5-7 this season -- Groh's sixth as coach at his alma mater -- after losing 17-0 to arch-rival Virginia Tech last weekend. Against the Hokies, U.Va. started only two seniors on offense and two on defense.

"I'm very positive, very upbeat, very confident in terms of what kind of team we can have next year," Groh told reporters Tuesday at his end-of-season news conference.

Groh's record at U.Va. is 42-33, including a 10-23 mark in road games. He's 1-5 against Virginia Tech as Virginia's coach.

Another issue that concerns U.Va. officials is declining attendance at Scott Stadium. In 2005, Virginia averaged 60,973 at its six home games and twice drew crowds that exceeded the stadium's official capacity of 61,500.

This season, U.Va. averaged 57,732 at its six home games. After drawing 60,429 to its Sept. 9 home opener, Virginia saw attendance at Scott Stadium drop steadily. A crowd of 54,552 turned out for the Nov. 18 home finale against ACC foe Miami.

The 62-year-old Groh, a 1967 graduate of U.Va., declined to comment yesterday. When the T-D asked him Tuesday about the possibility his contract might not be extended, Groh acknowledged that such a development would not be ideal for him. He added, though, that he didn't believe it would be too detrimental to U.Va.'s recruiting efforts.

When Groh left the New York Jets and returned to U.Va. to succeed George Welsh after the 2000 season, he received a contract that paid him an average of $765,000 annually. The deal he received in the summer of 2005 superseded his original contract and made him one of the highest-paid coaches in college football.

Groh is due to receive about $1.87 million from U.Va. in 2007. His contract includes an annual 5-percent cost-of-living increase.

In Welsh's final season, Virginia went 6-6. The Wahoos dropped to 5-7 in 2001, then advanced to a bowl in each of the next four seasons.

Under Groh, U.Va. is 3-1 in bowls. The Cavs beat West Virginia in 2002 (Continental Tire), Pittsburgh in'03 (Continental Tire) and Minnesota in'05 (Music City). Virginia lost in overtime to Fresno State in the MPC Computers Bowl in'004.

Groh was named ACC coach of the year in 2002 after U.Va., expected to be one of the conference's worst teams, tied for second place. During his tenure, the Cavs twice have finished in the final Associated Press rankings: No. 22 in 2002 and No. 23 in 2004.

 

Lack of inside game already a Cavalier problem
Soroye's shotblocking could help
Doug Doughty

It was hard to keep a straight face Wednesday night when Purdue men’s basketball coach Matt Painter and his players kept referring to their victim, Virginia, as an NCAA team.

Some day, Virginia may play in the NCAA Tournament again. And, it could happen this year. But let’s not forget that this is a team that was picked to finish eighth in a conference that sent four teams to the NCAA Tournament last year.

And, as had been evident even before Wednesday, Virginia still has some issues, most notably the absence of an inside game offensively. When Purdue started covering Virginia’s perimeter players out to 30 feet, the Cavaliers did not score from the field over the final 5:49 in a 61-59 loss at Mackey Arena.

In last Saturday’s print edition of The Roanoke Times, I noted that no ACC football team over the past six years has had a greater disparity between its home record and road record than Virginia. The Cavaliers are 18-6 at home and 7-17 on the road in conference games over that span, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the men’s basketball disparity isn’t as glaring.

You might not get Leitao to admit it, but I thought there were some positives to come out of Wednesday night’s game. In the final minutes, when he twice blocked Carl Landy shot attempts, junior Tunji Soroye showed that he can provide an element that the Cavaliers haven’t had until this point.

Of course, the Cavaliers might have remembered that Soroye is a shotblocker but he hadn’t played in any of Virginia’s first four games while recovering from Nov. 9 surgery for a “sports” hernia. To me, it was significant that he was on the floor at the end of the game.

The fact that Mamadi Diane could go 7-for-11 from the floor, including 3-for-6 on 3-pointers, represented a step forward given his poor road shooting last year. Diane was 1-for-4 to start the game Wednesday night, then made six straight shots before a miss from the lane that would have put UVa ahead by three with 1:40 left.

Leitao declined to point a finger at his two seniors, J.R. Reynolds and Jason Cain, but they need to play better. In addition to going 1-for-7 from the field and committing six turnovers, Reynolds missed both of his free-throw attempts en route to a seven-point night.

Three days after his “breakout” 22-point game against Maryland-Eastern Shore, Cain committed two or three needless fouls and was limited to 14 minutes against the Boilermakers. He never actually fouled out and maybe Leitao was trying to save him for the final minutes, but I’m not convinced that Leitao wasn’t trying to send him a message.

Cain needs to be on the floor because he has the most offensive potential of the UVa big men. Lauris Mikalauskas displayed some nice inside moves last year, but he simply has been robbed of his jumping ability by chronic ankle problems this fall. He played four minutes Wednesday night and did not have a point or a rebound.

Ryan Pettinella, a transfer from Penn, scored four early points against Purdue but he can’t play at the end of games because of his inability to make free throws. Pettinella, who hit 47 percent in two seasons as a Quaker, is 2-for-10 so far this year and his form is scary. He makes ex-Cavalier bricklayer Nick VanderLaan look like Larry Bird.

Pettinella was the only of Virginia’s four 2006 signees to score. None of the freshmen scratched, Will Harris in nine minutes and Indianan Jamil Tucker in four. Solomon Tat was in streetclothes for the fourth straight game while nursing a sore groin.

For the time being, Virginia will have to rely on its veterans, including Adrian Joseph, who hit two 3’s and contributed 10 rebounds against the Boilermakers. When Joseph, Diane, Singletary and Reynolds are on the floor, UVa has four legitimate 3-point shooters and it’s hard to guard all of them.

There will be times when all four aren’t hitting and it might be a good idea to find a way to score inside. Virginia should be able to beat N.C. State on Sunday in Charlottesville, the Wolfpack’s 71-67 victory over Michigan notwithstanding, but winning in Charlottesville hasn’t been the problem.

 

UVa returns to soccer spotlight
It's been a while, but the Cavs are once again flirting with a shot at a championship.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

If former coach Bruce Arena has cast a shadow over the Virginia men's soccer program, it didn't stop successor George Gelnovatch from sitting down for lunch with that shadow earlier this week.

Arena coaches the New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer, but he has a second home in Charlottesville and has had time during the past month to spend time with his old cohorts.

Mostly, they get in little digs at each other, but you won't find Arena mentioning Virginia's five national championships. He knows how hard it was to get there.

"I haven't pulled Bruce aside and asked, 'What's the secret?'" Gelnovatch said. "Not too many people remember that there was a period from 1983 till about '88 when we were losing [NCAA] games in the first round and for a lot of that time we were No. 1 in the country.

"To be fair, Bruce reminds me of that, but he doesn't have to. I was a player [for Virginia] and then an assistant coach. Even for Bruce, there was that stretch. We're not claiming we're going to win the national championship and win the next five, but it is comforting."

Virginia made the NCAA semifinals in Gelnovatch's second year, 1997, but that was followed by four quarterfinal losses before the Cavaliers broke through Saturday in a 3-2 victory over Notre Dame.

UVa (17-3-1) meets UCLA (13-5-4) in the first semifinal at 6 tonight in St. Louis. Game 2 pits Wake Forest (18-3-3) and UC-Santa Barbara (16-7-0).

Virginia played all three teams in the regular season, defeating UCSB and UCLA in Charlottesville during a one-week stretch before ACC play got under way. Wake beat the Cavaliers twice, including a triple-overtime affair in the conference tournament decided by penalty kicks.

That didn't prevent UVa from earning a No. 1 seed playing three NCAA tournament games at home, where they were 14-1.

The seeds for this season were planted in 2005, specifically when Clemson defeated UVa 4-1 in the first round of the ACC tournament.

"We hadn't lost a game in the first round of the ACC tournament in 10 years," Gelnovatch said. "That game was a slap in the face for all of us, not just the loss but the way we lost.

"It wasn't so much the embarrassment as the feeling that a lot of guys on the field were hiding. I felt our leadership, starting with me, wasn't good enough. There were some things, from my end, that game really brought to the surface."

Here's how Ryan Burke, the Cavaliers' starting goalkeeper for 312 seasons, described it:

"That was our proverbial 'hell.' It was probably one of the worst moments of my life. The coach and the players were on different pages. He ripped into us and rightfully so."

Gelnovatch isn't sure how much he changed, but he has emphasized team building. Prior to Saturday's quarterfinal, he brought his players into the locker room earlier than usual and gave each of them 30 seconds to say what he was going to contribute to Virginia winning.

Prior to a regular-season game at Virginia Tech, Gelnovatch asked each of his players to say something about a teammate.

"We had lost two games in a row, to North Carolina and Duke," Gelnovatch said. "Tech had beaten us two years ago down there and again last year at home. It was their senior night and they were sold out. Winning there was one of the games that headed us in the right direction.

"We're happy with where we are as a team right now. It's as talented a team as I've had here and that includes the 2001 team that was unscored upon in ACC competition."

Seldom have the Cavs enjoyed the kind of firepower they have this year with 6-foot-6 Yannick Reyering and 6-2 Adam Christman, described by Gelnovatch as "unlike two other forwards in the country."

At one point, a UVa trip to the College Cup wasn't complete without a championship. There might not be as much pressure this time.

"I'm not content just to get to the final four, then roll over and go away," Gelnovatch said, "but there is a sense of achievement, of getting the monkey off your back, of breaking down the barrier."
 

U.Va. won't extend Groh's contract
dslater@dailypress.com 247-4641
December 1, 2006

The University of Virginia's decision on Thursday to not add a year to football coach Al Groh's current multi-year contract means the school would owe Groh less money if it fired him for on-field failures. Groh's contract stipulates that if Virginia fires him for not winning, it must pay him for every year remaining on the deal.

Groh signed a contract before the 2005 season that runs until Dec. 31, 2010. The contract includes a provision that gives Virginia the option to lengthen the deal by one year after the 2006, 2007 and 2008 seasons. Virginia officials, specifically athletic director Craig Littlepage, had to decide by Thursday whether to extend Groh's deal to Dec. 31, 2011.

The Cavaliers finished this season 5-7 after losing to Virginia Tech for the fifth time in Groh's six years. The Cavaliers missed a bowl for the first time since 2001, Groh's first season, when they also went 5-7. If Groh coaches through the end of his contract, he will be 66 when the deal expires.

"The expectations for our program are higher than a 5-7 season," Littlepage said in a statement. "I understand many young players gained their first significant experience during the 2006 season. I believe Coach Groh and his staff have positioned the team for success on the field in 2007 and beyond."

For the 2005 season, Groh's contract boosted his annual earnings from $765,000 to $1.7 million, making him one of the nation's highest-paid coaches. He receives a 5-percent cost-of-living raise every year, which increased his pay to $1.79 million this season and $1.87 million for 2007.

Littlepage declined to comment further. Groh refused to comment through an athletic-department spokesman.

"There's high expectations with the contract he's working under up there," said one influential donor who wished to remain anonymous because of his ties to the athletic department. "So far, his results have been below expectations. ... I think people are fairly uniform in saying we haven't gotten our money's worth so far."

The decision to not extend Groh's contract was expected among those close to the department, the donor said, adding that a critical decision will come after next season, when Virginia has another chance to extend the deal by one year.

"The thing that makes it tricky is what happens if you don't extend it next year?" the donor said. "That's tantamount to firing him. ... You're basically a lame duck if you've got three years left. ... It's gonna be harder to recruit because (recruits) are not gonna know that he's gonna be there for four years.

"I don't really know what the magic answer is in terms of next year. Is 7-5 acceptable? I can tell you another losing record's not acceptable. I can tell you not making a bowl is not acceptable. I think something that shows forward progress ... 7-5 is probably acceptable."

The 2006 season was the first in which Groh had all of his own recruits. But many observers, perhaps Groh included, saw it as a rebuilding year for Virginia, which lost from the 2005 team its quarterback, tailback, three starting offensive linemen, field-goal kicker, one defensive end and both inside linebackers.

The Cavaliers' inexperience betrayed them at times, as they had a losing record for the second time in 20 years.

For the first time since 1982, they failed to beat a team that finished with a winning record. Virginia's offense struggled under first-year coordinator Mike Groh, Al's son, and ranked 110th of 119 Division I-A teams in scoring. Al Groh is now 42-33 at his alma mater, 10-23 on the road and 25-23 in the ACC.

Virginia drew an average of 57,732 fans for home games - 3,768 shy of capacity. Attendance figures likely took a hit because several visiting teams returned large chunks of their ticket allotments, but Virginia's season average was 3,241 lower than last year and its lowest since 2002.

Groh said several times that Virginia was playing the 2006 season with its 2007 team. The Cavaliers lose just three starters, and Groh redshirted 15 of 16 true freshmen. Virginia next fall is scheduled to bring in 18 current high school seniors and several players who played this season at prep schools. Recruiting Web site Rivals.com ranks the class ninth nationally.

"I'm very positive, very upbeat, very confident in terms of what kind of team we can have next year," Groh said Tuesday. "We've got more work to do, obviously. If it was all in place right now, then we would've had some different results."

Groh made it clear that no one is willing to work harder than he is to fix Virginia's problems.

"If there was a way to work harder, then the next step for us probably would be the insane asylum," he said. "For all that nice stuff about working hard, there are no medals for trying."

Groh's personality - at times brash, at times prickly - has received mixed results from those close to the athletic department. "When you're arrogant and you really don't have a reason to be arrogant," the donor said, "or you're short-tempered and you don't have a very pleasant demeanor or disposition, then you open yourself up to an opportunity to be criticized unless you're successful. I think the university knew what they were getting when they hired him. And people seemed to embrace that type of bravado when we were winning. But if you don't put up the results, then people get tired of it."

At end of season, Cavs look ahead to next year
After a rocky year featuring new coaches, players, Virginia hopes for a more stable performance in future
Barney Breen-Portnoy, Cavalier Daily Senior Associate Editor

For the first time since 2001, Virginia coach Al Groh won't be preparing for a bowl game during the month of December. But that doesn't mean he won't be hard at work. Groh has already been back in the office since Sunday assessing the state of the program and will soon be heading back out on the recruiting trail.

This off-season will see much more continuity in the Virginia program than last winter. After finishing the 2005 season 7-5 with a 34-31 win over Minnesota in the Music City Bowl, Groh had to hire new offensive and defensive coordinators as well as deal with the loss of such talented players as Marques Hagans, D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Wali Lundy and Connor Hughes, to name a few.

This year, it appears that the coaching staff will remain intact and there will be far less of a talent drain from Virginia's roster.

"We went through one of the cycles that lots of teams go through," Groh said. "Unless you're one of those fortunate teams that pretty much play on a downward slope, teams in most sports and most levels go through certain cycles. We lost a lot of high-end talent at this time last year, so that created the part of the cycle that we were going through this year. Some of it was just talent going through the learning process."

The main reason that Virginia posted an unsatisfactory 5-7 record this season was an anemic offensive attack. The Cavaliers averaged a mere 15.08 points per game, 110th out of 119 Division I-A football teams.

"It was definitely frustrating," redshirt freshman quarterback Jameel Sewell said. "We were shut out twice this year. That's not the way we're supposed to play."

There were some signs of improvement, however, towards the end of the season, especially on the offensive line. The Cavaliers were unable to notch over 100 yards rushing in the first four games of the season. Virginia's young line struggled to gel and learn new offensive line coach Dave Borbely's zone-blocking scheme. Over the last eight games, however, the Cavaliers accumulated over 100 yards six times.

Virginia's rushing offense, however, still ended up ranked 100th in the nation, at 99.92 yards per game.

"It's a lot of motivation to get better during this off season," sophomore left guard Branden Albert said of the poor statistical showing. "But during the season, we did get better as a team and as an offense. I think if we had played like we did during the last few weeks at the start, we would have had a better year."

Virginia's passing game also finished 100th nationally at 157.3 yards per game. The early portion of the season was dominated by an unsettled situation at quarterback as senior Christian Olsen was benched in favor of junior Kevin McCabe, who was then benched in favor of Sewell. Sewell got his first start in the 21-7 loss at Georgia Tech Sept. 21 and started every game thereafter.

The Richmond native finished the season having completed 143 of 247 pass attempts for 1,342 yards and five touchdowns. He rushed for 200 yards and four touchdowns while also throwing six interceptions and getting sacked 30 times.

Sewell had several strong performances at home but struggled mightily on the road, especially in shutout losses at Florida State and Virginia Tech.

"It's been a lot of baby steps," Sewell said. "I had a couple of good games. It's been an up-and-down roller coaster season."

Virginia's defensive play was the highlight of an otherwise middling season. The Cavaliers finished the season ranked 20th nationally in total defense, yielding 289.5 yards per game. Virginia posted two shutouts, over Duke and North Carolina, and carried shutouts into the fourth quarter of two other games -- N.C. State and Miami.

Sophomore inside linebacker Jon Copper led the Cavaliers with 81 tackles. Defensive ends Jeffrey Fitzgerald and Chris Long combined for 24 tackles for a loss, 35 quarterback pressures and 10 sacks. Fitzgerald also made two interceptions and returned a fumble for a touchdown.

"There is definitely optimism and we're encouraged by it, but we're not satisfied," Long said. "We know that we can get better. We've got to stop giving up so many big plays, and we've got to stop the run better."

After falling to 2-5, some teams would have folded. But Virginia kept fighting and finished the season winning three of their last five games, including Virginia's first-ever win over Miami.

"The whole last half of the season, we fought real hard so nobody should be hanging their heads," senior cornerback Marcus Hamilton said.