U.VA. NOTES
By Staff Reports
Published: December 10, 2008

Rollover provision in Groh's contract ends
In 2006,'07 and again this year, the end of the regular season brought a public judgment by U.Va. athletic director Craig Littlepage on Al Groh's performance as football coach.

Littlepage had until Dec. 1 each year to extend Groh's contract by one season, and his decision was announced to the media.

No such announcement will be required in 2009. The rollover provision in Groh's contract was an option only in 2006,'07 and'08. If Littlepage decides next year that he wants Groh to coach at U.Va. past the 2011 season, the contract will have to be reworked.

In 2006, after U.Va. finished 5-7, Littlepage declined to add another season, thus reducing Groh's deal to four years.

In 2007, after Groh was named ACC coach of the year, his contract was extended through Dec. 31, 2011, keeping its length at four years.

This year, after the Cavaliers finished 5-7 again, Littlepage opted not to extend the contract, leaving Groh with three years.

Groh wanted a fourth year and argued that he needed it for recruiting, but he was not willing to reduce the amount it would cost U.Va. to buy out his contract if the school chose to fire him.

Sintim, Monroe to be honored tomorrow
Two former U.Va. football stars will be among those honored at the Dudley Award banquet tomorrow night in Richmond.

Linebacker Clint Sintim is one of three finalists for the Dudley, given annually to the top player in the state.

Offensive tackle Eugene Monroe has been named the state's offensive lineman/end of the year by the Touchdown Club of Richmond.

Monroe was named to the all-ACC first team last week, and Sintim was a second-team pick.

Lee-Davis alum may be in line to be WR coach
With this week's staff changes, Groh is looking for an offensive coordinator, a quarterbacks coach, a running backs coach and a defensive line coach.

Wayne Lineburg, who recently completed his second season as U.Va.'s wide receivers coach, worked with running backs at William and Mary and the University of Richmond before returning to his alma mater last year.

Groh's options include shifting Lineburg to the running backs. If that happens, a candidate to replace Lineburg as receivers coach might be Latrell Scott, who's now at Tennessee.

Scott, 33, played football at Lee-Davis High, Fork Union Military Academy and Hampton University. A well-regarded recruiter, Scott has coached at FUMA, Western Carolina, Virginia Military Institute, UR and Tennessee.

Phillies' skipper to talk at baseball fundraiser
U.Va. baseball coach Brian O'Connor has landed another marquee speaker for his team's annual fundraiser: Charlie Manuel, manager of the World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies.

The seventh annual Step Up to the Plate benefit will be held Jan. 31 from 6 to 9 p.m. at Memorial Gymnasium. A pre-event reception will start at 5 p.m. A buffet barbecue dinner will start at 7 p.m.

For ticket information, call (800) 542-8821 or visit VirginiaSports.com. For information about the event or to reserve a table, call (800) 626-8723.

Starsia looks close to home
As the quality of high school lacrosse in this state continues to improve, U.Va. is taking advantage of the expanding pool of prospects.

The class that Virginia men's coach Dom Starsia landed last month included defenseman Howie Long, a senior at nearby St. Anne's-Belfield School. And the Cavaliers already have three commitments from Virginians in the Class of 2010.

The latest is from STAB attackman Owen Van Arsdale, who has been an unofficial member of the program since he was in elementary school. His father, Marc Van Arsdale, is Starsia's top assistant. The elder Van Arsdale played on four NCAA Division III championship teams at Hobart.

Another STAB junior, goalie Austin Geisler, committed to U.Va. in October. The first member of the Cavaliers' 2010 recruiting class was Garrett Swankowski, a defenseman from Loudoun Valley High. -- Jeff White

 

A "natural" for Virginia staff/Doug Doughty/Hokie Times

I heard Latrell Scott's name mentioned in connection with the Virginia coaching openings so I called John Shuman, for whom Scott played and coached at Fork Union.

Scott most recently was on Phillip Fulmer's staff at Tennessee, having followed his former University of Richmond boss, Dave Clawson, when Clawson elected to become the Vols' offensive coordinator.

Fulmer has been replaced by Lane Kiffin, so who knows what becomes of the Tennessee staff, although Scott was seen at FUMA's combine on Tuesday in a Tennessee jacket.

Scott, who is in his early 30s, played at Hampton University following a postgraduate year at Fork Union and later coached at Fork Union, Western Carolina, VMI and Richmond.

"I'll tell you who Latrell Scott is," Shuman said Wednesday. "Latrell Scott is Mike London. He's enthusiastic, he's a motivator, he gets along with African-American kids, he gets along with white kids. That would be a great fit.

"Put Latrell Scott and Anthony Poindexter together and look out!"

Scott has been a receivers coach almost exclusively and UVa has a respected receivers coach, Wayne Lineburg, but Scott and Lineburg have worked together before.

When both were on the Richmond staff, Lineburg coached running backs and Scott was the receivers coach under Clawson.

What if all three could be reunited, with Clawson as the offensive coordinator?

"That would be awesome," Shuman said.

The word on Clawson is that he might be gun-shy after a one-year stint at Tennessee and would be leery of joining a Virginia staff that might not be set for the long haul.

Clawson might end up at Division I-AA, non-scholarship Yale, which would make sense. He's a 1989 graduate of one of the nation's premier academic institutions, Williams College.

What would John Casteen think about that?

But what if Clawson weren't available?

"I'd hire Latrell Scott to coach the receivers and Danny Wilmer to coach the D-line," Shuman said. "If you could do one thing that would mess up the Virginia Tech people, that would be it."

In my opinion, Al Groh should have kept Wilmer when he took the job in 2001. If Groh were to approach Wilmer now, I don't know if Wilmer would be interested, but he does live in Charlottesville.

If Bob Pruett can land Tim Smith and five other recruits from Tidewater at age 65, that says something about born recruiters.

Assuming Groh doesn't go down that unlikely path, how's this for a possible D-line coach: John Shuman. I can't remember if Shuman was on the offensive line or defensive line at VMI, but if he wasn't a defensive lineman, at least he was blocking them.

Plus, if John Shuman were on your staff, it might help your chances with his younger son, Mark, a 6-6, 250-pound junior who might be the state's top line prospect. Having snubbed his older brother, Ryan, who proved his worth at Virginia Tech, that's the only way Virginia would get a look from Mark.

 

Ousted Belin looks to set record straight
By Jay Jenkins
Published: December 11, 2008

In the eyes of Levern Belin, there was failure to communicate.
According to a released statement from Virginia coach Al Groh on Monday, Belin was one of three assistant coaches that “stepped down” from his post.
Groh also stated that Belin, the program’s defensive line coach, and former offensive coordinator Mike Groh would “pursue career opportunities.”
Belin balked at those claims and stopped short of saying that Al Groh was forced to make the staff changes.
“Just get the record straight ... I did not step down, nor was I seeking other opportunities,” Belin said. “I love Charlottesville and UVa.”
Belin, who was recruited to play football at Wake Forest by Al Groh, joined the Cavaliers’ coaching staff in 2005 after a one-year stint at Northern Illinois.
Yet after Virginia finished 5-7 this season and in fifth place in the ACC’s Coastal Division — ahead of only Duke, a team that beat the Cavaliers 31-3 — staff changes were unavoidable.
That led to Belin receiving his walking papers with “compensation” based on his time with the university.
The news for Belin was just another chapter in a heart-wrenching patch in his life. While an assistant coach at Virginia, Belin’s father was killed in an automobile crash in North Carolina. In 2007, one of his twin sons died at birth, keeping the coach from the season-opening contest at Wyoming.
“My dad died while I was here and my firstborn son died while I was here,” Belin said. “Never once did I not think about how much I loved my players at UVa.
“While I disagree with the situation, I know the truth. God will
always take care of his children.”
As tumultuous as the times may have been for Belin, former nose tackle Allen Billyk said he always placed his players first.
“He has had some unfortunate things in the past couple of years and I think that really shows his character since he is able to push that stuff aside for a while and concentrate on football, however small that is at times,” Billyk said. “He had family stuff going on and he never lost focus trying to make us a better team.”
A devout Christian, Belin said he would press on and wanted his former players to know his admiration for them.
“Understand this ... the joy I have, no man can take away, much less a job,” he said. “To the players: I love you all and best wishes.”

 

Former Virginia helper now new foe
By Whitey Reid
Published: December 11, 2008

When Virginia coach Dave Leitao made it to the NCAA Tournament two springs ago, Dave Paulsen was as giddy as a kid on Christmas morning
“I was going to my mailbox every day thinking, ‘This is the day Leitao sends me a T-shirt,’” said Paulsen, laughing. “Every day I kept waiting.”
Paulsen, then the coach of Williams College, never received his NCAA keepsake — but there’s no doubt he experienced a much greater reward when he watched Virginia advance to the second round of the Big Dance.
After all, UVa was using his motion offense.
It was just before the 2006-07 season when Paulsen came down to Charlottesville on the recommendation of former Virginia assistant Rob Lanier — who had seen one of his DVDs — and helped Leitao install his system.
“I had been locked in for so many years into a structured offense,” Leitao said. “We ran [the structured offense in 2005-06] and had a lot of problems because what I didn’t realize about the ACC is that everybody pressures the ball and denies the wings and forces you out of your offense.
“A good counter to that is motion because it’s unpredictable.”
Paulsen’s offense, which incorporates principles from numerous styles of play, is exactly that. Now the coach at Bucknell, Paulsen calls his system a “hodgepodge” that has evolved throughout the course of his 20-year coaching career.
“It’s a little bit of something that North Carolina tried to do with Dean Smith. You’ve got elements of what Dick Bennett did at Wisconsin, and a little bit of the things I like with the Princeton offense,” explained Paulsen, who has also given some pointers on the offense to the Rhode Island and New Hampshire programs in the last few years.
According to Paulsen, his system has components of Memphis’ dribble-drive-motion offense, although, he says, those features were present long before they became popularized by the Tigers.
One of the biggest staples of Paulsen’s offense (and Virginia’s) is the reliance on dribble penetration. Paulsen feels that defending dribble penetration is the hardest task for an opposing defense because it forces players to rotate.
“When I was coming up through high school and college, I was told to use my dribble judiciously,” said Paulsen, who started his coaching career as a graduate assistant for former Michigan coach Steve Fisher. “We’re trying to tell our guys to use the dribble aggressively. I think that’s a big concept change.”
Leitao said many things drew him to Paulsen’s offense.
“What he has is a very simplistic way of playing that puts four guys on the perimeter and one guy on the interior and allows — with rules — players to make plays and make decisions that is contrary to what a scouting report can take away,” Leitao said.
In laymen’s terms, Leitao says Paulsen’s system is about playing “advantage basketball.”
“The best way to do that is to get the ball by your man any way you can — by screening, dribble penetration, passing, whatever — and play against help defense,” Leitao said. “Now you have the advantage. It becomes 5-on-4.”
Leitao said Paulsen’s offense was fairly easy to pick up.
“It made great sense to me,” he said. “It was simple. Motion can be complicated. I knew if I didn’t understand it, then the players wouldn’t either. So I needed something that I could grasp and they could grasp, so that’s how it evolved.”
When executed well, Paulsen — who won the 2003 Division III national championship at Williams —
believes his offense is the most fun way to play. One of the keys to its success, Paulsen says, is having players with high basketball IQs.
“If you don’t have that, then there are times when you run the motion offense and it looks like you’ve never practiced,” said Paulsen, who is 2-6 in his first year at Bucknell. “There is some danger.”
Last year’s Virginia team — without sharpshooter J.R. Reynolds — was certainly a testament to that, although the majority of UVa’s woes stemmed from its defensive ineptitude.
It was just prior to last season when Paulsen returned to Charlottesville to give the Virginia coaching staff additional feedback —and to make Leitao pay up.
“I made sure to bust Leitao’s chops something fierce,” said Paulsen, laughing, “so I got a pair of sneakers and a basketball shirt.”
Several months later, Paulsen — who used Leitao as a reference on his resume — got much more when he landed his first Division I job at Bucknell, beating out, among others, Virginia assistant coach Bill Courtney, a Bucknell graduate.
“At Williams they had a lot of success — they were in the Final Four and won a national championship, and were a good program for a lot of years,” Leitao said. “Obviously it’s paid off for him.”
Now, Leitao is hoping Paulsen’s system pays off for Virginia.

 

QB Schaub bounces back with career-best game
Advertisement
Text size: small | medium | large
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: December 11, 2008

HOUSTON -- Matt Schaub's season hasn't gone according to plan.

The Houston Texans quarterback and former University of Virginia star had a virus requiring hospitalization that cost him one game, and a below-the-knee hit that kept him out of four more.

Now he's back, and throwing for a franchise-record 414 yards to lead his team to its third straight win. His performance in Houston's 24-21 win over Green Bay was the first 400-yard passing game in team history and his third game with more than 300 yards this season.

Coach Gary Kubiak was impressed with Schaub in his comeback, especially considering the freezing temperatures.

"I don't know if I could imagine any quarterback going in there in that temperature and in that place and throwing for 414 yards," Kubiak said.

Rookie left tackle Duane Brown said Schaub's return gave the entire team a boost, and though he was on the field with the quarterback, he was in awe of his work.

"To come off of an injury and do what he did was incredible," Brown said. "I really didn't realize how good it was until I saw it on TV and I was just like: 'Wow.' He didn't skip a beat."

It was a big step for Schaub, who the Texans believe is the quarterback to turn this struggling franchise into a winner, but whose two seasons in Houston have been marred with inconsistent play and injuries.

"It was important for me to get back out there and be with my team and to get back as soon as I could," said Schaub, who campaigned to return a week earlier. "It was a great game for myself and for our team."

Schaub has missed 10 full games and parts of four more due to injuries and illness in the last two seasons.

"I think he can be a very good quarterback in this league," Andre Johnson said. "When he's healthy he goes out and puts up numbers. I think that's the biggest thing, since he's been here, we just haven't been able to keep him healthy."

Johnson missed seven games last season and that absence, coupled with Schaub's injuries, has limited the duo to just 12 full games together since the quarterback arrived in Houston.

Johnson, second in the NFL with 1,201 yards receiving, wistfully thinks about the possibilities if they could be on the field together for a full season.

"You wish you could be out there all 16 games, but sometimes that just doesn't happen," he said. "I would like to see how things would end up if we all could play 16 games without any injuries."

When healthy, Schaub's been up and down. He threw five interceptions and fumbled three times with one touchdown in the first two games this year. Then he hit for three scores and had no interceptions the next week.

Kubiak believes Schaub can become an elite quarterback if he can avoid injuries and play more consistently.

"He's capable of being a top-five guy in this league," Kubiak said. "Now, staying healthy and playing within the system, protecting the ball, those are the things that are going to tell you if he can be great along the way. But obviously, when he's had a chance to do it, he's done it pretty darn good."

Schaub, who has 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions with 2,176 yards this season, was encouraged by Kubiak's comments.

"It's a tremendous confidence boost to know your head coach has that much confidence in you," he said. "(But) it's just about going to work every day and getting the team ready and getting myself ready to play and just executing our game plan."

Schaub's return, coupled with the development of the running game behind rookie Steve Slaton, has the Texans ranked third in the NFL in yards per game (381.5). It's the most prolific Houston's offense has ever been, besting last year's 14th place finish, the previous high.

Now Schaub and the Texans prepare for their second meeting with AFC South champion Tennessee. Schaub had his worst outing of the year in Game 1 with the Titans, throwing three interceptions with no scores and fumbling twice in the 31-12 loss.

The Titans remember that game, but they also saw what he did to the Packers and vow that he won't do that to them.

"We're going to have to go in there and look to shut them down and not let them gain ... and just embarrass us like he embarrassed Green Bay," Titans defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth said.

Schaub, who wears a large brace on his left knee, was taken down once last week. Haynesworth and the Titans plan to "get after him" a lot more this week.

"That's our game plan," he said. "Hit the quarterback as many times as we possibly can. He'll start cringing before you even get there ... we want the quarterback to think about us and not think about throwing the ball down the field."
 

Surviving Q-school’s gauntlet: Wigger earns Tour card with playoff birdie putt
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: December 11, 2008

Anyone looking for Leah Wigger this week will have to go to her new address: Cloud Nine.
The former Virginia women’s golf star earned her LPGA Tour card last Sunday, and she did it the hard way. Wigger had to sink a pressure-packed birdie putt on the second hole of a sudden death playoff for the last spot on the Tour.
Only the top 20 finishers in the LPGA’s Final Qualifying Tournament are awarded full Tour status for 2009, meaning Wigger realized the full pressure of
Q-School, a 90-hole competition between 140 hungry golfers over a five-day stretch.
After what the former Cavalier described as the most nerve-wracking, hardest week of her life, she decided to get away from the pressure and rest before planning for her first year on the LPGA Tour, which resumes play in February.
Wigger actually thought she had missed her chance of earning her card after her fifth and final round (70, 75, 66, 72, 73) as she finished at 4-under 356. When she learned there was a four-way tie for the final two spots, she was relieved and quickly refocused for the playoff at the par-72 LPGA International
Champions Course in Daytona Beach, Fla.
“It was emotionally draining to think that I had missed it by one shot,” Wigger said. “It would have been easier to accept if it had been two or three shots, but one shot was so close to getting my card. I was just thankful that I had a second chance.”
Wigger and three other golfers were tied for the final two spots as South Korean Chella Choi birdied the first playoff hole to claim her card. Wigger and the other two players, Allison Hanna-Williams of Oregon and Nari Kim of South Korea, moved on to the second playoff hole, where Wigger sank a 10-foot uphill birdie to end the competition.
“Yes, there was pressure standing over that putt, knowing that getting my card depended upon me making it,” Wigger said. “But I had a good read on it from an earlier chip. I knew the putt was going to be moving left and I said, ‘If it goes in, it goes in,’ and it did.”
She raised her fist triumphantly and breathed a sigh of relief. The pressure was gone. Her immediate thoughts quickly turned to her competitors.
“I really felt bad for the other two girls because they wanted it just as badly as I did,” Wigger said.
The entire week was a positive experience for the 24-year-old native of Louisville, Ky. She had enjoyed a strong season on the Duramed Futures Tour, where she netted five Top 10 finishes, including her first tournament win, and made 13 of 14 cuts, ending the season eighth on that tour’s money list ($36,719). While she already had a conditional LPGA card that allowed her to play in some events, Wigger set her sights on attaining full Tour status.
She prepared by working hard on her swing and relied on the advice of coach Kandi Comer of Charlottesville’s Glenmore Golf Club, and the wisdom of Charlottesville sports psychologist Dr. Bob Rotella in his new book, “Your 15th Club ... The Inner Secret to Great Golf.”
Wigger said she was confident, relaxed and comfortable heading into the pressure-packed week, which helped her open play with a 2-under 70.
“I definitely got off to a good start in the opening round by being patient,” she said. “I finished strong with birdies on two of the last three holes and that boosted my confidence.”
While her highest round, a 75, came on the second day, she wasn’t discouraged.
“I was striping the ball, but I couldn’t make any putts, so I felt good about it because I knew I was right there,” Wigger said. “The next day, I was striping it again and got jump started early with a birdie and finished strong.”
That resulted in a 6-under 66, a memorable round that helped put her in position for the final two days of competition.
Wigger, a four-time All-ACC selection, a four-time Academic All-American and a runner-up at the 2005 NCAA East Regional and the NCAA Championships, had been under pressure many times before, so she was accustomed to the situation. She had played in two U.S. Women’s Open Championships the past two years and had made the cut in all three of the LPGA Tour events she had competed in this year.
Her success came as no surprise to Comer, a former U.S. Curtis Cup player, an All-American at North Carolina and a veteran of six U.S. Women’s Open events.
“I have been working with Leah since her junior year and she has continued to see steady improvement,” said Comer, who has served as director of golf and head golf professional at Glenmore since its inception. “Leah is a very talented player, and I think once she gets more comfortable mentally playing professional golf, she will realize how important every shot is and she will improve her course management.”
Comer, a former Futures tour player who now coaches several players from juniors to professionals, said that Wigger’s strength is her ball striking and distance.
“She has all the fundamentals with the short game and now needs to trust her short game, especially her putting,” Comer said. “Then I feel her scores will really drop. I feel she has a great future on the LPGA Tour.”
Wigger credited Comer and former UVa golf coach Jan Mann for helping her develop her game over the past several years.
Sounds like Wigger is trusting her putting just like Comer recommended.