Al Groh will be back, but he won’t have several key players
By Jeff White
Published: December 15, 2008

When Al Groh took over as football coach at the University of Virginia after the 2000 season, one of his first moves was to install the 3-4 defense he’d taught during a decade on NFL staffs.

The 3-4 remains the Cavaliers’ base defense, but they’ve yet to establish a consistent offensive identity under Groh. U.Va. has run versions of the West Coast offense and the spread, lined up in traditional pro sets, emphasized power running and even, against Virginia Tech last month, shown elements of the single wing.

Mike Groh, the Cavaliers’ offensive coordinator for the past three seasons, failed to distinguish himself in that role and recently left his father’s staff. Until Al Groh fills that position, we won’t know what Virginia’s offensive philosophy will be in 2009. Nor do we know if cornerback Vic Hall, who dazzled at quarterback against the Hokies, will continue to see time on offense or how Jameel Sewell, Virginia’s starting QB for most of 2006 and all of ‘07, will play after returning from two semesters of academic suspension.

What we do know is that Groh, no matter how shaky his job status, will be back as coach in 2009 and that he’ll be missing some talented pieces from a team that finished 5-7.

A look at who’s leaving and who’s returning at each position:

OFFENSE

QUARTERBACK

Significant losses: None.

Key returning players: Marc Verica, Riko Smalls, Jameel Sewell (out of school this year) and, possibly, Vic Hall.

TAILBACK

Significant losses: Cedric Peerman.

Key returning players: Mikell Simpson, Keith Payne, Raynard Horne and Torrey Mack (redshirted this season).

FULLBACK

Significant losses: None, if Rashawn Jackson is back. Jackson has a court date next month that may determine his future at U.Va.

Key returning players: Jackson (perhaps) and Payne.

CENTER

Significant losses: None. Key returning players: Jack Shields and Anthony Mihota.

GUARD

Significant loss: Zak Stair.

Key returning players: B.J. Cabbell and Austin Pasztor.

TACKLE

Significant loss:Eugene Monroe.

Key returning players: Will Barker, Landon Bradley and Lamar Milstead.

TIGHT END

Significant loss: John Phillips.

Key returning players: Andrew Devlin, Joe Torchia, Colter Phillips (redshirted) and Rod Wheeler (redshirted).

WIDE RECEIVER

Significant losses: Maurice Covington and Cary Koch.

Key returning players: Kevin Ogletree, Dontrelle Inman, Jared Green, Kris Burd and Staton Jobe.

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DEFENSE

END

Significant loss: Alex Field.

Key returning players: Matt Conrath, Kevin Crawford and Zane Parr.

NOSE TACKLE

Significant losses: None.

Key returning players: Nick Jenkins and Nate Collins.

OUTSIDE LINEBACKER

Significant loss: Clint Sintim.

Key returning players: Denzel Burrell, Aaron Clark, Jared Detrick and Cameron Johnson.

INSIDE LINEBACKER

Significant losses: Jon Copper and Antonio Appleby.

Key returning players: Darren Childs, Terence Fells-Danzer and Steve Greer (redshirted).

CORNERBACK

Significant losses: None.

Key returning players: Ras-I Dowling, Vic Hall, Chase Minnifeld, Rodney McLeod, Mike Parker, Dom Joseph and Chris Cook (out of school this year).

SAFETY

Significant loss: Byron Glaspy.

Key returning players: Corey Mos´
ley, Brandon Woods, Trey Womack, Matt Leemhuis and Ausar Walcott (redshirted).

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SPECIAL TEAMS

PUNTER

Significant losses: None.

Key returning player: Jimmy Howell.

KICKER

Significant losses: None.

Key returning players: Robert Randolph, Yannick Reyering and Chris Hinkebein.

RETURNERS

Significant losses: None.

Key returning players: Chase Minnifield, Rodney McLeod, Vic Hall and Kevin Ogletree.


 

A living piece of Virginia history
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: December 14, 2008

Every once in a while, you stumble into a fun story and while I was researching my new book on Virginia football — insert shameless self plug here: now available in bookstores before Christmas — I ran into one of those such stories.

I had known Dr. John Risher for many years, often bumping into him at the Scott Stadium press box and other athletic events. However, not until this past year did I realize that the Good Doctor had played in Scott Stadium when it opened in 1931.

If you haven’t had the pleasure, Risher is a great guy. Raised in Charlottesville, he has resided in Lynchburg for many years but rarely misses a UVa football game, and can often be spotted at other Cavalier events.

He’ll be 99 years old next May 11, but you would never guess it by being around him. He could pass for a much younger man. He has a quick wit, a sharp memory, and good judgment. Heck, he even sends out e-mails to all his friends and I feel blessed to be on that list.

As far as we can tell, Risher is the oldest living Cavalier football player, but his roots with the Wahoos go deeper than his time as a UVa player.

A Wahoo from the start

“From the time I was 10 years old, I hung around Lambeth Field [UVa’s stadium prior to Scott],” Risher remembered. “We could get into the games if we sold concessions to the crowd. I’d make sometimes as much as a dollar. Ice cream was a nickel for a double dip, a milkshake cost a dime and The Daily Progress sold for two cents.”

He remembered the Thanksgiving Day game in 1928 when the Cavaliers defeated archrival North Carolina at Lambeth on a brutally cold afternoon. President Calvin Coolidge and wife, Grace, took in the game. Well, part of it.

“It was a big deal that the president was there and I think we had a record crowd of 10,000,” Risher said. “But [Coolidge] and his entourage left at halftime.”

Riding the rails

Football in those days was vastly different. The team traveled by train — even to Lexington to face either VMI or Washington & Lee.

“The Keydets used to grease the tracks so the train couldn’t get up the hill,” Risher chuckled.

“Everyone was small back then,” he said. “I don’t think we had but three people on the squad that weighed over 200 pounds. The equipment was terrible and a lot of people had shoulder injuries. I had dislocated a shoulder while playing in high school at VES [Virginia Episcopal School] and my brother got his teeth knocked out.”

He was loosely recruited by Coach Fred Abell to join the UVa squad for 1931. The year before, Abell told Risher that he planned to throw the ball a lot in ’31 and asked Risher to try out.

Abell wasn’t there in ’31, but Fred Dawson, who had led Nebraska to greatness had taken over the team, and as Risher said, “Dawson didn’t throw many passes.”

Still, Risher had great memories from a rather unsuccessful 1-7-2 season in 1931. He played in the team’s only victory, an 18-0 win over Roanoke.

He saw Herbert Bryant, for whom Bryant Hall is named, score the first points in Scott Stadium history on a field goal. Then there was the Virginia-VPI (Virginia Tech) game.

“We weren’t very good and VPI didn’t have anything either,” Risher recalled. “They had a better record but they weren’t very good. Some wag called the game ‘The Booby Prize of the South.’ We tied 0-0. We had the ball on the VPI 3-yard line and [quarterback] Bill Thomas ran three times and didn’t get across.”

However, as far as Risher and his UVa teammates were concerned, Scott Stadium was a state-of-the-art facility.

“We sat on the east side. Only the press sat on the west side. The crowds weren’t very good, but we didn’t have but a couple of thousands in the student body back then,” Risher pointed out. “There were no female cheerleaders and I think about 5,000 fans would show up, and some were

super-enthusiastic and the others were apathetic. There wasn’t any in-between.”

Risher has missed very few UVa games at home or on the road since 1950, often accompanying longtime friend Paul Wisman on the trips.

Currently, Risher is planning on celebrating his 81st graduation reunion from VES. It is a party of one, as he is the only living alumnus from that class.

“I’m not planning my 85th, but my 81st,” he said.

Here’s to Dr. Risher making it a lot longer.

He and many other Wahoo legends appear in the book: “The University of Virginia Football Vault ... a History of the Cavaliers.”

I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did putting it together.