U.Va. football for tomorrow - the search continues
Michael Phillips
Dec 02, 2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE — The head coach’s office is empty at the McCue Center, but there’s still a football team at the University of Virginia.

As the hunt for Al Groh’s successor is underway, two of his longtime assistants have remained to oversee the program until a new coach can take over. They’ll also keep an eye on Virginia’s recruiting class — players without a coach are a popular target for other teams to poach.

For the offense, it will be tight ends coach Bob Price, who was originally hired by George Welsh in 1997. He’s also served as the team’s recruiting coordinator since 2007.

On the defensive end, Anthony Poindexter remains. He served as defensive backs coach this year. Poindexter also had his jersey retired in a pregame ceremony earlier in the season. He played at Virginia from 1994-98, had a few years in the NFL, then came to U.Va. as a graduate assistant, where he has remained ever since.

Prior to the jersey retirement, he was asked if he had any ambitions for a head job.

“I’m only 33,” he said with a laugh. “Hopefully I’ve got a few years left.”

His experience level would hamper him from being a serious consideration for the Cavs job this time around, but he could be offered a more prominent role by the new coach. Offensive coordinator Gregg Brandon and special teams coordinator Ron Prince are both gone after one-year stints. Groh served as his own defensive coordinator.

Director of Athletics Craig Littlepage said that the new coach will be allowed to pick his own staff of assistants.

Littlepage met with returning players — and a handful of seniors — Sunday afternoon to discuss how the search would operate. With no returning captains next year, sophomore wide receiver Jared Green said that leaders would have to emerge during the transitional period.

“This is going to be a time where we find out who the new leaders are on the team,” he said. “Clearly there are going to be some voices that are heard across the team, and some guys who are like the shepherds for the sheep.”

Captains usually come from the senior class, but there were very few high-profile juniors this year. Tight end Joe Torchia fits the criteria, as does cornerback Ras-I Dowling, though he could be headed to the NFL draft.

Quarterback Marc Verica will be a senior, but he’ll have to compete against freshman Ross Metheny and sophomore Riko Smalls for the starting job.

One of the positions that should be fairly well set is wide receiver, as it was mostly freshmen and sophomores at the position this year. Green said that he, Kris Burd (Matoaca), Dontrelle Inman and Matt Snyder (Deep Run) talked regularly, and spoke of the need to keep out of trouble even though there’s no coach there to provide discipline.

“It’s very important we take care of each other and stay out of harm’s way,” Green said.

Of course, that need only lasts until Littlepage and company hire a new coach. Then the hierarchy will be restored on the Grounds.

The initial fury of the coaching search seems to have died down, but there is still no shortage of storylines in the coming days.
 

dailypress.com
U.Va. must wonder if it should have hired W & M's Laycock in 2000
David Teel
December 3, 2009

The University of Virginia snubbed Jimmye Laycock nine years ago. Don't expect a correction now.

In many regards, Laycock was and is the Cavaliers' model football coach. His William and Mary program wins games, entertains fans and transforms young men into college graduates.

This Laycock has done for 30 years despite paltry resources, menacing competition and unyielding standards.

Moreover, Laycock has never been happier, and not merely because his team has advanced to a national quarterfinal Saturday at Southern Illinois. He's healthy, surrounded by family and makes more than his fair share of birdies.

Oh, and he works in the Jimmye Laycock Football Center — statue pending.

Yet if Virginia approached him regarding its coaching vacancy, Laycock would listen.

Assemble a top-flight staff? Recruit effectively? Match wits against Frank Beamer? Reach out to fans, donors and students?

Laycock, a 1970 William and Mary graduate, believes he could. With good reason.

"I've got a pretty good track record here," he said Tuesday.

"Pretty good" doesn't begin to describe. This is the Tribe's eighth playoff appearance since 1986 — the '92 squad would have qualified, too, had the school not opted for a postseason junket to Japan instead — and Laycock can X and O with the best.

Would his innovative offenses translate to the ACC, or even the NFL?

"Easily, no doubt," Pittsburgh Steelers coach and former Tribe receiver Mike Tomlin said at the Laycock Center's dedication last year. "It's fundamentally sound, first and foremost. Coach remains on the cutting edge of moving the football and lighting up scoreboards."

But Virginia is unlikely to call, and Laycock knows why.

At 61, he's older than the prototypical candidate, and he hasn't recruited at a major-conference program since 1979, the last of his three seasons as Clemson's offensive coordinator.

That absence in no way precludes next-level success — Jim Tressel coached Youngstown State for 15 years before taking over at Ohio State. But Virginia is not Ohio State.

The Cavaliers just concluded a 3-9 season, their worst since 1982, and have lost 10 of their last 11 games against Virginia Tech. Unless Virginia athletic director Craig Littlepage has an Amarillo Slim side, he's unlikely to gamble on a coach such as Laycock.

Nine years ago, however, Laycock wasn't risky, and the Cavaliers weren't in dire straits.

George Welsh had just been nudged into retirement after 19 years, the last 14 of which included nary a losing record. Laycock was 52, and before a 5-6 hiccup in 2000, William and Mary had enjoyed eight consecutive winning seasons.

The other ideal candidate was former Virginia assistant Tom O'Brien, an extraordinary recruiter whose catches included Tabb High All-Americans Terry Kirby and Chris Slade. O'Brien had just completed his fourth season as Boston College's head coach.

But then-athletic director Terry Holland deemed O'Brien and Laycock politically untenable.

O'Brien was linked to Welsh, and many donors wanted fresh blood.

Laycock was connected to Jim Copeland, a former William and Mary and Virginia athletic director. Copeland had infuriated many of those same donors by publicly revealing the fund-raising arm's improper loans to athletes — a subsequent NCAA probe led to probation for Virginia and the resignation of NCAA executive director Dick Schultz, Copeland's predecessor as the Cavaliers' AD.

(Holland's respect for Laycock resurfaced five years ago when, as East Carolina's athletic director, he inquired of Laycock's interest in coaching the Pirates. Laycock declined, and Holland hired Skip Holtz.)

Hindsight suggests that either Laycock or O'Brien would have fared better at Virginia than did Al Groh, chosen after a search that initially targeted high-profile assistants such as Florida State's Mark Richt, Penn State's Jerry Sandusky and Virginia Tech's Bud Foster.

O'Brien became Boston College's winningest coach — seven consecutive bowl victories highlighted his tenure — before moving to North Carolina State, where he just completed his third season with an upset of North Carolina. Laycock remained in Williamsburg, guided the Tribe to the 2004 national semifinals and shepherded the drive to upgrade the program's facilities.

Meanwhile, Groh lasted nine seasons at Virginia, his alma mater, and left the program in worse shape than when he arrived — three losing seasons in four years speak to the challenges ahead.

Laycock could probably repair the damage and would jump at the opportunity — such is the lure of a like-minded institution that offers a national stage and seven-figure salary. But Virginia's hunt will turn elsewhere, and Laycock will resume life as a William and Mary icon.

There are worse fates.

Making sense of the search for a coach
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: December 3, 2009
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Now that some of the smoke — or rather, smokescreens — have cleared, it’s time to update Virginia’s football coaching search.

It appears that the mysterious rumor about UVa luring Chris Petersen away from Boise State was either a pipe dream or just misinformation attempting to throw the scent away from the more serious candidates. While we were told that Virginia had made inroads with Petersen — and we believe that UVa senior associate athletic director Jon Oliver really wanted Petersen — I was told from the get-go by the majority of college football insiders that he was “ungettable.”

Now that all the hooey is out of the way, just who might be the Cavaliers’ next head football coach?

I will give you the guy I would go after, then look at the other more realistic candidates in the field.

The home-run hire

My first choice would be Jim Grobe, but he ain’t coming.

A UVa grad, a former football player here, a fraternity guy, Grobe has put together a remarkable resume at Wake Forest and Ohio University. As long as I have covered ACC football, one thing I never believed I would ever see was Wake Forest winning the ACC championship.

Grobe is a magical coach and perhaps an even better person, and that’s saying something. When Bobby Bowden was at the top of the college football world, he once told this columnist that Grobe just might be the best dadgum coach in America.

Even though Grobe’s old coach, Sonny Randle, said he believed if anybody could turn Virginia football around, it would be Grobe, just forget that you read that statement.

Why he’s not coming

Grobe may love UVa, and perhaps appreciates his UVa experience as much or more than anyone because of his struggles to get here and graduate from here. I just don’t think it will happen. Here’s two reasons why:

1. Money. Grobe is earning a little more than $2 million per year, has a long contract and a steep buyout. Wake’s Ron Wellman, one of the strongest ADs in the nation, is no dummy. When he signed Grobe to a long deal, he made sure that any school coming after him would have to back up the Brinks truck.

Considering the financial climate at UVa, such a multi-year buyout does not seem appealing to those who foot the bill — particularly on the heels of a $4.3 million buyout of Al Groh, which itself came on the heels of a $2 million buyout of Dave Leitao. That’s a lot of Monopoly money, especially considering that Virginia cut $1.6 million out of its athletics budget going into this year.

2. Perhaps even more important to Grobe than the greenbacks is the security. He once told me during a round of golf that he had one thing at Wake that most coaches dream of.

“I can go to sleep at night knowing that my athletic director and my president have my back,” Grobe said.

While chatting with one former head football coach, a guy who coached in three different conferences, on Wednesday, he said that Grobe’s aforementioned statement spoke volumes, especially considering that Virginia doesn’t even know who its next president will be.

“Nobody in their right mind would take a job not knowing who the president they’ll be working for might be,” the coach said. “What if you take the job, come in there, and they hire a president who doesn’t care about football? What then?”

So, now that we’ve done away with the smokescreen candidate and the best candidate, who’s left? Who might realistically fit the mold?

Ah, the mold!

If you look at AD Craig Littlepage and assistant Oliver’s history in hiring coaches, they go after a guy just a bit under the radar, an up-and-comer, a hot assistant, a guy that won’t break the piggybank.

That’s why we like the following candidates: Mike London, Troy Calhoun, Al Golden and Mark Whipple.

Everyone knows about London, the Richmond coach. His history includes two stints at UVa under Groh with a short stop in the NFL along the way. We all know about the FCS championship last year and that he’s going for a repeat. He’s a good guy, good recruiter, knows the territory, knows the culture, won’t command megabucks. Frankly, we think he’s the favorite.

Air Force coach Calhoun, we were told, was the guy Virginia started looking at last year when the school was considering buying out Al Groh’s contract after the ’08 season, but the economic downturn made that buyout money disappear.

Calhoun is top-drawer. Hey, if you can’t get Grobe, how about a guy who worked under Grobe as offensive coordinator at Ohio and Wake? He has NFL experience and was under the wing of Mike Shanahan, which can only be a good thing. He’s done a great job at Air Force and would bring a somewhat unique offense to Charlottesville, a place that can use some offense.

Now, Calhoun probably wouldn’t cost $2 million, but there may be more at stake with him. He’s an Air Force guy and that loyalty means a lot to him. It may be tough to move him.

Then there’s Golden, the Temple coach. He’s made a lot of coaching stops, paid his dues, worked at UVa under Welsh and Groh, knows all about UVa. He’s always been described as a bright young rising star. He wouldn’t break the bank and has done a great job in turning the Owls around.

Some of his closest friends say he’s not looking, but one never knows.

Whipple, Miami’s offensive coordinator, has turned the Hurricanes’ attack around, but also was blessed with some great athletes.

Still, if it’s offense Virginia wants, he should be on their radar. He also wouldn’t command a huge salary, and from what we were told by some college football insiders, Whipple would come to Virginia in a heartbeat.

There’s probably someone else out there that would fit the mold as well, but this is our best list at the moment.

From what we are hearing, this process may not take as long as everyone forecasted when it began. So buckle up — it could be an interesting ride.
 

Team evolves into championship contender
After slew of early season missteps, Virginia makes case for hottest team in country with 13-game win streak
Nick Eilerson, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor
Featured / Men's Soccer / Sports
December 3, 2009 0

At the start of September, the Virginia men’s soccer team found itself in a state of disrepair. Many skeptics pointed to preseason losses against George Mason, Old Dominion and West Virginia as signs of impending doom for a team bottled up in a conference chock-full of nationally ranked squads.

Flash forward to December and the ACC champion Cavaliers could arguably be the most unbeatable team in college soccer. Riding an astounding 13-game winning streak — their longest since 2001 — and outscoring opponents 32-7, Virginia has all but silenced its critics heading into Friday night’s NCAA quarterfinal match against Maryland.

“In the beginning of the year we were getting some unlucky breaks,” senior midfielder Jordan Evans said. “And now we’re hitting our stride and balls are bouncing our way. We’re coming up big.”

The Cavaliers’ third-round 1-0 victory against Portland marked their 10th consecutive shutout. A cohesive defensive unit comprised of sophomores Greg Monaco, Shawn Barry, Hunter Jumper, junior Mike Volk and junior goalkeeper Diego Restrepo has continued to improve as the season has progressed, and Virginia’s goals-against average of 0.30 stands as the best in the country. The Cavaliers’ ability to stay compact in the back, while receiving help from players at every position, has perhaps been the biggest key to the team’s defensive prowess.

The inspiring play of Restrepo has also contributed tremendously to a defense that has not given up more than one goal in a game so far this year. Restrepo has been tested more than ever in the postseason, but he has come up with numerous big saves that have him ranked No. 1 in the country in save percentage (0.892). His scoreless minutes streak of 1,017 minutes and 34 seconds has him closing in on Michigan State goalkeeper Avery Steinlage’s NCAA record of 1,318:26 set last year.

Despite his defense’s apparent impermeability, Virginia coach George Gelnovatch is careful not to assume that its recent success will last forever. He remains confident, though, that if his team does concede a goal, it will not fold.

“The thing is, we’ve been there,” Gelnovatch said. “When we opened the season, we were down a goal at Washington, and we were down a goal at Virginia Tech, which is a really tough place to play. We’re young, but I’ve still got enough older guys on the field that if we get scored on — and I hope we don’t — we’ll be fine.”
After the Cavaliers’ shaky start to the season, coach George Gelnovatch has seen his Virginia squad extend its streak to 13 straight games. Photo courtesy Virginia Athletics.

After the Cavaliers’ shaky start to the season, coach George Gelnovatch has seen his Virginia squad extend its streak to 13 straight games. Photo courtesy Virginia Athletics.

To play quality soccer, players must gel together and have a good awareness of what everyone else is doing on the field. During the season, Virginia players and coaches have strengthened their collective bond, resulting in a style of soccer that has become increasingly unified.

“Every day in practice we hang out with each other on and off the field,” freshman midfielder Ari Dimas said. “When we do drills in practice, we combine in tandems with the guys on the field and the guys on the bench. We’re all close to each other, we all develop together, and it helps in the games.”

The Cavaliers also have stepped up their goal scoring. After tallying only 13 goals through the first 11 matches, they have compiled 19 in their past 11, including six in the last two games. The rise of freshman forward Will Bates has certainly helped, as his team-leading 11 goals have come mostly in the second half of the season. He has proven to be an especially important aspect of the Cavaliers’ front line in the postseason as well, scoring the game-winner against N.C. State in the ACC Championship and putting together a hat trick against Bucknell in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

One important aspect of the team’s rejuvenated attack that often goes overlooked is its success in pushing forward its outside defensive backs to set up more scoring chances. Jumper’s accurate long-ball and Barry’s blazing speed moving down the flanks have been crucial in creating opportunities for attackers like Bates. Jumper’s long pass to Bates in the ACC final set up the game-winning goal, and Barry’s run down the right side of the field and subsequent cross to Dimas engineered the winner against Portland.

“Those two guys have been a big part of our goal scoring lately, in our attack,” Gelnovatch said. “They have really been getting forward and helping us in the attacking third.”

Whatever the secret to the Cavaliers’ success, coaches and players are quick to point out that the team’s improvement did not simply happen overnight.

“I think it starts with the entire coaching staff, down to all of our support staff, just believing and staying the course,” Gelnovatch said. “It just kind of started to evolve. And when you win, and you build upon that, and you’re shutting teams out, it’s just contagious. You feel better, you’re confident, good things start to happen.”

Of the eight teams remaining in the tournament, only Virginia, North Carolina and Akron have yet to surrender a goal in it. The Cavaliers — making their first quarterfinal appearance since 2006 — will collide with the Terrapins at 7 p.m. tomorrow at Klöckner Stadium.

Rested Cavaliers aim to turn in solid midseason report
Bernardino sets bar high as squad hopes to defend home invitational crown
Will Van Wazer, Cavalier Daily Staff Writer
Sports / Swim and Dive
December 3, 2009 0

While the rest of the school prepares for finals, the Virginia swim and dive teams are gearing up for their version of a “midterm” — the U.Va. Invitational, a three-day meet starting Thursday at the Aquatic and Fitness Center that will close out their fall season. Following the event format of NCAA Championships, the meet will pit Virginia against Washington and Lee, West Chester and American on both the men’s and women’s sides, as well as Kansas on the women’s.

The Cavaliers have typically performed well in the Invitational. Last year, the men’s and women’s teams combined to break 11 pool, four school and two ACC records, and Virginia coach Mark Bernardino expects nothing less this time around.

“[Performing as well as we did in this meet last year is] the critical goal that we have to achieve,” Bernardino said. “If we leave the weekend without having every athlete achieve two seasons’ best times up to this point, then it’s an unsuccessful season. I don’t see why every athlete on this team can’t achieve that goal.”

So far this season, Virginia has done just that. After a tough loss to top-five team Florida, the Cavaliers have gone on to score blow-out victories against Virginia Tech, Kentucky and Penn State. Part of the team’s early success has come from the way the Cavaliers have handled the large proportion of freshman on the team, something that was a concern at the beginning of the season.

“I think the coaches are really pleased with our team dynamic and the way we’re interacting with each other and the way the [freshmen] have become a part of the team,” junior Claire Crippen said. “There’s not class separation and we’re all united and I think they’re really excited about it.”

In addition to improving team unity, the 21 freshmen on the squad have already made an impact in the pool. Freshman Lauren Perdue was named ACC Performer of the Week Nov. 10th, and freshman Christine Olson has won multiple events in every meet.

“Our first-year women have performed very well,” Bernardino said. “I think our first-year men are still struggling to find their identity and realizing that it’s a major step from high school to college swimming.”

In preparation for this weekend, Virginia coaches have shaken things up in practice. Before the last meet against Penn State, Virginia coaches emphasized speed training, which meant more time spent practicing at race-like speed. This time around, however, they have toned sets down a bit.

“For this particular meet, we have reduced our yardage — rested down just a little bit for the last couple of days,” Bernardino said. “I don’t want them to start the meet exhausted. I want them to have energy and enthusiasm, and spunk, and vigor.”

Part of the reason for the reduced practice time is due to the fact that swimmers will have to compete in each of their events twice this weekend if they perform well — first in the preliminary rounds, and then again in the finals. This is a valuable test because it shows who performs better at night versus in the morning, and who has the stamina and concentration necessary to compete twice — both things Bernardino is looking for.

“I think we’ve done the physical preparation, now they have to mentally prepare,” Bernardino said. “They have to believe in their training and believe that it’s going to carry them to their best swims thus far this season.”

For what it is worth, the Cavaliers appear to have taken their coach’s message to heart.

“This year I feel like it should be just as good as previous year,” Crippen said. “Everyone’s been performing really well so far so they’re all getting really excited, which is getting us excited about it, too.”

Quiet, all too quiet
Andrew Seidman, Cavalier Daily Senior Associate Editor
Men's Basketball / Sports
December 2, 2009 0

He’s done it before. The game-tying basket with 13.4 seconds left in regulation in last season’s home game against then-No. 12 Clemson. And the six points in overtime that secured the upset for Virginia.
Sophomore guard Sylven Landesberg scored a team-high 18 points in Virginia’s 69-66 loss against Penn State Monday night but missed four free throws in the final minutes of the second half. Photo by Bennett Sorbo.

Sophomore guard Sylven Landesberg scored a team-high 18 points in Virginia’s 69-66 loss against Penn State Monday night but missed four free throws in the final minutes of the second half. Photo by Bennett Sorbo.

But as the frustration protruded from Sylven Landesberg’s face with his hands pressed against his head, it was clear that the sophomore guard was not going to stave off defeat Monday night against Penn State. In the final three and a half minutes, with Virginia facing a double-digit deficit, four Landesberg free throws clanked off the rim, including two crucial misses with 1:46 remaining. Two layups rimmed out. He did bank in a three-pointer to trim the Nittany Lion lead to seven, but I’m sure the Flushing, N.Y. native would be the first to tell you the shot would have been met by more amused chuckles than praise on his home court.

I don’t mean to pin the Cavaliers’ 69-66 loss on Landesberg. That distinction belongs to Virginia’s defensive collapse in the first four minutes in the second half, courtesy junior guard Talor Battle’s penetration to the basket, which led to easy layups and uncontested jump shots. The lapses resulted in a 27-7 Penn State run from which the Cavaliers could not fully recover.

But you can’t overlook the fact that on a night in which Penn State’s star player scored 32 points — tying the record for the most by an opposing player at John Paul Jones Arena — and hit five huge three’s down the stretch, Landesberg looked like just another spectator.

Battle “wants the ball — he’s won so many games for us in the last minute of the game,” Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. “There’s nobody else I’d rather have taking the last shot than him.”

For Virginia, the same should be said of Landesberg.

“It’d be nice to just be able to put the ball in a guy’s hands and get it done, but … I think Sylven has the ability with his chances to get in the lane but some of his shots weren’t dropping tonight,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. “I don’t know if we have to develop that, or kinda share the load. But when the defense slides like that, it’s too much pressure.”

Yes, he scored a team-high 18 points. But in the critical stretches of the game, he was mostly absent. As Penn State reversed a 10-point first half deficit into a double-digit lead with 12:18 left in the game, the 2008-09 ACC Rookie of the Year should have tried to stop the bleeding. During the next nine minutes of play, Landesberg attempted only two shots, missing both. It’s one thing to miss a few jumpers — it’s quite another to let that rattle you and lose your aggressiveness altogether.

Landesberg’s performance can partly be attributed to the delicate balance he must strike between being “The Guy” when the game is on the line and incorporating his teammates into the offense. After all, that’s part of the natural development of any great player.

But during that nine-minute stretch and for most of the second half, his teammates did not respond. Junior forward Mike Scott’s perfect 6-for-6 shooting clinic during the first period did not carry over into the second half. Senior guard Calvin Baker penetrated into the lane at times, but he couldn’t connect. The team as a whole shot an abysmal 36.1 percent in the second half.

In other words, Landesberg needed to take over.

Sophomore guard Sammy Zeglinski’s four treys late in the game were certainly encouraging. And had the officials’ eyes not been doused in a solution of olive oil, gasoline, and liquid morphine before the game, freshman guard Jontel Evans may have saved the day defensively for the Cavaliers.

“What I told the guys after, ‘Gut wrenching loss,’ but they fought, they scrapped, they didn’t quit,” Bennett said. “You gotta just keep building, and when you see something like that, you say, ‘That’s a step forward in that area,’ instead of just letting it slide.”

For Virginia to be competitive in the ACC this year, Landesberg will have to be the one fighting and scrapping ‘til the end