A Ray of Hope as 2009 Closes

2009 was another season of renewal for Virginia basketball.  For the third time in just over a decade, the University chose a new man to lead what was once a powerhouse program in the '80s.  Like his two predecessors, Tony Bennett has struggled out of the gate.  Whether that's because of lack of talent (that to a degree plagued both Pete Gillen and Dave Leitao when they first arrived) or the need to fit players to a particular system, the Hoos were a disappointing 0-4 against major conference schools in pre-conference play.  The lack of a major conference win was tempered by the absence of a galling small conference loss, but it was seen as a little bit of a problem since, you know, the ACC is filled with major conference teams (N.C. State's presence notwithstanding).

Conference USA shouldn't be confused with a major conference (it hasn't been since the Big East raided it a few years ago in response to the ACC's expansion).  But UAB is a real team.  The Blazers were ranked No. 24 coming into the contest, and already have wins this season against the likes of Cincinnati, Butler, and Georgia.  I'm still not sure former Indiana head man Mike Davis can coach, but he's always been able to recruit talent, especially in the south. That includes his latest find, 6-6 guard Elijah Milsap, brother of NBA'er Paul that is averaging just short of a double-double (16.3 ppg, 9.9 rpg) so far this season.  UAB is at at worst a NIT lock, at best perhaps a mid-level seed in the Big Dance.

So Virginia's 72-63 win over the Blazers is a big deal.  Not earth-shattering, and by no means a sure fire sign this group has turned some kind of corner.  But encouraging.  And a sign they're getting better just in time for the meat-grinder that is the ACC.  Some thoughts from around the Fourth Estate on the game:

• Jeff White called it Bennett's first signature win, Hootie a statement win.  Glad they coordinated so they didn't match this morning.  Standard cliches aside, Hootie does properly credited a couple of standout defensive performances: Jontel Evans, who also got kudos for a big three and some clutch FTs in the second half, and Mustapha Farrakhan, who was sic'ed on Milsap in the second half.
• Davis, similar to other miscalculations he made while at IU, said he scheduled the game on the assumption that the students would be gone, and JPJ largely empty.  He wasn't completely wrong - the arena was filled only to 2/3 capacity - but the 9,444 that came made themselves heard.
• While Hootie and Doug Doughty credited Evans' late first half steal with sparking the crowd, the DP also credited a bad call with waking them up.  
• The RTD credited to win to some big threes, shots that hadn't been falling in a handful of close losses earlier in the season.  
• The WP noted two more subtle points: an assist from Landesberg that he conceded he wouldn't have seen last year, and the return of Mike Scott, perhaps this team's most irreplacable player because of the inside presence he brings to an otherwise perimeter-oriented bunch.  While still not 100%, Scott was quoted as saying he should be there by the next game, a final tuneup against Texas Pan-American before ACC play kicks off against N.C. State Jan. 9.          

Continue reading this post...

Mike London: The Aftermath

Now that we've given it a few days for the dust to settle, its time to look around and see what everyone else is saying about the new hire.  You have to take what's being said with a grain of salt, mind you, because its in the Fourth Estate's best interest to be nice to the new guy so he'll talk to them (Al Groh certainly didn't).  So the new head coach could be you or me, and they'd find something nice to say (OK, maybe not me).

• Hootie reflects on London's whirlwind ride.  There are few other excellent tidbits in this piece: London ignored his agent's advice to see what else was out there before committing to Virginia, London's salary quintupled with the move from Richmond, and Virginia's need to hire (and more importantly pay) good assistants.  The DP also noted London's intent to switch from a 3-4 to a 4-3 defense.  Good news for Steve Greer, but Cam Johnson's going to have to figure out his role, as he's more suited to a 3-4 scheme.
• Doug Doughty notes that Virginia didn't have a Plan B.  Quoting Associate AD Jon Oliver, UVA was prepared to wait as long as Richmond's playoff run took to talk to London.  Doughty also notes that the London hire earned the approval of high school coaches and diversity groups.
• Jeff White noted how many members of the UVA family came into town for London's introductory press conference as a good sign. 
• The Good Ol Blog tries to disavow Virginia fans of the notion that London is an Al Groh disciple.  The Good Ol's new blogger doesn't really back up his premise, but I do agree with him. 
• London getting some TV time on Washington Post Live. It is funny that London won't mention Virginia Tech by name.  They're like Lord Voldemort.
• The next order of business? Filling out London's staff.  David Teel notes that London secured a 29% raise in assistant pay to bring it up from last in the ACC.  About time. 
• Jeff White notes that three of London's UR assistants are likely to join him in C'ville. Doug Doughty notes that if Jeff is running those names, you can bet its pretty close to a done deal.  We agree. 
• Within the same piece, Doughty kicks around a few other names to fill out the staff.  Jim Reid, the former VMI Coach and current LB Coach for the Miami Dolphins, as DC.  Bill Musgrave, who's coaching QBs in Atlanta, for OC.  Interesting thought, but as Doug acknowledges, Musgrave would likely have to take a paycut from his NLF gig, and then move from coaching Matt Ryan to Marc Verica and Riko Smalls.  In other words, don't hold your breath.  Doug also notes the UVA assistants under Groh that did recruit well (they existed?) that London should consider retaining.  He also theorizes that former Notre Dame DC Corwin Brown, WVU RB Chris Beatty and former QB Shawn Moore might also be considered for the staff, but that none is a slam dunk to come.  
• A number of pieces out there on London's real job No. 1 - recruiting.  Hootie here, the WP on the all-important 7-5-7, and the Daily Press, which covers sports for the 7-5-7 area, here.  Scouts Inc. certainly like the hire for recruiting purposes.  Still, as the WP's Zach Berman notes within this chat, London's effect on recruiting won't be immediate with most of the state's top talent already committed for next season.  (On a sidenote, lots of angst within this chat about London's pricetag.  Apparently Zach's readers would have preferred UVa to go lowball in its coaching search). 
• Coincidentally, London landed his first recruiting commit on Sunday.  It didn't hurt that Miami-area QB Michael Strauss was visiting on the weekend of the big hire, or that he now plays for former UVA LB Ernie Sims.  Still, good timing kid.
• Top OL Morgan Moses, who just a week ago appeared to lobby for London in a meeting with AD Craig Littlepage, is now exploring his options.  Huh?  Within the same piece, though, Berman notes that FUMA Head coach John Shuman is happy (which is important moving forward), and fellow OL prospect (albeit less regarded) Cody Wallace remains committed to the Hoos.
• Finally, Jeff White takes a peak at the football schedule in upcoming seasons.  Next season's out of conference slate features E. Michigan, Richmond, and VMI at home, some team from Southern California on the road.  A home and home with Penn State starts in 2012, and one with UCLA in 2014.

Continue reading this post...

Deja Vu

At the conclusion of Monday night's game against Auburn, one crafty college student held up a dry-erase board with "Deja Vu" written on it. While he was likely referencing the resemblance between the Tigers' recent last-second victory to the one last season in C'ville, the phrase seems to appropriately reference UVa's last two games. Last week, the Hoos dropped a close game to Penn State in the ACC/Big 10 Challenge, and Monday's loss to Auburn was certainly a bit of deja vu. A late flurry of three's from Sammy Zeglinski wasn't enough to complete the comeback against the Nittany Lions. The three free throws he converted after being fouled while shooting a deep three during Virginia's final possession also weren't enough. In both games UVa gave up leads. Each time the Cavs clawed their way back and put themselves in a position to steal the victory, yet they ultimately fell short both times.

Penn State guard Talor Battle erupted for a career high 32 points - a sadly familiar feeling since he only adds to the long list of players who seem to put up career efforts against the Hoos (happens in football too). In the second half of Monday's game, the Tigers twice crashed the offensive boards for impressive stick-back dunks. So, it felt way too familiar when Brendon Knox followed up DeWayne Reed's off-balance runner from the lane for the game winning, yep, you guessed it, put-back with 1.4 seconds left. After both games, terms such as "heartbreaker," and "gut-wrenching" were used to describe the losses. That seems to be a bit optimistic. Both Penn State and Auburn will likely fall somewhere in the middle to bottom of the pack in their respective conferences, and both were squads Virginia should have handled with relative ease.

Offensive Droughts:

Landesberg finished the Auburn game with one assist, three defensive rebounds, and no steals which shows he has yet to figure out a way to contribute when he's not scoring. No assists means he's not creating open shots for his teammates (i.e. drive and kick or slash and dish). Sadly, he is surrounded by shooters like Jeff Jones and Mustapha Farrakhan who struggle to create their own shots and would benefit from a guy who could draw defenses in and help get them open looks. No steals means he is not doing a whole lot to generate offense out of defense or spark the team with some hustle plays. No offensive rebounds means he's not crashing the boards for some stick backs and second-chance points, which can be huge lifts when nothing seems to fall from the outside. When Landesburg goes cold, Virginia's offense becomes very stagnant - it's almost as if everyone starts standing around wondering, "what the hell do we do now?" Everyone always says great players find a way to make the players around them better. Landesburg is good, but at this point, he's not great. Since the offense runs through him, these lulls will continue until he finds a way to contribute outside of scoring, get others involved, and make those around him better.

Defensive lapses:

At times Virginia's guards, especially Zeglinksi, continue to struggle defending the drive and allow too much dribble penetration. In the second half of the Penn State game, no one could stop Battle as he did just about anything he wanted on his way to setting a JPJ scoring record. During the Auburn game, the Tiger guards continually got to lane in the second half which triggered defensive breakdowns. On a couple of occasions, center Assane Sene stepped up and aggressively went for the block, and while he effectively altered the shot, he also left the basket wide open for easy, uncontested stick backs.

The on-the-ball screen at the top of the arc also continues to plague the Hoos. Often, the ball defender doesn't fight through the screen well enough, meaning the big man helping has to hedge too long and both players end up out of position. Other guys sag in to help, and at this point the defense is simply chasing in order to find the open man. This combined with easy guard penetration leads to wide open looks from three, and opponents have been taking advantage. Auburn shot nearly 40% from behind the arc the other night.

While close, Virginia's last two losses were disappointing setbacks to teams they could have and should have beaten. Unfortunately, it is starting to look like another long season is a real possibility, and most Hoos fans would agree that, as Yogi Berra would say, "it's like deja vu all over again."

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The New Head Coach

It certainly sounded on Saturday as if Mike London had coached his last game at his alma mater.  First, there was a blog report that Richmond had been removed from UVA's 2010 schedule.  Then, there was London's post-game comments after his Spider's last-second loss to Appalachian State, almost speaking in the past tense when talking about his team.  By Sunday morning, it was released that Virginia had sought permission to speak to London, and by last night, a press conference had been scheduled to announce London as the University's next head football coach.

Is it the right hire?  Only time will tell, but it certainly fits the criteria we talked about earlier in the week.  London is know by reputation as a solid recruiter, particularly in the state.  That makes sense in light of the fact that he was raised in the talent-rich Hampton Roads area, and has been coaching in the state for 17 of the last 21 years.  As we noted in our review of London's resume, if anyone can break Frank Beamer's death-grip on in-state talent, its the Hampton native London. 

That failure to maintain in-state recruiting, more than any other reason, explains why Al Groh was fired last Sunday.  The program had at least held its own during Groh's early years, and success followed.  If Virignia was looking to a return to the successes of earlier this decade, London (or perhaps Temple Head Coach Al Golden) made a heck of a lot of sense.  Those teams were never great, but with the talent brought in principally by those two men, Virginia was relevant, going to four straight bowl games from 2002-05.  As his assistants left, the recruiting fell off, leading to losing seasons in three of the last four campaigns. 

Can London coach? Former UVa players sure seem to think so.  First Nate Collins sung his praises, and then over the weekend Chris Long gave London his endorsement.  And while its fair to say that London did not build the program at Richmond, he certainly got them over the hump, taking a team that had bowed out in the FCS Semifinals the year before to a National Championship in 2008, his first year as coach.  And as a former Cav assistant, and a former assistant at W&M and BC as well, London should be prepared to deal with the academic restrictions that exist at a place like Virginia. 

Is it a foolproof hire?  No.  A cynic would point out that he won at Richmond with someone else's players.  All 22 Spider starers this season were upperclassmen, and thus brought to Richmond by London's predecessor.  We don't know yet how London's classes, who would have started to make their mark next season, would have fared. 

A cynic might also suggest that while UVA's defenses were solid under London in 2006 and '07, it did so while London was the DC under Al Groh, who made his name as a defensive coach.  Its kind of like being the OC of the New Orleans Saints.  Its nice and all (and may have gotten Doug Marrone the job at Syracuse), but everyone knows Sean Payton calls the shots down there.  It could easily be argued that London's only been truly calling the defensive shots for two seasons, a little thin for a major conference head coach.

But this is where the speed of the hire allays some of those concerns (at least mine).  We'll never truly know whether it was London or Golden (choice 1A in my book) who was more or less responsible for the stellar recruiting classes from earlier this decade.  Nor can we fairly credit either man with being a better coach - London got Richmond over the hump, but Golden has done nothing short of work miracles at Temple.  But its fair to assume (even if we don't always trust their evaluations) that the Athletic Department does know the difference between these two men.  And while there were rumors surrounding London from the day Groh was fired,  there was never a report anywhere that Virginia sought permission to speak with Golden.  Perhaps that's because Golden wouldn't have come, but I have a hard time believing he would not have at least listened.  The fact that Virginia flirted with no one else tells me they knew who they wanted all along, and that can only be interpreted as a good sign. 

More than anything, the hire makes sense because more than any of the other candidates, this was a destination job for London.  A bit early in his career maybe - none of the other major programs were looking at him - but some of the more seasoned candidates that were, like Tommy Tuberville or Skip Holtz, may always have seen the grass as greener on the other side.  Same to a certain extent with Golden, who may have been tempted by the Penn State job when Paterno finally rides off into the sunset.  Its hard to see London coaching anywhere else.  Its his dream job.  We can only hope that it turns out to be Virginia's dream hire.   Continue reading this post...

ITS LONDON!

As first reported by WP, Roanoke Times, and RTD.  Press conference at 1 pm Monday to make it official. Continue reading this post...

Coaching Rumors: The Rumor Mill

This week we've been reviewing potential coaching candidates to replace Al Groh, who was fired on Sunday. Today we take a break from that process to see what names were kicked around the rumor mill this week. 

Coaching searches always engender rumors, quick blubs from a variety of places, somtimes citing unnamed sources, often based on nothing more than pure speculation.  When Virginia was searching for a replacement for Dave Leitao, the media cited a whole host of names, including Tubby Smith, Anthony Grant, and Jeff Capel.  Nobody mentioned Tony Bennett.
 
So take this for what its worth:

• Last week, Hootie was ready to name Boise State's Chris Petersen as the next head coach.  Jeff White, citing Jon Oliver, was amused by the story.  A local Idaho paper didn't buy it either.  But Hootie didn't back down.  Must be overcompensating for his Tubby Smith fixation during the last coaching search.
• ESPN was pushing a group of former Cav assistants: Temple's Al Golden, Richmond's Mike London, and Liberty's Danny Rocco.  SI also liked Golden and London, and also threw in a pair of coaches from the West: Petersen and Air Force Head Coach Troy Calhoun.   
• On Monday, the Washington Post proclaimed London as the front-runner.  I put a little more stock in this story since I know what it takes for the Post to run something like this.  Having said that, Larry, they've never exactly been plugged into the 'ville.
• Also on Monday, the Virginia Pilot plugged Al Golden while trying to temper expectations.
• On Tuesday, Doug Doughty threw Wake's Jim Grobe into the mix, along with Mike London.  Doug's always been good at throwing in names from the way-back machine.
• On Wednesday, the Daily Press noted Derek Dooley's comment that there isn't "much of a market out there for a three-win coach."  He's probably right.
• Also on Wednesday, a Charleston, SC paper connected the dots between UVA and Skip Holtz.  But later that day, Holtz was quick to quell that speculation.  On Thursday, Doug Doughty tracked down Terry Holland (ECU's AD), who said that he was not aware of any interest in Holtz from UVA. But Holland didn't say anything about interest from Notre Dame, who reportedly contacted ECU to talk to Holtz about their job opening.  Not really a fight UVA can win. 
• Also word on Wednesday that prize OL recruit Morgan Moses met with Craig Littlepage about his commitment in light of the coaching search.  His Fork Union Coach suggested that his commitment is secure "if Mike London is in the loop."  He mentions a few other names that Moses would be comfortable with.  Think the AD was listening?
• By Thursday, Hootie had backed away from his Peterson story.  He suggests he was the victim of misinformation (No, Jerry, that was your readers).  He also shoots down Jim Grobe as a possibility.  On top of the usual suspects, he does introduce a new name into the search -- Miami OC Mark Whipple.  But like too many of Hootie's stories lately, it isn't based on any solid information, so I don't know how much stock you put in his ruminations at this point.

That's all for the week.  While the initial vibe was towards an out-of-the-box candidate (based on little more than the out-of-left-field hire of Tony Bennett last time around), the longer this goes on, the more likely the more logical candidates - Mike London and Al Golden - seem to emerge from the wash.  I personally don't know who was more or less responsible for the recruiting success in Groh's early years (whether it was London, Golden, or even Rocco), but I hope Craig Littlepage does.

Hope you've enjoyed the more in-depth look at the candidates we've been running this week.  We'll continue those posts next week.  Continue reading this post...

Coaching Rumors: The Al Golden File

This week we will be running a series on potential coaching candidates to replace Al Groh, who was fired on Sunday. Next up, Temple Head Coach Al Golden.

If, as red4z noted, Mike London is the presumptive front runner, Al Golden has to be a close second. Golden took over as Temple's head football coach in December of 2005, and at only 40 years old, he ranks as the nations' sixth-youngest head coach. Despite his youth, the New Jersey native has deep ties to Virginia football that include two separate stops in C'ville. Golden first came to UVa as part of George Welsh's staff where he served as a graduate assistant from 1994 - 1996. During his first stay in the Hook, Golden worked with both the linebackers and special teams and helped guide Cavalier greats and NFL first-round draft picks James Farrior and Jamie Sharper. After stints at Boston College and his alma mater Penn State, Al Groh brought Golden back to UVa in 2001 as the defensive coordinator on his original staff. At that time, Golden was the youngest defensive coordinator in the country (notice a theme).

As Virginia's defensive coordinator, UVa's defense improved tremendously. In his first season, Virginia ranked 108th in total defense and 74th in scoring defense. At the conclusion of his penultimate season in 2004, the Hoos were 18th in total defense and 17th in scoring defense. On top of serving as the defensive coordinator, Golden also worked with the linebackers from 2001 - 2004, and most Cavalier fans are very familiar with many of his pupils including standouts Angelo Crowell, Ahmad Brooks, and Kai Parham.

In the winter of 05' Golden left to take over what was at the time arguably one of the worst football programs in Division 1-A (now FBS). A job very few coaches found attractive, many Cavalier fans (myself included) thought the move to Temple was career suicide. Between 1991 and when he took the job in 2005, the Owls had failed to win more than four games in a given season. Yet, while Temple appeared to be the poster child for college football's hopeless programs, Golden refused to dwell on the negatives and took on the challenge of trying to revive a program that almost relegated itself to 1-AA (now FCS). After going 1-11 in his first season, the Owls won 4 games in 07' and 5 games in 08'. Currently, Temple is 9-3 (the most wins since 1979) and the Owls are likely headed to a bowl game for the first time in 30 seasons. Most agree Golden's work at Temple represents one of the best program turnarounds in recent history.

Pros: Golden can clearly coach, and he has demonstrated he can take an ailing program and build it back up. While Virginia's situation isn't quite the disaster he faced at Temple, the Hoos have indeed fallen on hard times and would benefit from someone such as Golden who is experienced in completely overhauling a program. The former Penn State linebacker has proven he can recruit, and that includes right here in the Commonwealth. As UVa's defensive coordinator, Golden was responsible for helping land Ahmad Brooks, who was the USA Today National Defensive Player of the Year and the highest rated recruit ever to wear the orange and blue. In fact, Brooks was only the first of two Virginia High School Player of the Year recruits he helped land - Olu Hall also held that honor when he committed in 2004. His efforts have not dropped off at Temple where his first recruiting class (2006) was rated tops in the MAC by Collegefootballnews.com, and both his 2007 and 2008 classes were ranked first in the league by Scouts.com. If you've seen Temple this year, you know his stud freshman running back Bernard Pierce could play anywhere.  

Cons: While Temple's turnaround is nothing short of remarkable, some might argue the program really had nowhere to go but up, particularly since it moved over to the MAC. The Owls have consistently improved under Golden, but he could be this year's version of Turner Gill.  After leading a similar turnaround in Buffalo, Gill was the hot name in both 2007 (Nebraska opening) and 2008 (Auburn and Syracuse). However, this year, the Bulls dropped to 5-7 and finished 8th in the MAC. Golden likely needs one more year to prove he is not a flash-in-the-pan and can both build and sustain a winning program.

Why he would come: Timing is everything. Just as any school that brings him after one winning season might be taking a chance, Golden himself could be risking it by not getting out while the gettin' is good. Now might be the time to make the jump since a losing season next year could mean several more years at Temple (Gill's name rarely comes up now after the Bulls slipped a little this season). Beyond that, Golden is extremely familiar with the Virginia program and has demonstrated recruiting success in the state.

Why he would not come: Golden does not appear to be prepared to simply jump at the first opportunity that comes his way. In 2007 Golden interviewed for the UCLA job but removed his name from consideration. If Golden feels like he has a good chance to log one or two more winning seasons at Temple, he might decide to hold out for an even more attractive coaching spot (say perhaps his alma mater Penn State when Paterno finally rides off into the sunset). Following in his former boss Groh's footsteps might also prove less than ideal.

Evaluation: For those who like Mike London, it appears Golden possess many of the same credentials. In fact, one knock on London is that he has yet to establish his own program and win with his own players. Inheriting good players and getting them over the hump is one thing. Taking over a helpless program, somehow convincing kids to come to Temple, and then posting the first winning season in decades is truly another thing. Golden coached and recruited well while serving as UVa's defensive coordinator and could help re-establish some in-state recruiting success. Like Virginia's basketball coach Tony Bennett - a young coach and former NBA player - Golden's youth and playing experience would likely resonate with recruits and players alike. It appears he is definitely one of the top choices and for good reason. The guy holds a masters in sports psychology from UVa and has put it to good use while completely transforming the mindset at Temple. Golden appears to have a knack for making the best of a bad situation, which is exactly what Virginia needs.
Continue reading this post...

Coaching Rumors: The Tommy Tuberville File

This week we will be running a series on potential coaching candidates to replace Al Groh, who was fired on Sunday. Next up, former Auburn Head Coach Tommy Tuberville.

Thomas Hawley Tuberville is probably the biggest coaching name sitting on the sidelines this season.  He stepped down from his post at Auburn after a surprising 5-7 season in 2008, feeling as if he didn't have the full support of the Auburn community.  Tuberville is currently working as an ESPN analyst, but has made clear he would like to return to the sidelines as a head coach in 2010.

Its hard not to be impressed with Tuberville's resume.  The former Auburn Head Coach was 85-40 in ten seasons there.  His best season came in 2004, one year removed from the first rumblings about his job security, when the Tigers went 13-0 and finished second in the polls.  Tuberville won national coach of the year honors with a team that featured Jason Campbell, Ronnie Brown, and Cadillac Williams in the backfield, and a stalwart defense.  Prior to his tenure at Auburn, Tuberville was in the process of rebuilding things at Ole Miss from 1995-98, the first two years of which the Rebels were on probation, when Auburn came calling with a better gig.  He was 25-20 at Ole Miss. 

Under Tuberville, Auburn won at least seven games in all but two seasons (his first when he went 5-6 and his last when he went 5-7).  In between, Tuberville's teams were usually very good and occasionally great: the Tigers finished first in the SEC West four times, finished above .500 in the rough-and-tumble SEC in eight straight seasons, and beat arch-rival Alabama six times.  

Like London, Tuberville is not an innovator, just a good football coach.  He first made his name as defensive coordinator on a Texas A&M team that went 10-0-1 in 1994.  His 2004 team ran the west coast offense, but was largely based on dominating opponents with a Brown-Williams one-two punch.  Ironically, part of his demise in 2008 was an experiment with the spread offense (sound familiar?) that blew up in his face.  It also didn't help that Nick Saban moved in next door, and Alabama's 36-0 rout of Auburn in last year's Iron Bowl pushed Tuberville to step down or face a possible firing.

Pros: Its hard to imagine Virignia will find a coach with a better resume than Tuberville, who has a career record of 110-60, all while coaching in what is considered the best conference in college football.  He was in the process of rebuilding a mess at Ole Miss (14-9 in his final two seasons), and returned Auburn to prominence in just over a year.  When Tuberville arrived, the Tigers were coming off a 3-8 season in 1998; Auburn was 9-4 and SEC West Champions by 2000.  Tuberville would bring instant credibility to a program that has had losing seasons in three of the last four campaigns.  There would be instant expectations that Virignia would be relevant again by 2011. 

Cons: Tuberville is a deep south guy.  He was born in Arkansas, coached as an assistant at Miami and Texas A&M, and was the head man at Ole Miss and Auburn.  So while he's a well-known commodity down there, its unclear how he'd be in recruiting (something he was never given much credit for anyway) from UVA's traditional base -- the northeast and in the state of Virginia.  There was also widespread discontent with Tuberville at Auburn for a reason.  Other than 2004, his teams frequently did not live up to expectations. Perhaps expectations were unrealistic, but they were nonetheless not always met.  That was brought into stark contrast when Nick Saban steamrolled Auburn in year two of his rebuilding job across the state. 

Why He'd Come: If he did rebuild Virginia, a program that has not won ten games in over a decade, he'd be deified, and thus vindicated as to how he was treated at Auburn.  He'd also find life easier in the ACC than he would trying to compete with the likes of Urban Meyer and Nick Saban in the SEC. 

Why He Wouldn't Come: Don't kid yourself.  Other programs will come calling -- better programs.  If a bigger job came open in the SEC or Big 12, or perhaps even a place like Louisville (who also fired their head coach this weekend), he'd have to be at the top of any AD's list to fill those jobs.  He also might be wary of academic restrictions that might be placed upon him at the University, something that would be foreign to him as a former SEC coach.  He'll also demand big money (he made $2.8 million in 2008) that Virignia might not be willing to pony up, especially given Groh's hefty buyout. 

Evaluation: Tuberville would be quite a get.  But like the other Tubby Virginia flirted with, you have to ask yourself (and set aside your own orange and blue bias) why he'd come here.  He'll almost certainly have options where football is treated more seriously.  Sure, he'll consider a program like UVA, but it will not be his first choice.

Moreover, you have to ask yourself how his gentlemanly southern drawl is going to play in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, or Hampton Roads, where Virginia has to recruit to be successful.  At the end of the day, my guess is that Virginia will filrt with Tuberville, but they'll both decide they're better off going in a different direction.       Continue reading this post...

Coaching Rumors: The Mike London File

This week we will be running a series on potential coaching candidates to replace Al Groh, who was fired on Sunday.  First up, Richmond Head Coach and former Virginia Defensive Coordinator Mike London.

Many people's presumptive frontrunner, such as here for example, the 39-year old London is in his second year as the head coach of his alma mater, the I-AA University of Richmond Spiders, for which he left the Hoos' DC post at the end of the 2007 season.  The Hampton native is an almost unbelievable feel-good story, a one-time Richmond cop that exited the beat after a near death experience and has worked his way all the way up the coaching ladder.   

In his first season at Richmond, London led the Spiders to their first-ever Division I-AA Chamionship.  To be clear, London wasn't exactly inheiriting a rebuilding job - the Spiders had won the CAA and reached the I-AA semifinals in 2007 - but London has to get credit for getting Richmond over the top in 2008. He has continued that excellence in 2009, with another title contender that stood at 11-1, shared the CAA title for a second consecutive year, and was ranked No. 4 in the nation headed into the I-AA playoffs.  Richmond's only loss this season came when its place-kicker missed an extra point after what should have been a game-tying TD in a one-point loss at Villanova. 

As Richmond Head coach, London is 1-1 against 1-A schools.  The Spiders played Virginia close in 2008, trailing only 3-0 headed into the 4th quarter before the Hoos pulled away in a 16-0 win.  This season, the Spiders upset Duke, 24-16, in Durham.  It looked like a good win at the time (I-AA wins over 1-A schools always are); it looks like a great win now that Duke proved not to be its usual doormat self.   

At Virginia, London was Defensive Coordinator for two years following Al Golden's departure to Temple.  In 2006, Virginia was fourth in the ACC in total defense, pitched a pair of shutouts, and propped up an otherwise shaky offense (dead last in the ACC in total offense) under true freshman QB Jameel Sewell.  The Hoos went from good to great in 2007.  Led by All-American Chris Long, the Hoos were third in the ACC in scoring defense, and won nine games even though the offense was only marginally better than it was in 2006. 

Prior to that, London took an ill-fated one-year foray into the NFL, where he was D-line coach for the 2-14 Houston Texans.  When Dom Capers was fired after the season, London came back to UVA, where he had been Groh's D-line coach from 2001-04.  He was also recruiting coordinator from 2002-04.  Notably, Virginia's recruiting classes started to fall off after London left that job in 2004 (although to be fair, it could have easily been the departutes of Al Golden and Danny Rocco - more on them later this week - that led to the recent recruiting dropoff). 

London acknowledges he's not a scheme guy.  His offenses at Richmond are simple; his defenses solid.  So you wouldn't be getting the next young innovator.  London is very much old school.  But his players love him.  London wears his emotions on his sleeve, and his players seem to respond to it. (more after the break).  



Pros: As a Hampton native, former recruiting coordinator, and a coach within the state of Virginia for 17 of the last 21 years, if anyone can break Frank Beamer's death grip on in-state recruiting, London would seem to be the guy.  On top of a rock solid coaching resume, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, London is a winning commodity.  The Hoos enjoyed their best season of the Groh era with London as DC, and he's built a I-AA powerhouse at Richmond.  Its just a matter of time before London gets a shot at the D-I level.  No reason it can't be rebuilding the program at Virginia. 

Cons: Despite a winning resume, London has only been a head coach for two seasons, and its been at the I-AA level.  And while he's been successful at Richmond, he's doing it with players that he didn't recruit (all 22 of his starers are upperclassmen brought to Richmond by his predecessor).  So some AD would have to take a bit of a leap of faith to entrust London with his first 1-A job.  And while he's well-known in Virginia circles, he's not a splashy name outside the state.  You just don't know whether a hire like London would remedy the troubling trend of dwindling attendance at Scott Stadium (at least not at first). 

Why He'd Come: London coached at UVA for six seasons, and has other ties to the University - his brother Paul played DB for Coach Welsh and his daughter Kristen played hoops under Debbie Ryan.  When he left the Hoos in 2007, London was quoted as saying he didn't want to leave, but had to answer the call of his alma mater.  He might be happy to come back, certainly at a higher salary than they can afford to pay him at U of R. 

Why He Wouldn't Come: He might already be at his dream job, coaching his alma mater.  And even if he has designs on returning to 1-A football, it might be a bit early.  As noted above, London's recruiting classes at Richmond have yet to establish themselves.  He may want to see things through a little further at his alma mater.  London also spent his entire UVA tenure under Groh, so he may feel some sense of loyalty to his former boss. 

Evaluation: It would take a bit of a leap of faith, but he's the front-runner in my book.  The main reason Virginia has fallen behind Tech is in-state recruiting.  While that trend isn't likely to completely reverse until Frank Beamer retires, London has the best chance of rebuilding a healthy recruiting base in the state, which has shown it has enough talent to sustain a national program as it has at Tech.

Beyond that, London can plainly coach.  He may not be an innovator, but he's proven at his last two stops that he can get the most out of his talent.  London got Richmond over the hump in just one season and, as Virginia fans fondly recall, got the most out of a Virginia defense that had little right leading the program to nine wins in 2007.  Yes, London would be a leap of faith, but he's probably the football version of Dave Odom, who everyone saw as an eventual D-I coach but Virginia passed over because he wasn't viewed as quite ready.  When Odom left to rebuild the hoops program at Wake, the Virginia administration looked short-sighted.  Its a mistake the University would rather not make again, this time with what many view as one of the best young, up-and-coming coaches in the country, and a home-grown one at that. Continue reading this post...

Big Ten 1, ACC 0

Its going to happen this year.  The Big 11 is finally going to break through.  Excuse me while I go throw up my breakfast. Continue reading this post...

Coaching Rumors: The Ideal Candidate

Later this week, we will be running a series on the potential coaching candidates to replace Al Groh, who was fired on Sunday.  I thought about doing an Al Groh post-mortem, but quite frankly, with the writing on the wall since September, I think that's been done.  We'd rather look ahead, to what Craig Littlepage (and Jon Oliver, who clearly had a big say in the hiring of Tony Bennett) should be looking for.

1. He'd Better Recruit: As Coach Groh preached as he came in the door, and all too frequently fell back on as his team struggled this year, you don't win without players.  The lack of players, more than anything else, led to Groh's downfall.  It was galling to watch, in succession, a program like William & Mary appear to be on par physically with their in-state big brother, and then watch as non-major conference schools like TCU and S. Miss ran up and down the field on the Hoos.  Alas, that was only a precursor to getting steamrolled by Georgia and Virginia Tech, and being circled by Clemson and Miami.

Groh was unquestionably a good coach (his game management skills notwithstanding).  But after a few successful classes to start his tenure, Groh has allowed UVA to fall behind its ACC brethren in the annual recruiting wars, which is almost always more important to winning on Saturdays than Xs and Os.  If Groh's successor isn't any better at recruiting than Groh was (especially after his principal recruiting assistants left), he could be the second coming of Bill Walsh and its not going to matter much.  (Advantage: Florida Defensive Coordinator Charlie Strong, Temple Head coach Al Golden).

2. He'd Better Be Able to Do It In-State: The state of Virginia is not Florida or Texas, but its a state upon whose talent you can build a national program.  Just ask Frank Beamer.  And only Frank Beamer.  For the last two decades, and in particular the last few seasons, Beamer's Hokies have absolutely dominated in-state recruiting.  Its a wonder when any of the state's top recruits pick the Cavs anymore.

So yeah, its great that UVA has made inroads into places like Pennsylvania and New Jersey for elite talent, but Groh's successor is going to have to do better in talent-rich Hampton Roads, and is going to need to compete for the best from SW Virginia and Northern Virginia.  It won't be easy to wrestle control of the state away from Beamer, but we'll take something closer to competing, as opposed to the bloodbath that in-state recruiting has been recently.  There's enough talent in-state to go around.  (Advantage: Richmond Head Coach Mike London, Virginia Tech Defensive Coordinator Bud Foster).    

3. He Needs to Be Prepared to Deal With Academic Restrictions At Virginia: As the University made clear with the hiring of Tony Bennett, who was recently quoted as saying Virginia should aspire to be Stanford-East, UVa is not going to lower their academic standards to compete for recruits (although it wouldn't kill them to make a few more exceptions). Virginia has nicked more than a few of Groh's recruits, most prominently the lost class of 2006, when 8 of Cavs' 24 recruits didn't qualify academically.  The Hoos also lose players after they walk through the doors of the University.  Most recently, starting QB Jameel Sewell and starting CB Chris Cook were declared academically ineligible for the 2008 season.  And DE Jeffrey Fitzgerald finished his college career playing for Kansas State, not Virignia, in part because of academic issues.       

We can debate whether the football and basketball program should be held to the same academic standards as the rest of the University (although if you think more than 5% of either program would have been admitted without their athletic credentials, you're fooling yourself).  But its largely been made clear that those academic standards aren't going anywhere.  (Advantage: Harvard Head Coach Tim Murphy).   

4. He Needs to Be the Face of the Program: Besides not winning enough games, Groh's biggest failure was in not endearing himself in any way to the University community.  Whether it was his gruff demeanor, or his aloofness in dealing with issues such as ties v. t-shirts (I happen to agree with him, but he could have handled it better), Groh was always more concerned with Xs and Os than leading the program.  So when the records started going south, it was hard to find too many people willing to defend Groh.

Virginia served notice with Bennett's hiring that it was looking for someone to be the face of the program.  Expect them to pick someone that the University community will be able to embrace, something was wasn't often true with Groh.  (Advantage: Boise State Head Coach Chris Peterson).   

We'll be tackling some of the individual names starting tomorrow, but since the hiring of Tony Bennett came out of left field, its just as likely this one will too.  We're not sure the ideal candidate - i.e. the one that checks all these boxes - is out there, but you can be sure the AD's office will be taking these requirements into consideration when they pick their man. Continue reading this post...

NEXT!

You won't have to see this anymore.  AP Story here.  UVA statement here.   

The next Virginia Coach?

We'll have more on each of these and other candidates as the week (and the search) progresses. 

Continue reading this post...

A typical day at the beach

Well, that was disappointing. Such is life as a UVa hoops fan, though hopefully things won't stay this way forever. Virginia looked atrocious on offense for the second time this season, and the Hoos proved just bad enough to let an unimpressive Stanford squad eek out a 57-52 victory. So the frustration continues for Virginia fans. In a society where just about everything is instant, the hopes and dreams of Hoonation were that Bennett's arrival would immediately usher in sweeping change. Wisely he warned that change takes time and things weren't going to be fixed overnight. Yet, with the program's revived attitude and Bennett's new defensive scheme, optimists (members of 7even Win Society included) figured one of the first signs of improvement could come in the form of eradicating Virginia's tendency to fall completely flat in games such as tonight's Stanford debacle. So far, no new developments in this department as these head-scratching and often painfully ugly loses continue to plague the program while frustrating fans beyond no end.

In Virginia's two setbacks, the Hoos have averaged just under 50 points, and no matter how you slice it, you cannot expect to beat very many, if any, teams when you score so few points. Anyone worried that the Stanford game was a prime example of the boring, grind-it-out brand of play known as "Bennett-Ball," fear not for that was just plain ugly. No coach in the country implements a system that strives for under 38% shooting from the floor with a severely unbalanced offensive attack. The wildly inconsistent play from Zeglinski, Farrakhan, Scott, and Jones proves both befuddling and frustrating. Speaking of Bennett's defense, Stanford managed only 57 points and shot under 39% for the game, and in most cases, that is generally good enough to get the win. In Virginia's loss to USF, the Cavaliers played poorly on both sides of the ball. While the defense looked much better against Stanford, it is a little scary to think the Hoos can still find a way to lose even when executing Bennett's defensive schemes effectively. Then again, scoring only 52 points will do that.

It would have been fun to see what Virginia could have done against Kentucky...well, ok, it could have very well turned out to be an ugly affair, but it would have at least been fun spending Wednesday anticipating the big match-up while dreaming and hoping for a big upset. Even a respectable outing would have sufficed, but Virginia first needed to take care of undermanned Standford team in order to get the opportunity. In failing to do so, Virginia fans are left to search for a moral victory of sorts against Cleveland State. It will be interesting to see if the Hoos can show the strength, composure, and mental fortitude necessary to bounce back and gut out a win in a game that is lackluster and completely uninspiring. It looks like that's what we can realistically hope for...at least for now.
Continue reading this post...

Kickin' it in Cancun

Tonight Virginia takes on Stanford in the third round of the Cancun Challenge, and on paper the Hoos match up well against the Cardinal (the nickname refers to one of their school colors and not the bird, but regardless, the singular is really annoying) . The two teams only share one common opponent, Oral Roberts, and Stanford dropped a heart breaker to the Golden Eagles last Wednesday night when Roderick Peterson hit a game-winning jumper at the buzzer . UVa beat Oral Roberts by 21 this past Saturday. Both Virginia and Stanford hosted Oral Roberts on their home floors. In addition, Oral Roberts' head coach Scott Sutton (yes, son of famed basketball coach Eddie Sutton) left Charlottesville Saturday evening thinking the Hoos featured a stronger offense with more inside presence than Stanford. It's not everyday you hear someone suggest Virginia has an advantage inside. Lastly, Coach Bennett spent the previous six seasons coaching in the Pac-10 (three as a head coach), so he is pretty familiar with the Cardinal.

Despite the apparent advantage, all that goes out the window when it comes to games like these. Cavalier fans are well aware of Virginia's recent struggles in warm, sunny settings that often feature a beachfront nearby - most notably the entire state of Florida and Puerto Rico. Maybe the fact the contest is being played at the Moon Palace Resort might help the Hoos forget they are in the tropical paradise of Cancun. The gym will likely be near empty and the atmosphere will almost certainly be devoid of any energy. While either of these factors sets the stage for the Hoos to come out flat and listless, the prevailing thought is tonight's contest is as good a chance as any for UVa to kick the recent trend.

In addition to the loss against Oral Roberts, Stanford also fell to San Diego in their season opener. Head coach Johnny Dawkins (the former Duke player and long-time Duke assistant coach) boasts a relatively young squad, though senior guard/forward Landry Fields is the player to watch for the Cardinal. Fields nearly averages a double-double with 22.5 points and over 8 rebounds a game. Sophomore guard Jeremy Green also knows how to put the ball in the basket averaging 14.5 points per contest.

Stanford player statistics aside, tonight's affair is really about Virginia and whether or not the Hoos can get off the snide when it comes to games like these - playing down south against a statistically inferior team in front of a sparse crowd in a stadium with little to no energy. Assane Sene scored a career high in his season debut against Oral Roberts, and Mike Scott has looked solid as of late, so the Hoos should be able to out man Stanford in the post. Virginia's guard play has been nicely balanced as of late, and with so many threats, UVa's front court should overpower the Cardinal. Again, the stats favor the Cavaliers, but the setting lends itself to a flat, uninspiring performance against a lesser opponent - one that is far too familiar for Hoo fans. If looking to get the monkey off their backs isn't enough motivation, a win gives the Cavaliers an opportunity to go against a Kentucky squad that ranks among the nation's elite. This game serves as an early chance for Bennett and his squad to show things might just be changing in C'ville. It's a game UVa should win, but recently, contests like these have been no day at the beach. Continue reading this post...

Outmanned Again (This is Getting Old)

For the second time in three weeks, Virginia fought gamely for a half against a superiorly talented foe.  The Hoos pulled out all the stops -- a little Wildcat, a QB throwback, and even a gutsy and exhilarating go on the last play of the first half.  Unfortunately, Virginia didn't seem to have any tricks left for the second half, when things returned to form for Atlantic Division champ Clemson in a 34-21 result.

Some thoughts on the Cavs' eighth loss of the season, their most since 1986:

• The offense to open the game looked like it probably should have all season.  All thirteen of the Hoos' offensive plays in the first quarter were on the ground.  It didn't matter that the first drive ended in a fumble, or that the second ended in a punt.  The score after the first quarter was 7-7, and just as important the time of possession was 8-7 Virginia. 
• Like the Virginia Tech game last season when Vic Hall got the surprise start at QB, Virginia broke out a new toy with Mikell Simpson in the wildcat formation.  Groh was quoted as saying that they didn't just put that in this week; they just hadn't used it in a game.  Um, as many of us were thinking last season when they finally took the wraps off Hall, what took so long?
• The end of the half go for it was one of those no-no-no-yes! moments.  You have a chance to cut it to one score with a FG, and you're facing the ACC's best pass rush with 8 seconds left from the 23-yard line.  A short pass, which is all they had time for if they still wanted to preserve time for a FG, doesn't get you in the end zone, so why risk it?  Instead, Virginia calls a wheel route to Simpson, which if incomplete leaves the Cavs with no time for a FG.  But the play worked.  24-21 into halftime.  Gutsy, even if foolhardy, call.
• Unfortunately, that was the last play of Simpson's afternoon.  Without their star runner in the second half, Virginia gained only 40 more yards, and didn't score again.
• On the other side of the ball, there was only so much Virginia could do to slow down a clicking Clemson offense.  But UVA still held the Tigers under 400 yards for the first time in five games.  The Hoos actually kept star C.J. Spiller (19 carries, 60 yards) in relative check.  They had a little more trouble with speedy wideout Jacoby Ford, who had 6 catches for 106 yards and a TD.  
• The last time the Cavs lost eight games was 1986.  It will have to beat Tech to avoid its worst season since 1982.  Ouch.

Continue reading this post...

Countdown to November 30

As ACC COY noted earlier this season, 2009 has been a long and inevitable march towards Al Groh's firing.  This is as much AD Craig Littlepage's fault as it is Groh's.  But with the end of the football season mercilessly close, you should know that the death blow will likely come quickly, and soon. 

As ACC Sports Journal notes, November 30 is the annual date to exercise the rollover clause in Coach Groh's contract.  If the University isn't going to pick that up - and there's no one out there that thinks it will be picked up - conventional wisdom says that there's no reason to let an alum and, whatever you think of his coaching ability, a good man twist in the wind.  Jerry Radcliffe had a interesting piece about what went wrong for Al Groh.  Don't know that I agree with all of what Jerry writes, but he raises some interesting issues that any coaching candidate will have to consider.

Everyone's already starting with candidate lists - here and here for example.  Its a bit early for that, but with November 30 just ten days away, not that early.  Better than talking about the Clemson game, though, and Virginia's likely foray into the land of 3-8, something even the most pessimistic among us did not think possible when the season began. Continue reading this post...

Welcome to the ACC, Coach Bennett

After watching the Hoos get outmanned by the likes of South Florida on Monday, its hard not to think about the reinforcements coming for 2010.  As we've written in this space before, Coach Tony Bennett's first class is good, not great as some have proclaimed.  Still, its hard not to get excited about the five new recruits Bennett is bringing to the 'ville, two of whom are consensus top-100 players. 

Nor should it be surprising.  At Washington State, its hard to imagine how Coach Bennett got anyone to come to Pullman (if you've ever been to or even seen pictures of it, or that "cage you call a gym," you know what I mean). Here at UVA, Bennett's got a state-of-the-art facility, is a couple hours drive from more than a few recruiting hotbeds, and has the draw of playing in what is considered by most to be the nation's premier college hoops conference.  Its kind of like swimming every morning at the local Y, and then having the chance to instead swim every day at the Aquatic and Fitness Center.  It's gotta feel pretty nice, and certainly a whole lot better than where you were. 

But reviewing the various recruiting rankings has to bring things into perspective for UVA's new head man. Case in point, ESPN just released its rankings for college basketball's top 25 recruiting classes for 2010 (insider access required).  Virginia is ranked a respectable 21st.  Its what's ahead of Coach Bennett's class in those rankings that will soon enough be keeping him up at night.  Despite the strength of Virginia's class, no less than FIVE ACC schools' classes rank ahead of Bennett's.  UNC, with three top-20 players, is No. 3.  Wake is adding four top 100 players and is ranked No. 6.  Duke is right behind them, with two elite recruits, at No. 7. NC State (how Sidney Lowe keeps doing this yet his team stinks every year I'll never know) is No. 12, and Maryland is just ahead of Virginia in ESPN's rankings at No. 18.  Florida State is right behind the Hoos at No. 24. 

Meanwhile, only two of Bennett's former rivals from the Pac-10 have classes that rank ahead of Bennett's.  Always strong UCLA is at No. 10 and new Stanford head man Johnny Dawkins checks in at No. 15.  That's it. 

The story's the same over at scout.com, where Virginia's ranked 14th, but still trumped by UNC, Duke, Wake, and NC State, and at rivals.com, where Virginia's all the way up to 12th, but still behind that foursome.  Coach Bennett is certainly doing well, but he has to be learning that he's engaged in an arms race here on the east coast he's not winning, and probably can't.

So yeah, the pool's nicer over here.  Its not that shallow 25-meter thing at the Y where you don't quite trust the water.  Here on the east coast, the pool's heated, its got olympic-sized lanes, and is plenty deep enough for diving.  But just so you know, Coach, there are sharks swimming around in it.  Keep swimming fast.  You're going to have to. Continue reading this post...

Another 2nd Half Collapse

After Virginia's first two ballgames, one thing is absolutely crystal clear - Coach Bennett's efforts to temper expectations were not a case of sandbagging. If you read our fearless predictions, it's easy to see we at the Society bought into the excitement and promise of a new coach coming in to guide a team with the ACC freshman of the year and all five returning starters. With what appeared to be a decent and relatively talented foundation in place, surely Bennett was simply setting expectations low and under-promising in order to over deliver, or so we thought. It looks like that simply wasn't the case. The build-up to the season was exciting, but so much for the afterglow.

After an underwhelming and somewhat troubling win against Longwood, Virginia took on the University of South Florida last night and continued their complete incompetence in the Sunshine State (the Hoos last win there came during the 2000-2001 season when Roger Mason hit a last-second shot to down FSU). For the second straight game, Virginia posted another dismal second-half performance, and a four-point game at half time turned into a 17-point blowout. All night the offense was beyond anemic, and Virginia continues to work out the kinks with Bennett's new defensive system.

It's hard to win basketball games when you only score 49 points, and after only two games, some trends that plagued Virginia last year seem to be rearing their ugly heads again this season. The Hoos shot a woeful 32.7% from the field, and just like last year, finding offensive consistency from anyone not named Sylvan Landesburg proves challenging - even he struggled with just 2 points after the break. Sammy Zeglinski and Mustapha Farrakhan both posted nice outings in the opener against Longwood, and yet the two absolutely disappeared against the Bulls. The two combined for a mere 5 points on the night. Virginia fans truly want to believe Jeff Jones can and will begin to live up to the promise and expectations that once surrounded the highly-regarded recruit, but sadly, the wait continues. Once again the junior guard turned in a disappointing performance with 7 meaningless points all after USF had the game well in hand. While it's still very, very early, freshman Tristan Spurlock has shown no signs he will be able to contribute right away(or at least this year) - sure, there is still plenty of time, but Spurlock's first two games raise a slight cause for concern. Mike Scott failed to hit double-digits, yet, in his defense, with Virginia's front-court under-manned and under-sized, he simply couldn't do it all.

At first glance, 66 points doesn't seem like a horrendous defensive effort, and to some degree it wasn't. Bennett's defensive system is designed to make opposing teams shoot late in the shot clock, and thus, reduce their total number of shots. The fact USF shot over 53% from the field and eclipsed 45% from beyond the arc yet still only managed 66 points serves as evidence that part of the defensive scheme is taking hold. Of course, the other part is of the approach relies on defenders doing something, actually anything, to disrupt shots and keep shooting percentages far south of 50%. So far it seems as if UVa has yet to grasp that crucial element of Bennett's defensive philosophy.

The absence of Assane Sene and Jamil Tucker is likely partially to blame for Virginia's inability to keep South Florida's shooting percentage in check as the big men played well for the Bulls. Foward/Centers August Gilchrist and Jarrid Famous put up 18 and 12 respectively. In addition, both nabbed 8 rebounds a piece helping USF post a 33-21 advantage on the boards. To a large degree, a scoring and rebounding disparity was a bit expected given Virginia's thin front-court, yet that made shutting down the guards (specifically their go-to guy Dominique Jones) all the more important. Sadly, he dropped a game-high 22.

Coach Bennett harps on the idea that it is going to take time to get his system totally in place (that includes getting guys who can play his style). Sure, his approach is different and will take some time, but asking basketball players to play a different brand of defense is not quite the same as asking Gaylord Focker and a bunch of his male nurse friends to become heart surgeons. Fundamentally, several key defensive principles always apply. Even if it is a case where the players concentrate so hard to correctly execute Bennett's new defense that is causes lapses in more fundamental areas, getting that fixed only solves half the problem. Like last season, Virginia still can't find players able to step up on offense and produce night in and night out (Landesburg excluded). Without a doubt it was fun getting caught up in the hype and optimism prior to the season, but after two games, it's starting to look like maybe the players aren't the only ones still trying to learn Bennett's approach. It appears he wasn't bluffing when he warned that turning the program around was a true work in progress. Maybe there's still hope he overestimated the timetable.


Continue reading this post...

Home for the Holidays ... Again

Actually, that's three times in four years.  Not usually good for one's job security.  Has anyone thought about replacing the coach?

Game of inches was a popular media theme -- here and here for example.  Although let's not be melodramatic about it, fellas (and I don't mean to pick on these two particular stories -- it was a common refrain from pretty much every media outlet covering the game).  Virginia's bowl hopes were extinguished well before Jameel Sewell came up inches short at the BC 12 on fourth down. You see this team winning at Clemson and against Virignia Tech?  Yeah, me neither.

Tip of the cap nonetheless to Sewell, who played hurt in the absence of Marc Verica.  As we've said in this space before, Sewell has his flaws, but he's always given Virginia its best chance to win.  He did so again on Saturday.

And the defense, once again, almost made another impotent offensive showing stand up.  Chris Cook got Virginia on the board with an int return for TD to tie the game, and then the D stopped the Eagles three and out to set up a FG that briefly gave the Hoos a 10-7 lead.  And last week we asked who would stand out as the Cavs played out the string.  LB Billy Shautz raised his hand, registering his first career sack as well as a tackle for loss. 

Nonetheless, that defense succumbed in much the same way it has a number of times this season - when a team committed to running it down their throats, the Hoos couldn't stop them.  BC marched 70 yards in 12 plays to start the fourth quarter.  10 of the Eagles' 12 plays on that decisive drive were runs, culminating in a gutsy fourth and goal run that just snuck the ball over the line (yes, by inches, we get it).

In any event, the inches don't matter anymore to this group, except to figure out how many inches outside the hole a putt might be sometime in December.  It will be interesting to see who else, like Shautz, stands up and makes himself noticed as the team plays out the string.   Continue reading this post...

A Mixed Start

I'm sure many of us would have liked to have seen the first game of the Tony Bennett era.  Alas, games against Longwood don't move the meter.  Thankfully, even with new paper budgets shrinking everywhere, a few brave souls were there too tell us a bit about the Hoos' opening night 85-72 win.

Virginia closed the first half on a 27-9 run to take a 49-27 lead into halftime, and the issue was never really in doubt.  But the second half was a bit disconcerting, with Longwood shooting 55% and getting as close as nine.  With every quote, Bennett appears to be tempering expectations - is it too late to revise my fearless prediction?

As Bennett promised, the offense did not hold the ball.  Virginia started four guards, and got a nice lift from Mustapha Farrakhan.  Freshman Jontel Evens played 20 minutes off the bench, impressing Bennett with his on-the-ball defense and ball-handling.  Could be nice complement to Smmy Zieglinski.  The other freshman - Tristan Spurlock - played only three minutes.

But playing small ball without C Assane Sene and F Jamil Tucker (who were both on the bench in street clothes), a pair of Longwood big men abused the Cavs' D on 14-18 shooting.  That will be even more of a problem against upcoming Big East foe S. Florida.

In other news, Bennett spoke highly of his incoming recruiting class (would have been nice to land top PG prospect and O'Connell product Kendall Marshall, but that was probably a pipe-dream).  Continue reading this post...

Looking Ahead to 2010 While Playing Out The String

The wonder of sports is that hope forever springs eternal.  There's always next year.  We're not quite there yet, but rather than talk about Virginia's matchup with 6-3 BC, or how few people will attend the Hoos' likely bowl-busting game, I'm already looking towards 2010, and the players that will be in place then.  Something (and some names) to keep an eye on if you have any stomach left to watch the 2009 version of the Hoos.   

Running Backs: Despite the departure of bruiser Rashawn Jackson, Virginia is well-stocked in the backfield for next season.  Mikell Simpson returns for one more season, and Dominique Wallace should be back to full health, hopefully with four more years of eligibility to burn.  Torrey Mack, of which more was probably expected this season, also returns with three years of eligibility remaining.

Wide Receivers: What Virginia lacks in obvious quality, they make up for in quantity here.  Kris Burd, Jared Green, Javaris Brown, and Tim Smith all return next season.  Look for one or two of them to finally distinguish themselves from the pack towards the end of this season.  TEs Joe Torchia and Colter Phillips will also be back for whatever coach (and new system) is employed.

O-line: Will Barker graduates.  That's it.  With four starters returning, the Hoos should be solid up front.  We just hope they work on their pass protection skills during the offseason.

QB: The pink elephant in the room.  Despite having enough pieces everywhere else on offense for next season, both Jameel Sewell and Vic Hall are out of eligibility.  That leaves would-be senior Marc Verica and now-redshirt freshman Riko Smalls as one-two on the depth chart.  I'm sure I'm not the only one who shuddered as I read that.

D-Line: Like the o-line, the defense loses one of its most valuable pieces in Nate Collins.  But starters Matt Conrath and Nick Jenkins return, along with Zane Parr and true freshman Will Hill ready to step in for Collins.  Should again be a position of strength for the Hoos.

Linebackers: The Hoos will lose three seniors, two of them starters.  But arguably the two most important pieces, Steve Greer and Cam Johnson, return.  Greer, like his predecessor Jon Copper, may need a caddy on passing downs, but he's the backbone of the Hoos' defense.  Johnson should continue to blossom into a pass rusher good enough to play on Sundays.  However, beyond those two standouts, its unclear among the three freshman listed on the depth chart (Schautz, McCartin, and Windle) who will fill out the starting lineup. 

Secondary: Other than QB, this is the position that will take the biggest beating headed into 2010.  CB Chris Cook and S Brandon Woods graduate, along with sometimes CB Vic Hall, and its entirely possible Jr. CB Ras-I Dowling decides he's had enough and enters the draft a year early.  There's some depth here -- Chase Minnifield should reenter the mix at CB he was in before Cook was reinstated, and Corey Moseley should be able to step in nicely for Woods.  But its hard to imagine the biggest strength of this team won't take a step back in 2010.
 
So there you have it.  There are probably less question marks headed into 2010 than there were headed into this season, but the Hoos will have a big question mark at the most important position on the field.  We wouldn't expect Groh to start playing for 2010, whether his job were on the line or not, but since he's playing everyone anyway, eligibility be damned, we might as well keep an eye out for what we have in 2010.  Enjoy the game (if you can).    Continue reading this post...