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.
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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.
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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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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.
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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.
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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 red4
z 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.
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