It's not often that Virginia coach Al Groh matches wits against a head coach with as much college and NFL experience as himself.
Georgia Tech coach Chan Gailey brings a wealth of experience from both the pro and college game. In his 31 years of coaching, Gailey has spent 16 seasons in the professional ranks and 15 seasons in college. Gailey has been head coach at Georgia Tech since 2001.
Like Groh, Gailey's NFL experience has resulted in championship expectations that, like Groh, have not yet been fulfilled. The intricacies of the college game, Groh notes, present different challenges than the NFL.
"[In college] it's probably not good business in your preparation to assume too much," Groh said. "You can go into a lot of situations in the NFL with the expectation that players are working from a much deeper background in football."
Despite a need to re-acclimate to the college game, both coaches have benefited greatly from their professional experiences, especially on the recruiting trail. Gailey's teams have improved steadily in his tenure as he attracts more and more talented players to Atlanta. He has led Georgia Tech to bowl games in each of his three years there, including a 51-14 thumping of Syracuse in last year's Champs Sports Bowl. This year's Yellow Jacket squad currently stands at No. 23 with a 6-2 record.
Groh also has enjoyed success at the helm of Virginia, and his NFL roots do not go unnoticed with recruits. Groh has helped many players reach the NFL, including Heath Miller, a first-round selection of the Pittsburgh Steelers in last year's NFL Draft, and Elton Brown, a two-time All-ACC selection now with the Arizona Cardinals. Seven Cavaliers were selected in last year's NFL Draft, a school record.
"Obviously you can kind of figure that out yourself a little bit as a kid coming up through the recruiting process," sophomore Chris Long said about playing for a coach with NFL experience. "You are trying to get to the next level, so that's something you look at."
The two coaches, however, came to their jobs for very different reasons. Groh returned to Virginia, his alma mater, after a 9-7 season with the New York Jets. Gailey, on the other hand, came to Georgia Tech after a mediocre tenure with the Dallas Cowboys that resulted in his dismissal following the 1999 season.
"In terms of my interest in coming here, my coming here was all about coming to the University of Virginia," Groh said. "Had you taken this exact situation and attached it to another university, I really don't believe I would've been interested in making the change."
The two coaches have assembled teams that follow a similar blueprint. Both squads are led by athletic, undersized quarterbacks in Marques Hagans and Reggie Ball. Both emphasize a power running attack
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