If you've been riding on the bandwagon that has been the Virginia football team for the past few years than maybe you can see it coming too. What's that up ahead? It's a crossroads. The coast is clear to the left and right but nobody seems to know which direction the team is headed.
Ever since Al Groh's first season at Virginia, the football program has been on its way up. Fans have seen recruiting classes ranked among the best in the country and marquee players selected on the first day of the NFL draft. The Cavaliers also have been to four straight bowl games and have won three out of four of those games. As a lifelong Virginia football fan, I can say that I felt extremely good about the future of Virginia football.
However, this spring and summer many media venues have pummeled the Cavaliers in preseason polls and season previews. The 2006 season has constantly been labeled as a "rebuilding" year and Groh has even agreed with this epithet. Thus, I don't think it's out of line to say that my faith has begun to waver.
I am not worried that this will be somewhat of a rebuilding year; every top college program has a down year once in a while. I am worried, however, about the future of the program. After years of hearing news about championship caliber talent followed by average results I can't help but wonder, is Virginia doomed for mediocrity on the gridiron?
Let's take a look at some potential reasons Virginia may have been putting forth a lackluster performance the past few years. For starters, the scheduling gods have not been kind. Virginia has played Virginia Tech, Florida State and Miami the past two seasons and will play the three giants of the ACC again this year. However, only a certain amount of blame can be attributed to the schedule.
Groh has received a considerable amount of criticism for Virginia's mediocrity. One media outlet went as far as to proclaim that Groh is on the "hot seat" and implied that he must produce results this season in order to keep his job. This proclamation is simply ludicrous. Groh just received a fat contract extension last year, which he deserved. Groh has produced four straight bowl bids, great recruiting classes and a steady pool of NFL prospects each year.
A major reason for Virginia's average seasons has been the turnover of the coaching staff. This off-season Groh has had to replace both his offensive and defensive coordinators, who each left for head coaching jobs at other schools. What about Virginia Tech's coaching staff? Defensive Coordinator Bud Foster has been coaching at Virginia Tech with Frank Beamer since 1987. Talk about tenure, I was born in 1987! Foster has remained at Virginia Tech despite receiving numerous head coaching offers because he and the other assistants are among the highest paid staff in college football. Maybe if Virginia paid its assistants more it wouldn't get raided year after year for coaching vacancies.
The outlook can't be this gloomy though, right? Let's take a look back to compare. In 2002 Virginia was one of the youngest teams in the nation. This year, Virginia has only one senior among the starting defense and zero seniors on the offensive line. In 2002 Virginia was picked to finish near the bottom of the conference in the preseason ACC poll just as they were this year. However, in 2002, the Cavaliers, led by Matt Schaub, went on to a second-place finish in the ACC and finished the year with nine victories. Might it not be possible for them to pull a similar feat now?
Things also look bright when one looks ahead. Unless you have been scouring rivals.com this summer, like I have, you're most likely unaware of the eventful summer Groh and his coaching staff have been through. This summer the Cavaliers landed a verbal commitment from blue chip prospect Peter Lalich, a tall, strong-armed and pro-style quarterback. News of Lalich's early commitment influenced many other recruits to commit and the Cavs have already landed five four-star recruits for 2007, which is two more than they got in 2006. Oh and did I mention that it's only August?
To an outside observer it's easy to write off the Cavaliers for 2006. However, as with everything, there is more to the story than meets the eye. Virginia has the talent and potential to win all of its non-conference games and win 50 percent of its ACC games. If the team can manage to accomplish these goals, which are not unrealistic, watch for the Cavaliers to have a big season in 2007. I don't know about you, but I can feel the bandwagon moving forward rather than backward.
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