At the beginning of his spring football press conference, Al Groh said that the Virginia football team had a "significant rebuilding job" in front of it.
Taking that statement as reliable, my first column in August argued that if the Cavaliers were in fact "rebuilding" in 2006, then Jameel Sewell should be the starting quarterback.
His upside is tremendous. And as the purported "quarterback of the future," he could benefit greatly from a year of experience with young teammates.
But we won't go back to that.
There are two quarterbacks on the roster that Virginia could currently be "rebuilding" around -- Sewell and Kevin McCabe.
Both have remaining eligibility, with the option to return and be a part of next year's team.
Regardless of who you think should be the starting quarterback, Saturday, Groh apparently did not create a situation in which either McCabe or Sewell could stay above water, let alone swim.
Based on his performance against Wyoming, McCabe deserved to be the starting quarterback against Western Michigan.
But throughout last week, Groh said that a decision about a starting quarterback would be made in practice.
Instead, McCabe reportedly learned that he would be the starting quarterback at breakfast Saturday morning, hours before game time.
It is unfair for a quarterback to get the news that he will be starting for the first time on the morning of a game, regardless of an "every player must be ready to play" mantra. What is more ridiculous, however, is that the coaching staff did not know until Saturday morning that McCabe would be the starter.
Groh failed Sewell by focusing on a competition between Olsen and McCabe the week before, without telling the young talent that he would receive substantial playing time Saturday.
After the game, Sewell, without hesitation, said that he "didn't expect to play the entire second half."
Throughout the week, Sewell said he received "not too many" reps in practice.
Without reps in practice, he could never have been prepared to lead a late comeback.
In fact, Sewell said he wasn't told he would even play in the game until Friday afternoon when the team got to the hotel.
For the sake of development, Groh must very soon name his player and decide his vision at the quarterback position.
I have said that my choice would be Sewell.
But whoever it is, that player should know as soon as possible. And once Groh is comfortable with either McCabe or Sewell, he should name one the starter for the remainder of the season.
Saturday, Groh failed his quarterbacks by not putting them in a position to succeed.
McCabe did not know he would be the starter until hours before the game.
Sewell spent the entire second half going back to the sidelines to ask about plays because he never knew that he would play 30 minutes of football against Western Michigan.
The entire charade implies that Virginia coach Al Groh doesn't have a vision for his quarterbacks in this "rebuilding job."
And as long as the Cavaliers move week-to-week wondering who will start, McCabe and Sewell, and perhaps the entire team, will stand in a developmental holding pattern.
It is important every week for receivers to know who will be throwing to them, for running backs to know who will be handing the ball to them and for an offensive line to know who they are protecting.
It is more important that inexperienced quarterbacks have enough information from their coach to prepare themselves for game day.
That didn't happen Saturday.
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