Virginia Football Notes: The Impact Of The Recent Roster Developments, & All-ACC Performers

By: Chris Horne |
Virginia football senior offensive guard Chris Glaser has decided to return to play for the Cavaliers for one more season. Glaser is coming off his best season on the college level, earning All-ACC Honorable Mention honors. ~ Photo by Kris Wright

The University of Virginia football program announced 17 fourth and fifth-year players are returning to Charlottesville for the 2021 season. Among the 17 are nine student athletes who would have exhausted their final year of eligibility in 2020 if not for a one-time NCAA rule that provided a “blanket waiver” allowing fall student athletes to “receive both an additional year of eligibility and an additional year in which to complete it” because of the global pandemic

Because of the NCAA’s ruling, Mandy Alonso (DL), Adeeb Atariwa (DL), Joey Blount (S), Elliott Brown (OLB), Danny Caracciolo (LS), De’Vante Cross (DB), Chris Glaser (OL), Nick Grant (CB) and Ra’Shaun Henry (WR) are returning for one more season in the Virginia program. Darrius Bratton (CB), Tommy Christ (OL/DL), Hayden Mitchell (WR), Ryan Nelson (OL), Olusegun Oluwatimi (OC), Ryan Swoboda (OT), Keytaon Thompson (WR) and Gerrik Vollmer (OL) round out the list of fourth and fifth-year returners, although all eight would have had a year of eligibility regardless of the NCAA’s decision.

Soon after Mendenhall announced the names of the returning upperclassmen, cornerback Anthony Johnson announced his intentions to transfer to Virginia. Johnson is a graduate of UVA’s ACC cross-divisional rival, Louisville, and will have two seasons of eligibility remaining.

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