Richard Burney Made First Pick In Virginia Jersey Draft And “It Wasn’t A Question”

Richard Burney is in his sixth year at UVA.
Richard Burney has played offense, defense, and special teams during his Virginia career. ~ Photo courtesy Virginia Athletics Media Relations/Jim Daves

Richard Burney released off the line, turned, and ran across the back line on a warm October day at Duke when a back-footed throw from Kurt Benkert sailed toward that corner of the end zone. Burney pulled the ball in toward his No. 87 jersey and secured the first touchdown catch of his career.

That seems like eons ago at this point.

Burney’s touchdown (watch it here) came on the same day as the first road win of the Bronco Mendenhall era in a game mostly remembered for Jordan Mack’s thunderous sack and Eli Hanback’s fumble recovery in the end zone as much as anything else. Per Pro Football Focus stats, that was his only official target of the season. He did have three more targets and another touchdown the following year before making the switch to defense.

Burney made that change ahead of the first bowl game of the Mendenhall era in 2017. Since, he’ been battling away in a scheme where the defensive lineman sometimes swallow up would-be blockers for players behind him to fly around and make plays. On special teams, he’s one of the protectors that catches two rushers to prevent collapsing things on the field goal kicker. Oh, he’s also spent a lot of time on the shelf with injuries and a medical issue that shortened his 2015, 2016, and 2018 seasons.

Long story short, Burney hasn’t always had the most glamorous roles for the Virginia football team. He’s played for two coaches, the only player left to suit up for both Mike London and Mendenhall. He’s switched positions, changed numbers, and watched from the sidelines. But for the sixth straight year, Burney keeps showing up. Punches the clock. Goes to work.

That in and of itself fit the definition of “earned, not given” as much as anything could to the task unit leaders for the Cavaliers. So when it came time for the first round of selections in the team’s annual jersey draft, the Hoos turned to Burney. The first pick gave him a little glamour for once. He stuck with No. 16.

“Sixth year. Done played offense, defense, special teams,” UVA linebacker Charles Snowden said. “Black shirt. There’s only two black shirts – him and Nino [Nick Grant]. That black shirt is not easy to earn in the weight room. Burney’s a sixth year, but he still shows up every day, embraces the young guys. This is not an easy program and he still comes every day with his hard hat ready to work. … When we were in our task unit leader meeting, we said ‘So who’s going to go first?’ and we said ‘Burney’. Burney was kind of ‘nah’ but we were like, ‘Burney it wasn’t a question. You’ve earned it.’ I was happy for him.”

It’s the latest internal indicator that Burney is taking the bull by the horns so to speak as the final chapter of his Cavalier career approaches. Back in the spring, co-defensive coordinator Nick Howell said the signs first started to show up late last season when “he was one of the guys that probably made the biggest jump from season’s start to season’s end” and “did some really, really nice things at the end of the year physically.” Mendenhall said earlier this year that Burney’s job now, in part, is to be a “gatekeeper and the holder of the keys” for the program’s culture as one of the veterans on the team.

Just last week, new defensive line coach Clint Sintim said that he was pleased with what Burney had done so far in the early part of workouts and camp and with an intentional focus on leading, while sophomore Jowon Briggs called him a mentor and a big reason why he chose to commit to the program as a recruit.

Burney seems to be finding his voice, even if it isn’t the big booming style of someone like Snowden.

“Him and I have had conversations just about leadership,” Snowden said. “He doesn’t necessarily always feel comfortable doing it, but he’s understood now that is what that D-Line room needs and that’s what the team needs. Even if he’s not necessarily comfortable, I told him kind of do it your way. Leadership’s not a monolith, there’s not one way to go about it. Everyone’s recognized that.”

Richard Burney and Coen King had first round picks in the Virginia jersey draft.
Coen King takes a rep at defensive back in Monday’s practice at Virginia. ~ Photo courtesy Virginia Athletics Media Relations/Jim Daves

More Jersey Draft Notes

– Potential surprises for some fans include players that walked on to the team: Perris Jones, Coen King, and Hayden Mitchell. Those may not be household names, but that blur of players that runs down on kickoff and punt teams often included them last season. King appeared in eight games, Jones in 10, and Mitchell in all 14. King made a tackle in the Orange Bowl. Jones had one against ODU. Mitchell had a tackle against UNC and also made catches at receiver against William & Mary and Clemson. All three made number changes: King from 49 to 9, Jones from 37 to 10, and Mitchell from 83 to 18.

– Snowden on King: “Coen came in as a walk-on, which is definitely no easy – I mean as a scholarship guy, this program is hard enough but Coen I’ve never once heard him complain. In the weight room, he’s in orange, he’s in color and every day he just works hard. He’s physical. He’s been making plays all over the field. He encourages guys. He’s as athletic as can be. So now that’s he’s starting to get the X’s and O’s and the technique down at DB, I’m really excited for Coen and I love having him on the defense. I’m really proud of him for earning that because he did earn it.”

– Much has been typed this spring about Virginia’s experience on the offensive line helping break in a new quarterback to follow Bryce Perkins. The jersey draft saw 5 of the 6 top returning linemen of 2019 pick their number in the first round. Ryan Nelson, Dillon Reinkensmeyer, Olu Oluwatimi, Ryan Swoboda, and Chris Glaser all kept their previous number.

– Mandy Alonso joined Burney as the team’s only other senior defensive lineman (not counting incoming JMU grad transfer Adeeb Atariwa) in making a jersey pick. He stuck with No. 91.

– All the major contributors at linebacker and safety from 2019 made their picks. This includes names like Charles Snowden, Noah Taylor, Matt Gahm, Zane Zandier, Rob Snyder, Nick Grant, De’Vante Cross, Brenton Nelson, and Joey Blount. Nick Jackson, who stepped in late last season for the injured Jordan Mack, also made his pick.

– Noah Taylor on switching to No. 7: “I picked No. 7 because my dad wore 7 when he played college soccer, my brother wore No. 7, and it’s just a number that’s often used in the Bible so it’s just my number. … It’s very exciting because I remember when I first got my offer, I was like I’m going to come here and I want to wear No. 7. I knew that Doni Dowling was graduating that year and I was like oh I’m going to get 7 my freshman year – obviously that’s not how it went down at all. … This year for my teammates to select me high when we were picking numbers, it was really an honor that guys think of me in that way.”

– Zane Zandier on social media about picking No. 0, which is being allowed as a college football rule change this season: “Someone’s gotta be the first to do it.”

– Among the other 28 players to make a pick on the first night was corner Darrius Bratton, who missed last season after he injured his knee in the preseason. This is a potentially good sign of his health/recovery and says good things about how he handled himself around his teammates while not playing last season.

– Other starters making their picks included Terrell Jana, Wayne Taulapapa, Brian Delaney, and Nash Griffin.

– Reserve quarterback Lindell Stone, who is functionally an player/assistant coach, made his selection and stuck with No. 36.

– The final word goes to Snowden on whether it was harder this year for players to figure out the draft order without spring practice and early summer workouts: “Spring ball is definitely a big determinant in who gets their number and in what order, as are summer workouts. Not having those two was really tough. It was kind of based off what we knew guys were doing at home and then what it looked like when we got here. It was definitely weird not having those two moments to help decide who gets the numbers.”