Virginia safety Anthony Poindexter remains one of the most revered and most recognized players in Virginia football history. On Saturday night, he added another honor to his legacy when he was officially inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.
“This is an awesome honor. Words really can’t describe it,” Poindexter told WAVY TV 10. “You play in a state such as Virginia with all the greats that have come through in all the sports and to be able to be one of the top ones per them voting you in, it’s an awesome feeling.”
Poindexter was named a two-time First-Team All-American while at UVA and was the 1998 ACC Defensive Player of the Year. He also won the 1997 Dudley Award. While playing for the Cavaliers, he amassed 342 career tackles (now second all-time in program history among defensive backs) and 7 career fumble recovers (school record). He is tied for fifth in school history with 12 interceptions.
Current Virginia Associate Head Coach Marques Hagans was one of many Wahoos to congratulate Poindexter on this weekend’s recognition. He already had been enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 2020, for which he was honored at the Duke game last fall at Scott Stadium.
Dex’s induction speech last night was a reminder of his humility, selflessness and deep pride in hailing from Forest, Va and THE University of Virginia. I am eternally grateful for his loyalty and example. Another well deserved Hall of Fame nod for a legend @Coachpoindexter ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/oV6Q6Qp5F2
— Marques Hagans (@coachmhagans) May 1, 2022
A fierce hitter while wearing the orange and blue, Poindexter made some legendary plays. He once knocked future NFL running back Thomas Jones out at practice (no hard feelings – Jones congratulated him this weekend on Twitter too). He blocked a punt against North Carolina once by hitting the ball before it got to the punter’s foot. Subbing for an injured Jamie Sharper, he started two games at linebacker weighing just over 200 pounds and led the team in tackles on both occasions.
Oh, and there was a pretty famous play against Florida State too. Poindexter combined with Adrian Burnim to stop Warrick Dunn short of the goal line at Scott Stadium, which handed the Seminoles their first ACC defeat.
With all the gaudy stats and memorable plays like that, Poindexter became an easy pick for the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. Other inductees this year included Chris Warren (after a UVA commitment, transferred to Ferrum), Jon Lugbill (UVA alum, canoe slalom racer), and William “Sonny” Allen (ODU basketball coach). The 2020 selections were honored with their official inductions on Saturday too.
Fans can listen to a March interview with Poindexter with the Virginia hall below.
After finishing his playing career, Poindexter entered the coaching ranks as a graduate assistant at Virginia in 2003. He worked at UVA through 2013 in varying roles and then moved on to Connecticut, Purdue, and now Penn State in defensive coordinator roles. Poindexter was rumored to be the lead candidate to replace Bronco Mendenhall after his resignation in December of last year. Eventually, however, Poindexter returned to Penn State and UVA hired Clemson assistant Tony Elliott.
During an interview on ESPN Radio 94.1 FM out of the Tidewater area on Friday, host Tim Donnelly asked Poindexter about the Virginia job. The question was: “A lot of UVA fans want to get back to where it was when you were there. Why aren’t you back and leading the UVA Cavaliers leading into this year?”
Poindexter said: “When I got into coaching, I never set out to be the head coach per se, I really never set out to be the coordinator, I just wanted to get into coaching because I love being around kids and I wanted to share my experience and lead through my experience. I think timing is everything. When we sat down at the table, UVA did everything the right way, it just wasn’t the right time for me. If I’m going to go back there and run the program, it has to be, I have to feel really good about it because I want to succeed there and I just didn’t feel it was the right time for me to do it. I wish them nothing but success. Coach Elliott is going to do a great job and I think they’re in good hands.”
Fans can listen to the interview via The Tim Donnelly Show below.
