Jimmy Christ Commits To Virginia Football

The Virginia football team added its third offensive line commitment from the transfer portal since the end of last season on Thursday. Penn State tackle Jimmy Christ pledged to the Hoos just four days after announcing that he had entered the portal.

Christ, who announced his intent to join UVA on Twitter, joined Houston’s Ugonna Nnanna and Dayton’s Brian Stevens as incoming offensive linemen for the upcoming season. Nnanna enrolled in January and practiced throughout the spring with the team.

Thank you to all of the schools that have recruited me during these past few days. I am very grateful for the opportunities I was given and the time each school spent on me. I have decided to commit to the University of Virginia and am excited for the next chapter of my life.

— Jimmy Christ (@Jimmy_Christ66) April 20, 2023

The Cavaliers needed to restock the O-Line after four contributors (Logan Taylor, transfer to Boston College; Jonathan Leech, retired from football; Derek Devine, retired from football; John Paul Flores, transfer to Louisville) departed following last season. They also brought in Terry Heffernan from Stanford to replace offensive line coach Garett Tujague, who moved on to NC State.

UVA made Christ his first college offer way back in 2017 and he originally committed to Virginia out of Dominion High School in 2019, but flipped to Penn State that fall. He was listed as a 3-star and a top 10 recruit in the state as a high school senior. He earned first-team all-state honors as a junior and senior.

At PSU, he did not play in 2020 and appeared in only one game in 2021, which became his redshirt season (2020 was a free eligibility year across the NCAA due to the pandemic). Last fall, he appeared in 10 games as a reserve. He has 3 years of eligibility remaining.

The 6’7”, 316-pound tackle comes from a family full of football experience. Older brother Tommy played at Virginia from 2017-2021, while Mike and Matt played at Monmouth and Virginia Tech respectively. The brothers’ father Mike played at Navy.

Jimmy Christ adds immediate depth at offensive tackle, a position that needed to infuse depth on the roster. Only junior Ty Furnish, junior Jestus Johnson III, junior Noah Josey, and sophomore McKale Boley have appeared on the OL for significant snaps with Virginia in their career; Boley is the only tackle among the group. The Hoos now have 15 linemen on scholarship, the target number preferred by Elliott, with Christ, Stevens, Nnanna, and incoming freshman Cole Surber joining Furnish, Johnson, Josey, Boley, Dawson Alters, Houston Curry, Noah DeMeritt, Snoop Leota-Amaama, Charlie Patterson, Blake Steen, and Jack Witmer (who moved over from tight end on the roster). The players listed at tackle are Christ, Boley, Curry, Patterson, and Witmer in addition to Nnanna, who played guard during spring practices.

The Cavaliers open their 2023 season against Tennessee on Sept. 2 in Nashville.