The 2023 starting line for the Virginia football team arrived Wednesday and the Cavaliers dove quickly into a routine at the practice fields adjacent to the McCue Center. While that may have only added up to a few extra reps in the fundamental drills or team concepts, the hope is that the cumulative time will pay dividends in the second year of the Tony Elliott era.
UVA opens the season in one month against Tennessee. Kickoff for the opener is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 2 at noon in Nashville.
“I think a lot of it is the growth that’s already taken place just from a program standpoint – everybody understanding the structure of practice,” Elliott said. “Still got some things we can better as coaches from an organizational standpoint, a communication standpoint, but I think that’s the growth that you see and now what you have a chance to do is coach the details, coach the core values, those things as opposed to big picture, program practice structure type things.”
Some of the familiarity that allowed the team to get going quickly this preseason was evident in the fundamental drills open to the media. The tackling circuit for the defense, for example, ran smoothly from station to station as older players immediately got to the correct spots and executed the skill demands being refined. The Hoos bounce from doughnut tackling to pad tackling to dummy tackling in a circuit.
Veteran players like sixth year defensive lineman Kam Butler nailed the wrap-and-roll segment without long-winded instructions or guidance. They, in turn, can pass information on the sequencing or details down to younger players as the line rotates.
Butler, who has played a significant role for both Miami of Ohio and Virginia in his career, has seen a lot of practices in his time. He said being a year into the system and practice structure allows for it to run more smoothly.
“Last year obviously, it’s all new stuff so you’re not really sure what the tempo is going to be from drill to drill or within the drill so yeah it just goes a lot smoother,” Butler said. “I think that’s also a testament to all the guys we’ve got back. We’ve got a lot of experience, especially on the defensive side so all the leaders just navigate through the drills and just trickle down to the younger guys, tell them what’s done and how it’s supposed to be done. So it’s been really easy.”
Work In Progress
One group that did not have that same luxury: the offensive line. Virginia switched coaches there this offseason and while Terry Heffernan led the group in the spring, that’s just 15 practices. It didn’t take long for Heffernan to light up his unit with some instructions during the drills session. The topic: details on footwork, hand placement, and timing on the whistle weren’t up to his preferred standard.
With that said, the line as a whole has more depth and visually appears to be in more defined physical shape than a year ago. Instead of cobbling together practices like last August, the team is able to cycle through reps more often. The Hoos arguably have three or four waves that can be split into groups on the depth chart. There are 21 total players listed as offensive linemen!
At center, there’s the group of Ty Furnish, Jestus Johnson III, Brian Stevens, Dawson Alters, and Joey Kagel. At guard, you have Noah Josey, Ugonna Nnanna, Blake Steen, Noah Hartsoe, Luke Johnson, Granth Lanham, Andy Lutes, Noah DeMerritt, Cole Surber, and Dane Steele. At tackle, the listed group is McKale Boley, Jimmy Christ, Charlie Patterson, Jack Witmer, Houston Curry, and Snoop Leota-Amaama. Some of those players can and have shuffled around positions so it’s not difficult to put together waves to pick up some reps. Stevens, the Dayton transfer, is now listed at center for example after being designated as an OL previously. Stevens was set to get a look at center either way, so the change is not surprising. If he emerges as the winner there, it creates potential flexibility elsewhere on the line thanks to versatility from someone like Furnish.
“I think the amount of depth that we have allows for more reps,” Elliott said. “The guys can get better through reps. So really just take it slow and steady, but I think the spring was big for all of those guys being with Coach Heff because now they understand, and they have a better feel for him.”
Virginia Picked Last In ACC Media Poll
The ACC released the preseason media poll this week with Clemson the favorite to win the league over second place Florida State. North Carolina, NC State, and Miami rounded out the top five with everyone but the Hurricanes getting at least one first-place vote. Virginia was tapped last in the media poll.
2023 ACC Preseason Poll
- 1. Clemson (103), 2370
- 2. Florida State (67), 2304
- 3. North Carolina (5), 1981
- 4. NC State (1), 1662
- 5. Miami, 1553
- T6. Duke, 1511
- T6. Pitt, 1511
- 8. Louisville, 1344
- 9. Wake Forest, 1181
- 10. Syracuse, 826
- 11. Virginia Tech, 678
- 12. Georgia Tech, 633
- 13. Boston College, 561
- 14. Virginia, 365
Elliott said he had addressed it with the team because it’s not something you can just ignore since it is in the public sphere. It’s not something that will be front and center day after day, though. Elliott said the team needs to be focused on something other than external motivation if it is going to build something sustainable.
“Obviously, it got put out so I’ve got to address it with the team but to be honest where did we expect everybody to pick us based off what we did on film last year and how the season ended?” Elliott said. “I’m not thinking about that, not worrying about that and truth be told, we can’t be externally motivated. If our only motivation is where somebody picked us in the poll, then you know what we’re not going to have the proper competitive stamina because now all we’re doing is we’re working to the circumstance, the situation as opposed to what do we believe we’re capable of, what’s it going to take, and can we day after day come out with the right mindset, the right commitment regardless of the situation, regardless of how hot it is, what time we’re practicing. Can we perform to a standard play after play, day after day regardless of what’s going on then we’ll have a chance to settle it on the field.”
Extra Points
- The offense and defense switched uniform colors from the typical routine of the last few seasons. The offense came out in white, while the defense donned blue.
- Only a few players (outside of the quarterbacks, who are always in orange) wore protective colors on day one. Players in yellow jerseys (no participation, work on the side) included offensive tackle McKale Boley, defensive back Donovan Johnson, and defensive back William Simpkins III. Players in green jerseys (cleared for specific activities based on the individual and the injury) included Bandit Chico Bennett Jr., defensive tackle Aaron Faumui, linebacker Kendall Cross, and offensive tackle Houston Curry.
- Coach Elliott said quarterback Tony Muskett was “solid” on day one and did “a lot of good things” with a couple of plays that he probably would like to do over. Elliott said he liked how Muskett responded to those moments, though. Muskett said after practice that he had an interception during the practice.
- Safety Antonio Clary got a tattoo with the numbers 1-15-41 in honor of Lavel Davis Jr., Devin Chandler, and D’Sean Perry, who lost their lives in a tragic shooting after returning from a school field trip last November.
- Running back Mike Hollins, who survived a gunshot wound from that same incident, opened practice by leading the team through its traditional jumping jack Hoos before the first huddle.
- Virginia punter Daniel Sparks was named to the Preseason All-ACC team and to the Ray Guy Award Watch List.
- Walk-on kicker Matt Ganyard has joined the program as a sixth year senior. Ganyard graduated from UVA in 2011, but he’s currently in the MBA program at Darden after serving as a Cobra Attack Helicopter Pilot in the Marines.
- For fans of Virginia legendary running back Thomas Jones, another walk-on Gabe Sneed is from Big Stone Gap, Virginia.
