TheSabre.com Fan Friday: Buy-In Theme For Virginia Football

When Virginia wrapped up spring practiced with the Blue-White Spring Game last Saturday, the big theme for the program right now came to the forefront. Buy-in.

Tony Elliott took the reins in December and he’s now driving the bandwagon around Hooville and beyond. That magical buy-in phrase is important for the program’s success for the near term and the long term. And it applies to a lot of different things.

On the field in the postgame huddle, he directly challenged the players to lead the process in the coming weeks when coaches are removed from the equation due to NCAA rules. The buy-in part here focuses on finishing the semester strong with exams and classroom work then shifts to committing to self-guided workouts and preparation. Then things move back around to the program-led strength and conditioning phase and then preseason practice.

Minutes later, Elliott was at a table for a press conference. That’s where he shared a swimming pool analogy in describing players the past few months. He said that players had ranges of buy-in: two feet in deep end style, two feet in but cautiously wading down the stairs, one foot in testing the water, and maybe some still just looking at the water. The Cavalier coach said for the program to be successful this year and beyond, the players needed two feet fully in, especially the leaders and best players in order to bring the team with them.

The buy-in theme extends out to donor support as well. The Master Plan continues to develop and a major gift pledge helped spark some more notable movement there. UVA even put up a “coming soon” sign for the football operations building that the department plans to have in place by 2024.

Then there’s fan support. After the Spring Game, Elliott walked over to the Scott Stadium stands and took a microphone. He thanked fans for coming. He painted a vision of potential success for the program in his tenure. Then he encouraged fans both there listening to him and those farther away to buy in. To show up and support the team at games in the fall. To be loud. And more.

Some of the most vocal fans, of course, post here on the TheSabre.com football message board. Sabre fans joined the buy-in discussion too this past week with this thread: “OK, most important question for those on this board: Are you ‘two feet in’ as a fan?” Check out the range of responses there and share your thoughts on the conversation too. As always, at least one fan is fully bought in – check out this thread.

With all of that in mind, vote in our poll and then check out the weekly fan picks below!

How Much Buy-In Do You Have For Virginia Football Right Now?

  • Cannonball! (32%, 70 Votes)
  • I'm in the pool. Let's play some games! (30%, 66 Votes)
  • I'm in the pool, but not swimming in the deep end. (17%, 37 Votes)
  • I'm in the pool. How long is the swim-up bar line? (11%, 24 Votes)
  • I'll maybe come in and splash around a little for fun. (5%, 11 Votes)
  • I'll sit on the side and dangle my feet in the water. (3%, 7 Votes)
  • I only get in the pool once the water is nice. (3%, 6 Votes)

Total Voters: 221

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Fan(s) Of The Week

Let’s go Wahoos!

Virginia

Student Fan(s) Of The Week

Good times at Scott Stadium.

Virginia

Feature Photo Of The Week

Jelani Woods should have plenty to smile about again this weekend as he is projected to hear his name called in the NFL Draft.

Virginia