What Will Chris Glaser Do With A Bonus Year At Virginia?

Virginia opens the season against William & Mary.
Virginia guard Chris Glaser works on blocking at practice. ~ Photo courtesy Jim Daves/Virginia Athletics Media Relations

The first game of Chris Glaser’s college career didn’t come until November. Most true freshmen, if they’re going to play, debut long before then. At that point in the early stages of the Bronco Mendenhall rebuilding effort, however, the Virginia football program still needed one more win for bowl eligibility.

The Hoos had four games remaining to get to that six-win plateau, but injuries had hit an already thin offensive line group and one of the season’s final two home games was on deck with Georgia Tech. Glaser, an inexperienced 280-pound freshman at the time, got the call. The Wahoos won 40-36 and secured the first bowl bid of the Mendenhall era in the process. The Military Bowl spot ended up coming against Navy, a special moment for the Glaser family as Chris Glaser Sr. served 20+ years in in the Navy. With that victory in the pouring rain against Georgia Tech and the additional game, however, Glaser’s chances of a redshirt season dissolved.

As it turned out, the NCAA extended an extra year of eligibility to student-athletes due to the 2020 pandemic season. Glaser is back for a fifth year after all. That’s the starting point for the latest “50 Thoughts Before Virginia Football Kickoff” article – “What Will Chris Glaser Do With A Bonus Year At Virginia?”

The unexpected chance to return proved to be an easy choice for Glaser. As it turned out, he played the 10 games of 2020 with a torn labrum in his hip and needed surgery to repair the injury. That would make any pro football dreams difficult to chase as he needed to be on the rehab shelf until the spring. Plus, like many of his fellow “Super Seniors” that decided to return, the 5-5 campaign didn’t sit well for one of the early recruits to buy into the UVA rejuvenation effort.

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