As Virginia football coach Tony Elliott sat down with the media Thursday, a blue and white V-Sabre hat rested on his head. The ball cap, of course, is often a staple for coaches. There are quite a few symbolic hats on Elliott’s head these days too, though.

Holding many roles, or wearing many hats as the old saying goes, comes with the territory at the top of a major college football program. For Elliott, he’s navigating those duties for the first time. After considering but bypassing other jobs in the past, he accepted the UVA head coaching position in December.

The Cavaliers needed a new coach after the unexpected resignation of Bronco Mendenhall. The former coach often discussed CEO type duties that come with a head coaching job and Elliott had observed the same working under Dabo Swinney at Clemson. He served as an assistant coach and offensive coordinator for 11 years with the Tigers before his arrival at Virginia.

So far, wearing more hats has been hectic – Elliott joked about having an assistant that always tells him where to be next – but he felt prepared for that part of the job.

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