TheSabre.com Fan Friday: Virginia Football & Fan Expectations

As the calendar slips past the middle of May, college football season inches closer. For the Virginia football team, that means there are a little more than 100 days until kickoff on August 30. The Cavaliers face Coastal Carolina at Scott Stadium that Saturday.

The Hoos won last year's matchup with the Chanticleers by a 43-24 score in South Carolina. When the Hoos hit the field for the rematch, however, it will be a significantly different team in orange and blue. UVA has undergone a major roster reboot this offseason, sparked in part by a large donation last December. That rebuild has led to as many as 50 newcomers expected to be on the roster by the time the season arrives with at least 30 transfer portal additions and 20 true freshmen in the mix. That doesn’t count any more additions or departures, walk-ons, or the potential limit (105) proposed in the ongoing House settlement case.

Between what looks like an influx of talent and depth for the program and the current checkpoint for coach Tony Elliott in his tenure, that's created some conversations on the message boards this month. Elliott enters year four with no winning records, no bowl appearances, and an 11-23 overall record. From a fan view, the combination of a roster reset and Elliott's record to date has pushed this season toward turnaround expectations and 'make it or break it' perspectives.

Part of the equation there is the 2025 schedule. In addition to Coastal, UVA faces William & Mary, Stanford, Washington State, California, and Wake Forest as part of its slate. Stanford, WSU, and Wake all have new coaches this season. California is 42-50 under coach Justin Wilcox. Those all land on Cavalier fan radars as winnable games.

The other part of swirling conversations, though, focuses on attendance at Scott Stadium. Even with the potential for an improved team, some fan posts indicate that desirable seats still remain in the lower level where VAF giving levels dictate priority order. Whether that's a price issue (increased donation requirements have been mentioned by some), an Elliott tenure issue (see the overall record), a transfer portal/NIL climate issue (a lot of player movement), or other factors is hard to fully parse.

Regardless, the 2025 season is clearly a key one of the Virginia football program. If Elliott doesn't get it turned around, that alone could lead to future changes depending on how the season unfolds. That says nothing of future roster limits, revenue sharing, NIL caps, or any of the other shifts happening across the college sports landscape.

Here are some of the highlighted fan threads discussing UVA football:

• Can this team make a bowl game this season?
• Yahoo has us 5-7 ??? I see 7 -5 or even 8-4 also has Tech at 6-7.
• Plenty of good seats still available in 125. I would estimate 100 or so. Just got an email from VAF saying "Last Chance to Upgrade Your Seats". I'm not interested.
• Shows how short sighted VAF and UVA Athletics are. Pry was on RIC tv at Hardwood talking about team, outreach to the VT fans around the state and their their media events around the state. Nothing like getting free press. VAF and the new leadership can't be bothered to do it anymore because we have been told it is too expensive and too hard.
• Lots of Posts About VAF Giving. We have two choices: contribute and help the program get players who will help us win more than 5 games a year or cry about it, refuse to contribute and watch the program continue to be irrelevant in the ACC and national landscape.

Fan(s) Of The Week

Cheer(lead)ing the Hoos!

Student Fan(s) Of The Week

Smiles from the hill.

Feature Photo Of The Week

Virginia edge rusher Mekhi Buchanan pushes the pocket in the UVA Spring Game.