The final week in November, Karson Gay and his family hosted Virginia football head coach Bronco Mendenhall and offensive coordinator Robert Anae on an in-home visit. The Boyd-Buchanan (Chattanooga, TN) senior, a consensus 3-star tight end prospect and Virginia commitment, would be one of the few prospects Mendenhall would meet with in person before resigning as Cavaliers head coach later that week.

From Gay to UVA Director of Athletics Carla Williams, Mendenhall’s decision came as a shock to many.

“He was at my house on Monday and the news came out on Thursday,” recalled Gay, who verbally committed to UVA on February 20 of this year and was less than two weeks away from signing an official letter of intent. “I was like, what in the world. My future plans were set, and now there is nothing. It definitely was surprising.”

Gay, who considered scholarship offers from Arkansas, BYU, Cincinnati, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Mississippi, Purdue, Southern Cal and Virginia Tech before committing to UVA, and his parents discussed the situation. Despite Virginia’s coaching situation in flux, the standout prospect leaned towards sticking with his original decision and signing early with the Hoos.

“Coach Mendenhall was great,” Gay said. “Coach Anae, I liked his scheme. I like how they threw it a ton. I’d love to go catch a ton of passes. The scheme was great. Everything was cool about it. I committed because of the academics, the name of the University. Me being able to be associated with that, I think that carries weight later in life. That’s why I committed.”

Still, Gay says, “I definitely was wanting to know who the coach was before I signed.”

He got his wish as Virginia announced the hiring of Tony Elliott as new head coach on December 10, five days before the beginning of Division 1 football’s Early Signing Period. Gay awaits his first one-on-one meeting with Elliott, but he and the rest of Virginia’s 2022 Class did have a Zoom meeting with the former Clemson offensive coordinator the Sunday before the Early Signing Period. Elliott’s first impression was enough to solidify Gay’s decision to sign early.

“From everything I’ve read – me and my parents have done some research – and heard, he is a great coach and a great person,” Gay said, referring to Elliott. “I agreed with everything he said. He has great morals. I wanted to know what plans he has for the staff, but it was super early and he had no way of answering that.”

Along with nine other student athletes, including eight high school seniors plus University of Wisconsin transfer wide receiver Devin Chandler, Gay signed and faxed his letter of intent to Virginia the first day of the Early Signing Period. Officially a Hoo, Gay looks forward to enrolling on Grounds in the summer of 2022.

“If I could enroll early, I would have,” said Gay, who may return to Charlottesville in January for an official visit along with the rest of the 2022 early signees. “For me, going into the spring and everything, I’m just going to get as prepared as I can for when I get there.”

Gay’s focus is on preparing for his first year at the University of Virginia. Currently, he is rehabilitating a knee injury suffered early on in his senior season. The injury required surgery. Gay has been able to do upper body workouts and is starting to squats and deadlifts. He believes he is a few weeks out from being fully cleared.

Bronco Mendenhall describes the 6’6”, 225-pound Gay as “somewhere between a flex Y and a tight end. Length and size and speed and ability to be a great receiver. In so many ways, not the same size as Jelani (Woods) and not the same elusiveness or maybe versatility as [Keytaon Thompson], but somewhere in between that. Huge, huge upside, especially in the receiving game for him.”

Since Elliott was hired, Gay has taken it upon himself to watch Clemson offense of the present and recent past. Elliott served as Tigers offensive coordinator for the past seven seasons. What were the Virginia recruit’s thoughts from the film study?

“I like how they were able to use all the guys in ways that fit their style,” Gay noted. “They did a great job with that.”

In conversations with Mendenhall and Anae, Gay said, “They talked to me earlier on in my career about being more of a hybrid tight end. As I progressed and got bigger and stronger, I would block a little more. I’ve always been comfortable in space, but I do love to block. It’s fun getting to do that. I don’t really know what plans the new staff will have for me, but I know they will put me in good positions to succeed.”

Virginia’s Class Of 2022

UVA’s nine high school senior signees have forged a strong bond since, and they keep in consistent contact via group chat. The coaching change brought the group even closer together.

“Going through the whole coaching change process and all that, that definitely gave us a much stronger bond,” Gay said. “We had exact conversations about what was going on, what we were thinking, and how everything’s crazy. We’re a stronger family now. It helped us all grow together.”

Gay is hopeful he and his future classmates will return to Charlottesville next month. He believes the new staff wants to host the recruits on a weekend in January.

A handful of prospects decommitted following Mendenhall’s resignation, including in-state prospects Keyshawn Burgos and Brody Meadows, who are now Virginia Tech-bound. Gay was in Scott Stadium to see UVA’s season finale against the Hokies.

“I’m pretty ready to go beat Tech,” Gay said. “It definitely was the coolest game I went to. It was a super cool experience.”