New Virginia football coach Tony Elliott repeatedly has described the beginning of his tenure as a whirlwind. That’s usually true for new coaches as they take over an organization with hundreds of players, coaches, and support staff. It’s especially true for a first-time head coach like Elliott as he tries to establish what he wants in his program.

That doesn’t mean, however, that Elliott has short-changed a key piece of any college coaches’ success. What’s that? Connecting and building relationships with outside stakeholders when their support can be critical to the long-term health of the program. He mentioned, for example, juggling CEO-type activities - including reaching out to donors and fans - after the first day of spring practice.

This week at practice, UVA faculty were invited to attend and to have brunch with the team. That appears to be a concerted effort to connect the program with the academic side of the University more closely.

Elliott also carved out time this past weekend to attend a cookout as part of Black Alumni Weekend. Assistant coach Chris Slade, who played for and graduated from Virginia in the 1990’s, said he mentioned the event and Elliott came to visit along with Cavalier Athletics Director Carla Williams. It wasn’t just a drop-by stop either as Slade said the new coach spent several hours engaging with attendees, which he believes will be beneficial in building support. Wahoo football alumni have also been vocally supportive of Elliott on social media and beyond.

Slade said he had helped and continues to be a resource for Elliott as he fully joins the UVA community. In addition to playing and attending Virginia, Slade also worked for a time as the sideline reporter for Cavalier radio broadcasts. Plus, he’s from the state and his time as a standout football player at Tabb High School started his journey to his current job.

“I think it was interesting because when Coach Elliott was about to take the job, he called me and asked me do I think he’d be a good fit,” Slade said. “You’re talking about a guy that’s accomplished, won 6 ACC titles, 2 national titles, and he’s calling me asking me do I think he’d be a good fit for UVA. That’s just him, his humility. ... He leaned on me a lot in the beginning just in terms of the culture, how to manage UVA folks, the alumni, and support. We had a lot of heart to hearts in the beginning and we still have some talks about it. I go in his office once in a while ... and he’s always open and receptive.”

Elliott trusted Slade’s thoughts on Virginia because of a relationship built through recruiting circles. While working as an assistant coach and then offensive coordinator at Clemson, Elliott recruited in Georgia where Slade served as the head coach at Pace Academy in Atlanta. Slade said their first conversations were about 10 minutes worth of football and then hours on leadership, relationships through football, and more.

Once Elliott did take the UVA job, Slade was in attendance at his introductory press conference in December. At that time, he had left his position at Pace but did not have next steps planned in his career. He just wanted to show support for a friend developed through coaching that was coming to his alma mater and Slade told Elliott that he would support him in any way he could as his tenure started. A few weeks later that evolved into a job offer and thus Slade is back home where he set the UVA and ACC record for career sacks with 40. Elliott is why he made the move, though.

“For me, I didn’t come back to UVA because it’s UVA and it’s comfortable and I know everything and know everybody,” Slade said. “I came back here because I felt like he was the right guy for me to come back here and work for. It just so happens it’s at UVA so it all worked out great. I think I would have followed that guy anywhere besides Blacksburg.”

Virginia
Chris Slade said former Virginia coach and alum Al Groh has always been a football mentor for him. ~ Photo courtesy of Jim Daves/Virginia Athletics Media Relations

Another Familiar Influence

With Slade moving into the college coaching ranks for the first time, there is an obvious transition. For one, he’s in charge of a position group and not the whole program. Two, he’s had to learn the recruiting world from the opposite side of the table. Then you get into football specifics.

Asked about his coaching influences, Slade didn’t hesitate with one man he considers a mentor. Former Virginia coach Al Groh. Slade played for him for four years with the New England Patriots and has maintained contact throughout his football journey.

“That’s easy. Groh. Al Groh,” Slade said. “I’ve had fortune to play for [Bill] Parcells, [Bill] Belichick, Pete Carroll, and of course the legend here Coach [George] Welsh, but Al Groh was my guy. That guy, he has a wealth of football knowledge. I’ve leaned on him since I’ve gotten out of football the last 20 years. Whenever it’s a football question that comes up, I’d always call him. Even when I was coaching high school ball, just trying to get his suggestions, pick his brains. I think that’s the only guy I can ask about any phase of football, he has an answer and a good answer and a reason why. All I’ve done is try to take a little bit from each coach that I’ve learned and add my own little personality to it.”

One thing that Slade took from Groh? Simplicity. If a coach can relay information to a player in a way that makes sense and makes sense quickly, then that helps the player perform on the field and can speed up development in certain cases.

That description of Groh makes sense. While his tenure didn’t end the way anyone had hoped at Virginia, he did have a way of describing things in football that quickly brought it into focus. I remember him telling reporters off to the side away from the press conference setting once that a particular player was seeing things like looking through wax paper across the facemask. In other words, he could see it but the whole picture wasn’t clear and that was where some struggles with reads were happening.

“Coach Groh had a unique way of making things simple and just how he explained things of making it as simple as possible,” Slade said. “Kind of eliminate what they’re not going to do based on this formation and just narrow it down to what they could possibility do in this formation. Different examples. It was just a gift. I wasn’t the smartest guy in the room always, but even for me I could understand the way he would teach things and it resonated. I was able to carry it over to high school and now here in college.”

Middle Man For Virginia

The Cavaliers are building a new scheme on defense with new coaches now on board. Defensive coordinator John Rudzinski and his assistants describe a system that will feature multiple fronts and looks, which could mean 3- or 4-down linemen depending on the situation. There’s a ‘Bandit’ hybrid position that mixes defensive end and linebacker roles that could alter the formation at times too.

Up front, the defensive line will not be constantly lining up in the same spots or using the same techniques necessarily either. This spring, the players are cross training in multiple spots but moving around on the line is something that is expected to continue into the season. That means someone like junior Jahmeer Carter could see an expanded role outside of a pure 0 technique nose tackle (face to face with the center).

Virginia interior defensive line coach Kevin Downing said he likes what he’s seen from 6’2”, 319-pound Carter.

“The thing I’ll say about Jahmeer is he’s a very focused individual in everything that he does,” Downing said. “Since I first got here in the first meeting we had, he’s very intentional. He doesn’t do anything not to try to get better so every time he’s on the grass, he’s trying to get better. Every time he’s in the weight room, he’s trying to get better. You look at what he’s doing in the classroom, he’s trying to get better. I can’t take any credit for that. His parents do a great job. He’s very focused. He’s very intentional about getting better.”

Worth Quoting

Speaking of Jahmeer Carter, he’s the latest to weigh in one of the big buzz words this spring: tempo. Carter said:

“This is a lot faster. So from my perspective, I have to be able to see the call and get lined up quickly. I think ultimately will help when we play other teams that do tempo and hurry-up because we’ll all be conditioned and can adapt to that situation.”