As the Virginia football team prepares for its season opener in Nashville, at least one member of the coaching staff can look back to the time he played for Virginia in the same stadium. Linebackers coach Clint Sintim helped the Hoos win the 2005 Music City Bowl there.
A freshman at the time, Sintim earned third-team freshman All-American honors from The Sporting News that season. He went on to be a second-team All-American as a senior and finished his career with 245 tackles that included 29 sacks. He is No. 2 on the all-time sacks list at Virginia.
Here’s a Sabre social media post going way back for a snapshot from that Music City Bowl in Nashville.
Sintim enters his fourth year as a member of the Cavalier coaching staff. It should have a feeling of a little more stability for him, though. His first season came during the 2020 pandemic year when nothing was normal about practices or games. After a more regular 2021 season, Bronco Mendenhall resigned and Virginia hired Tony Elliott. Sintim remained on staff, but moved to coaching linebackers for the first time.
Sintim’s 2023 linebacker group will have a new look. Nick Jackson, who led the team for three straight seasons with 100+ tackles in each, moved on as a graduate transfer to Iowa. That means the main player voice in the locker room will be different for the position. James Jackson, no relation, finished third for the Hoos with 60 tackles in 2022 so he figures to be a big part of the equation this time around along with others. Check out The Sabre Summer Reading series for more on the LB corps.
Prior to the start of training camp, the football program held a media luncheon at the George Welsh Indoor Practice Facility. The Sabre sat down with Coach Sintim for a few quick one-on-one questions about coaching and the second year in defensive coordinator John Rudzinski’s scheme.
Check out the Quick Take Q&A ahead of kickoff. Virginia and Tennessee match up at noon on Saturday on ABC.
Have you settled into being a Virginia coach yet? Is it real yet or is it still kind of surreal?
Clint Sintim: That’s a good question. I think so. I say it all the time, I’m an alum first just ’cause this place was so special to me but now being a coach is pretty cool as well so I think I have settled into it.
I didn’t know if it still felt surreal ...
Clint Sintim: I’m in the box during the games so I’m never out on the side so I don’t get that type of energy, but I still get excited just being a part of it. I still get flashbacks of when I was playing here and certain places on the field. You still get those memories.
Coach Clawson from Wake during the ACC Kickoff, they asked him about their defensive coordinator, it’s their second year and he said what usually you see things kind of really take hold in year two. Do you guys see it that way as a defensive group?
Clint Sintim: I’ll speak for my group, the linebacker group, there is a much better understanding of what is expected, what to do, the scheme, what Coach Rud expects, how to practice. I think holistically I’m sure other guys feel that way about their position as well. I know as a coach, I feel better about what we’re doing. Hopefully camp shows that and we just get better.
I don’t think fans or reporters ever think of it that way, that as a coach you can get more comfortable too.
Clint Sintim: For sure. We were all learning last year. Even though I’d been at Virginia, I hadn’t been within this system or under Coach Elliott’s leadership so everything was new for everybody. Now with the majority of the staff back, it’s kind of like OK, we get it, what’s expected, and hopefully things will grab roots and we can get better this year.
The linebackers are kind of specific and it feels like this defense has some of those hybrid guys, the edge guy, the safety guy. What does a linebacker have to do to be successful?
Clint Sintim: A litany of things. I’ll take it to recruiting, what am I looking for. I’m looking for guys who can run, obviously cover ground. I’m looking for guys that can beat blocks and as Coach Rud says, our No. 1 objective is finishing on the ball. The last piece that you don’t necessarily see on film is I’m looking for guys that can communicate and I think that’s a learned skill. Nobody is going to come here and be a great communicator off the front end with just being confident to get calls, make checks, and really just kind of run the defense. I would say those things. Being able to run, being able to beat blocks, and communicate.
When you give players room to have that voice, how do you help them grow in that? Nobody wants to boss their teammate around or hold them accountable or ...?
Clint Sintim: I think it comes from just being confident. Confident in knowing what you’re doing and being confident that you’re leading and you’re doing the right things. I think naturally it will come. Giving guys an opportunity to step up and lead, put them in platforms to be able to speak to a group, giving a message, or having them teach a concept, I think those are ways you can facilitate leadership. We’re going to try to foster that. ... I think collectively we’ve got a bunch of guys that are going to step up and we’ll see how it shakes out.
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