UVa Insider, the column: Anticipated O’Brien hire a boost to UVa “O”
In contemplating the expected moves that would have Tom O’Brien coaching the Virginia tight ends, my first thought was that the Cavaliers’ coaching staff will be overloaded on the offensive side of the ball.
Then, I was reminded of a recent conversation with a college head coach whose experience was on the defensive side of the ball.
“Since my background wasn’t on offense,” he said. “I wanted to make sure, if I was overloaded anywhere, it was on offense.”
Mike London came to Virginia with a background on defense but his first UVa staff included a first-time Division I-A assistant (Bill Lazor) as coordinator, a graduate assistant (Ron Mattes) as offensive-line coach and a first-time college assistant (Shawn Moore) as receivers coach.
Granted, the Cavaliers have done some good things offensively, most notably passing for more than 3,000 yards in each of three consecutive seasons, a first. But, it was a team that lacked a consistent running game this year and failed to score more than 17 points in six of 12 games.
It makes you wonder why defensive coordinator Jim Reid and D-line coach Jeff Hanson got the axe, but that’s a different story.
Lazor, entering his fourth season as coordinator, will oversee an offense that includes O’Brien, a former UVa offensive coordinator before stints as the head coach at Boston College and N.C. State; Scott Wachenheim, entering his fourth season as a UVa assistant and third as O-line coach; Jeff Banks, who will assume the running backs and special-teams chores he had at UTEP; and Marques Hagans, who will be a full-time assistant for the first year but was the primary receivers coach last year.
With the addition of another offensive coach, O’Brien, it appears more likely that head coach Mike London will coach the front four on a defensive staff to be headed by Jon Tenuta, formerly on O’Brien’s staff at N.C. State. Returnees will be Vincent Brown (linebackers), Anthony Poindexter (cornerbacks) and Chip West (safeties).
West, in all likelihood, will be the recruiting coordinator, a position previously held by Hanson.
Critics would ask how London could serve as a position coach and also handle such head-coaching duties as calling timeouts, a problem in the season finale against Virginia Tech, but I’ve got to believe that’s where O’Brien comes in.
If you can get a guy like O’Brien, who might have been a good head-coaching choice for UVa over the years if the timing had ever been right, you do what you can to make it work.
Plus, O’Brien once presided over a Boston College staff that included London, so it’s not like they don’t know each other.
O’Brien turned 64 in October and owns a home in Charleston, S.C., to which he was more than willing to retire. He didn’t have to work, which speaks to the regard he has for Charlottesville and the UVa program.
January 3, 2013 - 3:47 PM
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The funny thing is that this will probably end up working. UVA’s roster is really turning into a talented group. Still not anything like FSU, Clemson, UNC have but definitely in the picture.
I may not like the makeup, but the end result is UVA has better coaches. As you went over, the first staff was long on potential and yet short on actual coaching acumen. This staff has a very good mix of potential, talent, and acumen.
I will really be interested to see if this stops the negative momentum UVA is experiencing in finishing out this years class and maybe help them snag a few gems before signing day.
The changes are nice but the one change they need to make they won’t and that is the guy who ran out the clock in the VT game when his team was down!
Nice hires today by UVA. Looks like they have a couple of head coach choices in waiting in the coaching fold now if UVA and London underperform next year in Football.Obrien and or Tenuta perhaps.
Doug, with O’Brien named asst head coach for offense, what is Lazor’s title and role? Is this a demotion for Lazor? A hedge against his departure? How does this work?
And with offensive and defensive associate head coaches, is London now a position coach + chief p.r. guy + recruiting closer?
Lots of questions, but great hires, and if the staff can make this work among themselves it will be one of the strongest in the league.
Talented group ???????????????? Who ????????????????????
The sole reason for UVA’s losing habits is offensive structure, not the “coaching.” Solving for ‘x’ means isolating ‘x’, move by move, until it appears left of the equal sign and the value appears to its right.
UVA is devoted to a system that features average ability and talent as the fulcrum of its offense — passing — and has staked the program’s future on that premise. UVA will never, ever, get off the mat with that approach. Once off the mat, it might be able to mask holes in a season or two with that approach, but that shouldn’t provide encouragement. Passing 30-50 times per game is stupid, useless and doomed. I don’t care what super offensive geniuses come around, the pass first experiment cannot work in the Commonwealth for this team. And the consequence is that the Terry Kirbys that the state still produces (note the nation’s top RB is a Commonwealth resident that didn’t even consider UVA in his college choices) — the 6′ 2″, 220 lb crunchers — won’t come.
When UVA jettisons the present offensive paradigm, system and approach, and gets back to Welshian principles (run the ball, damn it, including pitches, tosses, bellies, counters and options), it will find success like a black pearl in a field.
Otherwise, UVA is running a cattle ranch on top of a billion barrels of proven oil reserves. And that math does not work.
If Tenuta has any defensive questions, suggest talking to Coach Bennett.