UVa Insider, the column: Promising O-line to greet new coordinator
Former Virginia offensive coordinator Bill Lazor has said he will wait until the Philadelphia Eagles appoint him officially before he returns calls to the Virginia media and I feel safe in taking him at his word.
Among the first questions I will pose to him is whether he felt threatened by the hiring of former North Carolina State head coach Tom O’Brien as associate head coach for offense.
One of O’Brien’s first acts was to meet with Lazor and say he didn’t want Lazor’s job – either the coordinator’s job or the playcalling job. The test of that was when Lazor left. O’Brien didn’t want the coordinator’s job then, either.
As he was leaving UVa’s media briefing Wednesday on national signing day, I asked O’Brien what he thought of the selection of Steve Fairchild as offensive coordinator.
“Really good,” O’Brien said. “I mean, really good.”
Fairchild, most recently was an assistant with the San Diego Chargers and had returned to the west coast to attend to some personal matters Wednesday. But, he’s due back in Charlottesville next week and will meet with the media on Tuesday.
O’Brien said he knew Fairchild prior to his hiring by the Cavaliers but said that Fairchild also had received a strong endorsement from Dana Bible, O’Brien’s respected offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at both Boston College at North Carolina State.
I CAN’T REMEMBER a UVa signing day in which there has been as much discussion of the offensive line as there was Wednesday, particularly after the Cavaliers’ 11th-hour addition of one-time Wake Forest recruit Eric Tetlow and overnight Alpharetta, Ga., sensation George Adeosun.
(Coach Mike London pronounced the name as “Addison,” which would be convenient, but I think it’s closer to ay-dee-o-sun).
It’s interesting to note that when four assistants were fired Dec. 2, UVa had commitments from three offensive linemen, one of whom (Brad Henson) immediately decommitted and another of whom (Jack McDonald) was the object of an all-out recruiting blitz by hometown Boston College.
As soon as Henson went to North Carolina, the Cavaliers took a Dec. 20 commitment from Decatur, Ga., offensive lineman and finished with five offensive-line signees and a promising walk-on, Phillip Berry, from Woodberry Forest.
One shudders to think where the Cavaliers might have been, particularly if Morgan Moses had not decided to return for his final season of eligibility. That could be viewed as another recruiting victory.
THE CAVALIERS SHOULD be more than equipped to deal with the possible loss of Kelby Johnson, a 6-7, 300-pound sophomore who was redshirted last season and, at one point, was viewed as a possible three-year starter at tackle.
Instead, Johnson has been placed on indefinite suspension by London, for what has been described to me as academic inattention. However, unlike defensive tackle Chris Brathwaite, who is academically ineligible, Johnson is still in school. The Cavaliers still list him on the roster.
While there may have been questions about the offensive line, they mostly pertained to depth. In Moses and center Luke Bowanko, the Cavaliers will have a pair of seniors who logged 887 and 858 plays, respectively, in 2012.
Also back are starting guards Conner Davis and Sean Cascarano, who each played close to 700 plays. Backing them up will be Ross Burbank, who had more than 100 plays from scrimmage as a redshirt freshman.
So, that’s four returning starters and a likely fifth starter, former high-school All-America tackle Jay Whitmire, who was on the field for 197 plays as a redshirt freshman (93 on offense and 103 on special teams).
You’re not going to see a more experienced O-line almost anywhere.
February 7, 2013 - 2:48 PM
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Different sport question Doug. Basketball – When you get up 40 points why not unload the bemch and get them some experience. I notice they finally starting sub it could have been done much sooner. I guess not in Tony Bennet’s eyes.
Thamks
Al, that is usually a normal process. The reason we stayed with the lineup was threefold. To add time to a first year and second year heavy team, the available bench is thin and also, with Tobey out, we needed more minutes for Nolte and Anderson.
Rich
Last year’s Virginia team was a six win, with a possible seventh, team, assuming it played a certain style: run 60%, pass 40%. And, in that running portion, mix it up and not just run off tackle or guts, but the full range of draws, off tackle, guts, and option. UVA would have lost between 4-6 games with that style, but definitely would have won the requisite 6 for a bowl bid. In choosing the pass-most, pass-first “pro style,” UVA lowered their bottom side without verifiably raising their upside. With the Lazor deal, they had to lose at least 7 games, with a distinct possibility of 8. We saw 8 losses. All that game-to-game drama was irrelevant; tactical choices cannot overcome strategic errors. Our model had no chance of winning given the talent and/or preparedness of the players bearing the most stress, and the strain on the offense overall by the nature of the style and play calling. Fans, with all due respect, are pretty stupid and indifferent about these things, but it makes a long term difference. UVA isn’t in position to utilize a heavily leveraged and leveraging offensive system. It might regain that position after a ten year run of success like Welsh had, but even Welsh maintained the essential run-first core that kept the Kirbys, Joneses, and Barbers train coming through Charlottesville. Once Groh abandoned that in favor of “the model,” UVA fell off the map for the major ball carriers in the Commonwealth, and that led to more commitment to the failed state. I hope London now lets UVA lose the games it has to lose this season while winning the games it has to win with a major emphasis on creative, aggressive and relentless running of the ball. Any game without 30 rushes is a failure, even if we win. With that mentality, the building can truly start, and in year 6 or 7, you might start seeing 8+ win consistency.
Coach McKay, I’ve always been a big fan of you and Coach Bennett. Best of Luck!
John
Al, I couldn’t agree more! Have you ever heard about how UVA played Ralph Sampson for 40 minutes when beating my Dookies by 109-66 on March 11, 1983. It was the primary motivatation for me going on to becoming a Leader of Men that happened to coach basketball. For a cool 40K (no pun attended, bt-wubs), I’d be happy to share this very personal, yet poignant vignette with you and your management team or Rotary Club. (will also need a suite for me and my ‘driver’, Chrissie or Wojo)
Yeah, TB leaves his guys in like TH did in blowing out my Devils, 109-66 in the ACCT not long ago! I’d never do such a thing, I’m a Leader of Men that just happens to be a Coach!
Coach K, LoM
*************
Count me as a Big fan of Coaches Tony Bennett and Richie McKay, Coach Cry-zoo-ski, son, you seem to forget that the spread of the internet makes maintenance of such fabrications challenging. Even Lennay Kekua knows that now.
Coach John Wooden
*************
Thanks, Coach, call me when you get up to the north side of LA.
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Al, You need to invest in a basic spell-checker… not to mention a fact-checker… Manti and I were on the phone and started laughing at how anyone could dream up such an unbelievable hoax! Like omi-gosh, totally, for sure! The Wahoo starters played 31, 29, 27, 26, and 24 minutes, … if you’d have climbed up on the roof of your double-wide and adjusted the antenna, you’d have learned that Atkins and Tobey, who’d have been in the top 7, were out due to medical reasons … so, the 8th man played 22 minutes, 9th man played 15 minutes, 10th man played 11 minutes, #11-Browman played 6 minutes, #12-Caid Kirven (walk-on) played 5 minutes and #13-Thomas Rogers (another walk-on) played 4 minutes … and, of course that’s not counting Malcolm Brogden being out all season (injured) and Gill having to sit out as a transfer.
.
Coach K, even an internet hoax like myself knows it’s unbelievable that you’re still peddling that mess, there’s a big difference between 40 and 14 minutes.
.
(hang up the phone, Manti, you’re snoring again).
Lennay
Comment by Lennay Kekua — February 10, 2013 @ 3:17 am
Post #2 – Thanks very much for your reply. At 5-11 I assume Rowsey was too short for condieration for ACC. UVA sent a coach to watch him and then showed no interest. average 37 and dowuble teamed every time he touchs the ball and no supporting cast. Reminds you of Green at VT
Well, one thing is certain………The 2013 football season will be a “MAKE-OR-BREAK” season for Mike London.
He has surrounded himself with capable assistants and hopefully a new “philosophy” on offense……..It will also be a year of “NO MORE EXCUSES” for the QB position and possible starter Phillip Sims….
Sims was given a scholarship to powerhouse and defending National Champion Alabama before transferring to Virginia……..Nick Saban must have saw something from this young man, even though Sims lost the QB competition to eventual starter A.J. McCarron……….It is time to see if this young man has what it takes!
Sims and London know this is it!…….In 2013, it will be time to “PUT UP” or “SHUT UP”!!!
Even though I have always thought London was “IN OVER HIS HEAD” at the major college FBS level, another losing season and he can pack his bags!! – The party will be over!!……….Great person, but, mediocre coach! – One only needs to remember the closing minutes of the Virginia Tech game at the end of the season.
Plain and simple!!
To Theo: Unfortunately, the game of college football is now about winning. How many coaches have you seen who have 6, 7, or even 8 years to build a program the way you are talking about. Now, I think the days of running the ball 25-30 times is going to be overtaken by throwing the ball more. You don’t ever have to lose games just because you only want to run the ball. A team can still be aggressive and creative running styles without having to sacrifice the outcome of the game. If running the ball is working, sure, stick with it, if it’s not, then you have to mix it in when you can. Take for example the Miami game of two years ago, the first half, UVa could not gain a yard rushing, but the passing game kept them in it. The second half the run-game opened up as Miami’s defense grew tired. You cannot just set your mind to running the ball no matter what. Some defense’s come into the game with a mindset to stop the run, therefore, that opens the passing attack. I know many people want to see a run first style offense because if it is working, then it keeps the team in manageable 2nd and 3rd down situations. However, when a team comes in and knows or expects a run on first down all the time, it is easy to stop them for losses, then you end up looking at 2nd and long, 3rd and long types of situations. The game of football has evolved from what it was when Welsh was at UVa. I admit, I admired everything about Welsh during his time at UVa, but coaches do not have the same luxuries as the coaches in that era. Coaches have to win now, and that is the recipe for recruiting high profile offensive players such as dual threat quarterbacks, highly skilled receivers, and quality offensive lineman who can move swiftly. I think the biggest disappointment for the UVa. club last year was some of the play-calling during certain moments of the game. Going for it on 4th and short around the goal line against UNC was a good call, the play on the other hand was not. Everyone knew UVa was going to try and run it in; a little play-action, hit the tight end on an out route, or dump it off to the full-back works every time. That play turned the momentum of the game and UNC never looked back.
Either way, there is a time for passing and a time for running, I think Lazor had great ideas and good schemes, it might have been just a little too much thinking involved for some players to execute the play without error. I look forward to the future of the UVa program. I just hope they give London the time he needs to recruit quality players from the state of VA and help return UVa back into quality conference contenders each year, and for goodness sakes beat those damn Hokies!!!
Theo,
I’m not trying to defend Lazor, but I think your reasoning above is flawed. I don’t think he went into games with a pass-first mentality, but had to do it, because the offensive line couldn’t open holes for the running game. There were several occassions where VA had a 2nd and shor, and took a shot down field, only to be unable to pick up the first down running on 3rd and 4th downs. Other times, VA got down big early, so they had to pass more to try to get back in the game. I think there was a lot of Mike Tyson games–you know, “Everyone has a plan ’til he gets punched in the mouth.” I don’t think the VA offense was as faulty from a planning or play calling standpoint, as it was from either poor talent or technique in the line’s run blocking.
With the talent coming in that was recruited specifically to address the offensive line issues, again, 2013 should be “make–or-break” and that can no longer be the excuse……….
I guess we will find out!!