2008.12.10
A "natural" for Virginia staff
I heard Latrell Scott's name mentioned in connection with the Virginia coaching openings so I called John Shuman, for whom Scott played and coached at Fork Union.
Scott most recently was on Phillip Fulmer's staff at Tennessee, having followed his former University of Richmond boss, Dave Clawson, when Clawson elected to become the Vols' offensive coordinator.
Fulmer has been replaced by Lane Kiffin, so who knows what becomes of the Tennessee staff, although Scott was seen at FUMA's combine on Tuesday in a Tennessee jacket.
Scott, who is in his early 30s, played at Hampton University following a postgraduate year at Fork Union and later coached at Fork Union, Western Carolina, VMI and Richmond.
"I'll tell you who Latrell Scott is," Shuman said Wednesday. "Latrell Scott is Mike London. He's enthusiastic, he's a motivator, he gets along with African-American kids, he gets along with white kids. That would be a great fit.
"Put Latrell Scott and Anthony Poindexter together and look out!"
Scott has been a receivers coach almost exclusively and UVa has a respected receivers coach, Wayne Lineburg, but Scott and Lineburg have worked together before.
When both were on the Richmond staff, Lineburg coached running backs and Scott was the receivers coach under Clawson.
What if all three could be reunited, with Clawson as the offensive coordinator?
"That would be awesome," Shuman said.
The word on Clawson is that he might be gun-shy after a one-year stint at Tennessee and would be leery of joining a Virginia staff that might not be set for the long haul.
Clawson might end up at Division I-AA, non-scholarship Yale, which would make sense. He's a 1989 graduate of one of the nation's premier academic institutions, Williams College.
What would John Casteen think about that?
But what if Clawson weren't available?
"I'd hire Latrell Scott to coach the receivers and Danny Wilmer to coach the D-line," Shuman said. "If you could do one thing that would mess up the Virginia Tech people, that would be it."
In my opinion, Al Groh should have kept Wilmer when he took the job in 2001. If Groh were to approach Wilmer now, I don't know if Wilmer would be interested, but he does live in Charlottesville.
If Bob Pruett can land Tim Smith and five other recruits from Tidewater at age 65, that says something about born recruiters.
Assuming Groh doesn't go down that unlikely path, how's this for a possible D-line coach: John Shuman. I can't remember if Shuman was on the offensive line or defensive line at VMI, but if he wasn't a defensive lineman, at least he was blocking them.
Plus, if John Shuman were on your staff, it might help your chances with his younger son, Mark, a 6-6, 250-pound junior who might be the state's top line prospect. Having snubbed his older brother, Ryan, who proved his worth at Virginia Tech, that's the only way Virginia would get a look from Mark.
DD
Scott, Clawson, Wilmer & Shuman all on the staff. All we are saying, is give the Hoos a chance!!! Make it so, Al Groh!!!
Comment by JT Taylor — December 10, 2008 @ 7:21 pm
Just as Bob Pruett is a born recruiter, Vic Hall is a born quarterback. Put
in an offense that allows him to use his skills. The only real chance to be a great football team at any level has to start with the quarterback.
Comment by Niles — December 10, 2008 @ 8:07 pm
Groh would never go hat in hand to Wilmer and ask him to come back after he didn't keep him originally. Also, Groh won't hire Shurman because he (Groh) is arrogant and doesn't think he needs people like that. Groh will never get together and keep a good staff while he is the coach.
Comment by John — December 10, 2008 @ 8:41 pm
While I have no doubt that all the coaches mentioned above are excellent recruiters, there's another reason for Virginia's success in tidewater this year. It's called - scolarship limits. You think some of those guys wouldn't have jumped at an offer from Tech? I suspect they would but Tech can't take them all.
Comment by Paul Kohler — December 11, 2008 @ 8:20 am
There is a reason not a single BCS conference school recruited Vic Hall as a QB and that is his size. He is not big enough to play the QB position. I love Vic Hall, however; he is not a good fit as a full time QB. He is best utilized on defense, special teams and for a limited number of offensive plays.
I would agree that he may have been the best option for Virginia this past season. Even with his size he is better than most third string QBs. Vic has a great football mind and he would not have given games away by throwing low velocity passes into double coverage or directly to the opponent.
Comment by Joe — December 11, 2008 @ 8:34 am
Vic Hall, Jameel Sewell, Mikell Simpson & Rashawn Jackson running the single wing hurry-up offense. Multiple options, your best athletes on the field, tongues and lungs hanging out. The triple option works @ Georgia Tech why no the great granddaddy of the West Coast, shotgun, spread, Fun and Gun, Wildcat, Wild Turkey, HooCat? Worth a look & exciting to boot...
Comment by JT Taylor — December 11, 2008 @ 10:30 am
Vic Hall, Jameel Sewell, Mikell Simpson & Rashawn Jackson running the single wing hurry-up offense. Multiple options, your best athletes on the field, tongues and lungs hanging out. The triple option works @ Georgia Tech why not the great granddaddy of the West Coast, shotgun, spread, Fun and Gun, Wildcat, Wild Turkey, HooCat? Worth a look & exciting to boot...
Comment by JT Taylor — December 11, 2008 @ 10:31 am
This was a very interesting read ...Imagine being DD and covering UVa sports for as long as he has ..While I think he has done an excellent job of reporting through the years and has not been the the proverbial " homer " which infuriates the home team crowd , I think deep down he yearns for the Wahoos to rise above mediocrity as it pertains to the football program . On the flipside , covering the Groh era ( as a journalist ) would absolutely make my head spin .
Once again as DD points out , Big Al has a chance to bring in talented individuals to key staff positions . What will Al do ? That's the $ 64,000.00 question . Maybe , just maybe , he ( Al ) gives the UVa faithful a Christmas present and one of the names mentioned in the above article will land at Virginia . What will it take ?
Think Al has any connections with Santa ?
Comment by Doug Wright — December 11, 2008 @ 11:08 am
When Mr. Doughty was talking about Coach Clawson, he brought up a good point. How easy will it be to get quality coaches when the head coach may only be there one more year. Coaches with families look for a stable situation. A lot of people believe if Coach Groh has another losing season, he'll be gone.
Comment by Justafan — December 11, 2008 @ 7:26 pm
Sometimes a coach comes on for a year as an assistant, hoping to take over when the head coach gets fired after that season.
Dave Clawson didn't do a good job in his one year at Tennessee.
I think Groh will have to settle for assistants who are out of footbal coaching, or who are kind of desperate for jobs. But hopefully I'm wrong.
Has Fork Union Military Academy been an important part of UVa football recently? Not sure. Hargrave Military Academy seems to have replaced them in VA as the big-name in post-grad football.
Only time will tell.
Comment by Nelson — December 11, 2008 @ 9:02 pm
"His playing time would come in spurts and when he couldn’t find a rhythm immediately, he’d get jerked out of the game. Maybe it’s just me, but how could anyone find a rhythm under those circumstances?
“It was a learning experience that a lot of freshmen have to go through,” Farrakhan admitted." Ratcliffe, Jan. 11.
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"Memo to the rest of the team: maybe next time get a feel for that in the first five minutes instead of waiting until the last five." Ratcliffe, Jan. 11
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These two quotes from todays articles by Ratcliffe tell it all. When will reporters such as yourself and Ratcliffe recognize...or write about it. That is, the starting team does "play well" the first 4 to 5 minutes and no matter the circumstances, Laito starts substitutins at the 4:30 to 5 minute mark, breaks the rythm *& momentium and does not give the starters a chance to "break their sweat". From that point on there is no 5 of the same players on the floor at the same time for 5 minutes or more. No wonder, as the first quote says, no one can get into a rythm or confort in playing together. It would be different if we had 10 players of equal quality as do UNC or Duke, but we do not. Pick the best 5, play til they are about to drop, have them signal when they are tired, substitute then, and only then with the next best 3 or 4. And, stop the foul mouthed expressions to the players and yanking them when they make a mistake. Laito needs to watch a taped game of Williams and K...when their players make a mistake....My preference for starting 5: Sene, Scott, Landesburg up front. Zilinsky (sp?) and Jones (let him make mistakes, miss shots and not take him out the first mistake). First subs: tucker, Dianne, Farakahn (sp?). Let the rest of them sit and watch Unless a big lead or at end of game out of reach....Yea, I know. I left Baker out. This year he makes too many turnovers. Use him for a one minute rest for either guard that may need a blow. When are you and the other writers going to write about this crazy 4 minute subing irrespective of the circumstances....as if we had 10+ people of equal talent and ability to have instant (3-5 minute) chemistry???? feb
Comment by frank barham — January 11, 2009 @ 12:54 pm