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The decision by Virginia football player Andrew Devlin to transfer to Pittsburgh caused me to wonder about the frequency of such a move.

I couldn’t remember the last time that the Cavaliers lost a player who was projected to receive playing time, was in good shape academically and did not have any known legal problems.

The closest parallel I can draw is to the 2004 departure of basketball player Derrick Byars for Vanderbilt, where he became an All-Southeastern Conference performer, or the 2005 transfer of lacrosse attackman Joe Yevoli from UVa to Syracuse.

Yevoli, redshirted earlier in his career, actually graduated from UVa before deciding to play a fifth season with the Orangemen..

College wrestling aficionado Jeff White reminds me that 141-pounder Eric Albright transferred from Virginia to Pittsburgh after making the NCAA Tournament in 2007 and suggested that “maybe it’s a Pittsburgh thing.”

Albright is from York, Pa., however, and that’s in the eastern half of the state. It would appear that Albright’s transfer had more to do with the fact that his younger brother Chris, began his college career at Pitt this past season.

Devlin played at Mount Lebanon High School and having had a couple of college fraternity brothers from Mount Lebanon, I would say that’s as Pittsburgh as it gets.

Devlin must have wanted to get back to Pittsburgh pretty badly because it’s going to cost him a year’s eligibility. Devlin was a redshirt freshman at UVa this past season, when he played in all 12 games and earned a letter.

By the time he makes his projected University of Pittsburgh debut in 2010, Devlin will be a redshirt junior.

CLEARLY, DEVLIN WANTED to play tight end, which coach Al Groh acknowledged in a phone conversation Thursday.

Groh had moved Devlin to the defensive line in the spring, explaining to reporters that Devlin, listed at 6 foot 6 and 258 pounds last season but now closer to 275, had grown out of the position.

Devlin’s comments to Pantherlair.com indicated that the tight end position will be de-emphasized in the spread offense installed by new offensive coordinator Greg Brandon.

“Most people don’t know what it means,” said Groh of the spread. “There’s spreads that run it, there’s spreads that pass it, there’s spreads that use the tight end, there’s spreads that have no tight ends in the system.

“The [Chase] Coffman kid at Missouri was one of the leading receivers in the country last year and he played tight end. It’s a position that I think is valuable. I always want to have good ones here. They’re also players who have size and skill versatility and can play other positions.”

Groh often takes figures off the top of his head but he couldn’t have pegged Coffman more correctly. Coffman, a 6-6, 255-pounder, had 90 receptions for 987 yards and 10 touchdowns and is described in Missouri literature as the “most prolific pass-catching tight end in NCAA history.”

Coffman, winner of the 2008 Mackey Award as college football’s top tight end,  had 247 receptions for his career.

“I have no intentions for [tight end] to become an obsolete position,” Groh said.

UVa tight ends Joe Torchia and Colt Phillips lined up in the slot during certain spread formations in the Cavaliers’ spring game, just as Tom Santi did on occasion in 2007.

“Colt Phillips is a player who does have very, very good upside,” Groh said. “ Clearly, for the next four years, if he develops the way we think he can, we’re going to have enthusiasm for getting him in the game.”

GROH SAID DURING the spring that he would not have moved Devlin to defense if he had not expected him to play there.

“Could he be a successful tight end the way a lot of teams use their tight ends, you know, 12 catches a year?” Groh asked. “He probably could. Was he going to be a first-team tight end the way we’ve historically used our tight ends?”

Devlin was like Patrick Estes, a tight end from Richmond’s Benedictine High School who actually was rated ahead of Heath Miller when they both came out of high school. Miller, a converted quarterback, became an All-American. Estes was a valued blocker but became an offensive tackle in the NFL.

Devlin and Estes “are not dissimilar,” said Groh, who would have moved Estes to the interior line if he had not completed his eligibility in four years.

“I told Andrew, ‘Look, you’ve done everything we’ve asked you to do around here,’ “ Groh said. “He’s enthusiastic, he’s intense, he works hard. My feeling was, ‘Let’s give him the best chance to earn as much playing time as possible.’

“I said, ‘If I really thought you would be a big-time tight end, Andrew, I’d leave you there.’ He was a good defensive end in high school and he played at a high school that seldom threw the ball. It was when I watched him play basketball that I could really see his ball skills.

“When he got here, all the players were kidding him and telling him, ‘Say, Devlin, you might as well get your 70 number right now.’ He came in to see me and I told him, ‘I’m going to give you every opportunity to do this.’

“I was the one who was leaving him there when everybody said he was going to change.”

WHEN I WROTE in a recent column that Virginia hadn’t had an impact player from Alabama since walk-on fullback Steve Morse in the mid-1980s, I was quickly corrected.

How soon I had forgotten walk-on linebacker Mark Miller, a four-year letterman from 2002-2005 !

I’ll go out on a limb, though, and say that the most prominent Virginia football player to transfer to another program currently in Division I-A was Bill Troup.

Troup passed for a team-leading 1,289 yards and 15 touchdowns for Virginia in 1970, then transferred to South Carolina and led the Gamecocks to a 26-14 victory over the Cavaliers in the first game of the 1972 season.

Troup later played seven seasons in the NFL and where was he from?

You got it. Pittsburgh.

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