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Fulmer has been replaced by Lane Kiffin, so who knows what becomes of the Tennessee staff, although Scott was seen at FUMA's combine on Tuesday in a Tennessee jacket.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
