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Groh-ing, Groh-ing, Gone...

Boone

The Commissioner
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The Virginia Cavaliers are looking for a new head football coach after firing Al Groh following the season-closing loss to the Va. Tech Hokies.

Hard to understand the logic if you ask me. Both my wife and I are UVa grads. We experienced the George Welsh era, and he lead the school to their best years of collegiate football. But Groh has certainly been no slouch.

"Groh, a UVa alumnus, was named Virginia's head coach on Dec. 30, 2000. His nine Virginia teams compiled an overall record of 59-53 and participated in five bowl games, winning three of them. Groh was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year in 2002 and 2007, and the American Football Coaches Association Regional Coach of the Year in 2004. The Cavaliers have had losing records three of the last four seasons and were 3-9 in 2009."

We're not talking about a football powerhouse school here folks. We're talking about a school that holds it's student athletes to high academic standards, far in excess of what most 'football schools' apply. I'm proud of that fact, not ashamed of it, regardless of the implications on the football field. Schools such as UVa and Duke, who attempt to maintain some higher level standards for admission and academic performance, are going to struggle to win. I firmly believe that.

With that in mind, Groh has done one hell of a job. Sure, the past 4 seasons haven't been his best, but again, how do you recruit to a program like Virginia's? It's not easy. Groh's won more than he's lost, and spun relative gold from hay during a couple seasons. He deserves better. I'd also ask who Virginia thinks they're going to get to do better? Unless they decide to abandon the idea that these truly are 'student athletes', that new coach is going to find Groh's achievements were pretty impressive afterall.

I don't get this move.


Click HERE to read the article...
 
The problem is that his predecessor, Welsh, went 134-86-3 and was the winningest coach in ACC history when he retired. Big shoes for Groh to fill. Add to that the small burr under the saddle of just how good that team from Blacksburg has been more than a decade now and it leaves a lot of UVa alums wanting more.

I do understand where you are coming from though Boone. I think all schools should have higher standards for athletes and be more like UVa.
 
Right or wrong everyone knew this was coming. This is not a top 25 program and struggles to recruit since competes with VA Tech.

Who ever UVA selects, it needs to be someone that is a good recruiter as much as a tactician.
 
Interesting to hear this point of view - most every other UVA grad I know absolutely hates Groh, and has wanted him gone for awhile now. Although you can't argue with at least some of his recruiting prowess - he's had 22 players get drafted since 2005, including 5 first round picks and 3 top 10 picks.
 
London seems like a good choice. Great background for working at a place like UVa.
 
Yeah - he's done amazing things at the Univ. of Richmond. He's also got ties to UVa, was Groh's defensive coordinator and his brother played for UVa. He seems like a really solid up-and-coming hire. We'll see. But first instinct is I like it...
 

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