No extension for Groh
The first domino has fallen.
The next, should there even be one, has been delayed momentarily.
Just over 24 hours after Virginia was eliminated from the postseason discussion with a 17-14 setback at Virginia Tech, the school informed media outlets that football coach Al Groh would not have an additional year added to his existing contract. The move leaves Groh with a multimillion-dollar deal that runs through Dec. 31, 2011.
“In accordance with a specific clause in Virginia head football coach Al Groh’s contract, I have informed him that his contract will not be extended for an additional year,” Virginia director of athletics Craig Littlepage said through a released statement. “Coach Groh has three years remaining on his current contract.”
It marks the second time in three years that Virginia elected not to exercise its option of rolling an additional year into Groh’s deal. The previous snub came after the Cavaliers finished 5-7 and missed the postseason in 2006.
The Cavaliers matched the 2006 mark Saturday with their fourth consecutive loss. In the process, Virginia joined Duke as the lone teams in the ACC to fail to become bowl eligible.
While Groh has received a vote of confidence from Littlepage to be retained next season saving Virginia a would-be buyout of six million, it remains to be seen if the school’s athletic administration will ask for changes on the coach’s staff.
“I will be meeting with [Groh] in the next 48 hours to conduct a year end review of the football program,” Littlepage added. “I will have no further comment about coach Groh’s contract or the review process of the program.”
A large faction of Virginia’s disgruntled fan base has asked for a move to be made in regards to Groh’s son, Mike, the team’s offensive coordinator. It is easy to see why Mike Groh could become the sacrificial lamb and be demoted into another position.
Virginia currently ranks last in the ACC in rushing offense, scoring offense and total offense. Nationally, the Cavaliers rank 109th in rushing offense, 115th in scoring offense and 106th in passing offense.
A logical and more experienced candidate to replace Mike Groh is available. Former Virginia offensive coordinator Ron Prince was terminated after three seasons as the head coach at Kansas State.
Al Groh refused comment after Virginia’s loss to Clemson when asked if his son would be retained and failed to indicate if he would be interested in bring Prince back onto his staff last month.
Having missed the postseason for the second time in three seasons, Virginia’s coach was asked Saturday how he would compensate for the practice time that younger players would miss without bowl preparation. His answer was simple.
“You just make the most out of your 15 days in the spring,” Al Groh said.
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The football program will continue to just spin its wheels w/ Groh @ the helm. What has he accomplished in 8 years other than a 1-7 record vs tech & no conference championships? He would not have lasted half as long coaching in another conference. I do not blame his staff, Groh is the captain of the ship (but Mike Groh is a joke as OC). Casteen & Littlepage need to wake up & make a change before the program becomes the bottom feeders of the ACC!
Al Groh has a 56-44 record in his 8-year tenure at UVA. That is a winning percentage of 56%. By any standard, in any industry, that would be a failing grade. Just food for thought.
Recruiting at UVA since Al Groh, according to Rivals, has him ranked between 19th and 61st in the Nation for his years here. Our overall National Rankings for the most fall around those number if my memory is correct but should be better. That is an average of around 32 ½ (VT during the same time is 24 ½). Not bad since there are 119 schools not to include the sub-division schools that fight for these guy too. Again I state that we could do better if we could stay in the top 25 rankings. We all know that a Big Named OC would help pull them in too and that is what we need.
As for Quarterbacks, Schaub and Hagans turned out to be special but both had their turns on the bench. I am glad you asked this question since I did not remember how good the list is and should have been for us.
2002 Anthony Martinez - 4 star - #4 Pro Style
2003 Kevin McCabe – 4 star- #5 Pro Style
2004 Scott Deke – 2 star
2005 Jameel Sewell – 3 star - #20 Duel Threat
2006 Mark Verica – 2 star
2007 Peter Lalich – 4 star - #5 Pro Style
2008 Riko Smalls – 2 star
and listed for 2009 are Ross Metheny – 3 star and Quintin Hunter a 5 star Ath with talk about him as a QB
Forgot Christian Olson. He falls in there too. (Rivals.com)
On paper any of those could have, should have and might turn out to be great. We have seen all but the last three play and at times each looked promising. We all wish we could have a former bench player starting games in the NFL like USC but this list looks good to me until that day.
I just hope that when one of them comes into their own, we still have some good wide receivers. That is my biggest issue with Al’s teams and George’s too. We need to fill all positions every year.
I fully agree that Al has the talent and is not able to get the most out of it and that UVA needs to value the Assistant Coaching Positions more buy filling them with top talent and keeping them with money.
We will always be behind in the state of Virginia when recruiting but it should not be as far apart as it has been. I would like to think that any player would love to got to school at UVA but I am sure that each year there are those that think that it might be too hard to keep the grades up and play football in Charlottesville.
Hats off to all that are competing for us now and in the past in all sports.
Al needs to learn how to win a must win game too.
“He has been a great recruiter for our team. It was not long ago that we had one team at best to field and if someone went down, we had trouble filling the void. It was not long ago where FSU could ware out our starters and then replace the entire offence and stomp us into the ground. Not as easy now.“
By “not long ago” you must be referring to the pre-Welsh years. Under Welsh, the team was just as deep - if not deeper - than it is now. Remember: Welsh left behind two VERY good college quarterbacks in Schaub and Hagans. Both were backups for him.
In contrast, while you praise Groh’s recruiting, name the good quarterback he’s signed.
Take your time.
No rush.
Charlie Weis is an AMAZING recruiter, and he has one of the greatest draws in college football. He’s had top-10 recruiting classes just about every year. Yet Notre Dame remains mired in mediocrity. That’s what happens with poor coaching.
Groh has been negligent in not making sure the program has top-line assistants. Naming his son as OC was reprehensible. This year we’ve learned that his son can neither coordinate an offense nor coach a quarterback. Verica’s downward development is a strong indictment of Mike Groh’s ability to “coach up” a QB.
“We have done OK on instate recruiting”
Not true. Not even REMOTELY true. Virginia still runs a very distant second to Tech when it comes to in-state recruiting. It isn’t even close. And it’s going to get worse. Having a coach in limbo is not a good thing for recruiting.
Littlepage is part of the problem. I see Al doing many of the same things George did the longer he has been coaching. Playing it safe instead of playing to win. I do not know if that is part of the Virginia culture or if it is something that sets in after too many seasons getting comfortable but the fire appears to be fading.
I love Al and hope he finds that passion and stays with us for a long time.
On the other hand, the mention of our Baskeball coach I got to agree with and have been saying it since he was hired. The man is just in way over his head and he came to us from a medicore conf and a medicore team with a medicore record and somehow is supposed to lift UVA to new heights? GIVE ME A BREAK!!!
I think the Dave hire goes to show that UVA (at the top) is not serious about their sports programs.
From a coaching standpoint Al Groh is a good strategist, but a game day coach he is not. And he shouldn’t have to be. Game days are where assistant coaches earn their keep, and it is obvious that UVA’s assistants are falling short. I can’t help but wonder what shape Virginia’s program would be in if it were able to keep all of its original assistants. Continuity in a program goes a long way. That being said, I think the Mike Groh experiment should end now.
Al Groh proved this weekend why he should be our Coach. He had a great idea that should have ended our season with a win. He is a good coach. He knows that these are College kids first and football players 2nd. That is what we want and need. He has high standards for his players as young men and will not bend as he has shown in the resent past. He act swiftly unlike some other coaches that we all know.
He has been a great recruiter for our team. It was not long ago that we had one team at best to field and if someone went down, we had trouble filling the void. It was not long ago where FSU could ware out our starters and then replace the entire offence and stomp us into the ground. Not as easy now.
Where I feel Coach Groh is falling short are areas that involve winning. Winning is not everything but we all want it every time. When you have the talent to be champions and fail to do so has to reflect on the coaching staff. Not making changes to the staff is wrong. Al’s son Mike has now had three full seasons of unacceptable performance. I felt two was enough but three strikes and you’re out. He is not doing his Son any favors by keeping him. I would like to see him move Mike back to QB Coach and bring in someone to run the Offence. If he releases his Son now with this record, I question how he would support his family since I can’t see him getting another job in football any time soon.
I would not fill that position from in-house nor would I jump to fill it with a former coach. I feel that we need to take the opportunity to fill the OC position with someone that would someday become our next Head Coach. Bobby Bowden has about four Coaches that could step in behind himself. Why is UVA so bad at keeping good assistants and not having a football staff that is well known and respected across the Nation? This person must be able to stand up toe to toe with the Head Coach and be able to think outside of the box. Assistant Head Coach / Offensive Coordinator. The Best Guy money can buy is what we need.
Adjustments on the fly are OK but that does not mean that Halftime adjustments are not needed too. We don’t do that well and it shows. I feel that most of our losses are from being out coached not play on the field. Vic Hall on offence was a great idea. We just stuck with it too long. We forgot about our standard offence and they were cold when we needed them to be hot. We did to Verica what VT did to Glennon over the past few years. We asked him to perform only with his back against the wall. We also let several of our great seniors leave the game without being able to help us to victory.
If we were to have stayed with it, we could have varied the Hall offence to have double Tight ends and have Vic and Cedric as backs. Could be a double option with a halfback pass. With a young O Line I would have liked to have seen that with Mikell too. Glad to see VT never did that with Tyrod or with Marcus.
Al Groh, you were brought in to do better then the past Coaching staff was doing. I question whether George W. would have not have given us the same record as you have. We had the opportunity to become a top team in the ACC but we have missed out on that. We have done OK on instate recruiting but we should have been able to draw even better talent then we have with better winning records.
Our goals must be to beat VT first, Become Bowl eligible second, Win the Coastal Division third, Win the ACC Tittle Game fourth and become the National Champion fifth. With those goals then you can look at the “one game at a time” and not until then.
As for Craig Littlepage, he should have never told the press that Groh would be back next year even if that were his plan to do so. I think that the team needed to have that outside pressure and that the record deserved it as well. That forced Mr. Littlepage to decide on the contract extension based solely on the outcome of the VT game and record. I would have extended his contract based solely on the staff changes that he was willing to make in efforts to improve the team, not on a single loss. Mr. Littlepage, we rely on you for doing what’s best for our teams and the fans that spend the money.
For all of you fans that are thinking about giving up your season seats just because you are not happy with the Coaches, remember that we are going to the games to support the school and the student athletes. If you still decide to give them up, I hope you all sit in the lower sections. I would like to sit closer next year.
Last, Dave Leitao————Liberty?
Perhaps Groh should review his hiring practices to ensure nepotism doesn’t take a part in picking their offensive coordinator. I have never seen so many poorly called plays at the worst times. That turnover in the fourth was a classic Groh Jr flop! Come on Mike Groh your dad gave you a job at least perform and earn your keep.
Also where the heck was Hall all year? His skills are unmatched by any QB thus far I’ve seen this year.
It’s becoming clear that the mantra should not be “Fire Al Groh.“ It seems that it needs to be “Fire Craig Littlepage.“
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