No matter who’s on staff, Metheny ready for UVa

It is different with every situation, but Sherando quarterback Ross Metheny is firmly committed to play football at Virginia.

Others have given second thought to their verbal decision after learning that three assistant coaches, including offensive coordinator Mike Groh, will not return for the 2009 season.

For Metheny, a pro-style quarterback, dealing with adversity — thanks to a pair of season-ending injuries, including a torn anterior cruciate ligament that ended his senior season — has become second nature.

“Actually I have been injured twice in my life, and both have been in the last year,” Metheny said. “Last year in the state championship game I broke my leg in the first quarter. This year I couldn’t finish the last three games with a torn ACL.”

Having dealt with the emotional pain of the initial injury helped very little to ease the void Metheny felt when he learned that his final season of high school football was over prematurely.

“It was crushing either way — there is no doubt,” Metheny recounted. “It was different, a different feeling because this year when I tore my ACL I walked off the field. I played the last drive of the game on a torn ACL.

“I was completely clueless of what had happened. I walked off the field without any pain, not knowing that my knee was hurt as bad as it was. I didn’t know I had played my last high school game. Later in the week, when I found I actually did tear my ACL, it was pretty devastating. Just like the broken leg last year, it is one of those things that takes you a little bit to get over, but once you get over it, you realize you have more football to play.”

That football will be played in the ACC, but for a coordinator that remains unknown. All Metheny knows is that Virginia coach Al Groh has launched a national search to find his third offensive coordinator in five years.

For now, Metheny is focused on rehabbing his knee, something that has been smooth thus far with the guidance of Virginia’s lead physician.

“Dr. [David] Diduch told me that I don’t have to wear my brace anymore, and he was really happy with the stability and motion that I have in it right now,” Metheny said. “I guess right now the main thing is getting it stronger and making sure that I don’t slip on any ice or fall and do anything I am not supposed to do.”

The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Metheny expects to be close to 100 percent when training camp opens in August and hopes to push for a spot on the depth chart. He will have some company in two players with starting experience — junior incumbent Marc Verica and two-year starter Jameel Sewell, returning from academic suspension — and redshirt freshman Riko Smalls.

There is also an uncertainty how Orange County standout Quintin Hunter, a prep quarterback, will be slotted upon arrival.

Regardless, Metheny thinks he will be a perfect in Virginia’s offense.

“I think the things that I bring to the table fit very well with the style of offense that UVa runs,” Metheny said. “Our high school offense here at Sherando is really similar to what UVa runs already, and some of the route concepts are similar to what I have been running for four years.

“Hopefully the transition will be a little easier. Seeing Verica play this year, I think I can definitely go in and fit in nicely down there.”

That could change if the offensive scheme is altered, something Al Groh may have been hinting at with a released statement on Monday announcing that three assistants had stepped down.

With a host of powerful running backs in the fold next season — including one of Metheny’s close friends, Chancellor’s Dominique Wallace — the spread offense employed at times this season could be bagged.

It would certainly make Wallace, a workhorse in high school, all smiles. He has said that he could envision pounding over opponents with 30 carries a game at some point during his career.

“We can only hope he does,” Metheny said. “I am fine with handing him the ball all day. He is a beast.”