Spring position battles heat up

Virginia’s equipment managers dusted off and passed out shoulder pads Monday for the first time since a heartbreaking loss to Texas Tech in the Gator Bowl.
With the equipment addition for the third spring practice, Virginia coach Al Groh said he was hopeful that he’d gain a better idea of the progression of players fighting for numerous vacant positions on the team’s depth chart.
For now at least, it appears that one of the best battles will ensue at the outside linebacker spot opposite senior Clint Sintim that was vacated by Jermaine Dias.
Groh established the pecking order to start by virtue of the depth chart during the pre-bowl practices last December.
“Those players get a chance to start on the top and once they get at that position for the first play of spring practice, then from that point on every play and every session is competitive,” Groh told reporters Monday. “On that basis, the two most veteran players, Aaron Clark and Denzel Burrell, started over there in Jermaine’s spot.”
Burrell, who is listed at 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds, and Clark (6-5, 250) combined for 21 tackles last season, and they will have to fend off a host of players, which includes sophomores Jared Detrick and John-Kevin Dolce and redshirt freshman Aaron Taliaferro.
Some of those players, from what Groh called a “distribution standpoint,” may work this spring behind Sintim.
“We just divided them up so that we had it equal there,” he said. “Here through the early going, at any of these flip-flop positions like safety or outside linebacker, we just want to play left and right as opposed to strong or weak, closed or open, or any of the different formulas that can be used to designate players.”
Groh that would give “them a much better exposure to all the jobs and then we can rank them one, two, three, four, five.”
The oncoming challengers at linebacker, including those in the middle, have a bonus, being able to learn daily from long-time starters Antonio Appleby, Jon Copper and Sintim.
The returnees are “veteran models,” Groh said.
“Those three players are very experienced players and they provide a very good model of how to work, how to prepare, how to do the drill right, how to fit on this particular play,” he added. “If those [challenging] players never saw themselves on tape, if they just saw the veteran players, they would probably have a pretty clear picture of how to play.
“It is more the model, I would say, than leadership.”
The finer details
At times last year, Virginia running back Keith Payne appeared unstoppable.
He scored a pair of touchdowns and rushed for 219 yards on 58 carries. But at other times the redshirt freshman struggled, specifically with blitz pickups.
Groh was asked Monday what was holding back the bruising running back, who sources confirmed has not practiced yet this spring while focusing on academics.
“It is more of an across-the-board thing than this specific thing will elevate his game,” Groh said. “In a general sense, it would be really the precision of what we are doing. This is not just take the ball and run.
“It’s a coordinated thing between the blocking scheme, the reaction of the defense. Those things just have to be more precise.” 
Getting Rich
It was assumed last year that Vincent Brown would use his post as a graduate assistant at Virginia as a springboard into a full-time job in the business.
Former UVa defensive coordinator Mike London made that possible, hiring Brown, a former NFL linebacker, on his staff at the University of Richmond.
Coincidentally, that move opened the door for a former Virginia linebacker to return.
Rich Bedesem, who played in 41 games during a career that ended in 2004, was named the Cavaliers’ graduate assistant for defense earlier this year.
“I wouldn’t say that we would have placed a bet on it when he left,” Groh said, “but we certainly weren’t surprised when he contacted us and told us he was interested in pursuing it.”
Bedesem, 26, grew up around the sport. His father, Richard, played quarterback at Temple and Villanova and worked as the offensive backfield coach at UVa in 1981 under coach Dick Bestwick. His grandfather was also the head coach at Villanova.
“Rich has a significant coaching background in his family,” Groh added, “so it probably was something he was thinking about for a while.”
During his career, Bedesem was beset by several injuries, but managed 140 tackles, two sacks and two interceptions in his career.
“He played in somewhat a similar fashion to Jon Copper,” Groh said. “He had a real good sense of the game and you could tell he was intrigued with it and why things worked and why we wanted to do things.”
Extra points …
Groh said inside linebacker John Bivens, who had knee surgery late last season, is working on a “limited” basis in practice. … Speculation continues to swirl about the potential return of defensive end Kevin Crawford, who is sitting out the final semester of his one-year academic-related suspension. Groh said Crawford has been diligent in attempting to bring the return to fruition.
… Sunday’s afternoon practice is one of two opportunities for fans to attend a spring session. The decision to only open a pair of practices was dictated, Groh said, by the Easter holiday and an upcoming high school coaches clinic at UVa.