London's 1st task: Recruit more talent

The legendary Bear Bryant once told this columnist that there really weren’t any secrets to winning, but there was one thing that is absolutely necessary: talented players.

Bryant had a favorite expression that summed up his philosophy.

“Did you ever see a jackass win the Kentucky Derby?” The Bear used to say. “Thoroughbreds, son, thoroughbreds.”

Bill Dooley, who won at North Carolina, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, used to have a favorite saying as well when he talked about building winning football programs.

“Recruiting is the lifeblood of any successful football program,” Dooley used to say.

Top priority

Thusly, we now come to new Virginia head football coach Mike London’s biggest challenge: recruiting.

There is some talent in the program he inherited, but not an abundance, thus the 3-9 record that led to a coaching change and London’s sudden arrival.

Certainly, London is familiar with the culture of UVa football and recruiting by having spent six years of his career in Charlottesville in two separate stints. He was on former head coach Al Groh’s first staff, lured away from Tom O’Brien’s staff at Boston College as the Cavaliers’ defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator.

His second stint was as defensive coordinator, but he worked hard as a recruiter as well.

Having received a strong endorsement from the Virginia High School Coaches Association has already opened the door for London and his soon-to-be hired new UVa coaching staff. The Cavaliers have lagged behind in recruiting efforts this past year, partly due to the anticipated coaching change.

Looking up at Tech

Still, Virginia Tech has ruled the state in recruiting for quite some time now, a fact that London must change in order for Virginia to become competitive once again.

“I am a product of — and I’ll use it as the kids say — 7-5-7,” London said of his roots in the talent-rich Tidewater area. “I want to make sure that we connect with the high school coaches here in the state of Virginia. This is a great place.

“My coaching stints have allowed me to recruit every area of this state,” continued the Hampton native, who has also worked at the University of Richmond and William & Mary during his career. “I know we’ve got to do a better job in recruiting the in-state players, but we’ll do that, because I want the high school coaches to know that if Virginia hasn’t been there, we’ll be there. And if you have a player you want to recommend to us, then we’ll evaluate and we’ll listen.”

London said he is big on developing relationships with his players with an open-door policy. He believes that if a coach shows he cares, then players will run through walls for that coach, something he hopes will help lure some of the state’s best talent to Charlottesville.

“I think that we have to recapture the state of Virginia, make ourselves accessible to the coaches of Virginia — the high school coaches, particularly,” London said. “Go into those schools and then go into the communities also. I think that’s critical because a lot of young kids grow up seeing somebody at the boy’s clubs or local organizations ... they grow up and they want to be just like so-and-so.

“Well, so-and-so is at the other school. There are a number of things you can do with the coaches in those communities, the pee-wee league coaches, those individuals that have an influence on those young men,” London continued. “And unless you show you have an interest in going into their community, then why would they have an interest in coming to yours?”

London believes that by getting his staff and getting UVa face time in those schools, in those communities, will have an impact on the program’s perception in those places.

He has a saying, too.

“People don’t care about how much you know until they know how much you care,” London said.

Perhaps not as colorful as Bear Bryant’s, but it is a good first step in trying to turn the tide on state recruiting, one community at a time.