Has Groh used up nine lives?

Funny how some things stick in your mind.
When I was part of a panel speaking on college football recently at Boonesboro Country Club in Lynchburg, along with Dave Glenn of the ACC Sports Journal, Mike Burnop of Virginia Tech radio, and Liberty head coach Danny Rocco, it was interesting listening to one of Rocco’s responses to a question from the audience.
The question concerned Al Groh’s status at Virginia and just how hot his coaching seat might be this year. After a rocky start, and that’s putting it mildly, Rocco’s answer intrigued me.
“Of all the people I’ve coached with over my career, the one guy who is the most dangerous when his back is against the wall is Al Groh,” Rocco said. “He’ll fight, dig, claw and find a way to win. I wouldn’t bet against him.”
Rocco should know. He played for and worked for Groh at Wake Forest, with the New York Jets and at Virginia.
Certainly in his nine years at UVa, Groh has used up some of his nine lives.
Bouncing back
The 2002 season was the best example when the team started 0-2, came back and won six in a row and went 9-5, tied for second in the ACC and beat No. 15 in the Continental Tire Bowl (48-22).
In 2007, even the most loyal of Wahoo supporters predicted gloom and doom when the Cavaliers were dominated in the season opener at Wyoming. Yet, the team reeled off seven straight wins, went 9-4, finished second in the Coastal Division and nearly upset Texas Tech in the Gator Bowl.
Last year, due to a quarterback debacle involving the handling of the Peter Lalich case, the Cavs sputtered to a 1-3 start, including a second-half collapse at Duke. The team won four in a row and had it not been for some untimely interceptions by new quarterback, would have gone to a bowl game.
A common thread
Today’s question is, has Groh used up all his nine lives?
Not if you believe in what Rocco believes.
Virginia hasn’t started a season 0-3 since George Welsh took over the program in 1982 and eventually built the Cavaliers into consistent winners with one of the best coaching jobs in college football history.
Groh’s assignment for this Saturday is to find a way to survive in hostile territory, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, unfamiliar territory for Virginia’s program. For years, Southern Miss built a reputation on knocking off the big boys from BCS conferences.
But remember what Rocco said.
During Monday’s weekly press conference with Groh, I asked him has there been any common thread in those seasons where the Cavaliers’ backs were truly against the wall and the coach’s response was long and insightful.
“Because there have been a number of those, we have looked back at some of those circumstances,” Groh said. “One was a great determination on the part of the players to just make things better ... a willingness to continue to grind and work and a belief in the system that allowed them to maintain their confidence, that, one, what we were doing and how we were doing it would work out.
“And then along the way in each particular case, there’s been some circumstances where just strategically and tactically we might have said, ‘Look, we are going to reshape things a little bit here at this particular time. So, there’s been elements of all of those.”
Don’t expect Groh to take his team halfway across the country to play status quo football, particularly with rumors flying that his job could be squarely on the line if the team continues to shoot itself in the foot.
With an offensive line that apparently hasn’t adjusted well to the no-huddle spread tactics, leading to a shoddy running game, and a not so threatening passing game, something must be done.
The defense has played pretty good football, considering the length of time it has been required to stay on the field and considering some of the circumstances it has been put in by the offensive woes.
We’re still waiting on the special teams to be special.
But the offense, something that has held the program back for quite some time now, has to make a showing this weekend. So far, the offense has been so anemic that we heard some disgruntled fans mutter on Saturday, “Bring back Mike Groh,” who carried the brunt of the blame for the previous three years.
There has been some debate since last weekend’s 30-14 loss to TCU about whether or not Groh should stick with the spread or shelve it until he gets personnel more suited to run it and go with something more conservative.
The old coaches will tell you to stick to your guns, that you can’t lose faith in your own system, to endure the growing pains and hope for the best. Their logic is you can’t make that kind of a change three weeks into the season.
However, those coaches probably weren’t coaching with their jobs on the line.
Right now, it would make sense if Groh decided to — remember his words in the aforementioned statement — “there’s been some circumstances where just strategically and tactically we might have said we are going to reshape tings a little bit here.”
We won’t know what that means until the Cavaliers line up in Hattiesburg on Saturday, but remember what Rocco said, too.
Groh may still have a couple of lives left.