As the 2001 football season opens, the Virginia Cavaliers are attempting to prove you can go home again.
After a disappointing 6-6 campaign last season, UVa. opens the season with a new coach on the sidelines for the first time in 20 years.
In a move that shocked both the NFL and college football worlds, Al Groh, the coach of the New York Jets last season, decided to abandon professional football for the chance to coach at his alma mater.
"There was not another position that I would have left [the Jets] for," Groh said. "I feel very humbled that I was invited to come back to the grounds of Thomas Jefferson's academic village and take a position of leadership. This is not something I anticipated. It was only through [the university's efforts] that this happened. If it wasn't for that determination I wouldn't be here."
Groh has long-standing ties to the university. He lettered in both football and lacrosse at Virginia, graduating in 1967. Groh returned to the Cavaliers in 1970 as coach of the freshman team. The following year he also served as the defensive line coach.
Groh left college football in 1989 for the NFL where he would earn a Super Bowl ring as the linebackers coach of the 1990 Giants and appear in another Super Bowl as defensive coordinator of the New England Patriots
Even after Groh left Virginia as a coach, he remained connected to the university as a parent. His son Mike led the Cavaliers to their only nine-win season, and a victory in the Peach Bowl, as the starting quarterback in 1994-1995. He will join his father as the wide receivers coach this season.
"Myself and my family have a strong [bond] with this university and the community," Groh said. "The few people I confided in [when making this decision] thought this was a wonderful situation for us."
However, Groh was quick to note that he didn't take this job to sit back and enjoy living in scenic Charlottesville.
"We want to compete at the highest level," he said. "[We want to] compete on the national level and compete for the national championship. I have a pretty good idea what it takes to compete on that level."
In order to compete with the powerhouses of Division 1-A football, a coaching staff must install an effective system, and get the players to run that system.
Any time a pro coach makes the transition to college in either football or basketball, there are concerns as to whether that coach can swallow their pride to do all the things necessary to get the best players.
Groh does not believe he will have trouble with the transition from dealing with Bryan Cox to convincing an 18-year old's mother that he will make sure her son will go to class.
"I think the single most important thing that I've seen in 34 years in this sport is that recruiting has almost become a separate sport," Groh said. "I have a sign in the meeting room for the coaches that says, OCoaches with schemes but without talent quickly become the coaches of unimportant teams.' We want to be an important team. So, it's important to get good players."
While Groh is ready to adjust to the demands of recruiting, he has no plans to adjust what he does on the field.
"It took me 34 years to put the blueprint together," Groh said. "We know that our way works. I just coach players. I coached the same way in the pros that I did in college. I will do the same things here that I've always done."
To aid him in running that system, Groh has brought an impressive group of assistants with him to UVa. Offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave held the same position last season with the Carolina Panthers. Assistant head coach Dan Rocco spent last season as a defensive assistant and linebackers coach of the Jets, and defensive coordinator Al Golden spent last season as linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator for Penn State.
Groh stated that shared vision, rather than credentials, played the primary role in the hirings.
"Bill Parcels, who's been a great friend, he said in a press conference a year ago that [the Jets] were a tribe," Groh said. "I'm not looking for subcontractors, I'm looking to put together a tribe. I want people who believe in the system under which we are going to run this tribe."
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