Re-Visiting the Road Map

Back in October and November, I presented the "Road Map to Relevancy" (Part I / Part II) for the football program. Now that we're ~5 months into the Mike London era, I thought it might be interesting to re-visit the road map.


Step #1 -- Fire Al Groh and hire a new coach. Hire the right coach.

We haven't seen a Mike London coached Virginia team in action, Other than in the open practices, the intra-squad scrimmage at ODU, and the spring "game." But you know what? I'm already prepared to check Step #1 off of the list. I believe with every ounce of my being that Mike London is the right coach for Virginia. He's a fire & brimstone style players coach who is completely at home in the state of Virginia.


Step #2 -- Lure the fans back into the fold.

$99 season tickets for UVA faculty/staff. New uniforms. Assistant coaches allowed to grant interviews. The coaches working the campaign circuit. The ODU scrimmage. All signs are pointing toward the fans being gently coaxed back toward Virginia Football. I'd still like to see cheaper tickets across the board, an apology for the disastrous re-seating by the VAF, and an actual spring GAME, but these things can often be glacial. The bottom line is that I think Coach London "gets it" when it comes to building a fan-friendly football program.


Step #3 -- Schedule cupcakes.

London inherited the Richmond and USC games from Al Groh. Scheduling VMI and Eastern Michigan for the 2010 season suggests that he is interested in snacking on some cupcakes, at least until the team is ready to win some tougher non-conference games. We'll see what kind of schedule he builds for 2011.


Step #4 -- Make the quarterback position a priority!

Offensive coordinator Bobby Lazor specializes in developing QBs, and assistant Mike Faragalli also has experience coaching the passers. London reeled in QB prospects Miles Gooch, Jake McGee, Mike Rocco, and Michael Strauss late in the process for the 2010 recruiting class. He's recruiting several top-notch passers for 2011. It looks like London has pinpointed the right coaches, and is now attempting to flood the QB position with talent. Good.


Step #5 -- Recruit the state.

Late in the game, London added Stephen Lawe (Norfolk), Jake McGee (Richmond), and Mike Rocco (Lynchburg) to the 2010 recruiting class. He's already landed Diamonte Bailey (Richmond), Ross Burbank (Virginia Beach), David Dean (Virginia Beach), and Clifton Richardson (Newport News) for 2011, and is in hot pursuit of many, many more Virginia kids. He's made recruiting the state one of his primary objectives, but it remains unclear if he'll be able to reel in the really big fish. Getting to that point is a process, and loading the roster with Virginia kids is the first step.


Step #6 -- Establish a system.

This is one we won't know until we see the team in action in games that matter. And we really won't know until after a few seasons. But it looks like London and his staff are married to the Power-I and the fast 4-3, so I'd say we're definitely on the right track. These are very Welshian principles.


Step #7 -- Redshirt EVERYONE!

The rubber hits the road this summer. I'm sure a few incoming freshmen will need to play, but I'm hoping to see a majority receive the 'shirt. I'm also hoping to see some mid-career redshirting, to heal some of the scorched earth Groh left behind.


Add it all together... and I'm very, very excited about the trajectory of the program. None of it matters if we don't get the talent and put it in position to succeed, but we're definitely on the right track in pretty much all phases of the rebuilding process.