I am a die-hard Cincinnati Bengals fan. In the late 90s, when the losing was at its worst for the Bungles, the entire franchise was run like a country club. Players didn't care, it was all a laissez-faire attitude.
I'm not suggesting that's what it's like for UVA football right now... but the product on the field is eerily similar. And watching our guys with big smiles on their faces as they doled out daps to the Tarholes on Saturday after the game made me feel sick to my stomach.
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If you're losing a lot, you tend to default to the easiest coping mechanism: acceptance. And the players accepting losing is way worse that the spread of apathy among the fanbase. It's like rot in the foundation. It was the same thing with the Bengals from 1991 to 2002.
What Virginia needs is someone to roll in here and start putting a foot up some asses. Our roster has talent, but I'm not convinced it has heart. And for whatever reasons, our current coaching staff has been totally unable to install any grit or determination in this group. As a team, we play like a bunch of candyasses (see also: Oregon, Clemson, UNC), and even when we start games on the right foot, we get punched one time and our glass jaw shatters (see also: Ball State, Duke).
We saw a lot of that ever-important, fleeting, elusive grit and chutzpah in 2011... where the hell did it all go? Did Mike London lose his touch? Or was it just lucky coincidence during that one outlying season of success?
I wish I knew the answer. But it doesn't matter now, because now the only reasonable path back is to blow up the whole damn thing and start from scratch.
I believe in our players, and I believe in our recruits. We just need the right staff to help them all reach their potential as football players and as a team.
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