Report: UVa. to introduce London at Monday presser
Staff Report
UVa. sports: www.virginiasports.com
The University of Virginia has called a press conference for Monday in which it is expected to name University of Richmond coach Mike London as the new head football coach at UVa.
London has led UR to a 24-5 record in his two seasons at his alma mater, and won the 2008 I-AA national championship.
His ’09 Spiders lost on Saturday in the I-AA quarterfinals to Appalachian State by a 35-31 final score.
London, 49, served two stints on the staff of departed UVa. coach Al Groh, from 2001-2005 and 2006-2007. He was the recruiting coordinator on Groh’s staff from 2002-2004.
London was long rumored to have been a top choice at UVa. in the event that Groh was to be let go following the 2009 season. Groh was fired on Nov. 29, the day after a 42-13 loss to Virginia Tech finished a 3-9 ’09 season that was the third losing season in the last four for Groh at UVa.
Related posts:
- Groh not ‘retained,’ given $4.33M buyout National search begins for new UVa. coach Story by Chris Graham Al Groh’s tenure as head football coach at the University of Virginia has come...
- Around the ACC | What about Al? The debut of Around the ACC with Chris Graham focuses on embattled UVa. football coach Al Groh, whose Cavs are headed toward their third losing...
- Groh confirms staff shakeup It’s official – Al Groh is staying on at the helm of the UVa. football program, and his son Mike is among those being flung...
- Groh no go? Looks like we might be stuck with Al Groh for the duration. The chatter I’m hearing from sources around the UVa. athletics department is that...
- Shocker! Tribe upends UVa., 26-14 And it wasn’t even that close, folks. AFP editor Chris Graham breaks down the William & Mary win over Virginia in the season opener for...
A safe, uninspired, uninspiring choice. Mike London was part of the problem, in a manner of speaking, with the Groh regime that failed so spectacularly. He served as recruiting coordinator for Groh from 2002-2004, which means it was on his watch that the nucleus of the teams that went on to finish the Groh era with back-to-back losing seasons was being put together.
He went 24-5 in two seasons at UR coaching Dave Clawson’s players. He did beat Duke and William and Mary in ’09, which was something his former mentor couldn’t do.
Telling line – his agent told the AP tonight that three other schools in addition to UVa. had contacted UR for the right to pursue London regarding their coaching vacancies. The University beat out the powerhouse trio of Western Kentucky, Akron and Memphis for London’s services.
John Casteen can now retire satisfied. The University’s reversion to football mediocrity and irrelevancy is now complete.
Will we be doing the coaching switch again in four years?
Maybe five, but definitely yes.
What UVa. is saying here is, We had the right guy all along, we just had the wrong guy in charge.
I can hear the spin a-comin’. London had all those top-20 classes as recruiting coordinator. OK, fine. And what resulted from them? Er, well, but now he can flash a national-championship ring at recruits. Yeah, and he had Al Groh’s Super Bowl ring to flash at them before.
Try as we might, we’re not going to be able to escape the fact that London couldn’t get the job done as recruiting coordinator at UVa., and that while he won football games at UR, he did so with a cupboard left stacked by his predecessor, Dave Clawson.
If London was coming into a situation where he was left a good bit in terms of talent to work with, he’d probably be a good short-term stopgap who could win you football games, pretty much like Al Groh did with the talent that he inherited from George Welsh back in his first four years at UVa. The reality is that the cupboard is bare, and that it has to be pointed out that a big reason why it’s bare is because of the guy that we’re hiring today to be our coach.
This makes the Sonny Randle hire back in the ’70s look like pure genius.
This looks like a pretty good hire to me. The word “safe” comes to mine. London’s a character guy, so he’s not going to embarrass the university. I was also struck by the level of competition from Akron and Western Kentucky. The interesting question is how aggressively U.Va. went after bigger names. If Tuberville, Petersen, and Calhoun all shot U.Va. down, then London makes sense. If Littlepage was just waiting all season for UR to end their season, then it’s less inspiring on the part of the athletic department.
Remember this. Mike London was responsible for recruiting top 20 classes to UVA. He was however only responsible for coaching on the defensive side. His defensives happened to be ranked in the top 25 nationally. You are right though. He is partly responsible for the collapse of the program as he was one of the many fine coaches that left the program to become head coaches elsewhere, nearly all of which have done very well. Also the cupboard is not as bare as you think it is. There is some fine talent still in the program that would have been wasted by the mediocre staff had it remained in place. In 5 years you will see that UVA made a tremendous hire. Within a month you will see that thy also hired a tremendous recruiter. The bottom line is this. With Al Groh gone all sorts of new recruiting areas have opened up for the UVA program. Coaches in the state of Virginia will no longer be steering their kids away from UVA. Mike London will do more next year with your so called empty cupboard than Groh could do with a class full of 5 stars.
If worse comes to worse, then U.Va. will go around .500 over the next 4 or 5 years and repair a lot of the damage to in-state recruiting relationships.
I wish I could have Albert’s optimism. The cupboard is much less stocked than a diehard could want to admit. Marc Verica is the best option at quarterback, and he regressed this year. Outside of Verica, you’re talking Riko Smalls (!) and Ross Metheny. I like Metheny down the road, but sticking him into the mix as a rising redshirt freshman can be risky.
I used to be among those who helped ballyhoo the top-20 recruiting classes that London helped bring to Charlottesville. I’m also among those wondering – what happened to those classes that made them play sub-.500 football? OK, two men named Groh were big reasons, but the talent on the offensive side of the football has been lacking since the Welsh holdovers (Schaub, Heath Miller, Wali Lundy, etc.) matriculated. Jameel Sewell was at best a I-AA talent at QB, Verica an afterthought, Smalls an emergency signee whose most important quality is that he is a warm body.
But all the sudden London is going to magically be able to outrecruit – well, himself, since he was not only part of the Groh staff that lost the ability to recruit in-state, but he was the recruiting coordinator for three years.
I have called this a “safe” and “uninspired” hire. For all the talk of a search process and hiring a headhunter, it appears that the process was to call London’s agent, as was done back in September, to inquire as to his interest, then wait for UR to lose in the playoffs.
In 2019, when UVa. football is more than 20 years past the point of ever having been relevant, we will look back on this day with … disinterest.
UVa. press release: Monday, Dec. 7, 2009, 12:04 p.m.
Mike London, the head football coach at the University of Richmond for the last two years, is the new head football coach at the University of Virginia, UVa Athletics Director Craig Littlepage announced today. London will be returning to head up a Cavalier program where he twice previously served stints as an assistant coach. He becomes the 39th coach in the program¹s history.
“Coach London’s experience as a championship head coach, combined with a
variety of college and pro assistant coaching assignments position him for
success at the University of Virginia,” Littlepage said. “He understands how
to develop and implement a program that prioritizes the academic achievement
of his players and winning at the highest levels of college football. Mike
London is a coach around whom we can all rally as he goes about the task of
building a successful football program at Virginia.”
In two seasons at Richmond, London led the Spiders to a 24-5 record. His
first year at the helm his team went 13-3 and won the Football Championship
Series national title. This year¹s Spider team, ranked nine consecutive
weeks at No. 1 in the FCS polls, went 11-2 and reached the quarterfinals of
the FCS playoffs. His teams were 13-4 in the Colonial Athletic Conference
during the 2008 and 2009 campaigns.
“We are pleased to welcome Mike London back to the University,” said
University President John T. Casteen III. “Mike’s personal values and
commitment to excellence – combined with his understanding of University
culture and his proven ability to build a strong team – will make the London
era in Virginia football a good time, perhaps the best of times, for
players, fans, and the University generally.”
“Words cannot express my gratitude and heartfelt emotions for this
opportunity,” London said. “To be the head football coach at as prestigious
of an institution as the University of Virginia is a dream come true. Over
the years, a lot of people have helped me to make this possible. I have been
fortunate to stand on the shoulders of many coaches, players, administrators
and University communities in which my family has lived. We are excited
about this new opportunity and endeavor. We look forward to establishing a
renewed relationship with our new community and football family.”
London’s efforts in 2008 earned him FCS National Coach of the Year honors
from both the American Football Coaches Association and Schutt Sports/
American Football Monthly magazine. London was also honored as the Black
Coaches Association Male Coach of the Year in 2008, beating out Mike Tomlin
of the Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers for the award. In addition to
the national honors, London was tabbed the State Coach of the Year from both
VaSID and the Peninsula Sports Club.
Under London’s watch, 16 Spiders were named to the All-CAA Football Team in
2009 after placing 12 in 2008. His first year at UR, nine Spiders garnered
15 All-America awards and six were recognized on the Academic All-Conference
Team. DE Lawrence Sidbury was a fourth-round NFL draft pick by the Atlanta
Falcons, while RB Josh Vaughan was a free-agent signee by the Tampa Bay
Buccaneers.
Before returning to coach his alma mater, London spent six of seven seasons
coaching for Al Groh at Virginia. In 2001 London joined the UVa staff for
the first time as the defensive line coach. He took over the responsibilities as recruiting coordinator in 2002. In 2005 London left UVa to work as the defensive line coach for the NFL¹s Houston Texas. He returned to Virginia in 2006 as the defensive coordinator and defensive line coach.
During his tenure with the Cavaliers, he saw five defensive players (Chris
Long, Marcus Hamilton, Chris Canty, Andrew Hoffman and Monsanto Pope)
drafted by NFL teams. Long was the ACC Defensive Player of the Year in 2007,
earned unanimous All-America honors, was the Ted Hendricks Award winner as
the nation¹s top defensive end and the second overall selection in the 2008
NFL Draft.
A native of Hampton, Va., London played defensive back at Richmond from
1979-82. Under head coach Dal Shealy, he led the Spiders with six
interceptions as a senior captain in 1982. In addition to earning all-state
honors, he was chosen the team’s MVP and received the Spiders’ Coaches
Award. In 1982, the Virginia Peninsula Sports Club selected him as the male
in-state Athlete of the Year.
London graduated from Richmond in 1983 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology
and a year later received a degree in law enforcement from the Richmond
Police Academy, serving as a detective for the street crimes unit from
November of 1984 to July of 1989. The Dallas Cowboys signed him as a free
agent in 1983.
London broke into the collegiate coaching ranks in 1989, spending two
seasons with Richmond as the outside linebackers coach and admissions
liaison, followed by four seasons (1991-94) as the defensive line coach at
William & Mary.
He returned to Richmond for two more years (1995-96) as the outside
linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator, coaching All-America LB Shawn
Barber, who was a fourth-round draft pick by the Washington Redskins in 1998
and played 10 years in the NFL. London served as defensive line coach at
Boston College for the 1997-2000 seasons, where he helped lead the Eagles to
two bowl appearances.
London and his wife Regina have seven children, Michael, Jr., Brandon,
Kristen, Ticynn, Korben, Jaicyn and Madicyn. The 49-year-old London was born
in West Point, N.Y. in 1960.
His son, Brandon, led Massachusetts in receiving in 2006 and finished his
career as the school¹s second leading receiver. He was signed to the Miami
Dolphins active roster in 2008 after spending the 2007 season on the Super
Bowl Champion N.Y. Giants practice squad. One of London’s daughters,
Kristen, played on the UVa women’s basketball team during the 2007-08 and
2008-09 seasons. His younger brother, Paul, was a defensive back at UVa from
1991-95.
The parties have agreed to a contract that will pay London $1.7 million
annually for five years.
London’s financial agreement is the responsibility of the Department of
Athletics. The department is a stand-alone auxiliary that relies on a number
of different revenue streams, including ticket and merchandise sales,
student fees, ACC television revenues, and philanthropic gifts to support
its day-to-day operations. The department does not receive any state
funding.
$ 1.7 million a year? I still think that U.Va. overpays relative to market value. Unless of course, Akron is much more generous in its compensation than I would think.
I thought the same thing, Brian. Watching the ACC championship game the other night, I remarked to the missus how I liked what Clemson had done with its hiring of Dabo Swinney, basically getting him in at around $800,000 a year, and putting an escalator clause in that would bump his pay up to what the top tier of coaches in the ACC are making should he get Clemson into that top tier.
We just went ahead and started London at that level assuming – OK, I don’t know what we’re assuming here, honestly. Knute Rockne would have a hard time winning with next year’s team, and 2011 isn’t going to be any better given the lack of talent in the pipeline, which means we’re paying ACC championship game-level money to a guy who is going to enter year three with a winning percentage somewhere between .300 and .400, and isn’t likely to do much better in year three than 6-6 or 7-5.
This is a sad day for the part of me that is a UVa. sports fan. The memories of 5-0 and 6-0 and 7-0 starts back in the ’90s that would get us dreaming of an outside shot of being in the national-title race are fading fast. It hit me today that if my instincts on this hire are right, and we’re going to be writing about the next guy in line in four or five years, it’s going to be 2017, 2018 or 2019 before that guy could get us back to respectability.
At least I can put to good use all of this now otherwise useless knowledge of the minutiae of the glory days of UVa. football to use as a journalist.
(I could write a book, but after the debacle that was Mad About U, I’ll take a pass.)