Elliott on ACC expansion news: Above my pay grade
The sports media is focused on the misdirection from the ACC corporate office down in Charlotte making it seem like conference leaders are trying to keep the league together by bringing in Stanford and Cal.
A reporter asked UVA football coach Tony Elliott his thoughts on this news after practice on Monday.
Elliott’s response: “I haven’t given that an inkling of thought, to be honest with you.”
Because, yeah, not his job, right?
“I’m focusing on, I know who we’re playing right out the gate,” said Elliott, whose Cavaliers open with preseason #10 Tennessee down in Nashville on Sept. 2.
“I know, we played another team in the Big 10 already, and we’ve got a heck of an ACC schedule, so I’m really not worried about that,” Elliott said. “I’ve got complete confidence in Dr. Williams and President Ryan to navigate that. That would be a distraction for us to talk about, for me to think about and even mention with my coaches, because all we can control is what we got in front of us.”
I’m not sure why Elliott needed to be asked to weigh in.
Neither was he.
“It’s that time of year, you know,” the coach said. “Was it in the spring, it was The Magnificent Seven, and, you know, all of that kind of stuff. I just, I don’t have time to really worry about that, to be honest.”
The 36-year-old kicker
Virginia enters training camp with an established #1 at placekicker in Will Bettridge, but the story of camp might be the guy who Elliott hopes gives Bettridge a run for his money.
“I tell you, Matt Ganyard that came out, the 36-year-old, I tell you what, he’s got some pop in the leg,” Elliott said Monday.
Ganyard is a (checks notes) 2011 UVA alum who is back on Grounds in the second year of the MBA program at Darden.
According to his bio page on the UVA football website, Ganyard joined the team as a walk-on after serving in the U.S. Marine Corps as a Cobra attack helicopter pilot.
Ganyard, according to Elliott, “is raw,” which you’d expect from a guy who is giving college football a go at the ripe young age of 36.
“I would like to be able to see if Matt can push (Bettridge) to maybe take a little bit off of his plate,” Elliott said.
QB depth chart update
Offensive coordinator Des Kitchings told reporters after practice on Friday that Tony Muskett is getting the reps at first-team QB, with true freshman Anthony Colandrea the second-team QB, and Grady Brosterhous and Delaney Crawford splitting the reps at three.
Kitchings said he wants to switch things up in Week 2 to give Colandrea the chance to work with the first team, “you know, getting everybody familiar with each other.”
“Because again, football is a physical game, and next man up, anything can happen,” Kitchings said.
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Chris Graham
