The questions that should be asked of Carla Williams at the Tony Elliott presser

A fun part of hiring a new football coach is the introductory press conference. Given how the past week has gone at Virginia, I’m hoping AD Carla Williams does more than give a prepared statement.

She should want to answer questions about the search, and I hope reporters have enough cojones to ask some tough ones.

If nothing else, I hope I have enough voice to be able to ask one.

I’m still recovering from a complicated wisdom-tooth extraction that has my face and neck looking like a cartoon thought bubble, and I can barely open my mouth to be able to eat pudding and drink smoothies.

Maybe I can text them to her.

I’m sure that would fly.

Anyway.

Some of the questions that need to be asked:

• When did Bronco Mendenhall first indicate to you that he might be thinking of stepping down? The Sunday after the Tech loss, the Thursday that he stepped down, earlier?
• Did you have a short list of potential replacements in hand ahead of that in the event that Mendenhall might step down?
• Who was your top target here? Was it Elliott, Poindexter, somebody else?
• Was any of what was reported about the meetings with Poindexter regarding the job true?
• Was there pressure from big-time donors that influenced the process in any way?
• Did retention of assistants from the Mendenhall staff play a role in the discussions?
• Did Mendenhall play any kind of role in the search and evaluation process?

I’m throwing this out there hoping my colleagues can help me out here. The oral surgeon tells me I’m a chew or decent yawn away from having a broken jaw for the next three weeks.

I don’t care that I get to be the one asking the questions, as long as they’re asked.

Thanks!

Story by Chris Graham