Virginia Football fans were getting impatient with new coach Tony Elliott, but Elliott had a plan.
“It was a longer process than maybe people wanted, but I wanted to make sure I had the right people on the bus, and in the right seats on the bus,” Elliott told reporters this week.
The impatience had to do with the startling number of players in the transfer portal, the eventual loss of four starters from the 2021 offensive line, the feeling that Elliott was maybe digging himself a hole even before his first spring practice.
Eight weeks in now, Elliott has a full staff, the makings of what may actually be an improved offensive line, and his staff has been out on the road building relationships with high school coaches across the Commonwealth that had been neglected under former coach Bronco Mendenhall.
“To be honest, every school we went to was excited to see us,” Elliott said. “I brought in reinforcements. I was smart, so when we went down to the Beach, I made sure Marques (Hagans) and (Chris) Slade walked in here first. They were the celebrities, and I was just a tag-along.
“I think that helped, especially in the Tidewater area,” Elliott said. “Much better than I anticipated, because I thought there would be a little bit of tension, and that I would have to mend some relationships. I was prepared to stand there and take it.”
Elliott comes from the offensive side of the ball, after seven years as the offensive coordinator and play-caller at Clemson.
He hired former NC State offensive coordinator and Atlanta Falcons running backs coach Desmond Kitchings to fill the OC role on his new staff. Elliott seems to intend to be a CEO-type coach, with his hands in every facet of the operation, so the offense, by and large, will be Kitchings’ to run.
“It’s unique for me, because for the last 11 years, I’ve been part of those meetings, and now I’m turning it over to Des,” Elliott said. “Des and I have spent enough time in the offseason to collaborate enough to be on the same page. Des will run those meetings that have already started. It has been fun to watch those guys interact. There have been lots of questions, a lot of exchange of techniques and different ways of doing things, so I’m excited.
“I’m anxious to see what it will look like, because I came from a tempo offense that morphed into Clemson’s offense over the past five or six years. Then you have Des coming from the NFL, running that system and his association with Matt Canada. Taylor Lamb coming from South Carolina, and then (Garett) Tujague, with his experience, and Marques and Keith (Gaither)’s experience from the service academy.
“It’s going to be an offense that I don’t know if you can put a label on it right now,” Elliott said. “It will be the Virginia offense based on the personnel we have right now. There will be some base concepts, base core runs, play-action passes, your deep shots. As personnel develops you’ll be able to do some of the unique thngs to our system.”
Because Elliott comes from the offensive side of the ball, he wanted in his defensive coordinator a guy who could take that side and make it his own.
Enter former Air Force defensive coordinator John Rudzinski, whose 2021 defense ranked fourth in the nation in total defense, allowing just 296.5 yards per game.
Rudzinski is a 14-year college coaching veteran, and ready to take the reins at the Power 5 level.
“For me, it was more finding a guy who understood how to coach a certain type of individual, who could recruit a certain kind of individual, considering the academic requirements that are part of our program,” Elliott said.
Rudzinski’s Air Force defenses played a base 3-4, but Elliott isn’t tied to going 3-4 exclusively.
“Not so much tied to the 3-4 scheme, because I believe in being multiple. When you break it down, he was probably 50 percent four-down (at Air Force),” Elliott said. “Nowadays you have to be multiple. You cannot sit still and just line up. I know as an offensive guy, if you just lined up in one particular front all day long, it made it easier for me to be able to put together a plan. Wanted a guy who was passionate about young people first and foremost.
“Very high football IQ. I understand defense, but I’ve never coached on that side of the ball, so I needed someone with experience that could manage that side of the room as over the years I understand,” Elliott said.
“He comes highly recommended,” Elliott said. “I’m grateful he had an interest in coming to the University of Virginia. I had the opportunity to meet with him out in San Antonio, then bring him back on campus. He is able to dissect defense from week to week. Over time, we’ll be able to recruit to his style.”
One thing that will help the new group build a new foundation for Virginia Football is that there is already a good degree of familiarity between Elliott and the guys on his staff.
Elliott and Kitchings, for one, worked together for about a week at Furman.
“He was coming to be the offensive coordinator and I was receivers coach, and we both got opportunities to transition on. I went to Clemson, he went to Air Force. For years, we’ve been trying to link back up. Again, honored he would leave the NFL and be part of what we’re trying to build here,” Elliott said.
“Keith Gaither (special teams/running backs) and Kevin Downing (defensive tackles) started in the HBCU ranks like me. I was at South Carolina State, and they were at Winston-Salem,” Elliott said. “All of us transitioned from the MEAC to the Southern Conference. Once I went to Clemson, they went on their own, and they didn’t realize that I was interviewing them over my career, so I was excited for those guys. It was a match made in heaven that they’re coming from Army and Navy. Their backgrounds in recruiting academic and high character young men. They understand the importance of that.”
Elliott retained three members of Mendenhall’s staff – Hagans (wide receivers), Tujague (offensive line) and Clint Sintim (linebackers).
“I’m excited about the three guys that decided to stay on,” Elliott said. “If there was anybody that everybody said you had to keep, it was Marques Hagans. I’m seeing that now, being around him, he has an unbeliebable presence. Very humble. Relates very well to the players and knows the University of Virginia, so I’m excited about him staying. I knew of him, but didn’t know him personally.”
Tujague, Elliott said, is “tenacious.”
“He dreams big like I do. When you dream big, there’s going to be times when you’re disappointed, but that doesn’t break his confidence,” Elliott said. “The players loved him. I gave the players an opportunity on who they wanted to stay, and they had great things to say about him.”
Sintim, according to Elliott, “is a quiet guy, but a very deliberate guy.”
“Obviously a great player here. From the state of Virginia. Didn’t know him, but the more time I spend around him, I’m excited about where his future is going to go,” Elliott said.
Elliott knew Chris Slade (defensive line) from the recruiting trail.
“Chris, recruiting his school over time, developed a relationship,” Elliott said. “I said, look, I chased two big linemen that went to your school, I can’t go 0-for-3 on you, so you’re destined to be the one that I actually get out of Pace Academy.
“That relationship has been developing over the past five or six years. Also, just the way he talks about Virginia, I knew it was an opportunity. He’s always wanted to come back home, but he also made it clear that he wanted to come back in the right situation. He believes in me, so this is the right time for him to come back,” Elliott said.
Curome Cox (defensive backs) worked with Rudzinski at Air Force.
“Cox and John I met through this process,” Elliott said. “Some commonality between John and I with our time at Air Force, his more extensive than mine. There was a connection there. And then Cox came from his area, played in the NFL. John said if there was one guy he could bring with him, that was his guy. I felt like that I owed it to John to at least consider him (Cox). When he came for an interview, it was confirmed that I was convinced it was the thing to hire him.”
And then Taylor Lamb (quarterbacks): “I’ve known Taylor since he was a youngster, working for his dad,” Elliott said. “He got here on his own. Outstanding player at App State. He has taken the traditional route, not trying to leverage his family with football connections. He has an unbelievable amount of confidence, a lot of knowledge, and I felt he would be a good fit with his personality.”
Story by Chris Graham
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