Stroooong disagree. It obviously depends on how the season finishes. Donāt bid against yourself. If someone comes knocking, you can talk, but you donāt have to do anything. Heāll still be below .500 as a HC, and I donāt think anyone will be beating down the door to hire him. You can do one of the ones where he gets a nice raise and more years but the buyout stays where it is with maybe some restructuring of how its paid/how long its active for (Fickell did a version of this without the raise last year), but I donāt want to see a dime added to that buyout short of a ACCCG appearance or playoff berth. Pop-tart bowl isnāt enough to potentially lock yourself in forever.
I acknowledge he will probably get something this year just because CFB agents are undefeated against ADs and there are going to be a ton of open jobs, but if we get swindled into some 8 figure buyout off this it will be a mistake.
Did you see the revolt aTm almost had about hiring Mark Stoops? A coach with a much better track record and body of work but with similarly uninspiring raw win numbers? Iād love to see an SEC team try to sell Elliott who would still be sitting under .500 to their fanbase.
I mean we both agree that Elliott is gonna get something after this year barring a total collapse. The question is whether the administration goes all in on this staff to prevent any future poaching. I personally believe that is worth it because of what Elliott represents. A young, charismatic, incredibly high character coach who wants to build something at UVA for the long-term. Those do NOT grow on trees and should be valued greatly.
I understand for many of the Elliott haters/doubters they need to see more on the field and I think thatās fair. But I will continue to say this. The product you have seen on the field is not something that an incompetent staff can produce. We are very sound schematically on both sides of the ball (yes defense too), excel in situational football and exhibit a toughness/scrappiness and will to win that is indicative of a truly inspired organization. Itās not just 5-1, itās accomplishing 5-1 looking the way that we do. Some of yāall need more games to see that, and thatās ok. But thatās why I believe the admin should be overly cautious and do everything in their power to make sure the staff is here for the long-run bc they can seriously do special things here.
Am I the crazy one? Rah rah the team is 5-1 and ranked in the Top 20. This is after they bought him a team that he could recruit not without a checkbook. Also has he developed a single all acc player not named Kam?
Iām also in the camp that questions whether this season is repeatable with a tougher schedule, new QB, etc. but give credit where itās due. Or at least recognize thereās a time and place.
But realizing now you were probably more responding to the extension convo. Agree, that Iād still take a tempered approach to whatever an extension may look like (assuming we get to 8 wins).
As far as an extension goes, I get your stance. As far as how I feel about the trajectory of TEās tenure, Iām not with you. I see no reason to rush on the extension but there is so much to be hopeful about all of a sudden.
Sure TE had money to work with this offseason but he still had to fill a ton of holes and he and his staff made some really strong evals. He then had to sell those kids on a vision, one that is coming to fruition. Excited to see what he can do to build off this year assuming things continue to go well.
And lastly, I think the biggest difference this year than prior years is almost less about talent and more so just having a really strong OL for once. If thatās sustainable then we are in good shape as a program.
Oh and to answer your question, Kam is one but also Boley and Josey are playing at an all ACC level. Britton is too imo.
Yeah itās not replicable enough to bet on it happening over and over again. Iām over the moon with this season, but it was a bought team with a bunch of short term guys and a historically easy schedule. Gotta replace a ton of guys with theoretically the same amount of money as everyone else next year. Short of some bonus post season appearances (ACCCG, playoff), I donāt think itāll carry much weight in recruitment past a year.
As fun as this season is, the worst thing we could do is stick ourselves with a situation we canāt get out of off of a season built on totally unreplicable circumstances.
Also go check JFās eligibility chart on 247. Lots more players have an extra year than you wouldāve thought. We could have a really good returning OL along with guys like X, Trell, and a few other really good pieces. Not nearly as bad of a situation as I previously thought and way better than last offseason
I mean the unfortunate fact is that weāre having an awesome season but by most good metrics still in the high 30s-mid 40s nationally. Weāre ranked mostly because of schedule, I think itās okay to be honest about that and still enjoy it.
We donāt need to extend someone based off of what would probably be a 6-6 or 7-5 season most years.
I will still be advocating for our playoff berth at 11-2, but I can also admit weāre mostly a product of the ACCās demise and bizarre scheduling.
Youāre making it sound like weāre only good because of our schedule which I donāt buy. Sure itās helping in the context of a potentially historic season but 6-6 in a normal year? Cmon my guy thatās selling this team way short. We play in the ACC haha. Not that many gauntlet schedules anymore.
My stance on TEās future here is that Iām a lot more bullish than I was previously. I actually wanted him fired but am really glad he appears to have turned it around.
Personally I think what heās building CAN absolutely be sustainable. I think recruiting the portal will only be easier after this year. Look at how many of his transfers are having career years or a resurgence. HS recruiting needs to improve but that should get easier too. Winning helps!
No reason he canāt churn out 7-8 win seasons on a pretty regular basis with the potential for occasional magic like this year.
We will end this season with a bottom 3 strength of schedule in the power 4 if not literally the easiest. Thatās worth at least 2 wins if not more imo. Weāll see where they end up
I predicted in the preseason when weād have a good year that the Elliott haters wouldnāt buy it due to their cognitive dissonance. A lot of folks talked a LOT of shit over the past 3 years and itās hard to admit that they were just flat wrong, so theyāll try to frame it in a way where they are still actually right.
Hereās the reality. The staff has done an exceptional job with this bunch. If you have watched the product on the field the first half of the year and donāt see that, you are either dealing with cognitive dissonance or you donāt understand football past a very superficial level. Stacking talent on a roster is in no way a guarantee of success. Jesus, how many teams with talent do we see each year that fail. VTās roster last year was more talented than this years UVA team. Look at how many guys got drafted off their team. And make no mistake, for as much talent weāve added, this is talented FOR UVA. I cannot stress that enough. Weāre so used to being shit then when folks see a roster that isnāt among the worst in P4, we all of sudden act like weāre Alabama. Nah, weāre playing well above our talent level rn.
Lol the gall to sit here and suggest that an 11-1 season with a ACCCG or playoff appearance is just luck and that āit wonāt carry much weight in recruitment past a yearā. You were wrong about this staff dude. Just admit it. Unreplicable circumstances? Weāll see. Folks will shell out money for this staff, mark my words.
I was pretty early about saying this scenario was setting up for a mirage based on unreplicable circumstances. I have loved what Iāve seen this year, but it will be a very hard rabbit to pull back out of the hat roster wise next year.
No one either direction has to admit shit yet, this is just the first time Elliott defenders have anything other than excuses on their side and youāre all losing your minds with excitement.
ITS NOT ABOUT DONORS ANYMORE THERE IS SUPPOSED TO BE A CAP
Iād feel much better about it if there wasnāt honestly.
Ok, letās try and frame it in a way so that the Elliott haters canāt measle their way around facts. I donāt put too much stock in recruiting rankings (or really any), but yāall clearly do so letās use that.
Look at the 247 team talent composite for 2025. This is supposed to be a holistic measure for how talented the rosters are across the country. Where is UVA ranked? 62. How many teams on our schedule are ranked above us?
7
Seven. According to the 247 team talent composite there are SEVEN teams on our schedule that have more talented rosters than us for this year. FSU, Lousiville, UNC, VT, Duke, Stanford, and Cal. According to pure ātalentā rankings, we should go 5-7 with this schedule. Vegas had the over/under at 5.5 for most of the offseason as well, so it lines up there.
How are you gonna argue agains these ācold, hard facts?ā. Just to be clear, I donāt put really any stock in recruiting rankings. Iāve played and coached the game, so I know how deeply flawed they are. Iām just trying to show you that even by your flawed viewpoint, thereās no way you can argue this staff hasnāt done a great job.
I too am very happy with how the season has gone, and also think this can be fairly sustainable, maybe not double digit wins every year but 7-9 is possible which is all weāve been asking for as a fanbase for the past 20 years. Elliott and staff have proven themselves to be solid evaluators of talent in the portal, and if his plan is to have his rosters be 60-40 or 50-50 between homegrown talent and portal additions as he said a couple days ago I think that sets him up better for success than his original plan of trying to build more through grassroots recruiting. I appreciate that a lot of the glimpses we saw from Tony trying to build this program through the first three years have actually come to fruition now, I had doubts about whether or not that would ever happen due to a myriad of different circumstances both in and out of his control but you can see what heās had in mind for us. The easy schedule has helped a bit this year (though not really in the first half of the season), I get that, and maybe there will be years in the future where we donāt hit on as many portal gets. But thatās just the risk we and pretty much every other program has to take in this day and age, and again Iād say weāre pretty well set up now for that model now. A good number of ACC teams are looking at pretty major rebuilds over the next couple of years too, gonna be a complete reset within the conference and Iād say weāre ahead of the pack now in quite a few areas which we really couldnāt say just a few years ago.
With that being said can we not do the āyou donāt understand footballā condescending bullshit either lol. I see that pop up on the 247 board from time to time in response to any negativity towards our program and itās just as obnoxious there.
