Solid idea for a rowdy student section!!!
1 Like
Oops! Meant Chandler ā¦ now corrected.
2 Likes
Cam Aiken.
1 Like
Yup definitely said Des runs great offense. I mean you can see it right there in the nowhere of my post.
Just for fun though, lets look at Chadās offenses since 2018:
2018 Arkansas HC 21.7 (114th)
2019 Arkansas HC 21.4 (110th)
2020 Auburn OC 25.1 (90th)
2026 Clemson OC 22.3 (106th)
This isnāt advocating for Des, itās pointing out that it would be a massive waste of money and time for us to actually follow through with firing him only to choose an even worse case of nepotism as his replacement when thereās dozens of better options.
3 Likes
i hope for some movement this offseason? Anything on 247 hinting at it??
The problem is bigger than coordinators. Weāve squandered our good season with throwing mediocrity back out, and now weāre going to need to overpay even more for talent.
Any small enthusiasm bump we got from last season has evaporated, and weāre never going to get any decent players excited to play for us again under Elliott. Thereās just too much to point at and say heās mediocre.
Weāre Virginia, so we have to suffer at least one more year because weāre unserious, but no serious watcher of the broader sport can watch this team and say weāre coached at anything resembling an above average level. The only team we have left on our schedule where we might have an advantage on the sidelines is Cal which is turning into a bit of a disaster year one, but heās already brought in more talent than Elliott has in his entire tenure.
Des is awful, but firing him isnāt going to fix this. Weāre in a bad situation, and the best thing is a clean break entirely. We should have done it 2 years ago, but again weāre unserious.
7 Likes
Iām not out on Tony until he decides to keep Des around again. Heās improved every year, gathered resources, and at least has the right scheme to win at the college level. I think uva realizes football needs to be near the top in order to thrive in other sports and be a national brand. We shall see tho!!!
4 Likes
There are a million coaches that can run this scheme, and thereās a million schemes that can work in college. Thats a pretty flimsy reason to hold onto a guy. What does Elliott do at anything resembling a high level?
We line up with a preparedness, playcalling, and talent disadvantage in nearly every game.
3 Likes
Also, why are we consistently the most injured team in CFB???
5 Likes
Iād at least give him another year with everything heās done/gone through. Des? Get rid of him. Most of our issues happen on the offensive side of the ball anyways. We can be disappointed in HS recruits for sure given the resources weāve been given.
2 Likes
I think a big part of it is if these guys werenāt at least mildly damaged goods they wouldnāt be playing at Virginia for Tony Elliott. Most of our bigger transfers have had some injury history,
Elliott was an offensive coordinator! Thats his side of the ball! What makes us think he could fix it with a new coordinator? Heās the one thatās been okay with this garbage for 5 years!
4 Likes
Fair points! He also had elite talent at Clemson vs what he has currently. I think a Des replacement will do wonders!!
My bleak pictureā¦
- What OC will want to hitch their wagon to Tony if heās back on the hot (or at least mildly warm) seat.
- The playcalling is bad, but the general scheme is root cause. The scheme is Tonyās desired scheme. Do we trust Tony to hire someone outside of his offensive preferences?
- To the above - I think Tony has his thumbprint on some of the playcalling as well.
With the offense pretty much entirely turning over next season, would be as good a time as any to change the scheme and the OC. Or just rip the band aid on the coach entirely.
2 Likes
Very good point on #1. If Elliot finishes 5-7 and fires Des, that reads to potential hires as āheās getting fired next year, Iām not moving my wife and kids for nine monthsā
That said I think we probably have different expectations than the AD does. I think he could go 6-6 this year and next and keep his job probably
5 Likes
I recognize the reality that there will be a smaller candidate pool for the OC job if Tony is on the hot seat, but eventually you have to realize there are only 68 of these jobs available in total and the amount of open jobs at any given time is less than that. Someone is going to be hungry enough to take the job.
And pretty much anyone is an improvement over Des.
And, of course, this entire discussion could be pointless.
3 Likes
Our strength of schedule is ranked 74th. Last year it was 76th. Our current SOR is 70th.
This year is really an abject failure with that schedule and the oldest roster in FBS. The schedule goes back to being tougher next year with another complete roster turnover.
Praying for a mega donor to take us out of the spin cycle!
2 Likes
I actually disagree with point #2. I donāt think thereās anything inherently wrong with the scheme, itās been our inability to match our personnel to fit the scheme weāre running. You either match the personnel with the scheme or adjust the scheme to fit the personnel accordingly, weāve only been able to accomplish one of those options a single time during Tonyās tenure.
Trying to make Armstrong, Colandrea and Pribula all work in a more traditional drop back pro-style offense is a mishandling of their skill sets. Itās especially frustrating when you saw how our offense could/should look in the first game of the season. The main issue with our offensive approach is how damn stubborn our coaching staff is, trying to fit square pegs into round holes and expecting different results.
6 Likes
I feel like a lot of things are all true at once, and thereās no easy way out.
College football is more competitive than ever. Weāre at an interesting cross section of money, talent, coaching and expectations that makes building a program nearly impossible. Itās becoming like modern baseball, you either hit a homerun with a coach or you strike out, thereās no room for something in the middle.
The college landscape is littered with programs, who have gone for a big hire and it hasnāt worked out by the fans standards, or theyāve been incapable of sustaining the success even after a hot start. UNC despite picking up a few recent wins has been a disaster under Belichick, Colorado is a complete failure under Prime, it may be too early to sh%t on PSU but things donāt look good, Cal is in a world of hurt and squandering the best QB to come to Berkley. Badger nation cannot be thrilled with their current situation, Stanford reworked their entire structure and havenāt seen much ROI. Those are just the names that popped in my head as I riff.
Iām not saying any of this to suggest that CTE is working out. Just things are hard out there.
Itās becoming apparent CTEās biggest flaw is his rigidity and inability to change course when things are not working. @UVApride7 heās routinely trying to fit a square peg into a round hole with the QB/scheme situation. Heās held on to Des for far too long and now has backed himself into a corner. Itās a tough spot, that sticking to his guns is what allowed CTE to move up the coaching ranks, but itās also holding his career back.
3 Likes