London Takes Helm, Names Four Assistants

Last Monday afternoon, Mike London was introduced as Virginia's new head football coach. He is the 39th coach in program history.

London, who spent the two previous seasons at the University of Richmond, worked at Virginia for two previous stints, most recently as the defensive coordinator. At UR, London led the Spiders to a 24-5 record and the Football Championship Series National Championship in 2008.

Shortly after taking the top spot in the program, London announced the addition of four assistant coaches to his staff. He retained current assistant coach Anthony Poindexter from the previous staff. London also added Vincent Brown, Jeff Hanson and Mike Faragalli, who all coached with him at Richmond. London will also make an announcement regarding Bob Price's status with the UVa football program following further evaluation. Price and Poindexter had overseen the administrative duties for the football program during the period of the coaching search.

Additional coaching news has been scarce, though the rumor mill continues to swirl with potential coordinator candidates. The most popular names out there currently are Jim Reid and Bill Musgrave, both of which have validity as potential candidates according to our sources. Reid, a linebacker coach for the Miami Dolphins that worked as the head coach of Richmond and VMI previously, would be up for the defensive coordinator role while Musgrave, current quarterbacks coach for the Atlanta Falcons and former UVa assistant, would be in line for the offensive coordinator slot. One other name that has popped up regularly in the rumor mill is Chris Beatty, an assistant coach at West Virginia. Sabre sources over the weekend indicated that Beatty likely would not be joining the UVa staff despite some indications earlier in the week that he would be on his way to Charlottesville.

London will announce additional assistant coaches and specific position assignments at a future date.

This Week In Recruiting
By Chris Horne

"I think that we have to recapture the state of Virginia, make ourselves accessible to the coaches of Virginia, the high school coaches, particularly. Go into those schools and then go into the communities also. I think that's critical," Mike London said during last Monday's press conference that introduced him as UVa's newest head football coach.

It certainly appears as though London plans to emphasize in-state recruiting in his tenure. A graduate of Bethel High School in Hampton, he has roots and connections in the Tidewater area and also throughout the state. This week, I'll catch up with a number of high school coaches from around the Commonwealth for reaction and comments to the hire. The coaches discuss what the previous perceptions were and what the perception is going forward. So far, the reaction has been positive.

How successful he'll be remains to be seen, but my feeling is that London will certainly have an opportunity to get things going on the in-state level.

We'll also check in with current commits for reaction on London's hiring.

Prior to being introduced as the new Cavaliers coach, Mike London met with 6-3, 215-pound quarterback Michael Strauss. Strauss, who was concluding an unofficial visit, would verbally commit to London late last Monday night, becoming London's first commitment as head coach and the 11th high school senior to commit to the Cavaliers.

Strauss was a 2-year starter at Gulliver Prep (Miami, FL), which is coached by former Virginia linebacker Earl Sims.

London was also scheduled to meet with massive offensive tackle Morgan Moses last week. We'll check in with Fork Union postgraduate head coach John Shuman for the latest on the 6-7, 340-pound prospect, who signed with Virginia in February of 2009 but enrolled at FUMA when he did not qualify.

Seeking a qualifying standardized test score, Moses took the ACT last weekend. He has taken an official visit to South Carolina and reportedly may be on an official visit at LSU today. Florida is also heavily in the mix, Shuman reported last week.

Virginia 2010 commits continue to enjoy outstanding success this season. West Rowan (Mount Ulla, N.C.), led by running back Kevin Parks Jr., captured the Class 3-A State Championship for the second consecutive season. Parks had four touchdowns in the win. He'll now participate in the NC/SC Shrine Bowl, which takes place this Saturday.

Belen Jesuit (Miami, FL), led by UVa defensive back recruit Pablo Alvarez, won a Class 3A state semifinal match-up and will face Pensacola for the state crown this weekend.

Previously, linebacker/H-back Ryan Cobb (Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, N.J.) and wide receiver E.J. Scott (Good Counsel in Olney, MD) went out as champions. Don Bosco captured a state crown, while Good Counsel won the WCAC title.

Chris Horne, our resident recruiting expert, provides updates throughout the week for Edge subscribers about UVa's commitments and recruiting targets in football and men's basketball. To sign up for an Edge subscription, please check out the Sabre Edge Sign Up and Information Page. If you're already on board as an Edge subscriber, click the links below to catch up on recruiting.

Sabre Edge recruiting updates from the past week ...

FUMA Notes: Shuman Talks London, Moses
In the midst of a big push from SEC programs for top offensive tackle Morgan Moses, the University of Virginia is making its case to the 6-7, 340-pound offensive tackle and hoping to hold on to its top recruit from the 2009 class. Fork Union Military Academy postgraduate head coach John Shuman updated the latest on Moses, who enrolled at FUMA after failing to qualify academically out of high school.

London Sealed the Deal For Strauss
Michael Strauss enjoyed a unique situation on Monday, getting to meet Mike London just prior to London's introduction as University of Virginia head coach. The 6-3, 215-pound Gulliver Prep (Miami, FL) senior quarterback was concluding an unofficial visit that began on Saturday, and meeting with Virginia's new coach sealed his decision to commit to the Cavaliers.

More recent recruiting updates on The Sabre ...

• Romero, Taylor Top Phoebus' 2011 Class
• Cobb Never Wavered on Commitment
• DeMatha Notes: Latimer Excited About London
• Miami QB Commits, Looks to Enroll Early

UVA Bookstores, a long-time Sabre sponsor and Cavalier gear partner, is treating you to a special holiday gift! Through Dec. 15, receive FREE ground shipping on your order! That's right, no matter what you buy, there's free ground shipping to your door with the code 'wahoowa' - so make sure to do some holiday shopping for the Hoo in your life at UVA Bookstores!

Fan of the Week

Every week, theSabre.com features a Fan of the Week photo on the front page of the Web site. (Archives are available in the Wahoowa! section.) So you want to be the fan of the week? It's easy - be the loudest Hoo at a live UVa event, wear some crazy Cavalier gear, or do something else to catch our attention. If Mike or Kris spot you and take your picture, you'll be in the running for Fan of the Week honors!

Blog Banter - What Went Wrong: Penn State and Auburn

By Cvillehoops13

Two games against major conference opponents, two promising halftime leads, two exciting late runs only to yield two disappointing losses. The previous two games for the Cavaliers presented an excellent opportunity to build on the momentum they gained with a brilliant second-half offensive performance in Cancun against Cleveland State. Cleveland State did prove to be a sign of things to come, just not in the Win-Loss column. Lost in Will Sherrill’s offensive explosion against the Vikings was a disappointing defensive performance that saw CSU shoot over 65% from the floor in the first half.

In the first game of the Cancun Challenge the Cavaliers went up against a Stanford team that had faced Tony Bennett and the Pack-Line defense the year before. Stanford rolled out an offensive strategy tweaked to attack the Cavalier’s defense, but UVa responded with one of their best defensive performances of the season and almost pulled out the victory. The Stanford game was important though, because in watching the game-tape it was apparent that Virginia’s post players were severely sagging off of screens, a weakness that Stanford didn’t effectively attack. Cleveland State saw this hole in the Virginia defense  in  what was an otherwise strong performance and came out with a strategy to attack Virginia’s fundamentals and communication on ball-screens within the Pack-Line defense, Virginia had no answer for it and this strategy carried over to both the Penn State and Auburn games. Kris Wright detailed the ball-screen theme in his Monday Musings column following the Auburn game.

Virginia is in the top half of the ACC in offensive efficiency (points per possession) while they are only ahead of Boston College in defensive efficiency rankings, so I’ll be taking a look at the failures on that end of the court.

Read the full blog post, including supporting images, here.

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Around the World of Wahoo Sports ...

• Pomper Honored With IMLCA Boston Market Humanitarian Award: Virginia senior men's lacrosse player Max Pomper received the second annual IMLCA Boston Market Humanitarian Award during the IMLCA Nike Awards luncheon. The award was created to recognize student-athletes for their strategies and efforts in addressing community needs with campus-based efforts. Pomper will be honored with the award for his work raising funds for the University of Virginia's HELP hotline.
• Michael Colley Honored with Doyle Smith Award by USILA: The United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) will bestow its annual Doyle Smith Sports Information/Media Award on former Virginia assistant media relations director Michael Colley on Friday at the USILA Convention at the Marriot Baltimore Waterfront Hotel. Colley served in the UVa media relations department for 18 years, where one of his main responsibilities was publicity of Cavalier men's lacrosse, before suddenly passing away in July at the age of 46. The USILA's sports information/media award is named for Virginia sports information administrator Doyle Smith, who worked with UVa's men's lacrosse program prior to Colley and served as the information director of the USILA from 1973-95. The USILA named the award in honor of Smith's outstanding service to the sport. The recipient of the award is selected based on the individual's contributions to the promotion and coverage of the sport.
• Perdue, Robison Tabbed ACC Performers of the Week: Freshman swimmer Lauren Perdue has been tabbed the Atlantic Coast Conference women's performer of the week, while junior Scot Robison was named co-performer of the week with Duke freshman diver Nick McCrory.
• No. 19 Virginia Defeats Furman, 74-43: No. 19 Virginia defeated Furman, 74-43, in women's basketball action on Tuesday night. Monica Wright led the Cavaliers with 30 points, nine steals, eight rebounds and seven assists. With the win, Virginia improved to 7-2 on the season.
• Greer Named Freshman All-American By Two Publications, Highlighting UVa Selections: Three Virginia football players were named to Phil Steele's Postseason All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) football team, announced Tuesday, including linebacker Steve Greer who earned Freshman All-America accolades and also received an All-America nod from CollegeFootballNews.com. Greer nabbed second team Freshman All-America honors from Phil Steele's postseason list and CollegeFootballNews.com, while also grabbing third team All-ACC recognition by the Phil Steele publication. Defensive tackle Nate Collins was named to the Phil Steele All-ACC first team, while cornerback Ras-I Dowling earned third-team accolades from the publication.

For more Hoo news or to read full releases, check out Virginiasports.com.

National Championship Gear!

Congratulations to the 2009 men's soccer team for bringing home the National Championship! Commemorate the Cavaliers' stellar play with gear from UVA Bookstores, a long-time Sabre sponsor.

Issue No. 84 - April 25, 2003

Spring Game a highlight for freshman Brooks

While there were quite a few impressive players at last Saturday's spring football festival, one in particular stood out above them all. Freshman linebacker Ahmad Brooks made his Cavalier debut and had the crowd gasping on just about play in which he was involved. Brooks showed his speed, power and instincts as he racked up tackle after tackle, including one hard hit on backup quarterback Anthony Martinez, deflecting his intended pass. Brooks certainly lived up to all of the hype that surrounded him when he was considered the nation's best defender coming out of high school.

Heisman Trophy quarterback Matt Schaub led the Hoos offensively and never seemed to miss a beat. In these types of contests, it's really hard to distinguish whether or not the offensive was really good, or the defense really bad. But, if the defense was indeed playing well, opposing teams had better start worrying about number seven this season.

Virginia put heavy emphasis on their running game throughout most of the day, and backs Marquis Weeks and Wali Lundy had stellar performances.

Even with the threat of rain, the fans turned out well for the festival. There were well over 6,000 in attendance, which was far better than in previous years when the games were played at Klockner Stadium and Albemarle High School.

Check Out SabreMail #84.

Coming Soon

The Sabre has you covered when it comes to Hoo news. Here are a few of the articles to expect on the site soon:

• JHoo's Latest: JHoo takes a look at the challenges of reslotting and redshirting for Mike London.
• Men's Soccer: Stay tuned for follow-up coverage of the Hoos' National Championship.
• Men's Hoops: The Cavaliers return to the floor this week.

In Case You Missed It ...

Sabre articles since the last SabreMail

Cavaliers Win College Cup
CARY, N.C. - A little more than three months ago, the Virginia men's soccer team was the loser of all three of its exhibition games by a combined score of 6-1. Now, the Cavaliers call themselves National Champions. The road wasn't always easy, it wasn't always pretty, and it was often unpredictable. But as Akron's fifth and final penalty kick sailed over the crossbar, the Hoos had claimed their sixth National Championship.

Photo Gallery: Men's Soccer Tops Maryland
The Virginia men's soccer team plays for the National Championship on Sunday in a showdown with top-seeded Akron. Relive one of the Hoos' NCAA Tournament wins, a quarterfinal thriller vs. Maryland, with this EDGE photo gallery. The images include shots of coach George Gelnovatch, Will Bates, Tony Tchani, Will Barlow, and more. There are 51 photos in all! And make sure to tune in to ESPN2 for the Cavaliers' title game Sunday at 1 p.m.

Cavaliers Head To Title Game With OT Win
CARY, N.C. - In a game dominated by missed opportunities, the Virginia men's soccer team capitalized on the one that mattered most, scoring less than three minutes into overtime to defeat Wake Forest 2-1 and clinch a spot in the Finals of the College Cup on Sunday.

10 Things I Learned From The 2009 Season
Finally, we are moving forward. Finally, we can start thinking about what can be and what is to be. Finally, there is a positive feeling in the air. Finally, it is all about the future. So what is my job this week? Writing about the past. Figures. Still, to think about the future, you have to understand the past. So that is the context in which we will look at everything that we learned from the 2009 season.

London Fits At Virginia
As Mike London sat and took questions from the media on Monday, one thing quickly became clear. Everything the University of Virginia is about, Mike London is about. And not because he's the UVa football coach. It's because those things are what Mike London believes in and embraces.

Dudley 'A True Hero' To Many
Many football fans revere Bluefield, Virginia's own "Bullet" Bill Dudley. When the award named in his honor is given to the top college football player in the Commonwealth in Richmond tonight, The Sabre.com thought it fitting to look not only at the greatness that was Bullet Bill Dudley, the football player, but the greatness that is Bill Dudley, the man.

Kris' Monday Musings - Ball Screen D
With 4:20 to play in Virginia's game at Auburn on Monday night, coach Tony Bennett stopped the action after the Tigers drained a 3-pointer to take a 66-58 lead. The called timeout was to address Auburn's success with on-ball screens against the Pack-Line defense. The answer? A 3-2 zone, the first appearance of any kind of zone during Bennett's tenure. Let's take a look at that and more in Kris' Monday Musings.

Auburn's Tip Tops UVa
When you're a team with a small margin for error, as Tony Bennett recently described his UVa men's basketball team, then you have to do all the little things to win games. The absence of one of those little things - boxing out on every shot - cost the Cavaliers a road victory at Auburn on Monday night as Brendon Knox's tip-in with 1.4 seconds remaining lifted the Tigers to a 68-67 win.

London Introduced As UVa's Football Coach
A whirlwind weekend. That's how Mike London describe the last few days that featured a disappointing loss in the FCS playoffs by his Richmond team, a job offer from the University of Virginia, and an introductory press conference as the Cavaliers' new football coach. London, the 2008 FCS National Championship head coach for the Spiders and a former defensive assistant under Al Groh at Virginia, agreed to a five-year contract with an annual compensation of 1.7 million dollars.

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