Tag: virginia cavaliers

Brownell’s biggest concern as Clemson hoops ramps back up

Clemson’s men’s basketball team will play Virginia for the second time in as many games today, but Brad Brownell’s biggest concern has nothing to do with the Tigers’ opponent. Clemson beat the Cavaliers on the road back on Dec. 22, which is the last …

Clemson’s men’s basketball team will play Virginia for the second time in as many games today, but Brad Brownell’s biggest concern has nothing to do with the Tigers’ opponent.

Clemson beat the Cavaliers on the road back on Dec. 22, which is the last time the Tigers (9-4, 1-1 ACC) have played a game. Clemson’s ACC home opener against No. 2 Duke, originally scheduled for last week, was postponed because of coronavirus-related issues within the Blue Devils’ program. Clemson then had a built-in bye on the schedule over the weekend.

Brownell said there won’t be many changes in terms of the Tigers’ game plan for Virginia (8-5, 2-1) which Clemson handled 67-50 in Charlottesville the first time around. His primary concern after such a long layoff is an obvious one.

“My concern is more about us and us being sharp,” Brownell said. “You’ve got to be sharp when you play them. You’ve got to execute well. You’ve got to run your stuff great. You’ve got to be on point defensively. My concern is more of just our execution and our readiness to get back and compete at a high level. You’ve got to be ready to compete at a high level physically in this game, and we just haven’t played for a while.”

Clemson was playing some of its best basketball before the longer-than-anticipated break. The win over Virginia was the Tigers’ fourth straight, making for their second-longest winning streak of the season.

Meanwhile, Virginia has played since the teams’ first first meeting. The Cavaliers traveled to Syracuse on Saturday and pulled out a 74-69 win at the Carrier Dome.

As for how Clemson has tried to maintain its edge during its layoff, Brownell said the team reconvened on Dec. 26 after a brief Christmas break and has practiced nearly every day – and sometimes twice a day. Brownell said the Tigers have done “a little bit of everything” to take advantage of their preparation time, including skill work, scrimmages and even some weight training to try to keep the players as game-ready as possible.

“Had a couple of normal practices where we got after it pretty good defensively,” Brownell said. “We ran our guys for a couple of days after Christmas to kind of run the gravy out of their legs, if you will. But then here recently, we’ve done more competitive type of play to try to get ready for game day, but nothing is like being under the lights. That’s just different.”

Brownell added Clemson is “good” from a health standpoint, and the extra time off has given some of the Tigers a chance to heal up. Sophomore big P.J. Hall (foot) and senior forward Hunter Tyson (ankle) are both good to go after taking a few days off from practice recently, Brownell said.

The only thing left to do is compete again. Clemson’s first game at Littlejohn Coliseum since Dec. 18 is set for a 9 p.m. tip.

“We need to play,” Brownell said. “We need to get back out there and compete, and I think our guys will be excited.”

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Michigan appears to have landed All-American center via transfer

This is absolutely huge news!

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With Andrew Vastardis exhausting his intercollegiate eligibility, the Wolverines could either rely on second-year center Greg Crippen, third-year Reece Atteberry, or find someone who’s ready to step in and be a difference-maker in the middle of the O-line right away as the aforementioned develop.

Enter Olesegun ‘Victor’ Oluwatimi, the Virginia second-team All-American center who was a Rimington Award finalist and one of the best centers in the country. Oluwatimi opted to transfer from the Cavaliers upon graduating, and was making his decision between Clemson and Michigan.

On Monday, Oluwatimi decided to wear a winged helmet, appearing to have committed to the maize and blue, as he tweeted out an official graphic as designed by the football program, with just the hashtag ‘#GoBlue’. He intended to play in his bowl game, the Fenway Bowl, against SMU on Dec. 29 in Boston, but that game was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns.

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Oluwatimi started all 12 games for the Cavaliers and has started in 32-straight games. PFF has him graded as the nation’s second-best center in run blocking. This will be Oluwatimi’s second transfer, as he started his career at Air Force, but did not appear in any games for the Falcons.

He originally hails from Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha Catholic, the same school as Michigan basketball center Hunter Dickinson. Virginia had him listed at 6-foot-3, 310-pounds. His brother, Oluwaseun Oluwatimi played defensive line for the Maryland Terrapins.

Oluwatimi has one year of eligibility remaining at the college level.

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Clemson staffer to join Elliott’s staff at Virginia

A Clemson staffer appears set to join Tony Elliott at the University of Virginia. The Clemson Insider has confirmed through a source that Elliott, who was named UVA’s new head coach last week, plans to bring Clemson’s Adam Smotherman aboard his …

A Clemson staffer appears set to join Tony Elliott at the University of Virginia.

The Clemson Insider has confirmed through a source that Elliott, who was named UVA’s new head coach last week, plans to bring Clemson’s Adam Smotherman aboard his staff in Charlottesville.

Smotherman, the Tigers’ Senior Assistant Football Strength & Conditioning Coach, has spent the last 10 years on the Clemson Football Strength & Conditioning staff.

Smotherman — better known by some as Clemson’s “Get-Back Coach” for former defensive coordinator/now Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables — has served nine years as a full-time coach under Director of Football Strength & Conditioning Joey Batson and one year as a graduate assistant.

Smotherman worked previously as the Assistant Director of Strength and Conditioning at Furman University from 2012-13 alongside Director David Abernethy. At Furman, Smotherman oversaw all aspects of training for 12 of Furman’s 15 varsity sports and assisted with three other teams.

Prior to his tenure at Furman, Smotherman was the graduate assistant coach for football strength training at Clemson from 2011-12. Before coming to Clemson, Smotherman interned in the weight room for Dwight Galt at Vanderbilt in 2011.

TCI has talked to a couple of sources close to the program, and at this time, the sources we’ve talked to don’t know of any other people planning to follow Elliott.

Elliott held his introductory press conference Monday, so we will see if anything changes.

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Elliott has a message for his former Clemson players

Tony Elliott was officially introduced as the University of Virginia’s head coach on Monday. Elliott has been careful and patient. He’s had many opportunities to become a head coach before, but ultimately this was the right time and fit for him and …

Tony Elliott was officially introduced as the University of Virginia’s head coach on Monday.

Elliott has been careful and patient. He’s had many opportunities to become a head coach before, but ultimately this was the right time and fit for him and his family.

At his introductory presser, the former Clemson offensive coordinator was asked about his outgoing message for his now-former Clemson players. The ones that helped him reach this ultimate point in his career.

“I appear larger than I really am today because I had the privilege of standing on the shoulders of you giants,” he said Monday. “Thank you.”

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Looks like Tigers starting to dip their toes in the transfer portal

It’s no secret Dabo Swinney has been reluctant to use the NCAA transfer portal. However, comments from Clemson’s head coach recently have indicated that he could be changing his stance on the portal. “There’s not a school in the country that’s not …

It’s no secret Dabo Swinney has been reluctant to use the NCAA transfer portal. However, comments from Clemson’s head coach recently have indicated that he could be changing his stance on the portal.

“There’s not a school in the country that’s not going to have to recruit the portal,” Swinney said in November. “That’s what’s been created. There’s not a school, anywhere, everybody in Division I football is going to have to deal with the portal in some form or fashion because you’re gonna have gaps in your roster, somewhere. Again, you have until May 1 to say ‘I’m out’ and that’s the world we’ve created now. It’s just the way it is. I don’t like it, but that’s the way the world is. You just deal with it.”

Well, it appears as if the Tigers are indeed starting to dip their toes into the transfer portal.

The Clemson Insider has confirmed that Clemson has been in contact with Olusegun Oluwatimi, a grad transfer center from the University of Virginia.

TCI was told by a source close to Oluwatimi at Virginia that the Tigers have reached out to him, and that there is mutual interest between him and Clemson.

A native of Upper Marlboro, Md., and DeMatha Catholic product, Oluwatimi spent the 2017 season at the Air Force Academy, but did not play in any games. After transferring to Virginia, he sat out the 2018 season to serve a year of residence due to the NCAA transfer rule.

This season, Oluwatimi earned second-team All-ACC honors and was one of three finalists for the Rimington Trophy, which is presented annually to the most outstanding center in NCAA Division I College Football. He started all 12 games of this season and 32 straight, which dates back to 2019.

Oluwatimi played 910 snaps during the 2021 season, the most by any ACC center. According to Pro Football Focus, Oluwatimi was rated the number two center in the nation in run blocking and led the ACC.

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Does Desmond Howard think Tony Elliott is a good hire for UVA?

On ESPN’s College Football Live, ESPN college football analyst Desmond Howard weighed in on Virginia’s hire of Tony Elliott as the football program’s next head coach. Howard was asked if it makes sense for Clemson’s former offensive coordinator to …

On ESPN’s College Football Live, ESPN college football analyst Desmond Howard weighed in on Virginia’s hire of Tony Elliott as the football program’s next head coach.

Howard was asked if it makes sense for Clemson’s former offensive coordinator to go to UVA.

“I think Tony Elliott is a really good hire,” Howard said. “I like him as a coach, but I really respect him as a person, too. And you look at his story, man, just a tremendous story. Dabo Swinney gave him his opportunity to be an OC at Clemson, and he’s delivered.”

Elliott was named co-offensive coordinator at Clemson prior to the 2014 Russell Athletic Bowl and was co-offensive coordinator of Clemson’s 2016 and 2018 national championship teams.

Clemson posted an 89-10 record in 99 games since his 2014 promotion, and the Tigers finished in the top 25 in each of his first 10 years as a full-time coach from 2011-20, including top-five finishes in each of the last six seasons before this year.

While coaching Clemson’s running backs from 2011-20, Elliott coached a 1,000-yard rusher seven times, including Wayne Gallman in 2015 and 2016 and Travis Etienne in 2018 and 2019.

“He’s a guy who’s going to develop young talent,” Howard said. “You look at Trevor Lawrence and all these great quarterbacks and players that he’s had offensively, they give Tony Elliott a tremendous amount of credit for their development.

“So, he’s learned at the feet of the master, one of the best coaches we’ve seen for the past eight, nine years — Dabo Swinney — and now he’s ready to take his talents to UVA. So, I think it’s a good hire.”

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Pollack: Elliott will ‘have his hands full’ at Virginia

On ESPN’s College Football Live, ESPN college football analyst David Pollack gave his take on Virginia’s hire of former Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott as the Cavaliers’ new head football coach. “It’s interesting,” Pollack said. “In the …

On ESPN’s College Football Live, ESPN college football analyst David Pollack gave his take on Virginia’s hire of former Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott as the Cavaliers’ new head football coach.

“It’s interesting,” Pollack said. “In the ACC, obviously, so direct competition with Clemson. But I think he’s kind of been waiting for an opportunity and finally gets one. But awesome, awesome human being — meek, mild. Like, everybody will respect him day one.”

Pollack, though, believes Elliott will “have his hands full” in his new gig.

“Virginia’s not an easy job,” Pollack said. “Nobody’s been there consistently and won. You can go back a ways since that’s happened. So, he’s going to have his hands full. But he better be able to develop that talent and get talent to come to UVA, which is not easy.”

For the record, the winningest coach in Virginia football history is College Football Hall of Famer George Welsh, who coached UVA to a record of 134-86-3 from 1982-2000 and retired as the winningest coach in Atlantic Coast Conference history.

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Former Tiger dishes on Elliott leaving for Virginia and his son’s commitment status

The Clemson Insider recently spoke with Patrick Sapp to get some insight on Tony Elliott accepting the head coaching job at the University of Virginia. Sapp hit on a number of topics during the following question-and-answer session, including his …

The Clemson Insider recently spoke with Patrick Sapp to get some insight on Tony Elliott accepting the head coaching job at the University of Virginia.

Sapp hit on a number of topics during the following question-and-answer session, including his thoughts and reactions to his close, personal friend making a significant decision, how this impacts his son, Josh, and where Clemson goes from here.

There are very few people who know Virginia’s new head coach and the inner workings of Clemson’s program better than Sapp, a former Tigers’ linebacker himself. It was only right to catch up with Sapp after Friday’s events unfolded.

Note: This interview was edited and condensed for clarity

Being that you’re close with Tony Elliott, can we get your overall reaction to him accepting the University of Virginia job and him electing to go over to Charlottesville?

Of course, I definitely wanted him to stay at Clemson. It’s just my personal selfishness, as well as I know how my son really feels about Coach Elliott and a lot of his decision on going to Clemson was both Coach Elliott and Coach Swinney. So, I know he’s somewhat disappointed. But for me, I’m happy for him. It’s well deserved. I think if you’re doing it the right way as a program, people are gonna want your coaches. And if that’s the case, which that’s the case with Clemson, you’re gonna lose guys. I think Coach Swinney and those guys stayed at Clemson a long time and have been committed even after being offered numerous jobs over the years.

I knew it was gonna happen. I know Coach Swinney knew it was gonna happen. If you have any understanding of coaching and collegiate football, this day was coming at some point. I’m happy for him, man. It’s well deserved. It’s been well deserved for a long time. I know he thought about it long and hard and prayed about it. He’s made the right decision for himself and his family.

You mentioned that [Clemson 2022 three-star tight end commit] Josh [Sapp] is disappointed, but he plans to still sign with Clemson?

Yes. Yes. Yes. We’re still committed to Clemson, no doubt. I know he and Tony really had a good relationship and he has a lot of respect for Coach Elliott. He’s a bright young man. He understands that these things happen and will happen. But, we’re still committed to the program.

From your vantage point, is losing Tony Elliott and Brent Venables to Virginia and Oklahoma, respectively, a testament to this program and what Clemson has been able to build under Dabo Swinney?

Yeah, no doubt. You look at the great programs. You look at the great head coaches. You always find a coaching tree and kind of trail that leads back to those guys, those great head coaches, and great programs. You just look at the last 40 or 50 years, there are probably six or seven great coaches that you can recall that probably has a tree lineage of coaches 20 deep.

So yes, it’s a testament to the program and again, I knew it was gonna happen. Coach Swinney knew it was gonna happen. I’m sure he’s had some kind of preparation for it. I’m sure he probably didn’t think it would happen with two coordinators in one year at the same time. I know that’s hard to plan for…but, thank God again. I feel like what helps programs move through these things successfully is stability.

Even with [Dan Radakovich] leaving, you have great folks in Graham Neff that have been a part of Clemson for 6-7, 10 years. Even though you lose your [Athletic Director] you still got people there that have been working in that department and working end to end that understand and know Clemson. Same thing with the staff. You got a lot of folks in that building that have been there for a number of years. Even though you’re losing two great guys that are in a lot of ways that’ll be hard to replace, no doubt, but you always got to look at things as an opportunity. I think for Clemson and that staff that’s there and Coach Swinney, he’s gonna look at this as an opportunity to get better — believe it or not — and an opportunity to bring some fresh ideas, some new life, some new energy because all that’s always important. That’s gonna weigh a lot into his decision-making. That’s kind of how we’re looking at it from a parent standpoint and somebody that’s been around the program, myself, as an opportunity. It’s not as if the sky is falling. This is a great — in my opinion — opportunity for Clemson.

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Elliott leaving Clemson

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney was already tasked with finding one new coordinator. Now he’ll be pulling double duty in that regard. Tony Elliott is changing teams in the ACC. After mulling an offer to be the head coach at the University of Virginia, …

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney was already tasked with finding one new coordinator. Now he’ll be pulling double duty in that regard.

Tony Elliott is changing teams in the ACC. After mulling an offer to be the head coach at the University of Virginia, Clemson’s offensive coordinator has decided to take it. The school announced his hiring Friday afternoon.

Elliott will replace Bronco Mendenhall, who abruptly resigned at Virginia earlier this month after six seasons at the helm.

The announcement ends an eventful week for Elliott, who was in the running at two ACC schools. It started with him interviewing for the head coaching vacancy at Duke. By the middle of the week, with Virginia making a forceful pivot to Elliott after Penn State co-defensive coordinator and Virginia alum Anthony Poindexter reportedly pulled his name out of the running for the job, Elliott and his family were on a plane to Charlottesville to meet with president Jim Ryan and other Virginia officials.

They stayed in Virginia overnight before returning to Clemson late Thursday afternoon with an offer in hand, but Elliott hadn’t decided at that point if he wanted to take another job. By Friday afternoon, though, Elliott had finalized a deal to become a head coach for the first time in his career, ending his seven-year run as a play caller at Clemson.

The news comes just five days after Brent Venables also officially took the opportunity to run his own program for the first time at Oklahoma, ending his decade-long run as Clemson’s defensive coordinator. Venables joined Swinney’s staff one year after Elliott, who spent 11 seasons as an assistant at Clemson, the last two as the Tigers’ offensive coordinator.

During that time, Elliott turned down head coaching overtures from other FBS schools as he gradually morphed into one of the country’s top offensive assistants.

A former Clemson receiver, Elliott has spent the bulk of his coaching career at his alma mater. After getting started as an assistant at South Carolina State and later Furman, Elliott returned to Clemson in 2011 as Swinney’s running backs coach. He had co-offensive coordinator added to his title in 2015, and once former offensive assistant Jeff Scott took the head coaching job at South Florida before the 2020 season, Swinney made Elliott the Tigers’ full-time offensive coordinator.

With a first-year starting quarterback in D.J. Uiagalelei, Clemson has fallen into the bottom half nationally in points (79th) and yards (95th) this season, but it’s been far from the norm for Elliott’s offenses. Clemson ranked in the top 40 in the FBS in both categories each of the previous six seasons, including three straight seasons of top-5 scoring offenses.

Elliott won the Broyles Award as college football’s top assistant coach in 2017, a year after Venables took the honor. Now he’s taking over a program that had varying success under his predecessor but will soon be getting a facelift to its facilities.

Virginia, which competes in the ACC’s Coastal Division, had its best season under Mendenhall in 2019 when the Cavaliers won nine games and played in the Orange Bowl, but Virginia has dropped to .500 overall over the last two seasons (11-11). The Cavaliers will take a 6-6 record into the Fenway Bowl against SMU later this month.

Earlier Friday, the University of Virginia Board of Visitors reportedly approved the athletic department’s request to transfer $10.3 million from the school’s endowment fund to go toward the construction of a new football facility there.

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Defensive coordinator search could be over as Anthony Poindexter makes a decision

Penn State’s search for a defensive coordinator could be over with Anthony Poindexter’s latest statement

Just when it looked as though momentum was building for the possibility of Penn State losing another defensive coordinator to a head coaching opportunity, it appears as though that will no longer be the case. Anthony Poindexter will reportedly stay at Penn State on the staff under James Franklin instead of moving to his alma mater to become the next head coach of the Virginia Cavaliers. And that could mean Penn State’s search for a defensive coordinator will officially be over soon.

Poindexter appeared to be a leading candidate for the Virginia head coaching job over the last week, with Franklin appearing to be bracing for the possibility of coaching the Outback Bowl against Arkansas with a reduced staff as a result. Penn State is already without Brent Pry, who has moved on to become the head coach at Virginia Tech. But on Wednesday, multiple reports suggested Poindexter will stay at Penn State. Among those reporting such was Adam Rittenberg of ESPN, via Twitter.

“Timing is everything for both sides,” Poindexter reportedly told Rittenberg. “There will be a day, but I’m going to stay at Penn State.”

What led to this statement from Poindexter confirming his decision to stay at Penn State is up for interpretation, of course. Poindexter had plenty to offer Virginia, but the Cavaliers could also be moving in a different direction for their head coach search. According to Brett McMurphy of The Action Network, Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott is the leading candidate for the job in Charlottesville now.

Did Poindexter turn Virginia down, or did Virginia decide to move in a different direction away from the former Virginia All-American? Again, who knows for sure?

What this means, however, is Penn State may have its defensive coordinator figured out. Poindexter had the title of co-defensive coordinator at Penn State along with Pry, although Pry was largely credited for being the main coordinator. With Pry gone, Franklin could simply put more of the defensive responsibilities on Poindexter as the sole defensive coordinator or move him up in rank while adding another co-defensive coordinator.

There could be options to explore in adding a defensive coordinator. Ohio State will have to adjust its staff to make room for new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles on their staff, leaving some Penn State fans dreaming of a return of Larry Johnson in a more prominent role, but don’t count on that option playing out. The sudden availability of former Miami head coach Manny Diaz, who enjoyed success as a defensive coordinator, is fun to think about as well, but there is no indication Franklin is looking that way at this time.

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