Just one year removed from a 5-7 season, the Virginia Cavaliers are contending for a spot in the College Football Playoff, with the Duke Blue Devils being the last team standing in their way.
Head coach
Tony Elliott was potentially on the hot seat entering the year, starting his Virginia career with an 11-23 record through his first three seasons.
On Friday, he earned the ACC Coach of the Year award, symbolizing an incredible turnaround that the program has had behind increased financial support and one of the best transfer portal classes in the country. Today, it seems the program looks year behind the days when former coach Bronco Mendenhall said the program had some of the worst facilities in the country.
Let’s take a look at the turnaround from when Elliott first arrived at Virginia.
First off, Elliott entered an incredibly tough situation. Virginia hadn’t finished as an AP Top 25 team since 2004. They had just two winning seasons since 2011. And the resources weren’t there to be competitive as the NIL era began.
However, Elliott slowly started to build the program’s culture, and the resources started to come as Virginia built a new practice facility. Then, it came to hitting in the transfer portal as the Cavaliers were positioned to be competitive in 2025, in a crucial year for Elliott.
The biggest part of the puzzle was at quarterback, where Elliott targeted Chandler Morris, a sixth-year quarterback who had a strong season at North Texas in 2023 to revive his career, throwing for 3,774 yards, 31 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions.
So far, Morris has been exactly what the Cavaliers needed, throwing for 2,586 yards, 14 touchdowns, and seven interceptions, while leading Virginia to a 10-1 record in games he was fully healthy.
But, he wasn’t the only one. In fact, Virginia was the No. 2 team in the country when it came to career snaps added via the transfer portal this offseason behind only West Virginia, which revamped its entire roster after a coaching change.
More importantly, they were fourth in career starts added per player. Who was No. 1 and No. 2? Oregon and Indiana, who are both going to make the College Football Playoff.
Not only did Virginia upgrade at quarterback, but they also completely revamped the offensive line and secondary, which have seen big improvements this season.
Portal wide receivers Jahmal Edrine and Cam Ross are the team’s No. 2 and No. 3 wide receivers. Running back J’Mari Taylor has been a big hit, rushing for nearly 1,000 yards and 14 touchdowns. He was a first-team All-ACC selection. Backup Harrison Waylee has also been a good depth piece, adding 442 yards and five scores.
Tony Elliott and his staff’s approach in the portal has directly led to increased success through more investment in the team. But, there’s also a mentality that’s required to jumpstart a turnaround from 5-7 to 10-2, which has seemingly resonated throughout the team.
Now, Virginia has the chance to make history with a win in the ACC Championship Game on Saturday against Duke.
