The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Antonio Rice Joined Jerry Ratcliffe & Jerry Miller Live On "The Jerry & Jerry Show!"

Episode Date: August 27, 2024

Antonio Rice, President & CEO of Jobs For Virginia Graduates and Former UVA Star Running Back, joined Jerry Ratcliffe & Jerry Miller live on “The Jerry & Jerry Show!” “The Jerry & Jerry Show” airs live Tuesday from 10:15 am – 11 am on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to “The Jerry & Jerry Show” on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible and iLoveCVille.com.

There we go. Good Tuesday morning, guys. My name is Jerry Miller, and thank you kindly for joining us on the Jerry and Jerry Show. We thoroughly enjoy connecting with you guys through this program that is now one year plus years old. We have a football game on the near horizon with the Richmond Spiders set to hit Scott Stadium on Saturday. We'll talk about that ball game, but we're very excited for an interview that is going

to have a significant impact for you, the viewer and listener. Antonio Rice is in the house. He's in the studio, less than two miles from Scott Stadium, and we're going to spend the next 45 minutes and change with a Virginia football legend that has not only had tremendous success on the gridiron, not only watched this program evolve in many different shapes, sizes, and phases, but now having an incredible impact molding the next generation of students, of student-athletes, and of leaders around the Central Virginia community and beyond. Judah Wickhauer is our director and producer. He's the glue guy of our team, a man that is the MVP. The stats may not show up in the box score, but without Judah Wickhauer, we don't get to victory lane. If you

can go to the studio camera and welcome the star of our show, Hootie Ratcliffe, the Virginia Sports Hall of Famer, the namesake of JerryRatcliffe.com. My friend, the show is yours this Tuesday morning. Welcome to everyone. We really appreciate you guys tuning in from all over the state, all over the country. We love bringing in people who've had an impact on Virginia athletics. I can't think of anybody that's a more shining example than Mr. Rice here. Antonio, I've known he and I both got here to Charlottesville at the same time in 1982.

He is a football player for George Welsh in Georgia's first year. Me coming from another newspaper here to start my career in Charlottesville. Neither one of us have ever left. I mean, maybe briefly, but we've come back. And so I welcome Antonio to the program. Good to be here. You notice he said legend. He did say legend. Isn't that something? You are a legend. I'm just saying.

Like a fine wine legend. I'm just saying. Aging fantastically well. I'll take it. I'll take it. Absolutely. Antonio, for those that do not know the name like we do, a man, and yours truly, who grew up on UVA football, two-generation UVA guy. My brother, also a UVA guy. Nice. Please introduce yourself to the viewers and listeners that are watching this program.

Well, as the legend, of course, Antonio Rice. I was in George Walsh's first class in 1982. And I will tell you, those years were some tough years. We've talked a little bit earlier, but we'll get into that a little later on. But I currently live here in Charlottesville. I run a nonprofit called Jobs for Virginia Graduates. We help students who are facing barriers to success and graduation and employment. We make sure they get over those barriers, and we make sure they graduate, and we make sure they have good, well-paying jobs when they're done. And so we like to call ourselves champions of those folks who may not have a loud voice

as they're going through and navigating high school. The best line I've heard, so authentic and so genuine when you delivered it, was how you position the phrase at risk. Please position it again for the viewers and listeners. I think we're all at risk at being something or not being whatever. And so I say, you know, at risk at being awesome. How about that? Love that.

You know, our students are at risk at being awesome. They just haven't found or they now have found a champion who's going to stand with them shoulder to shoulder to make sure that they are successful. That's what we do. That's what we do best. That's fantastic, Cody. Absolutely. Very proud of him. That's what we do. That's what we do best. That's fantastic, Cody. Absolutely. Very proud of him. Proud to know him.

Just every time I see Antonio, I go back. It takes me back to those first years of Georgia's programs. And one game that stands out to me from all those years was that 1984 game at West Virginia. Yeah. I know you were a big part of that. And I think that was one of the biggest wins in UVA history to go in. West Virginia was poised to go to the Orange Bowl. They were huge favorites.

Virginia came in there and I remember running into Tom O'Brien and Frank Spaziani in the hotel bar the night before the game. It was pretty late and I was thinking, what are you guys doing in here? You've got a game tomorrow afternoon. Sports writers, we're expected to be here in the bar late at night, but not you guys. And I went over and talked to them. And they said, we're going to kick their ass tomorrow.

And I thought, you know, coaches don't say stuff like that. And I said, well, man, I've stumbled upon something here. And I was the guest the next morning on Mountaineer Sunrise. It was a live breakfast show from the hotel in downtown Morgantown, 8 a.m. I was the big guest. Tom Mee, that used to be with ESPN, was the host. And he was the voice of the Mountaineers, I guess. And we were talking about all this, and there was a room full of West Virginia fans. And they were celebrating about how they were going to the Orange Bowl and all this stuff and

they said what do you think I said I think Virginia's going to win and I'm not sure it's going to be close I thought they were going to lynch me yeah right for sure with my bacon and eggs and I told them why and uh and it turned out to be true. And you guys did. You kicked their butts all over the field. 28-7 or 28-nothing, something like that. It was quite the defeat, if you will. So West Virginia was my first option. Really? Oh, absolutely, 100%.

When I was in high school. That's where you wanted to go? That's where I wanted to go. Okay. And so went to camp, Don Nealon's camp. And I knew that campus very well. One of my high school teammates went to West Virginia. And I was going to follow him. And they felt like I was all sewed up, like he's coming.

And it kind of stopped recruiting me a little bit, which was cool. And then George got the job at Virginia and being a Washington DC kid you you see Navy all the time and they're like how are they so darn successful when I can't imagine the recruiting process how are they getting kids in but they were always tough hard-nosed kids, man. And so I got a phone call from Ken Mack. Ken Mack said, hey, you know, we were at Navy and then we're down in Virginia. Why don't you come down and take a look and come take a visit? I said, go. Okay, I'll go down there and take a look. And that night, hanging out with all the great ones from Billy Griggs to Eric Fears to Derek Jenkins to Quentin Walker to all those guys we stayed up all night we watched the sunrise talking laughing talking about not so

much football just about life and then after that visit I'm like I'm going to Virginia and say you know they were one and you know know, an 11 last year. And then they went on that streak of losing and all that good stuff. So it wasn't about that. It was about those were the guys that well, those were the guys that my kids now call uncle. That's awesome. Impressive. That's that's powerful. I wanted to ball out with those dudes. Those were my guys still are today. Those are my guys. And so and you take guys like that. And then we had some dudes, though. There were some dudes like Lester Liles was it was it was on that team.

You know, Jim Dombrowski. Oh, yeah. You know, we had some guys. Yeah, we had some guys. And so we just needed some, they just needed some guidance and some direction and some discipline. And that was the right staff, that naval, military demeanor, if you will, moxie to come in. And there you go. But to get back to the West Virginia thing, there was a bit of a chip on the shoulder. I'll bet. And not that they stopped recruiting me. I mean, I thought I made the best decision.

It was the fact that, yeah, let's put on a little show. Let's put on a show. It was great. I saw this show two Tuesdays ago, Sean Moore in your seat, and he let the viewers and listeners know that he initially committed to, was it Virginia Tech? Virginia Tech, yeah. Virginia Tech.

And same thing. The Hokies thought that the Sean Moore recruitment was just buttoned up. Right. And then he's like, well, you know, maybe let me look at this program over here. No idea with West Virginia with you. Yeah, yeah.

No idea. And then you come to Charlottesville, and Hootie, you set the stage, because you know this as well as everyone, and you guys start putting the building blocks in place for a program that is as significant in Virginia athletic history as any. Oh, no question. I mean, prior to George getting here, Virginia was the laughing

stock of college football I mean they were the butt end of every college football joke Virginia and Northwestern they were terrible and what George did here was almost unfathomable I mean nobody thought

I remember being at his press conference in December 1981 and Bill I remember being at his press conference in December 1981, and Bill Millsaps looked at George and said, he was the sports editor of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and he said, George, why would you come to Virginia? It's a coach's graveyard. Right, where coaches' careers come to die, yeah. And George looked at him and he said, well, it's a very lovely graveyard.

And he says, I intend to make Virginia a top 25 program. And everybody in the room looked around at each other like, what? What did he just say? And he did. I mean, he became number one in the nation, for goodness sakes. And in three years, three seasons, you guys were in the Peach Bowl. Right. But do you know why he can make that comment?

And I think that George knows, again, the naval component to it. He knew that he had assembled just an outstanding coaching staff. He did. talked earlier about about you know the the characters um on that staff from again tom sherman to ken mag to o'brien spaziani whittlesey art marcos you know henry um danny wilmer i mean those guys man i'm telling you those guys number one if they get in your if they get into your living room it's a wrap you're coming to virginia you were coming and then they bring george along longs hey george don't say a whole lot we got this don't mess this up for us um and so it was just that simple that then back in

the day we would get everybody everyone you know you'll go back from the Sean Moore's who I hosted on, on his visit. First, Sean was easy, you know, because his mother and his parents were just outstanding. And they got it very early in regards to what would be a, um, a good place for their kid to then flourish and become a man and those kinds of things so that that was easy but but you have those coaches who are in your living room knowing that they have the ace in the hole and the ace in the hole is they're going to get your kid is going to get one of the best educations in the country. He embraced that.

Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. And so that's what got my mom. And so because I think we forget sometimes. You look at the scoreboard and you look at the win columns and all that good stuff. It's about school. But at the end of the day, at the end of the day, you know, you might want to get your education and get your degree from an institution that is. World renowned. Yes.

Yes. And so that's the component that I think is important that I think we forget nowadays. The landscape has changed a little bit. You got Derek Jones watching the program. He says that 1984 team, West Virginia 27-7. You guys beat the Mountaineers 27-7. You also had two ties that season. Georgia Tech and UNC defeated Virginia Tech and Blacksburg.

He remembers it vividly. I see 13 states watching the program right now as I clear my throat. This question is coming in via YouTube. The best George Walsh story from Antonio Rice. Oh, good Lord, man. There's many of them. Again, we talked earlier about him chasing people off the field. If you're not performing and or if you're not hustling,

if you're not playing up to your standards he'd run you off you'd run off the field but the the best well I want to say it's the best and so Tom Sherman tells it better than than I do but I was there in the process so I believe it was Bo Schumbechler back in the day would end the practice with him being under the center and throwing the throwing the throwing throwing a pass, catching the pass, going in for a touchdown, or maybe he fakes it and he runs in for a touchdown. So they've been egging George to, hey, you might want to do something like that, you know, whatever. And so finally, he does it. He gets up under the center, and he says, well, actually, he

runs Mikowski off. Mikowski, get out of here here let me show you how it's done he gets up on the center set hike and as he pulls out i think somebody steps on his foot and he breaks his ankle he breaks his foot yeah i remember that and so um then we of course he falls down and we're immediately giving him a hard time it's's like, George, you can't come out here with those shoes. Those old brown shoes. Those old brown shoes. That's right. That's too funny. Those old, you can't come out here, you know, and give him a hard time.

So he runs it off. You know, back in the day, he was like, oh, put some leaves on it. Rub some dirt on it. George was running it off with a broken foot, ankle, whatever it was. He's on the sideline trying to run it out. And so, yes, it was funny. But if you look at it, you'd probably say, hey, this dude is running off, rubbing some dirt on a broken ankle over on the sidelines.

So George was tough, man. He was tough. But if you go back and look at his career at Navy, I think he was runner-up in the Heisman at some point or something like that. He was fourth in the Heisman voting. Yeah, fourth in the Heisman. At quarterback. Tough, tough guy.

But so was his teams. We were tough. I love it. And he coached the rest of that season on crutches. He did. He sure did. Yep. Was in a wheelchair.

And then he was like, no, I'm not doing that. But it was on crutches. Yeah. Was in a wheelchair. And then he was like, no, I'm not doing that. But it was on crutches. Yeah. I remember going down to Chapel Hill and the Carolina coach, who had been run over on the sidelines, was also on crutches. And I said, that might be the only game in college football history where both head coaches were on crutches during the game. When did you start seeing a turnaround in play?

When did you start seeing the program in play? When you start seeing the program? Okay, we got something here. It was 83 when I believe we went six and five. So we went six and five and that was the part of it. And then, you know, to turn around a program, it takes everybody, man. It's everybody. And you think about who we had in the weight room. We had, you know, Bill Dunn and John Gamble. And John Gamble was an extension of the football program. And, again, back in those days, I mean, they coached all sports. But Big John was an extension of the program.

So he helped us get stronger and build confidence. And, you know, we'd had the Cavalier Ironworks, which I was never a part of. So, you know, that made that a priority. So now we're competing. We're not getting pushed around. You know, we're winning battles in the trenches. And so we win six games. And it's like, like whoa maybe we got something

and then I think it was the beginning of the 84 season is that right I think it was 84 83 whatever some of the guys went all in and get shaved we had mohawks I don't know that I had a mr t haircut so we were all in I remember going to George's um office and I had my hat on. And so if you have a Mr. Tea cut, you could just, you know. And I take my hat and he goes, Christ, what are you doing? It's media day, you know.

And so that let him know that we are all in. We were all in. And I think we started the 84 season maybe playing Clemson and we got blown out. Oh, you guys got beat. They brought the lights in. 54 to all in. And I think we started the 84 season maybe playing Clemson, and we got blown out. Oh, you guys got beat 54 to nothing, I think. Yeah, 54, 55 to nothing, man. It was terrible, yeah.

And that was the quickest game I've ever played in because I don't think I was on the field much. And the game was over, and we were like, oh, man. We never looked at that film. George may have, but as a team, typically, you know, you break down the film, and you sit down, and you watch. Never watched the film. George may have, but as a team, typically, you know, you break down the film and you sit down and you watch. Never watched the film. And then we got into the, and then we got into our next game and then we started getting on the run. And then we really started believing. And then the cool thing was, was folks would come to the games and basically have their back to the field because really nothing was going on. And folks are partying, having a good time, and all that good stuff. Folks started turning around and started watching.

You gave them something to see, too. Gave them something to see. What did you guys finish in the 84 season? Was it 17th in the coaches' poll? You were in the top 25 in both polls that year. I should have been because Virginia was runner-up in the ACC. Eight, two, and two. Eight, two, and two. To Cle-2. 8-2-2.

To Clemson. Yeah. Right, right. I mean, that was one of, without using hyperbole here, I mean, you know Virginia football better than anyone, Hootie. That was one of the most important years maybe in Virginia football history. No question. A hundred percent.

No question. And I don't mean to, I just. You're not taking away from anyone here. So we go to the Peach Bowl And we're playing a Big Ten team In Purdue They were runners up in the Big Ten Which was a big deal

They were good Jim Everett Rod Woodson was a defensive back Jim Everett, St. Louis Rams viewers and listeners Played for the Rams I guess it was the la rams then yeah i mean they were good and they were huge and so we go in and george never said this but it was a must win we had to win that game and so man we practice like it was two a days

and then you you'd see the purdue team and they're having a good time they're going out to the parties and stuff we're coming back from practice so I'm thinking about I don't want to ever go to a bowl again this is what it takes uh forget this whole bowl thing and it was not fun until the final clock goes off and we win and so and so the rush, that was years of pent-up energy and enthusiasm by the Wahoo Nation to rush the field, and we were like heroes, man. It was the coolest thing. And then we go back to our hotel, and it was an open atrium where you can look down over your balcony and see, man, it was pandemonium as folks were greeting us, as folks meaning fans were greeting us, and it was something that I'll never, ever forget. It's the thing that as a

high school athlete, you win the big game and it's there's a big hurrah but then you see on the college level on the professional level and say gosh that would be really neat to experience that and then you think like well why would you go to Virginia today because that's not going to happen and we made it happen I know we made it happen and it was just an incredible experience man I got to tell you it happen. And it was just an incredible experience, man. I got to tell you, it was absolutely fantastic. That game is still discussed in our household.

My father and his brothers still bring up that game. Stephanie Welts-Rhodes lives in Keswick. She says, we were at that Peach Bowl. Wahoos for life. She's watching that program. That game, what he's describing right now, still resonates over the holidays in our household, Hootie. Oh, yeah. People were hanging off the balcony. It was the old Peachtree

Plaza Hotel, I think. It was just tons of balconies for 30 floors or 40 floors. You couldn't hardly move in that place. There were so many people there celebrating. It went on all night long. It went on all night long. It's like they followed us from the stadium and the stadium just poured into our hotel and um and i think our fans just they i think they understood the gravity of the situation in in that in that particular event and being at the game and experiencing that wasn't enough. We were going to, let's do this all.

You know, we're Wahoos, man. We know how to party. We know how to get down like that. And so it was just an outstanding, outstanding event and time. I'll never forget it. How was the vibe the following year on Grounds? How was the energy, the dynamic? I mean, you guys were stars. Rock stars. Yeah. Okay. You were a rock star. No, you weren't. And so

with injuries, we've lost a few players that following year. So I think we dropped back to either five and six or something like that. didn't do as well and then the following year after that thing the 87 88 i think scott so mckowski had graduated i had graduated then that 87 years scott sequels took over yeah and had and then sean yeah and then and then after that sean um so so let's back up. So we talk about iron sharpens iron. There's always some type of competition. So Don Murkowski, Kevin Ferguson, you know, battling for the quarterback.

And then you had Scott Sheiky, Don Murkowski. Then you have Sheiky and Sean Moore. And so we've always had really good quarterback play because of the competition. And you even go back to, you know, the Ray Roberts and the Chris Slades, you know, time, you know, you've got to go against two All-Americans, a college Hall of Famers going up against each other on a regular basis. It's so again, we started attracting that kind of talent to then take us over the edge and i and i alluded to earlier it's like we would get everybody you know from the barbers to um kirby and slade kirby slade um savage um we we would we would get them all we would get them all

and so this was the place this was the place to be. This was the place to come. Because, again, if it was a place that you wanted to come to just to play football, this was not the place for you. You're expected to go to class. And not only go to class, you know, be a good citizen. You know, contribute to your community and outreach and things of that nature. There's more of an expectation, I think. And I think this university and the coaching staff prepared you for what was next.

If it was the NFL, if it was business, if it was for husband, whatever it might have been, it prepared me. I'll narrow it down to that for what was next in my life. How about the crossroads of 2024 college football and becoming a money-making machine, name-image likeness, expanded college football playoff versus what UVA is all about, education and molding athletes into good citizens and good partners and spouses. Can academics molding athletes into good citizens, professionals and partners coexist in big time college sports today? Well, that's the dance, right? That's the dance. And it's a great question. And we spoke earlier around,

you know, some of these players, college athletes, you know, two, three, four million dollar evaluations. Like, wow. You know, Virginia, I don't think we're built like that. I just don't think we are. And so, but I think we're built a different way. And so I think, you know, we can attract students and student athletes who want this kind of experience. And so that's hard to say when you're throwing that kind of money around. Man, that's tough. And I get it and I understand all of that. I do. But at the end of the day for me

and the experience that I had and I think experience for lots of other people too is it's invaluable. You can't put a price tag on it. You just can't. And so we just had the, I believe you were there a couple of weekends ago. It was a scrimmage and we had the alumni come back and stuff like that

and to see how you embrace your teammates man and to hear hey man I love you I saw a lot of that that day just seeing you guys hugging each other you were really happy to see each other so that's the component that I think that will be missed.

And so what I mean by that is if nowadays you see it, there's several players out there that's been on three teams in three years. The transfer portal is like, oh, well, I'm not getting the playing time. I thought I would get it. I'll just transfer versus compete. It makes the whole team better, right? And it makes the relationships better. It makes the bonding better.

And I think you can win ball games when you have that type of nucleus, that type of friendship and bond with your teammates. So I'd love to talk to the kid who has transferred three and four times throughout their careers. Like, do you even know the folks that you, do you even have that bond with those? And, and, and that's part of college too. That's part of an education, right? Getting to know yourself and saying, oh, look, I'm going to get on this field no matter what. So I think about Malcolm Pittman, God rest his soul. He came in. He was a running back. And then in the class, so he's the running back.

The next class that comes in, bare word, Howard Petty, Antonio Rice. We might have had some other running backs. And so. The big fullback played for the Steelers. Steve Morris. Yeah. Steve Morris. Yeah, Steve Morris. So we had, man, that's a- You guys are loaded.

Man, we are. Yeah. And so what does Pittman do? He says, I'm going to find a way to get on the field. So he was our kickoff specialist and our punt returner. He found a way to get on the field and i think he led the almost he was one of the top leaders in the um in the country in terms of kickoff and punt returns and so it's that kind of mentality he that dude had every reason to transfer to go someplace else yeah he was gonna stay he wanted to be at Virginia. And so that component of college football, I think.

I think you miss out on which I think is equally as important now. Nobody waved that kind of money in my face. No one did that. But at the end of the day, I wanted to play at Virginia. This is where I want to play. Win or lose. Good or bad. This is this is where I want it to be. Obviously, because I'm still here. You can't get rid of me. One of my favorite stories that you ever told, and I've got to get you to tell that before we move on to something else. But you were roommates with Makowski.

Yeah. And there was some kind of a thing going with his pet. Oh. Well, there's several stories about husky. So we would, a lot of practical jokes. And so anyway, so we were about to get on, go to U-Haul, get on the bus to go travel. I can't remember who we were playing. So there's two things.

So we had a wasp nest out on our balcony. And it's like, man, we've been trying to get rid of that thing. We can't go out there and enjoy ourselves. We need to get rid of that. And so Macalester goes, look, I'm going to take the broom, and I'm going to knock it down. And what you do, as soon as I bring my arm, I close the door. I wish it was you.

And so I'm like, OK, man, you go for it. This is throwing arm. Oh, yeah, absolutely. And so and now you go back and those are heavy sliding doors. And so he swipes. I close and his arm is in there, man. He's bleeding. And so now I'm worried.

I'm not worried so much about his arm. I'm worried about what George is going to say. Hey, now you can't throw today as we're getting on the bus to go play a football game. And so then the other thing was I had a fish tank and it had a fish that could breathe in and out of water and it could get out and all that good stuff. But I think Bukowski was on a date one night and he's out there and all the lights are off and all that good stuff. And all you see is the light on the TV and he sees this thing crawling across the carpet. And so they freak out. They don't know what it is.

It's the darn fish that got out of the fish tank. So it ruined the mood for my boy, and I apologize for that. And the magic man's mood. There was no magic that night. There was no magic for the magic man. Not with that thing crawling around the apartment. Oh, that is absolutely hilarious. Put in perspective the dynamic, and you've kind of already done this very well,

of what it was like to be a student athlete with what was required in the classroom, along with playing for Coach George Welsh. You know, it's tough. So I say it's components that helps you turn around a program, but also just components that help you turn around a student. And I was a decent student. I wasn't a great student, but I had fantastic faculty. I mean, I remember a time when we were taking, I was taking statistics and probability, and it was like a foreign language to me. I just couldn't get it. So I go to my professor and say, look, I got to drop this class.

He laughs in my face. He goes, no, no, you're not. Like, you don't understand. Got to keep my average. Got to play ball. He goes, you're not dropping my class. You come to my office hours and I'll teach it to you. He was my tutor.

And we sat down and he walked me through statistics and probability. Get out. That's awesome. But he was a fan too, though, right? Of course. And he wasn't going to say, okay. He's a star running back. That's the legend, Antonio Reyes here.

We're just going to let him go. No, absolutely not. And so we sat down. And I believe I got a c plus in that class doing cartwheels down absolutely I was so excited but I was so also very proud of myself of course right and so and then having a faculty like that um that really believes in you and won't let you give up on yourself or not like quit and had a little swagger about themselves like I'll teach it to you better grade than I got in stats and probability over there

I'll teach it to you I have confidence in my ability and that's what they're there for right right they're there for the person's like hey they're going to give up on your class or they're going to give up on my class I'm not going to let them I'm going to teach them I'm I'm a good professor. I know this stuff. I know I can teach it to you. And, man, it was great. It was a great experience.

And so I can't remember all the touchdowns. It wasn't very many, but there were a few. But I can remember that time when I succeeded in the classroom when I thought I couldn't. 82, 83, 84, Hootie, put in perspective what that was like for you as a sports writer covering this team in Charlottesville. How old were you, 82, 83, 84? I don't even know. It was a long ago.

You put him on the spot there, Jer. I was a puppy in the business to some degree. And then I had come here. I had previously covered Carolina and Duke and NC State football, a little bit of Wake Forest. And so I was familiar with Virginia, but I knew that the program was pretty bad. And I was used to watching NC State. They were pretty good back in those days. In Carolina, Bill Dooley had just left and had built a pretty good program down there.

So he had gone to Virginia Tech. And I had covered the Hokies a little bit too. So I had seen some pretty good football. And it was exciting coming in and watching somebody with Georgia's reputation to see what he could do. And after that first year, I was beginning to wonder if even he could do it. Yeah. Because, I mean, they got beat by JMU in, I think, maybe the first game of the season. Yeah.

And it wasn't even. Gary Clark. Yeah, Gary Clark. One-man show. Yeah. The posse. Yeah. Yeah, Gary Clark. One-man show. Yeah. The posse. Yeah. And, you know, just watching the transformation was miraculous.

And that's what made the 84 season so special in my mind, too, was just to see how that transformed so quickly. There was a lot of hope in 83 when you guys had a winning season and only the second year and beat North Carolina, which was a huge deal. But then the 84, even after that blowout in the first game, it was pouring rain all night. It was the first game at Scott Stadium under lights. Dick Schultz had negotiated with TBS, Turner Broadcasting Network,

that they would give Turner the rights to the Ralph Sampson-Patrick Ewing Game of the Century if they would agree to put in lights for one game. And Clemson came in, and they had been put on probation because of all the hijinks down there. And I'll never forget going into the Clemson locker room after that game and William Perry, the fridge, singing, We Work Hard for the Money which was a popular song back in those days

but after that blowout I was saying oh wow I don't know but then you guys like you said went on a roll and it was magical it was magical they had so many good wins that year

the West Virginia win, obviously. The John Ford, the catch. The catch. At Blacksburg, fourth and inches. George makes an incredible call. Makowski to Ford. The Peach Bowl. I mean, it was just one highlight after another after another.

It was a magical year. Yeah, you know, George is very consistent and fairly conservative, you know. And so when he calls that play down in Blacksburg with Makowski's pass to John Ford, he comes in. And it's like going for all the marbles, you know. We're not playing safe. And so he comes in and we get the call.

We get the play in. And we're like, is that the play? We're going to actually do this? And so beautifully executed, great throw, better catch. And so I think it was many years after that. It's like, George, why that decision on that particular time? And he said something I thought was very poignant because I think Virginia Tech had won two in a row on us before that. He says, you just can't let that get out of hand.

You just can't. Had to win sometime. Had to beat them sometime. Right. And so that was the opportunity to stop their role that they had on us. And it felt like he needed to make that call and do that play to kind of get back on the positive side. You guys mentioned a topic, and we got comments coming in left and right.

Let me get to this one from Stanton, Virginia. I think every graduate of the University of Virginia should be proud that Mr. Rice is a representative of our school. What a classy guy. And that's from John Blair in Stanton right now. Thanks, John. I appreciate that. All over the place here. It's tough right now as a guy who bleeds orange and blue with what's going on with Virginia Tech.

With this football team, Virginia Tech, and this past year, it was a whooping. They've now restricted access to the hill as a result because that was a gateway for Hokie fans to rush the field. Anywhere you want to go on this topic here? That's tough, man. Listen, we have this conversation a lot. It's like we just say, we just got to stop the bleeding, man. We got to stop.

We got to turn this thing around. And sometimes it's not what's between the lines. It's what's between the ears. And that's a real thing. It's like, oh, man, they got our number. It's like, well, now how do we get our number back? And that's just through leadership and hard work. It's through winning by any means necessary.

This game has to have more importance than any other game. And so you hear that all the time. Oh, one game at a time. Nope. nope no that needs to be on a timer and that that circle yes that needs to be look this is this we got to get this one and so maybe now it's about starting our own streak and so so there's a lot of things that I think that needs to happen to turn around that type of dominance. You have to give it to the Hokies, man, that type of dominance. And I think it starts in the locker room, even before you get out on the field. Because we were held to very high expectations, not by our coaches, but by ourselves, from ourselves.

I mean, there's, you know, Rice, get your head out of your butt. What the heck are you doing? What kind of run is that? You don't want this particular play. You're supposed to be cutting that back over the center. What are you doing? You know, hey, you've got to trust me. I got the block.

I mean, so it's that type of intensity amongst ourselves. Forget coaching. I don't want to talk. It's not about coaching coaches. How many coaches have scored a touchdown, thrown a touchdown, made a tackle. It's not about that. It's about that locker room, man. It's about the brotherhood in that locker room. That's where it's going to have to start. That's where it's going to have to start. And so, look, here's my playbook. I don't care. What's in here is far bigger, man, than anything else.

And so I think that's what it has to come to, that that game has to be more important than any other game that you play. And they did stop it in 2019 and should have continued it in 2020 if they hadn't been for that boneheaded tackle-eligible call. They could have won two in a row, and who knows? It might have become more of a rivalry. Who was our quarterback when we won that game? Bryce Perkins.

And Bryce Perkins had that kind of, we're not losing. Yeah. Come on, get on. Yeah. Get on the shoulders. I'll carry every one of you. Absolutely. That win was right there for me. I was at that game right there for me with the basketball national championship and like right in the same category for me. And so let's fast forward to right now. I think they might have that same guy in number 10. He might not have the athleticism of Bryce Perkins, but. The chutzpah. He's got a little cockiness to him, and he can throw the football.

And Anthony Caland, we're talking about. Yeah, Judah Wickhauer. If Judah might want to throw that highlight reel we got up while we're talking about him. What do you think about Anthony Colander? JerryRackliff.com. He's the right guy for the job.

I read it today. I think he's the right guy for the job for a lot of reasons. One reason, he's going to be a starter probably now for three years. Right. I got this from Jay James. He goes, when I was visiting with Calandria a few weeks ago, I asked his goals for the season. And here's what he said. He's sitting down.

I love this guy. Number one, win the Heisman. Number two, win the ACC championship. And number three, win the O'Brien Award. Let's go. Baller. I'm following that dude. Yeah.

Do you see what I'm saying? I get chills. That's what you want in a league. Am I talking about high standards? Yeah. And carrying a team. Look, it's one thing to make a declaration like i really want to win the heisman yeah it'll be great doing this say it on the record to the media you say it to the media you say it out loud yeah you say it out

loud stop playing respect let's go that's that's what i'm talking about that's how you start you end the streak right you say it out loud you like the Calandria call so I like the Calandria call because Tony Elliott made that call and him and of course quarterbacks coach and all office coordinator

I get that was you know but if he says that's the right guy, if that's the guy, I believe him. There's something he saw. You saw it, you saw it last year. You saw it. And so, I mean, nobody expected that from him last year. Nobody. Well, and the fan base needs a guy like Calandria. Not only do you get a rally around, right? You get three years of playing, but you got the swagger

that we can hang our coat on to go to Scott Stadium early in the season where we're uncertain on the season. Well, let's go watch this kid play. He plays with swagger.

And then if a few things go right, you and I have talked on this show, no added pressure. They got enough pressure. Pressure's a privilege. Four and one very well could be how you start to see.

5-0, if the cookie crumbles the right way, it's possible. You never know. And I know we don't have a whole lot of time, but I do need to add this component in terms of going back and going back talking about what the fan base was and what Sky Stadium was. Remember I talked about having people turn around and start watching the game. Yeah.

It meant everything. So now we have sort of kind of a home field advantage. And that makes sense. And so, you know, in the past year, couple of years, we don't have the home field advantage in our own stadium had it for a while under bronco they they had a really strong home record and then it just went poof listen so again i talk about turning the program around it takes everybody it takes a strong fan base as well now i know it hasn't been pretty to look at. It hasn't been.

But it's important to have home field advantage, have folks come to the games, watch you play. They work, you know, student athletes, man, we work hard, dude, all week, all summer long, two a days. And it's a lot of work to represent your school. And, of course, you want to have a product out there that everybody's proud of. And so it's the icing on the cake when your fan base shows up and supports you, win or lose. Hopefully it's more winning than losing.

But that's another component as well. Antonio Rice. It reflects on recruiting, too. Absolutely. Because those recruits come to the stadium, and if it's half full and nobody's excited, 100% watch it on television. Why should I,

why should I come here? If that's the case. Right. Plus the more people in the stadium, like you said, the excitement of the crowd, but you know, when they,

when they only have a half full stadium, that the program is losing a million dollars a week. Can't do that. That's tough. Not in these days and times. If you say you want to compete, then you've got to show up and support these kids. For sure. We'll throw this here, and we'll close the interview.

Then, Hootie, why don't you and I dot the I's on the game preview we have with Richmond. Judah's got that artwork we can put on screen. Last question for Antonio, then J-Dubs. We'll offer some exit instructions here. Expectations you have for the program for 2024. What are you seeing? Well, listen, it all comes down to health. Health and depth, right?

They kind of go hand in hand. And so I think we have some good depth because injuries are going to happen. It just does. So it's always the next man up mentality. So the next man up better be ready, better be prepared. And so I think we can go out there and win some of the games that we're not supposed to. We can absolutely do that. And then most certainly win the games we're supposed to.

And so I would be very happy if we ended up in a bowl game this year. I think we had the right tools and in the right places. You know, our offensive line is looking improved, most certainly improved, but it looks like these guys are being able to move the line of scrimmage a little bit. We have, I think, a very strong running game. We have some guys, Pace, Greasy is great. Brown, Xavier Brown. I mean, they don't need much, but they need a little bit of movement. And so we established a good running game on offense.

We have a quarterback that has all the confidence in the world. We have defense with some good linebackers. My man Cam Butler on the end, look out for number 82. That's my guy. Seventh year in the program. Yes, yes. And I talked to him the other day. He's fired up. Malventh year in the program. Yes. Yes. And he's, I talked to him the other day. He's fired up. Malachi Fields, Jonas Sanker. We have some dudes. We have some dudes that I think

that we can have a lot of positive outcomes this year. And so I wouldn't be surprised if you see Virginia maybe sniffing a bowl. I'm hopeful. That's what we're hoping to. It's been a great interview, Hootie. It's always fun being around Papa Who. That's my guy. Where did that come from, by the way? Really quickly. It was that 87 season when we lost some players and things. And so I took over.

You hear people say, oh, whose team is it? That's Rice's team. And that was part of it. I don't want to say me. It was a bunch of other folks. But I really just held everybody accountable. I was the dude that's like, I'll put you on my shoulders. It's whatever it takes to be successful and to win.

And somebody said, I can't remember who said it. It might have been Scott Urch. Somebody said, oh, that's Papa Who right there. And that was it. It stuck. It stuck. And before I got to go, I just got to say, you know, Jerry, you've always been fair. You know, sometimes there wasn't a whole lot to report.

And I get it and I understand that. And so you are greatly respected from the old guard, the old guys back in the day in regards to how you reported and what you saw and what you wrote. Thank you for just being fair, being honest, being a brother, right? And it meant everything. Because what folks don't understand is a lot of times people get their information, not from the Internet. Back in our days, it wasn't the web. It was through the newspapers. From him.

Right. It was from him. Yeah. And you told our story better than anybody. Even the good and the bad, you were always fair, but you told such a good, poignant story that had people interested in Virginia football. So our success was on not only the players and the coaches, it was on that man right there. I love that. My first boss, I concur. Hootie Ratcliffe. Love you too. Yeah. Love all you guys. Yeah. Antonio Rice, ladies and gentlemen.

The entire interview archive, wherever you get your social media and podcasting content, one of the best ones. Hootie Rackliff and I will spend about ten minutes highlighting the Richmond Spiders hitting Scott Stadium on Saturday. Thank you, Antonio. It was awesome. Thanks. It was absolutely awesome. Papa who? One of my favorite interviews, my friend.

That was a blast. And I look forward to every time to seeing him in the press box or wherever, running into him in the community. He's just a fine example of what a UVA football player should be. Saturday, live action. Richmond Spiders. Yeah. Six o'clock kick. It's here, brother.

It's here. Right in our face. Six o'clock kickoff. You got a graphic from Scott Ratcliffe we can put on screen, Judah Wittkower? A preview graphic that's on screen right now. Viewers and listeners, take a look. Oh, yeah, yeah. Scott put up a statistical comparison between the two programs,

as you can see. You know, I think Virginia, last I looked, was a ten-and-a-half point favorite. Personally, I think they'll win by more than that, and they should. They should. That's no shade on Richmond. It's just I think this Virginia football team is poised to do something. They've been building toward it.

They have more depth than they've had in quite some time. They have more experience than they've had in quite some time. They have, frankly, I think they have more talent than they've had in quite some time. They have more experience than they've had in quite some time. They have, frankly, I think they have more talent than they've had in quite some time, and that continues to improve a little bit. I know it didn't show up on the scoreboard last year, but I keep pointing back to the fact that they lost five games by a combined 17 points, and most of that was self-inflicted. I have big questions going into the season, just as I did going into training camp, about the offensive line, the running game.

Not so much quarterback anymore, but whether the special teams have come around because I've heard they've had some snafus and some work over there in special teams, and that's something that they have to eliminate if they want to win. They have to dominate the line of scrimmage offensively and defensively in this first game and establish some things because the following week on the road is not going to be a picnic. They're going to Winston-Salem, and that's not like going to Death Valley or to South Bend or some of the places that are going to test their mettle later in the season. But they haven't played well at Wake Forest.

And Wake Forest has been one of the highest scoring teams in the ACC for years. I think Wake is not quite up to that level this year. It remains to be seen. But that's a huge, huge game. They have to win. If they want to go to a bowl game or sniff a bowl game. We've caught the most important game on the schedule. Yeah, I mean, that's a must win. ESPN 2, national TV.

Yeah, I mean, and that's an opportunity to make a statement right there, and it's an opportunity to get off to a potential 2-0 start a potential to build some momentum to where you can do some magical things that first half and and have a chance to turn this program around does calandria play start to finish on saturday i don't think so because i think and again a lot of this is as to whether the game gets away from Richmond or not. They may keep it close. Virginia may keep it close. I don't know, but I think they will try to give Musket some work.

But I think if Calandria plays the way he's expected to play, I don't think he'll come out against Wake Forest if he's playing well. I agree. So I think this first week we'll see a little bit of both, but next week I don't think that'll happen unless something goes haywire. Does the Notre Dame transfer Tyree line up within special teams units? He'll definitely be the kickoff guy. I don't know about punt returns. We'll find out more about that at Tony Elliott's first game week press conference

at 1 o'clock today, so I'll have a full report on that later today. But I think Tyree will be the kickoff guy. He's a dynamic and could be, he's a game changer. And I think he's going to have a huge impact on this football team. This football team, guys, has got live action Saturday, 6 p.m., Scott Stadium with the Richmond Spiders football team hitting Charlottesville. It's a chance to make a statement. It's a chance to say, look, this is how the season is going to play out. And I would love to see an opportunity to run up the score here

and then galvanize the fan base. Yeah, and it won't be easy because Richmond has a really strong defensive line. They haven't named, I think, as of yesterday. I don't think they've named a quarterback yet. But all that shouldn't matter. If Virginia does what it's supposed to do, it shouldn't matter what Richmond does. Virginia should go in, and Virginia should win this football game. Scott Stadium, guys.

Let's pack the house. Tony Elliott, name and calandria of the starting quarterback. Des Kitchings, something to prove. Special teams, something to prove. Defense going to be a strength here. Jonas Sanker. They have something to prove. I think defense, absolutely, especially how the season ended last year.

Absolutely. They were embarrassed in that last game of the season. Yeah, embarrassed. Sanker on a lot of short lists for some big-time awards here. You've got Chris Tyree, who is one of the most dynamic playmakers potentially in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Malachi Fields, a local guy who's going to have to complement Tyree with the wide receiving game.

Kobe Pace needs to step up and show he can carry the load. An offensive line may be the most critical component. Can they protect the quarterback and open up some running lanes here? Coach Elliott's got stuff to prove. Yeah, he does. I mean, he's got to make better decisions himself and find ways to get the best out of this team and to eliminate the things that killed them last year

when they beat themselves so, so, so often, and it wasn't necessary. And like Antonio just said, you know, coaches don't score touchdowns or make tackles and all that, but they are responsible for these guys eliminating the mistakes. That comes down to discipline and coaching. And they've got to get that message, a strong message sent way before they even go into Scott Stadium that we can't tolerate boneheaded stuff anymore.

It's just not going to play out. What are your keys to victory here for Virginia football? I think, again, I think they have to dominate both lines of scrimmage and not just do a decent job. I think they have to dominate and play as close to clean football as they possibly can, protect their quarterback, and not give up turnovers, and maybe force some turnovers.

This team was not very good at that last year. They need to put some pressure on the opposing quarterback and not give up the big explosive plays that got them in trouble last year. But I think one of the main things for that defensive front is to shut down Richmond's running game and make them beat you with a pass. They were slashed and sliced and diced almost so many games last year, just giving up tons of yardage through the A-gap.

And you just can't allow that to happen. And that's something that they need to correct right off the bat. Hootie Ratcliffe, guys, the namesake of JerryRatcliffe.com. We're on the website every day because we're fans of the program, and the man covers the program better than any. You've got so much in the hopper. Got so much and so much more coming it's uh it's almost overwhelming but uh we hope to have everything that a wahoo fan needs jerry rackliff.com judah wickhower behind the camera we appreciate

you judah the antonio rice interview fantastic that was so much fun. So much fun. It's so great having these guys come into the studio. Yeah. So much respect, Antonio, for Hootie Ratcliffe. I felt it here on the studio, and I think you, the viewer and listener, saw it. Game day, Saturday, 6 o'clock, the Richmond Spiders at Scott Stadium. Live action, ladies and gentlemen.

A lot to cover, a lot to talk about, and let's see what happens with, a lot to talk about. And let's see what happens with week one with this football team. For Hootie Ratcliffe, for Judah Wittkower, my name is Jerry Miller, and it's the Jerry and Jerry Show. Archive wherever you get your social media, your podcasting content, and our favorite place, jerryratcliffe.com. So long, everybody, and take care. That was awesome.

That flew by. Thank you.