The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - UVA Most Experienced In Major College Football; #1 In Nation In Total Play Snaps (Texas Tech #2)

Episode Date: June 16, 2026

The Jerry & Jerry Show headlines: UVA Most Experienced Team In Major College Football Hoos #1 In Nation In Total Play Snaps (Texas Tech #2) UVA Opener Moved From Brazil To Scott Stadium Gambling QB Sorsby Enters NFL Supplemental Draft ACC Football Notebook: Great, Good, Bad & Ugly UVA Basebal Coach Pollard On Fire W/ Transfer Portal Ben James Finishes 54th In 1st PGA Tourney ($23K) 50 Stories Per Month For Only $8 At JerryRatcliffe.com Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air Jerry Ratcliffe & Jerry Miller were live on The Jerry & Jerry Show! The Jerry & Jerry Show airs live Tuesday from 10:15 am – 11:15 pm 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.

Welcome to the Jerry and Jerry Show, guys. My name is Jerry Miller, and thank you kindly for joining us. This is the most watched and listened to UVA sports talk show out there. It's long-form content where we encourage you, the viewer, and listener to join us in the conversation. Jude, if you could, do me a favor and check Hootie's Twitter account. So we're live streaming there so we can connect what is a massive following of people. 23,200 on Jerry Rackleff's Twitter account. If you're not following him on Twitter, you'll see UVA sports content,

ACC sports content and some fantastic video and photo content of man's best friend, man's breast friend. Nice judo, up and running on Jerry Racklems' Twitter account. Well done. Like and chair of the show, a lot we're going to cover on the program, including a season opener mood from South America, from Brazil, back to Scott Stadium.

It just didn't pan out. I understand Virginia Athletics was chasing a payday, but this may be when it's all set and done for the good. We'll talk about that on the program. And speaking of football, did you know the Wahoos and Tony Elliott's team have the most experience on paper of any program in major college football?

Crazy to say, right? They have the most collective snaps, UVA football, its current roster, and it's by a long shot, Texas Tech and the two slot. We'll talk about that with Jerry Rackliff.com. We'll talk golf. Ben James finishes in 54th place at his first event on the Pee's.

PGA tour. Chris Pollard is loading, loading up through the transfer portal. All those stories and more, as we encourage you, the viewer and listener, to subscribe to Jerry Ratcliffe.com. $8 a month, get you 50 fresh pieces of content per 30-day period. $8 a month, the price of a cup of coffee. Judah, Wickhauer behind the camera. Questions already on the feed for Hootie Ratcliffe. Awesome. Studio camera for Hoots, Judah, the star of our show. My favorite column that you've done since I've known you and I've known you for, goodness gracious, 24 years in August, 24 years when I walked in as bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Yes, you were. You still are. I was in all of you. You were sitting there eating a big bacon classic from Wendy's. You had some fries next to it. A typical lunch back in yesterday. Was it a Diet Coke or was it a Coke? Was it a Pepsi?

probably a diet coke Diet Coke and a big baking classic when I walked in You're in front of the computer on that cubicle Right when you walked in next to Molly's desk The set there for a long Long time What was Molly's role? She was a great person on

Newroom assistant Yeah Yeah she was awesome She was awesome Yeah she was just A bunch like joyful Yeah Enjoyed being around her

Auburn grad She was from Huntsville She told me some great stories about, I think her dad was, worked in the rocket program or something, and she told me all kinds of great stories about Warner von Braun and some of the German rocket scientists that were there during her youth. Molly, now Molly Crawford, I hope she hears this, then Molly Akeel, War Eagle, big time Auburn, Auburn Tigers fan. Yeah, oh yeah. Since older home and now living with her fantastic husband, Wayne, who's a friend of the program, in a tricked-out RV. Really? Awesome.

They live in an RV. I lost track of her. I'm glad to see she's doing well. Yep, yeah, ran it to her husband the other few days ago. We have so many stories to tell. That's what's the beautiful thing about Jerry Rackleff. Scatter shooting. My favorite column you ever do is the scatter shooting where you sit in front of a keyboard, and it's almost initially stream of conscience for you. as you put words to a screen. Yeah, I mean, as you know, if you're doing this, you run into all kinds of tidbits and stuff

that probably it's hard to build a complete story around, but you don't want to leave it unwritten either. So I used to just collect a lot of notes and then add my own personal thoughts to some of them and it added up to pretty interesting stuff. We still do them. Probably will do more of them once things get cranked up again. But it was always fun to write,

and we had a tremendous feedback on that. I know people that used to live in Waynesboro when they couldn't get the paper delivered, and they would drive all the way over-afts and mountain just to get a copy of the scatter shooting column each week. So it has been a very popular item over the years. What has stood out to you over the last week? We have a season opener moved from Brazil to Charlottesville.

We got, as you reported on jerry rackliff.com for subscribers. It's only $8 a month, and we're going to wet your appetite right now. The most collective experience for this roster, by a snap count standpoint, of any program in major college football. Wow. Yeah, I mean, that's, it kind of blew my mind when I saw that. I knew they had an experienced football team, but not to that degree.

I wrote it down my notes here. I got it in front of us if you need it. Okay. I got it. I just try to find it right there. And the only reason I know this is because I'm a subscriber to Jerry Rackliff.com. Literally have Jerry Rackliff.com in front of me. Yeah, actually, I don't know where my note is on that.

Virginia is number one. Texas Tech is two. The Who's have 39,158 snaps. And get this, viewers and listeners, Texas Tech and the two slot, 35,838. I mean, that's not even a close gap number one and two. Yeah, and Texas Tech just lost some of those snaps, too. To the NFL supplemental draft. That's right.

guy that has more gamble to him than maybe Charlie Hustle himself. Probably considering what he had over 900 bets, I think. Yeah, unbelievable, including on his team at Indiana. And somehow was allowed to play by a Lubbock judge. I mean, imagine that. Texas Tech, Lubbock, a Lubbock judge. A retired visiting judge. Yeah, says Sorsby can play.

That just goes to show that if you get to the, right judge you can get almost anything done. Chandler Morris didn't have the right judge. No, he didn't. And oh, here's my notes. It was at the bottom of this. But yeah, I mean, Virginia's over over 4,000 snaps more than Texas Tech for the most snaps of any team in in football. And SMU is the closest to them in the ACC in the 11th place with more than

10,000 less snaps. That bodes well, I think, for Virginia. I thought things were going well for Virginia anyway, but I think that is a statement that's powerful in the fact that

you've got so many guys that have experience. I think experience means an awful lot in any sport, but particularly college football. And you have guys out there. You're playing grown men sometimes against some pretty younger guys that haven't developed yet. And that definitely makes a difference on the football field when it comes down to physicality. All right, 100%. The mayor, McIntyre, William McChesney, watching the program.

Viewers and listeners, put your thoughts in the feed. And we'll relay it live on air. This is a good one that's come from Richmond, Virginia. You guys routinely talk about the men's basketball team, and you compare it to where it was at this point of the season and at the end of March of this past year. And you've said that Virginia basketball is way better now on paper, talent-wise, than it was to start last season, even during March Madness.

How about the same comparison for the football program versus last year when it won 11 wins? It's Jennifer and Richmond. That's a hell of a question. It was a good question. I haven't thought about it very much, but I think it's harder to compare because we're dealing with more than 100 football players as opposed to 13 basketball players. Nine who play. Yeah, nine who play.

And it's so obvious to see their skill. Football, I mean, it's harder to judge because, you know, it's harder to judge because, you know, it's hard. to judge because, you know, I don't know that. Unless you really study a team by watching film, you may not know what a particular linebacker or a particular safety is doing or a guard or a tackle or a center. I don't know that you could make that statement. It's certainly, as we said, it's great that they have.

those kind of snaps under their belt. In some places on the team, they're certainly better than they were a year ago or just as good. I think the only spot or the only position group at this point that there's even a question mark about would be the wide receiver position because even though they have a bunch of guys

that have a real number of really separated from themselves. There's a lot of guys with potential who could have really good years, and particularly with experienced quarterbacks throwing the ball to them. I'm not ready to come out and make that kind of a statement at this point, but I certainly think it bodes well that they have that kind of experience returning particularly at a lot of key positions. But to say they're as good or better than last year's team at this point, I don't know that you can do that yet.

Viewers and listeners, comments put them in the feed. Certainly, take the quarterback position. Quarterback position this time last year versus the quarterback position right now. We knew Chandler Morris was going to be good. Right. I don't know if we anticipated Chandler Morris was going to be as good as he ended up. I kind of thought he would be. I had questions about his height.

I also had questions about durability. The height proved not to be an issue. The durability was somewhat of an issue. A little bit. Yeah, but he overcame that. He took a lot of beating. A ton of hits. Some of that because of how he played.

Right. He was aggressive football player. He's a gunslinger. On paper, quarterback position now versus this time last year. I've got to say upgrade, right? Well, overall at that position, yeah, because I wasn't convinced that the backup last year was going to be able to really contribute much to the team. He had no college experience, and I didn't think he would get to play a whole lot. And so if he did, he would be under the gun.

And we saw the couple of times he came in that it didn't bode well for Virginia. I almost felt bad for him. I did, too. But, you know, that's a situation you're in. And this year, I think it's an upgrade in terms of the quality of the depth at that. We still don't know who the starter is at this point. It could be Eli Holstein or it could be Beau Pribula. And both of these guys have started at Power 4 football programs and had success.

and so you know if either one they go with I don't think they put themselves in a bind like they did last year they've got guys who

have proven they can get the job done and so overall at that position it's an upgrade for sure viewers and listeners let us know your thoughts do you have a pick for the starter we're going to go privula

I think it's probably privula from just the little things I pick up here and there, but I wouldn't be shocked if it wasn't, but I think it will be. Mostly because he's so quick on his feet. He's fast. He's a lot faster than I thought he was. And he likes to run the football. He admits that he's not great at sliding either, which is something that Chandler Morris wasn't particularly good at until toward the end after he took a couple of lumps. But I think he will probably end up starting, but I wouldn't hold my breath on it.

This comment's come in and it's a really good one. Does Rackcliffe think there's a deeper position besides quarterback that could really be a focal point or a strength for this team? Well, yeah, I think the running back position could be. There's five or six guys there who have experience, which is unbelievable to have that many running backs who have been successful. A couple of them are returning players to this team, and then three guys have come in from the portal, and they've all been successful.

wherever they were. So, and behind the offensive line it they have, which is, I think, fairly deep, certainly incredibly experienced. I wrote down their snaps individually. McKell Bowley and Noah Josie, unbelievable. Noah Josie has played in 48 games in his career. McCill Bowley's played in 40 games. Macklin Thomas, 38 games.

He missed last season because of an injury. He was supposed to come in when Monroe Mills got hurt, who has played in 34 games, by the way. It was supposed to be a stud at right tackle last year. He got hurt in preseason, missed the season. Thomas was supposed to fill in for him. Got hurt. missed the entire season, so they were going with third team right tackle.

And Drake Medcalf, one of my favorite quotes on the team, I love talking to that guy. 33 games played, 19 starts. So behind that kind of an offensive line, and they've got some guys behind them that have some playing experience too, like Ben York and some other guys. that bodes well for running backs. The Lewis kid from Tennessee played out of Salem, Virginia, told me that that was one of the main reasons he came here, was he saw that he was going to be running behind a big, powerful, experienced offensive line.

And those guys are difference makers, and that can help the running game tremendously. So that's a deep group. I think it's extremely deep. extremely deep last year. Yeah. And it's even deeper this year. And they ended up using every one of a last year.

I mean, we had an injury to Xavier Brown. Yeah. And he's back. He's back. He's back. He's explosive. Yeah. I mean, folks, you take the two most noteworthy, at least fan-focused positions,

quarterback and running back. And on paper, I'm talking on paper, the depth and the across-the-board talent at those two positions, on paper is more significant at this point of the season than this time last year. Yeah. And that says a lot. Yeah. And last year's team won 11 games. Absolutely.

Now, how about some ACC predictions, some crystal balls? One outlet had UVA in the three slot. Yeah, that was on3.com, which is, they're kind of a, I'm not sure they and rivals are sort of I guess together now, but their preseason was Virginia was number three in the ACC behind Miami and SMU.

Some of the polls are just now starting to come out. Some won't come out until August, but including or the official one, late July when they have the ACC kickoff down in Charlotte. But Athlon magazine had Virginia 6th, so to

DSPN, both one slot behind Virginia Tech. On three had Virginia Tech 7th and Virginia 3rd, so they are quite different than the other two polls. But you know, that's a huge

sign of respect right there. Big time. They're usually voted down toward the bottom. What was last year, they were picked 14th, I think, in the preseason. And we all those of us who follow the program, including yourself, and I'm sure a lot of our viewers scoffed at that when we saw it

because we knew that was ridiculous. They were going to be much better than that because of the portal, the work they did in the portal. That was more of an indication of Virginia's past history. Yeah, it was. And lack of respect. And a lot of times these polls are geared toward that. That's off of what you did the year before.

So, but I think this is a massive sign of acknowledgement that Virginia is not the same Virginia that we've grown accustomed to over the past decade. Rob Neal watching the program, Michael Guthrie watching the program, Vanessa Parkhill watching the program, Don Gathers watching the program, viewers and listeners of all shapes and sizes and all sports preferences watching our talk show. This question comes from Eastern Tennessee. Jeremy Wilson, who follows college football, big-time UVA fan says it's been a while since UVA football has had a big physical running back like Lewis, not to mention he has speed as well. He follows Tennessee football. He's in eastern Tennessee. He's talking about a kid from volunteer country.

Originally from Salem. Yeah. But, yeah, he played a couple of years for the Vols. and who were loaded at running back. And so he got playing time, but I think he decided to go somewhere where he thought he could start. 6-1-215.

Yeah, and like you said, he has incredible speed. He was one of the, had a great high school track career down in Salem. It was state champion in, I think it was maybe the hurdles. I can't remember. Let's see, I can find that. Top of my head, but he had some really great performances in track. And, yeah, to have a back that big with that kind of speed, it's been a while.

In fact, I don't know that they've had a back of that big with that kind of speed. I'm trying to remember how much Barry Ward. Barry Ward was also a good track guy. and was a big dude and fast, but I can't remember if he was 215 or not. But I don't, I can't remember anybody else. We've had guys who were fastbacks, but didn't have a lot of size,

and we've had some guys with size who didn't have a lot of speed. So this, he might be the best combination of both Sintberry word, really. Blast from the past right there That's the early mid-80s Yeah, and he was ACC player of the year Yeah, in 85 Yeah

And went on to have an outstanding NFL career Mostly with the Kansas City Chiefs Look at you, going deep in the memory bank right there Oh, well, you know, I actually went out to Kansas City And interviewed him and A couple other guys A guy who grew up in Charlottesville Was playing for the Chiefs

is in their ring of honor, and right now I'm embarrassed because I can't remember his name. Played from Maryland and Lane High School. Let's see if I can find that. His memory is on point here. Defensive back. The last big back I remember that contributed. Now, he did have the speed, but he had the physicality was Antoine Womack. Yeah.

He got in some off-the-field issues where he was suspended for a year. Antoine Womack scared the absolute bejebus out. of me walking down the steps at the Biltmore Grill. He was a big dude. Did I ever tell you about that story? I don't think so. I'm at, we're at the Biltmore Grill on Elleywood Avenue. I may or may not have been underage.

You may have been. I think I was. Antoine Womack, I'm at the top of the stairs. This is now Ellie's Country Club. I don't know why you would rebrand the Biltmore Grill, but that's a topic for another day. I'm coming down the stairs at the Biltmore Grill. Antoine Womack is coming up the stairs.

He was driving around grounds at the time at a fully loaded. catalack. I mean, like 15, 17-inch rims, like one of the most beautiful cars, you can imagine. He parks his Cadillac illegally on Ellywood Avenue, walks into the Biltmore Grill up the stairs. Now this passageway up and down the stairs is very narrow. Nearly impossible for two regular-sized men to pass each other shoulder to shoulder on the stairway, let alone Antoine Womack, who is not a regular-sized man. I'm coming down the stairs, mistakenly bump him. Antoine

Womack did not like that. I'm sure. Lost his temper a little bit and may or may not have threatened my life at the time and I just scurried like a school girl terrified down the stairs and out the front door. Wise decision. That was my wife's decision. That was my Antoine Womack's story.

But he was a physical specimen. He was a man. He was. No question about it. And played for my friend Al Groh. And Al had another big running back later, and I can't remember his name, but he was maybe even bigger than Lomac.

A lot of people didn't think he should even be a running back, but he was almost impossible to tackle, particularly when he ran between the tackles. I can't think of the guy's name. The Kansas City Chiefs guy you were talking about was Lloyd Burris. Lloyd Burris, yeah. How could I forget? His name.

but we worked at ACAC for a long time. It was a trainer at ACAC. Yeah, and grew up here. I had a couple drinks with Lloyd Burris. I remember back of the day at Belmont Pizza. Yeah, yeah. He would hang in at Belmont Pizza from time to time. Like, who is this huge person?

He was an incredible. Yeah, kind person. Yeah, yeah. Lloyd Burris. This comment comes in from the mayor of McIntyre. Kent Merritt was a good track guy at Lane High School as well. He was. He was an almost world-class track guy.

I think he ran track for Virginia and did very well, if I recall. We know Kent. He still lives here, I believe. I think he does. This comes from Tennessee, not Jeremy Wilson, but somebody else in Tennessee. Lewis was a class four state champion in track and field in the indoor 55 meters and outdoor 100 meters. And he also won a state title in the 200 meter with the P. PR of 21.2.

Yeah. Yeah, that's right. Sprinter. And he was, those are some pretty nice numbers right there. Mark Brown watching the program. Another big powerful back, but not sure about the speed,

was Kevin Morgan. Kevin Morgan, yes. This guy, this name popped in my head. Was it Keith Payne? There was that big running back for Played for Grow? I'm going to Google that.

I got the, I see, I have the luxury of having I think he transferred in here from somewhere else. Let's see. He was massive, if I recall. 6-3-255 from Northern Virginia, Keith Payne. Yeah. Talk about a guy that was hard to bring down.

255. 255 is, I mean, that's a linebacker. Yeah, a lot of people, well, he should have been a linebacker. That's a linebacker run in the football right there. I mean, do you remember, and speaking of linebackers that ran the football, was it Amad Brooks, play for your 49ers? Yeah. He would occasionally get some goal line touches.

Yeah, ever now. The Al Grohs, middle linebacker. Yeah. Who was one of the... He was a heck of a linebacker. Incredible linebacker. Yeah. That was a linebacking core

with Amad Brooks and Darrell Blackstock in it. Right. I mean, that's when Groh, it was tight end and linebacker you. He brought in a ton of pros. For sure. And some really good offensive linemen, too. This comments come in the feed here.

Is Elliot's next evolution more, what you just said, more pro athletes on the roster? It has to be if he wants to get this program to where he envisions it. I mean, if you look back at some of Virginia's better teams and teams that remain consistent year after year, they were full of guys that ended up with NFL careers throughout the George Welsh era and the Algrove era. And then things kind of fell off. It didn't used to be that unusual to have 20 to 30-some UVA football alumni in the NFL. Now, you know, you'd only have a handful.

So probably 10 or less, something like that. And it's been that way for quite a while. So, yes, that is the next step. They're going to have to produce guys that can play at the next level. And I think they're making some moves toward that to where there'll be a lot more NFL scouts hanging around Scott Stadium this year and in the future. Comments continue to come in.

This is from James Madison Mineral. He thinks the back you're talking about is Keith Payne. Yeah. Yeah, he was right. Keith Payne was the guy. This one's come in from Short Pump. Who's his top five or Mountain Rushmore of running backs at UVA?

Oh, wow. That's a tough one because I'm sure I'm going to leave somebody out. but I think it's obvious that Thomas Jones, Tiki Barber, Terry Kirby, it's hard to overlook, Barry Word. It depends on how far you go back. Do you want to go to Bill Dudley? That's modern day. If you want to go all the way back,

you've got to look at John Pappet and out of Lynchburg, Bill Dudley, out of Bluefield. field and maybe the guy who was the greatest of all whose name is escaping me at the moment who I did some research on when I wrote the history of UVA football and interviewed a guy who actually played with this guy

in 1914 I think who held all kinds of UVA records I think it was Virginia's first maybe Virginia's first All-American or all whatever fact they had back in those days. I wish I had my book in front of me.

I can't think of his name at the moment. But he fought in World War I. I thought he got killed, but he did not. And he went on and had a nice life. But he held all kinds of, he held the Virginia's scoring record,

I think, until within the last 10 or 15 years it was broken by I think one of the cookers but I interviewed a guy who was the oldest living cavalier back in the 80s and this guy

rich guy from Northern Virginia who owned the land that he sold to Dallas for Dulles Airport now suits. He has, he donated heavily to UVA. He has a wing over at the hospital.

I can't think of his name either. But that guy, the guy interviewed, played on those early 1912, 13, 14, 14 teams and said, and he followed Virginia football until his death. And he was,

102 when I interviewed him. But he said this guy was the greatest football player he had ever seen. Nobody could stop him, particularly down around the goal line, where he had incredible scoring success. So you would have to include him in that package,

I would think. But those would be off the top of my head the best ones that I can recall. Maybe others on the short list, but Your list was absolutely on point. Wally Lundy.

Wally Lundy, Alvin Sneed, who we've had on the show. Alvin Perman? Yeah. Alvin Perman is a big time one. Wally Lundy, Alvin Perman. Here's the career rushing leaders list. I have it in front of me. Thomas Jones in the one slot.

Tiki Barber in the two slot. Terry Kerb, Tab's finest. Terry Kerr. We can't leave about Frank Quill either. Frank Whale, former color analysts of the UVA radio broadcast. Thomas Jones in the one slot, Tiki Barber 2, Terry Kirby 3,

John Pappet, 4, Wally Lundy, career rushing leader in the 5 slot. Tommy, is it Vigorino? Yeah. Vigaroni. In the 6 slot. Frank Whale in the 7th slot. Jim Bactiar?

Bacthiar was great. He was more of a fullback. He's in the 8th slot with career rushing. Alvin Pierman in the ninth slot, Barry Ward in the 10th slot, Marcus Wilson in the 11th slot, Antoine Womack, the 12th slot. I have a, despite the threat of my life at the Biltmore, I have an affinity for Antoine Womack because one of my first out-of-town assignments while working for Jerry Rackleff, the Daily Progress, was to head down to Phoebus High School, where I interviewed Bill D, had football coach,

PE teacher and head football coach at Phoebus. Great coach. I'm in an office the size of my closet. Bill D. is not a small man and he has a desk in there somehow. He sits me down on a love seat couch and it was far from a love seat. It was tattered, stain, and stunk. I'm sitting on this. Typical high school football coach's office.

A hundred percent. I'm sitting in this tattered, stained and stinky love seat talking to Bill D. about Antoine Womack and he said, that boy's me. That boy is mean. He was me. And that's what made him great. Yeah. No question about it.

He was tough. Howard Petty, Kevin Brooks, and Nikki Fisher on that list. Yeah. All really good running backs. I'm sure we probably left out some other people deserving of mention too. But I can't think of anybody on that list that wasn't worthy of mention for sure. Eastern Tennessee's, Jeremy, Wilson said, I still believe to this day that Al Groh should never have been fired.

Well, things, you know, a lot of people don't realize, but Al is the second winning as coach in UVA history. And I think it might be tied for the second longest tenure of any football coach in UVA history. And I tend to agree with him. things went south and I think there were a couple of reasons. I think, you know, Al put together a brilliant staff when he got here. And over the years, a lot of those guys became head coaches or coordinators at other programs. And I think it was difficult for him to replace those guys with the same quality of coaches. that he brought here. And I think that hurt recruiting and I think things unraveled a bit in that respect.

Also, I think he, well, I know so that he was promised a lot of things when he left the Jets to come here that never materialized. And even though he warned Virginia that it was falling way behind the rest of the ACC, particularly when that one big expansion came that had Miami and I think Syracuse and a couple of other teams and they didn't listen to him and I had an administrator tell me years later that Al was right and that they should have listened to him and the reason they didn't was one of the reasons things unraveled the way they did and Virginia suffered in football for that for a long time, but Al warned them at that time that they were one misstep away from becoming Duke. And at that time, Duke was pathetic in football.

And so... And you know, in a lot of ways, he was right. He was right. And this particular administrator admitted that Al was right. Do we not utilize that guy's name? And Virginia did become Duke. Yeah, they became Duke. because that went through the futility of Mike London.

Yeah. So challenging years during the Broncos term. Yeah, particularly the first year. The first year was putrid. Yeah. But he did rebound. And then three years with Tony Elliott, where there was the least amount of wins

in all of major college football. Yeah. 11 wins in three years. 11 wins in three years. So there was a long stretch there that Virginia paid the price of not listing. Yeah. infrastructure and facilities outdated and diminished and sorely lacking. But now Virginia's rebounded and a lot because of the portal and comments are people,

this is resonating with the viewers and listeners, this content we're airing right now. I just did a quick Google search. Now, these are not all during the UVA era, but Al Groh's coaching family tree. Ken Wisenhunt was a tight-ends coach under Al Grohrow. He was then the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals and Tennessee Titans. Todd Bowles was a defensive backs coach under Al Groh. He, of course, became the head coach of the Jets of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Todd Haley was the wide receivers coach under Grow.

Later became the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, and he's still in the National Football League. Mike Nolan, defensive coordinator under Al Groh. Of course, his son, Mike Grow. And how about, from a collegiate standpoint, Al Golden, Defense coordinator under Grow. Later, the head coach at Temple, Miami, and Norderdame. Bob Diaco, Mike London, Latrell Scott, just to name a few.

I mean, that's... There's tons of... That's a who's who of talent. Yeah, and there's a lot more, yeah. He has a huge coaching tree. Yeah. For sure. And Comments, Scott German's watching the program.

Scotty? Scottie German. Yeah. Got to get him on. Yeah. It goes by Scott. Scott, we love it. We got to get you on the show.

He says... He was going to come to... David, he's out of town. I believe it's Buck Mayer that you're looking for. Yeah, Eugene Buck Mayer. Yeah. That's the guy. Scott German is a walking encyclopedia. Yes. Of sports content. Scott, I welcome to the Jerry Rackleff stable of talent. You're a wordsmith and your ability to craft a phrase and utilize words to engage and entertain readers is quite impressive, sir. Yeah. I sincerely mean that. Jamari Taylor, a match, a match, if he had played four years at UVA.

That's on the feed right now. Yeah, and that was totally unexpected. They had no idea of what they had. They knew he was good, but they didn't know that he was that good. And he certainly was terrific. The first Virginia back in quite a while to gain over 1,000 yards and lead the ACC in rushing and was terrific. No question about it.

comments continue to come in the feed. Folks want to talk Chris Pollard and reloading the program through the transfer portal. That's from Mark Brown. Glad to see baseball hitting the portal hard. This team is like the forced gump quote. UVA baseball is like a box

of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get. This team, this past year, had no identity. Yeah, I guess it was kind of hard to define the team. And, you know, hats off to Pollard for being able to merge essentially what was left to the Virginia's program along with what he could pull from Duke

and blend those guys into a winning program and got them back into the NCAA tournament. And as he mentioned after this season, he had to do that in like 30 days. he compared it to like drinking out of a fire hose so this time it's he used the term more surgical in what he and his staff can do in recruiting the portal and bringing in high school players

and hopefully he won't get hurt by the major league draft too badly in terms of the high school prospects but he brought in A bunch of guys, a couple, particularly the Jordan Crossland kid from Maryland, originally from Suffolk. And he's a left fielder with two years of eligibility remaining. And according to one organization, he was the number 13 available player in the portal.

He was the top shortstop. one of the top prospects in the state, his senior year 2003, top 15 nationally and a couple of things. But he had this past year, he had 12 home runs, 12 stolen bases, so he's got power

and speed. He'll help fill the void in the outfield with Grosha and Dittowick hopefully, being drafted. And then another one of the guys that was kind of eye-opening

was Michael Echo, Elko, from Richmond, second baseman, whose dad is the head football coach at Texas A&M and was a candidate for head football coach here when Bronco left. But Elko was a six-foot

second team All Atlantic 10 player with a 340 batting, the average seven home runs, 38 RBI, second baseman, I think I mentioned, but he played second base and some catcher and had a really good career at Richmond. So those are two eye-catching fines out of the point. portal and several other guys, Reed Howard, a shortstop from Western Kentucky. I'm not sure how he pronounced this guy from Mount St. Mary's. He's left-handed pitcher,

6-4. I don't even know how to pronounce this. S-E-R-I-G-N-E, it's his first name. I guess S-R-R-R-E is his last name, S-A-R-E. He was all Metro Atlantic Conference. It's a freshman and a sophomore. Six, four left-handed pitcher. Went at least six innings in half of his starts. I mean, that's certainly a strong addition. And then Sal, I don't know if I guess it's Minio from Delaware

and John Downing from Seton Hall. And Joey Giordano, I think he's also from Richmond. He hit over 300. I played 54 games in center field. Just a plethora of talent that they're hauling in out of the portal. And, you know, he needs it because there's a portion of the fan base that's extremely frustrated with how the season finished. And I think it's not necessarily

rational or fair, my words, because the man was thrown into a deep ocean without a life preserver. I think you see a big difference this next time around. Yeah. I mean it was a very challenging circumstance he faced taking over a team that late in the year, especially following a legend like Brian O'Connor who was beloved.

especially with the storyline that Brian O'Connor had a messy divorce and most of the fan base, overwhelming majority of the fan base, siding with Coach O'Codder and the divorce. And then Coach O'Connor goes to the SEC and has success. Yeah. But I do think Pollard is prime for success in a second season. I mean, you've got to look at his history. What he did was Appalachian State's program,

and then what he did at Duke with much less in terms of facilities and support and stuff than he has at Virginia. I know talking to a couple of the Duke players that came here, their minds were blown when they arrived and saw the various underbellies of the facility at this. around park with all the equipment and analytical stuff and all the things that help players develop in every

facet of their game. They couldn't believe it hardly existed. They were like kids in a candy shop when they got here and saw the difference between the two programs. And give it Tom he was kind of thrown into the fire and

100% still managed to get him into the NCAA tournament which is not always a given. No, not, I know, I know. We just almost spoiled with success for Virginia baseball. Yeah, I mean, even Brian O'Connor used to tell us, he said, guys, what we've done here is not ordinary.

This is not something that happens everywhere. This has been fantastical. and almost magical in what they were able to do over a 20 year period he said just don't

just don't take this for granted because it's not ordinary I covered you sent me to the Brian O'Connor press conference when he was first hired I did

remember when it was Dennis Womack's team and no shade to Dennis Womack who was the head coach of Virginia baseball for 24, 25 years? Long, a long time. Dennis Womack was coaching a team that would have a couple hundred fans in the stands.

Yeah, and he had terrible facilities, terrible financial support. There were times I'd go to Virginia baseball while a student at the University of Virginia, and there was like three dozen fans there. Yeah. You'd have more fans at high school baseball games. Yeah.

And we could walk anywhere we want, sitting in the first row, we'd sneak things in that we weren't supposed to sneak in. And I just went because I was a diehard sports fan and just like seeing that stuff. But there was no one there. Yeah. And then I believe Womack after O'Connor got the job, they had a parting of the ways, the athletic department at Womack, was the facilities manager. Yes.

For a long time. For a long time. For Virginia baseball. But that's how it was. And, you know, it's been an incredible rock. I mean, dynastic. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it just goes to show when you, well, they almost eliminated baseball here.

Right. They came really close. And I've said this before. I've never seen John Grisham so upset as he was when they announced that they were considering defunding baseball and making it a club sport. I was down at his little league facility. In Covesville. In Covesville, they were filming a part of a movie for his book about a little league baseball player. I think he was named Mickey, maybe.

But anyways, I was talking to him, was standing up on that tower in the middle of it, and John Grisham was livid. I mean, he was livid about what they were trying to do. And he and some other people rallied and got the money together and saved the program. And look what it blossomed into. It was unbelievable. It just goes to show when you put money into a program what can be done,

and particularly when you hire somebody who's young and hungry and ready to take on the challenge. Yeah, I mean, and that's why Virginia athletics, and, you know, my tune is starting to change on NIL and this pay-to-play version of college football. And why it's changing is because I realize how wealthy, we all know the Virginia alumni base is. And it's going to have, and if it's an arms race funding these sports, Virginia's in the driver's seat. I mean, who said it? One of your colleagues or sources said that Virginia athletics could be the New York Yankees of college sports. I can't remember who said that, but they were right.

Because of the wealth. Yeah. But, you know, the wealth has always been there. They just weren't all in. Right. And I think the straw that broke the camel's back was when Virginia Tech beat the daylight out of Virginia in football a few years ago here at Scott Stadium and then came back out on the field, smoking cigars and posing for pictures.

and I think some of the former football players who have some wealth said this will never happen again, and they vowed to throw money into the program like this program had never seen before. And we see the results of it now this past season, the last two seasons actually, but particularly this past season. It's once you're all in,

and if you're not all in, you might as well forget it because just tiptoeing into NIL is not going to get it done. And I think a lot of programs in football and basketball around the country and in the ACC are suffering because they're not all in

and have been surpassed by people who are like Virginia. How about and comments continue to come in. How about this one on Ben James? Yeah. Let's talk some Ben James.

I mean, Ben James, ladies and gentlemen, a couple of weeks ago, was walking around Charlottesville in rainbow sandals, maybe with his collar popped, hopping outside the Bodo's bagels. That would be Ben James.

On the UVA corner. He likes his steak very thin. He's a huge steak fan. He's a huge fan of Batman. Huge fan of the Dark Knight. I didn't know that. Huge fan of the Yukon Huskies. Yeah, he's from Connecticut.

That's right. Milford, Connecticut, I believe. Yeah. His second favorite coach, any sport, is Dan Hurley, because he likes his intensity. His first one is your friend Bowen. Yeah. Ben James.

I tried to get Bowen on the show today, but he's playing in the state senior amateur today, I think. So wish him well. I see Dustin Groves, the assistant coach from time to time at the swimming pool. Yeah. Getting some free time in. One of the national assistants of the year. One of the best assistant coaches out there.

And then the Gullin is national coach of the year. That's right. For getting the sake. How many people at this school of one national coach of the year? All right. It's unbelievable. Saw Kevin Kese at the swimming pool. My favorite with Dustin grows at the swimming pool, what he's doing, what all us young dads are doing,

try to maintain sanity as his children are running amok. We've all been there. Yes, we have. This one right here, Hoots. is a wonderful story. Now, going into the weekend, he was atop the leaderboard, Ben James.

Yeah, that's what blew everyone's mind, maybe even his, because you're right, just a couple weeks ago, he was playing in the Cavalier Invitational here in Charlottesville, and you could walk up

and walk with him during the tournament if you were a fan. and, you know, six weeks later, he's leading a PGA tour event. The RBC Canadian Open. A really big event. A legit event. Yeah.

And, I mean, just to make the cut in your debut as a pro is massive, but to be actually leading the tournament after two rounds with a brilliant seven-under-prud. score on Friday was a massive. He couldn't maintain it. He had a tough third round. He had seven bogeys, I think, on Saturday and fell back. But finished tied for 54th, brought home $23,000. Pretty good payday for your first payday.

23-year-old earned 23K in his first tournament. Yeah. I think future of golf is going to be bright for this dude. Yeah. Well, and we knew that was going to be the case. I mean, he was good when he got here. And it just goes to show that the people that, again, threw money into the golf program and gave him that facility over at Birdwood.

That facility is gorgeous. As made a big difference. Because Bowen will tell you how hard it is to recruit to a school this far north in terms of golf. players tend to go to the southern schools where they can play year-round and work on their game. So they didn't have any way to work on their game year-round here until this facility. So, again, money can make a difference. I mean, he showed up here. He was, as a freshman, he was advanced.

And Bowling will be the first to tell you the way they managed to hold on him for four years was the PG. tour college program that they have to where you have to be able to win that or be eligible to contend for that, which if you finish high enough, you get your PGA tour card coming right, you don't have to go to qualifying school. But the only way you can do that is you have to be in college your last two years. and that kept him otherwise he would have turned pro probably a couple years ago but that

kept him here for four years and he was able to avoid Q school and fighting his way through the Corn Ferry Tour and other tours to start him and so yeah there was also talk that he was

earning a fair amount of money at NIL yeah and he was UVA and he was yeah and that was certainly just survival with the kind of future he was going to have. With a talent he had. Yeah, no question. But, you know, hats off to him.

Denny McCarthy finished a tie for 60th. Tour regular for several years now. Ben Coles, who had a hell of a week last week. He won the Corn Fairy event the week before. was seen sprinting out of to his car to catch a flight to D.C. So he could qualify for the U.S. Open. Kissing his kids and his wife, I believe.

Yeah. And a suburban that was adjacent to his car. Right. Like literally spending like a minute or two to kiss his kids in the back seat. Yeah. His daughter was asking for more time with him in that video. That video was awesome.

It was awesome. and barefoot i think his shoes were in his hand may have been maybe you know he caught a flight went got got to dc qualified for the u.s open that following day then had to catch a flight to canada to play in this tournament finished in a tie for 29th won 58 000 plus which is massive uh we're with him. And then a guy we had almost forgotten about, who I used to interview on a regular basis, and enjoyed talking to him because he might have been the most positive guy,

the most confident guy that I've ever run into in the college golf. Jimmy Stanger from Tampa who played at Virginia back in, I think, 2017, I believe. had been on and off the tour with an elbow entry. And this year he was playing a mixed schedule with Corn Ferry and PGA. And he was leading the tournament on Sunday. Unbelievable. Out of nowhere. And all he had to do was part of the 18th to get enough points to keep his card for next year.

He's playing on a medical exemption. And unfortunately, I felt so bad for him. He hit his approach shot into the water on 18 and ended up bogeying the hole. I don't feel too sorry for him now because he finished tied for fourth. I know. Mine is 13 and won $392,000. I don't feel that sorry for him. So I don't feel too sorry for him.

But he still is, I think, something like 22 points shy. of being able to retain his card, and he only gets one more start to do that. Now, the tricky part here is he qualified for the U.S. Open for the first time in his career at Shinnock this week. He has to finish at least a tie for 40th solo. No easy task. No easy task in the U.S. Open.

One of the hardest golf courses in America. Hardest I've ever played. Yeah, you've played it. I've only walked around it. It ate my lunch. It's no joke. My in-laws live up there. I played it on a nasty, nasty day.

In U.S. Open conditions, it was a month before the open. And the sage was wicked. If you didn't hit the fairway, you were dead. And the wind was coming in from the ocean. And it went from a beautiful day to a miserably cold day by the turn. But anyway, he has to finish. a solo tie, or excuse me, a solo 40th or better to keep his card. Now, some people are saying maybe you should skip it, drop out and instead play in the

John Deere tournament and Ben James' hometown, I think, the following week, where you only had to finish in the top 34 to get enough points to do. So now he's torn between any golfer's dream of playing in the U.S. Open. Right. Or maybe taking a little easier path in the John Deer. Yeah. The field would be way easier in the John Deer. Yes.

The conditions way easier. A lot less playing talent depth. Right. And the John Deer. Yeah. Especially after the U.S. Open. Yes. My mother-in-law is works at a hospital, was a nurse, head of the nurses.

Now is in patient services where she's phone-call in patients as they prep for surgery. Telling them what they need to do. Father-in-law goes to pick her up yesterday, drives her into work. My father-in-law picks her up from the hospital when the shift's over. Picks her up yesterday. Two, three miles to go home. Took them two hours. to go from the hospital to their house.

Wow. Two hours to get three miles. Yeah. Because everyone is there for practice rounds at Shinnock. Yeah. So now they're just going to go to happy hour and dinner directly from the hospital instead of trying to navigate the traffic and wait until it. I was surprised.

It's not a very big town. It's extremely small. Yeah. It's not set up for hundreds of thousands of people to flock to it. It's not set up for it. No. No, but it's incredibly good for the economy. But the locals there are just like, they can't do anything.

They're overwhelmed. They're overwhelmed. No question. Yeah. I can see why the traffic would be back. Two hours for two or three miles. Yeah. Unbelievable.

But Chinacock is on your short list of the best courses you've ever played, right? Yeah. It's definitely the toughest course I've ever played. Augusta was your one. Well, I haven't played it, Augusta. What was your one? It was that you played? Shuncock was the tough.

Was your number one? Yeah. And Oakmont, Marion, Pioneers number two, sawgrass, pretty tough. They're on the congressional. Did I say Marion? Yeah. I can't remember if I said Marion. That's a good one.

Those are Pacific Dunes and Banded Dunes out in Oregon. and those are way up on my list. And I still love the old course at the homestead. I love that course over there. How does, out of curiosity, and this is off topic, and we're at the 1130 marker, so maybe the last topic here for you. Because somewhere Judah, who never scowls at me is scowling at me.

Because he's got a lot to get scowling at me. He's got a lot to get ready for, for a 12.30, how does a course get picked for the U.S. Open? Like, how does Shinnecock a U.S. Open course? Well, the members, I think, have to be behind it for one thing because they're giving up their course for at least a week, if not longer. And people come in, and sometimes they come in and change the course. 100%.

They've been working on the U.S. Open in Southampton for a year and a half. Yeah, they have the U.S. Open doctor. they do that they come in and make subtle changes sometimes more than subtle changes at courses but I think a course has to bid I believe to be considered and a lot of courses do bid for it to be selected is a pretty big deal It's not a rotation quite like the British Open where they have set amount of courses that they select or choose from. We've seen some courses like Whistling Straits and the one out in Washington, whose name escapes me at the moment, that are relatively new to the golf scene when they hosted.

and open. And so they don't always go back to the traditional courses, but there's some that hosted it years ago that are no longer being considered for whatever reasons. But I think the club has to make a concerted effort to bid and hope to get selected. I believe that's how the process works through the USDA. Well, starts this week.

I'm going to be glued. I watch your... It's my favorite tournament because... Because the conditions. Because the conditions. Because as Ten Cups said, it's the best tournament in the world because it's... I don't know if you use the word judicial or whatever, but anybody can qualify to play in the U.S. Open.

Yeah. The Democratic... Nature of it. I think a two handicap or better to even try to qualify. But, you know, if you do that, you go through local

qualifying and regional qualifying. If you get through qualifying, you're in the U.S. Open. Yeah. You don't have to be a pro stud to do it. So it's and usually the conditions are very challenging, which I like, because

I get tired of watching guys shooting 10 under par every round Yeah I don't want to see someone 25 under par at the end of a tournament No That's why I like the British Open Yeah

That's why I like the U.S. Open Those are my two favorites Just because of those reasons Because sometimes A par is a good score Yeah There's a U.S. Open You and I can talk all day

I love this I've seen U.S. opens Where it's plus one plus two Is the winning score Yeah That's awesome Yeah It's why we like

Steph Curry the basketball player like Steph Curry is six foot and he shoots makes him awesome it's not like he's six nine and has a 45 inch vertical and can dunk the basketball which common man can't the common man can learn to shoot yes and a golfer that shoots plus one plus two wins the tournament we can relate to that yes yeah that's what that's what's great and I can't wait to watch it I never miss it it's going to be awesome you crushed it today

well I had a lot of help. It's the off season and we went an hour and 15 minutes. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we could sit here for another three hours to do this, I think. Easily, easily, easily. Viewers and listeners, his name is Jerry Rackliff. He is the star of the show. His website is Jerry Rackcliffe.com. He is growing his stable of content contributors and his subscribership is growing mightily. It's $8 a month and you get 50 pieces of fresh content every 30-day period. There's no UVA sports platform

that is duplicating this output or this production or this significance of content. Jerry racklip.com, the price of a cup of coffee, $8 a month. The number one UVA sports source that is out there. Two stories, I think, are actually coming out as we speak

at jerry racklop.com. The I Love Civo show is up in 57 minutes, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you kindly for watching the show. So long. Thank you, brother. Same to you.