The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Who Has The Hottest Seat: Tony Elliott or Brent Pry?; The Playbook On Virginia QB Chandler Morris

Episode Date: August 19, 2025

The Jerry & Jerry Show headlines: Who Has The Hottest Seat: Tony Elliott or Brent Pry? The Playbook On Virginia QB Chandler Morris Starting Lineup Breakdown: QB, RB, TE & Defense Star LB Kam Robinson Will Miss Start Of Season Tony Elliott Offers Update On Other Injured Hoos Coastal Carolina at Virginia, 6 PM, 8/30, ACCN VA Tech at #13 South Carolina, 3 PM, 8/31, ESPN Is Virginia Tech Athletic Department In Trouble? 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.

Good Tuesday morning, guys. My name is Jerry Miller. Thank you kindly for joining us on the Jerry and Jerry Show. It's great to connect with you guys through the I Love Seville Network on a show that spotlights a Virginia Sports Hall of Famer, Jerry Hootie Rackleaf. He is a household name in Wahoo Nation. He is a household name across the Atlantic Coast Conference in college athletics. And today's program, folks, is a great one. We are just 11 days away from live action here in Charlottesville, Virginia,

as the Coastal Carolina Shanticle clears visit Scott Stadium in the first game of the season, a must-win year for Tony Elliott and his staff. A lot we're going to cover on today's program. That line open at 11, now up to 12.5 with Virginia, a clear-cut favorite. Their quarterback Chandler Morris spotlighted on Jerry Rackliff. We'll introduce the world to Chandler Morris through the interviewing skills and the reporting of Jerry Rackleff. We'll take your questions, and boy, oh boy, do we have a lot of them already? Folks want to know how the starting lineup shakes out that conversation on today's show, but we're going to prepare you.

I think the head coaches and the staff are still looking for some clarity on who will start the season and at what positions. We'll talk Virginia Tech, the Hokie Athletic Director, Whit Backpot, Whit Bapcock, goes on record and he says to Hokie Nation that goodness gracious we need a lot more money almost $60 million more for our operating budget to be competitive in college athletics he says Virginia Tech is so underfunded that if the Hokies do not do something about it that they will have a generational setback with performance and outcome and output in Blacksburg we'll talk about that with hoody rackliff and we'll give you an update on cam Robinson's status the star linebacker looks like he's going to miss

perhaps a couple of weeks to start the season with a collarbone injury. We'll get to that in a matter of moments. Judah, Wickower, behind the camera. Judah, if you could go to the studio camera, then a two-shot, we welcome Jerry Rackleff, who is a freshly haircutted wearing the

athletic vest, which I think looks sharp. There's a little bit of nip in the air here in Charlottesville. A little brisk weather here on the 19th of August. My friend, it's great to see you, and we start the show with Scatter Shooting with Hootie Ratcliffe. Yeah, well, you know, we've talked to the Virginia coaches,

the coordinators and Coach Ellie yesterday after practice and a lot of the players. So I think everybody's getting tired of talking. They want to start playing, and I think the fans are ready too. But unfortunately, we have still a little bit of a gap between now and the first game. I guess college football in general starts this weekend, but

I'm tired of writing about preseason stuff, and I'm sure people are tired of listening and reading about it, but it's just something we've got to deal with, and it can't come soon enough. But, you know,

we're talking about starting lineups, and both coordinators we had conversations with, and again, Tony Elliott yesterday, And there are so many position battles raging. There are nowhere close to naming a starting lineup or a two-deep at this point. And it should be that way because, I mean, other than a few guys that nailed down there starting jobs last year, and for what we were told, even some of those guys are being pushed really hard in practice.

And it should be that way because as we've discussed on this show for weeks and perhaps even months now, they did really well in the transfer portal. And a lot of these guys came in here with experience and they're pushing for playing time because they started at a lot of the places they came from and did well. Some of them were all conference first or second team, our honorable mention. and they didn't come in here to just lollygag around. They came in here to play and make a difference. And that's why so many positions are unsettled. The majority of the positions, I think, are unsettled,

heading into this last week of training camp and only a week before game week. So I'm not sure that we could name a whole lot of starters right now because there's just other than Chandler Morris at quarterback, And two or three offensive linemen, a couple of defensive linemen, a couple of linebackers. I think almost everything else is up for grabs. We've got some injuries we have to talk about. We'll talk Cam Robinson.

A little bit. We'll talk Antonio Clary. We'll talk the lineman from Alabama, who's a little banged up as well, I believe, with an ankle. Cliff Daisy's watching from the eastern shore. He says, greetings gentlemen from a rainy eastern shore. six plus inches of rain locally overnight. He's very excited for some UVA football.

If you're watching on YouTube, please subscribe to the channel, hit that like button, and leave some comments in the chat box, and I'll relay them live on air to the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame of the namesake of jerry rackliff.com. William McChesney watching the program.

We love when William watches the show. We've dubbed him the mayor of McIntyre and goodness gracious. Comments are coming in quickly. We'll get to as many of those as possible, guys. We understand that you're eager for football. We certainly are. Roger Brent, thank you for watching the program.

All right, let's get into some of the nitty-gritty here. This question's an intriguing one because it ties both of our in-state premier football programs together. Brent Pry and Tony Elliott, whose seat is hotter? This question comes from our friends in the Georgia-Atlanta-Bunk-N area who watch the program. Brent Pry, ladies and gentlemen, has coached at Virginia Tech the same amount of years that Tony Elliott has coached at the University of Virginia.

And Brent Pry's record is slightly better, slightly better than Tony Elliott's. And that's not saying much because Coach Elliott has the least amount of victories and all of power football at the University of Virginia and is three years on the job. He's 11 and 23 overall. 6 and 17 in ACC play. He has not made a bowl game. Brent Pry is 16 and 21 overall 10 and 13 in ACC play He has made two bowl games

And his three years on the job Inconsequential bowl games But still two of them He's won, won the military bowl And last year he lost the Duke Mayo Bowl Compare and contrasts the job Security for Tony Elliott and Brent Pry Well, there's no question

They're both on the hot seat But I think that Brent Pry's seat is a little warmer because of where he is. Anybody that's been paying attention knows that Virginia Tech's the heart and soul of their athletic department is the football program, and that's where they pour most of their money and attention. And from what Frank Beamer built there, and it just hasn't been the same since.

He retired. It's sort of kind of like when George Wells retired here. It's hard to follow a legend. And Al Groh did it for a while until I think he lost the majority of his coaches. And then the recruiting suffered. Bronco kind of brought it back to some respectability. He had five straight seasons where they were bowl eligible. They didn't go to Bowles the last two years of his campaign because of the COVID issues.

But down in Blacksburg, Fuentes had some success. And then Pride came in with big expectations from Penn State. And it's kind of laid an egg as well. And because their fan base is more rabid. with higher expectations, I think his seat is hotter because they haven't been up to standards or expectations. And, you know, even though they've struggled with wins and losses, or wins particularly, they've still had really good support at Lane Stadium, which, you know, there were times last year when the team was struggling but they still had sellouts and um give it to the hokey's they come rain or shine

yeah i mean you got to admire the the allegiance their fan base has had but uh i think their patience is probably wearing a little thin as well so i i clearly think he has the most pressure uh if he can't deliver this year i i can't see him being kept uh down there particularly under all the other circumstances going on with their athletic program right now? The athletic director at Virginia Tech Witt Babcock goes on record

now he's speaking to his board the board at the Virginia Tech basically board of visitors and he said we are so severely underfunded at Virginia Tech that if we don't up the ante nearly $60 million

a year we're going to have a generational setback with this athletic department. He puts the number right around $200 million a year you need to operate an athletic department competitively. They're at about $140 million, a $60 million shortfall. And he said, the expectations for this athletic department do not match the resources for this athletic department. That's about his black and white. who the easier you're going to get.

Yeah, and Virginia has been there. I mean, we can cite several instances where going all the way back to Al Groh, when the ACC expanded and added some of those big East teams like Miami and some others in the early 2000s, Al Groh went to the athletic administration, and told them that Virginia was incredibly far behind in terms of facilities and staff and resources. And that if they didn't do something about it, they were one misstep away from becoming Duke.

And at that time, Duke was pathetic in football. And Algro was right. John Oliver, the Associate A.D., at the time told me years later he said Al was right we didn't listen and we paid for it and you can see what happened toward the end of the Grow era throughout the London era

and when Bronco came on board he had no idea the football program and the facilities were as bad as they were he came out and said so and one of the first things out of his mouth was that we need a new football building he did have a good fortune of getting the indoor facility was built I think before he got here I think London was the benefactor of that but

bronco even put 500,000 of his own money into the football building which finally came to fruition over the last year but it's not difficult to fall behind quickly in this arms race that seems to be never ending in college football and other athletics but particularly in football and so

the Hokies are finding out sort of the same thing Virginia did and Virginia I think over the last year and a half realized that they can't just you know dip their toe into the water and you've got to be all in and they finally realized that and came forth with the money necessary

to essentially buy a football team and buy a basketball team and you're either all in or you're not and if you're not, you're going to fall behind and you can fall behind dramatically in this day and age if you're not dedicated to keeping up with the Joneses?

Virginia Tech has had such a rabid and radical free fall. There's a statue of Frank Beamer at Lane Stadium. Frank Beamer is a Hall of Famer. Good friend of mine.

Good friend of yours. Frank Beamer and Virginia Tech played in a national championship. Michael Vic captivated the country. Bud Foster almost as much a house old name is Frank Beamer, the lunch pail mentality. Now the hokey's are middle to bottom of the ACC. The head coach is fighting for his job. And Hootie, the athletic director is essentially

panhandling on the side of Route 29 across from the Kroger looking for an extra $60 million to fund an athletic department. He says that is so incredibly underfunded that if we don't get more money and more money now, not just your children, but your children's children will suffer the consequences. Yeah. Well, look how long it took Virginia to catch back up again. I mean, they went mid-2000s up until, you know, Bronco kind of got things level again, but they haven't been able to sustain that. And maybe they can turn that corner. this season. If they don't, they're going to be in

trouble and we'll have to start all over again as well. So, yeah, I mean, money is the player now. You know, you look around and, I mean, look at the power

teams in college football and they all have incredible amounts of money flowing in, not just from NIL standpoint, but for staff and resources and the facilities

it's mind-boggling how much money these programs spent. I think North Carolina spent over $50 million this past year just on the football program. And of course that was necessary to land the coaching staff

and a general manager they did and then 70 new football players. So that's the kind of stuff you're competing with if you're in the ACC and you know SMU has unlimited money Florida State Clemson look at the money they're pouring into football Louisville it's like a almost like a a city with a pro franchise that is their pro team that's their team all their funds go into their athletic program it's a source of pride for the whole city.

It's tough, man. Georgia Tech has stepped it up. Miami, of course. If you're not a player, you're going to fall, take a dramatic free fall. And I don't know if there's anything there to stop you unless you've got a big financial net at the bottom. This really puts things into perspective. and we have a lot of viewers and listeners watching the program.

Chad Wood, thank you for watching the show. Kevin Yancey and Waynesboro, hello. Bob Shata, thank you for watching the program. George Gilmer, thank you for watching the program. Folks in Roanoke, Northern Virginia, Southwestern Virginia, all over Charlottesville, Richmond, the Beach, Williamsburg watching the program. Folks in Georgia and Pennsylvania routinely watch the show, Eastern Tennessee on the program.

The athletic director, Whit Bapcock, has really got, even now it's still going on, Twitter talking. I mean, Twitter's in all of us. a rage here. And I don't blame the athletic director. I don't blame him one bit for saying we're vastly underfunded. He says we need $60 million more to get to an operating budget of $200. We're currently at $140, $140 million. And Whit Bapcock says, quote, if we don't radically leap forward now, we are likely sealing our own fate for years and generations to come. He also offered this when speaking to the Board of Visitors of Virginia Tech.

I'm going to focus more on your identity and character than your popularity and reputation. He's basically saying he knows he's getting ripped for this. The Board of Visitors on Monday asked Whit Babcock, what is your ass? And he summed it up this way. We cannot keep taking pride in doing more with less. This Hokie football program is absolutely reeling right now. now. This question's come in for Hooty. How has UVA turned it around, or at least from a fundraising standpoint, and Virginia Tech has not, despite the history of Virginia Tech football

in its success, and despite UVA not having much success in football? Well, I think Carla Williams made that same kind of appeal, not necessarily to the Board of Visitors, but to some of its major donors. And to their credit, they stepped up. I think some of those donors became frustrated and fed up with things. And I think it all started with a loss to Virginia Tech two seasons ago when they humiliated Virginia on its own turf and then came out onto the field and posed for pictures at the end of the, after the crowd had gone home causing the head groundskeeper to turn the sprinklers on

exactly and then he had to issue an apology for that he did which was crazy yeah I respected what he did turning the sprinklers on yeah I had to agree with you there but I think that was the camel that broke the straws back for Virginia and then the fact that they went down to Blacksburg last year and lost to a, what, a third or fourth string quarterback and had struggled to even compete. And I think, but I think the year before was the one that really resonated with Virginia fans and the donors. And I think some of them were so riled that they just said, we're not going to let this happen again. And so I think they initiated and got a little bit involved with more resources for NIL and all that.

But I think it really came to fruition since the end of last season. And I think they just finally said, we're going to give this football program everything it needs. and if they can't win then it's on the coaches. There's no excuses that they've got everything they need. They have the facility, they have the money to go out and get players

or any other sort of resources they need in terms of front office administrative support. So I think you've got to give kudos to some of the heavy hitters for

Virginia who finally stepped up and have had enough and said we're we're planning a flag here and we're throwing the resources at them and let's see what happens but there are no more excuses for this football program either they go out and win this season or I think we're probably going to see a change but I think they've wisely used that money and I really think this football team is going to do no worse than go to a ball game. I'm with you. You know, it's interesting. I'm with you.

I'm as, I guess the word is bullish. I'm as bullish with this football team as I've been in, when's the last time we've been this bullish with football? Probably 19. I mean, think about that. Six years ago. That says something, right? Yeah.

Since before COVID. Right. Since before COVID, the last time we've been this bullish with football. There's a lot of reason to be excited for this team, and we'll get to that reason in a matter of moments. Questions continue to come in for Hootie Rackleff. You guys have said on past shows, specifically Mr. Rackleff, that UVA will not fire Tony Elliott mid-season. Does Virginia Tech take the same stance with its head coach if they struggle to start the year? I don't know, honestly.

I don't think they've ever fired a coach midstream like that. that I can recall, I go back to the Jerry Claiborne days. I don't think they've ever really, I think it was pretty plain that they were going to fire the coach after the season, but I don't think they've ever fired a football coach during mid-season. Jimmy Sharp got into some trouble there, but I think they let him get through the season before they made a change. Bill Dooley had some NCAA issues, but all that played out. So I think I don't know.

I don't know under the present circumstances with so much pressure on the program, the financial issues, and if things go south, if they would make a coaching change. Now, Fuentes, what happened there? They had the big offensive line coach that coached against Virginia in that game. Did they fire him before the season? Or did what happened there? I'm trying to remember.

And that big offensive line coach was extremely charismatic. He was interviewed post-game, won a lot of folks over, had the Hokies playing very good football. J.T. something? Yeah, and, you know, he may have been fired mid-season. I'll see if I can find that. I don't think it was mid-season. And before the last game.

It might have been before the last game. I'm trying to remember. If that's the case, then I would say that. Yeah, he was not retained for the final two games of the 2021 season. Okay. So I guess they could. I guess they could do that. that had temporarily slipped my memory.

But so I guess he could be fired. I don't know if it would be mid-season or not, but I think he could be relieved of his duties and turn it over to an assistant coach if things go south. And it was Whit Bapcock who fired him. Yes, yeah, same AD. And he had a 43 and 31 record, Justin Fuente, 43 and 31.

Currently, Brent Pry has a 16 and 21 record. Yeah. But going back to Tony Elliott, I'm 99.9% sure that if things go south there, I doubt there'll be a coaching change until the season is over. Virginia just doesn't do that. And you're all over this. You're all over it. Defense of line coach, J.C. Price was the interim head coach for

the remainder of the season, while the Hokies held a national search and eventually hired Brent Pry. The ties with the two state programs, and Virginia and Virginia Tech will always be linked, and they're certainly linked with job security, with head coaches, or lack thereof. The interesting thing is, UVA, right now, when you compare and contrast UVA and Virginia Tech, the Wahoos may be in a better position or have stronger foothold for success than the Hokies. And that's because the money that was raised over the last 24 to 18 months.

And someone who's come under tremendous fire Carla Williams deserves a lot of that credit. Heck, Jim Ryan deserves some of the credit. This show is not about politics. And my politics don't always align with the retired president, Jim

Ryan. But during his time, as President of UVA, boy, oh boy, did they raise a lot of money? Yeah, he's been very supportive of the athletic program and tried to give them what they need. And certainly he's gone out there and beat the drum and tried to have money brought in. And so has Carla. And, yeah, she definitely deserves a lot of credit for reaching out to the main supporters of not only the football program,

but also the basketball program to allow Virginia to compete in the ACC and beyond. This question is coming from Cliff. Jerry, he wonders who you think are the most underfunded ACC programs. Is it Wake Forest, Boston College, and Duke? And will these teams continue to fall further and further behind? I'm not sure that Duke is underfunded. Duke's got money. I think they've done pretty well.

Yeah. I think at one time they were, but they've done a lot over the last eight to ten years to bring their football program to elevate it to where they can compete. And I think Wake Forest being the second smallest school in power football, I think Rice is the smallest school. in terms of, that have major college football. And Wake Forest certainly has some big donors like the big tobacco company down there, I think gives them a lot of money. But, yeah, I think Wake is probably the most underfunded

Boston College, perhaps. Just trying to think, those would probably be the two. Other than that, I think most of the people have stepped up. I don't know that much about Syracuse, but I'm assuming, considering where they are, they probably have some pretty good financial backing. But, yeah, I'm guessing that B.C. and Wake would probably be the two. And obviously, Virginia Tech must be down in that lower echelon as well right now.

R.J. Reynolds. R.J. Reynolds. Yeah, the Winston-Salem Tobacco Company. Hootie Rackliff is dropping so much knowledge here on the program. And if you have yet to have an opportunity to read his commentary, his piece on Chandler Morris on Jerry Rackleckleck.com, I encourage you to do so today. The headline, UVA quarterback Morris, quick trigger, great touch, grinder, and a bit bullheaded. All you need to know about Chandler Morse.

We had a long sit-down with Taylor Lamb, the excellent quarterbacks coach of Virginia, who was a quarterback himself for Appalachian State when they were giant killers. And Taylor gave us incredible insight into Chandler Morris and what he's all about. We talked to him a little bit yesterday. He's just a really confident kid, not the biggest. guy in the world. Six foot, 190. You compare him in stature to Anthony Kalantria. Yeah, they're similar in size. I just think that he's just so much more experienced. I mean, like we've said before, he's the same age as Jaden Daniels, so the Redskins go, well,

commander's quarterback. It'll always be the Redskins to me. I'm sorry, but having covered them for off and on for about 16 years back earlier in my career. But he's just a kid who has his act together. I mean, he was born to be a quarterback. His dad is a brilliant offensive mind. The kid's been around football ever since he could walk. He's been in some elite football programs at TCU and Oklahoma. Learned a lot of football. Already knew a lot of football. Has a great arm.

Can make all the throws. It has a great mind for the game. Decision making. Doesn't panic. Can get you out of a bad call. If he sees the defense lined up, to stop what you have called. He can

audible and change the play into something that'll work and get you five yards instead of losing two yards. He has great leadership qualities. Just a good kid. He's mature.

I think he has a girlfriend and a couple of dogs. Somebody told me and plays golf. He's not your typical. typical college quarterback. So, you know, I think this kid is the entire package. And even though he's six foot, Taylor Lamb says that can be a problem for a lot of

quarterbacks that size being able to see downfield. But Chandler Morris has so much feel for the game, touch, smarts that he can find. his receivers as long as he has time. And I know those offensive linemen are over there are doing everything they can to keep him clean. We've talked to some of them and they've told us

and we confirmed it with him yesterday. So I asked him specifically, I said, you know, some of the linemen have told me that in practice on past plays, they'll come to you after the play and say, so how is the pocket? Was it

good? Do you feel safe? in it. And he just kind of chuckled and said, yeah, they come to me all the time and want to make sure that they're doing what I need. And so there's a lot of rapport there. Chandler Morris is, some of the stuff that stood out to me, I mean, he was born for this. He was bred for this to be a quarterback. Born and bred to be a quarterback. Plays with some moxie with the chip on his shoulder. Maybe in some ways he's felt he's been overlooked as a as a quarterbacker times or or disrespected or not prioritized. I think you, I think you nailed it.

Yeah. And he is a coach waiting to happen, but before he gets into coaching, he's going to play at Scott Stadium and show the flashes of talent and brilliance that he has already in college athletics. And as the elder statesman of this team, while he's new to. this football program, he seems to be the clear-cut leader of this football team. Yeah, I think he came in in the spring or even before the spring into winter conditioning and, you know, tried to

gradually become the leader. I don't think he wanted to be too forceful, but I think he... It comes natural to him. I think it does. I think he is a natural leader, and the players accepted him, and Tony Elliott recognized that and declared him the starter, so it wouldn't be any second-guessing or any of that kind of stuff, and allowed him to lead, and I think he's done a good job of that.

He has the respect of everybody on that football team. They all seem to really like him and support him. I think that was a smart move. Jeremy Wilson watches the program often. We love when he watches the show. He's watching in Eastern Tennessee, and he highlights that Drew Breeze was only six foot tall, and look what he did.

It's all about heart and skills at that position. Yeah. If we get a... Good point. Good point. Yep, yep, absolutely. Kevin Yancey highlights, well, offensive line play has been a big time issue for UVA. Ask the last three or four quarterbacks at UVA about offensive line.

issues. That's another good point. Yeah, and I talked to Terry Heffernan, the offensive line coach, and to Des Kitchens and Taylor Lamb about that specific thing in the past week or so. And they all pointed out that they're firm believers that Chandler Morris is not going to have to run for his life. Calandria and Muscat had to do, even Armstrong going back a little bit further. And they shouldn't have to because, again, they brought in tons of offensive linemen. And even though they had two right tackles go down, they still have enough depth. There's a lot of guys fighting for that position.

I just don't think these linemen are fly-by-night guys. I think they're all serious and pretty talented. Some really big dudes in there, too, I'm telling you. But if he does have to move, he's really good at on the move. If he has to scramble and go outside the pocket, he's a pretty darn effective passer, yeah. I mean, he might even be more effective on the run than he is in the pocket. And that's kind of scary because they'll probably have some design plays where they do move the pocket and let him sprint out and throw to some guys.

So I don't think, I can't see him having to run for his life the way Calandria did. And some of that was on Calandria, too, because he would get happy feet every now and then and not be so sure of what he's supposed to do and just kind of pull. Sometimes Calandria just need to throw the ball away. Yeah. And he would hold on to it too long or make a bad pass. Yeah. His biggest strength was his biggest weakness.

Or take off and run. Yeah. Yeah. I'm curious to see what happens with Calandria if he's even the starter. The last I heard. He was not starting at UNLV. That's what I read as well. So we'll follow Calandria's career closely.

Flashes of brilliance for Calandria, but a lot of mistakes as well. We'll get to the starting lineup. We'll get to who's the first stringers, the number ones. It's all over the feed here. Folks, that's to be determined here. Yeah, I mean, just quoting Tony Elliott yesterday, There's battles raging at nearly, not all positions. I mean, you know, like Noah Josie and McHale Bowley on that left side.

They've been starters for two or three years, and I don't see them going anywhere. But even they're getting pushed a little bit by some of these guys that have come in. There's tremendous competition on the other side of the line. on the right side of the line. And running backs, they've got four running backs that he feels like he couldn't use any of them. They've got a really deep, wide receiver core. I think Dakota Twitty is probably pretty solid at tight end. But, you know, most of your offense is set in that respect.

There's so many receivers they can rotate. They've got eight or nine guys. that they can throw out there and just rotate them all day long. And defensively, they've got five interior guys they want to play, five edge guys they want to play. They're all fighting for starting jobs. The secondary is up for grabs for the most part, and there's so much competition there.

Cam Robinson was certainly safe until they got injured, and then I think Tray McDonald and Jackson probably have the other linebacker spots nailed down, but there is fierce competition going on for not only starting jobs, but for playing time. I mean, they want to, you know, we've talked about this a lot, and Tony Elliott said it after the Virginia Tech game or during the Virginia Tech week last year, that the biggest difference he's noticed in those two programs, tech and UVA, is that up until now, but back then this was so,

that tech had much more depth at Virginia, and it showed. And Virginia, we saw how Virginia would wear down and lose close games in the fourth quarter. That shouldn't happen. I mean, two years ago, the offensive line was so beat up. Oh, it was ridiculous. That play.

players had to play sick, which led the players to perform poorly. And even some last year. This past year as well. Maybe it was this past year. They played so poorly because they had to play at the end of the season sick that the moms of these players went out on Twitter defending them, saying that they're playing with flu-like symptoms, with fever and sick, to leave them alone. Because they had no doubt at the position.

Yeah, Noah Josie was one of his mom made that comment. It was just, you know, I don't know even how he played. He was so sick. But that shouldn't be the case this year. Right. And, I mean, he, he, hell, it keeps, it's almost hard for him not to smile when he says he, he's planning on playing five interior guys on that defensive line and five guys on the edge. They've never been able to do anything like that, even back in the days when they were good.

They didn't have that kind of depth to where they could rotate in and out like that. There's a lot more rotation on the defensive line than there is on the offensive line, but there should have fresh legs all over the field, even on the offensive line. Conan Owen asks a very frank question. Why would a fan buy tickets for this version of UVA football? Why not? I say why not as well. I think Conan, to answer that question and who do he offers his perspective is valuable on this

because he's seen every version of Virginia football over how many years? 44. 44 years. I've watched this program since I was knee-high to my dad who went to UVA, 72 grand. This program has got reason to believe because of the roster over. and the money spent to attract and recruit talent. And the biggest question he's got this year is not depth or quarterback or playmaking. The biggest question he's got this year is how does he get the players on the same page quickly?

And, you know, talking to him yesterday, it sounds like they've made great strides with that. They've come a long way in camp. And going back to his question again is, you know, know, if I were a fan and they had done nothing, if they had made no changes in their philosophy over this past year, I wouldn't blame fans for not coming. I wouldn't go if I were a fan because you'd be getting just another version of the same old half-end commitment. But there's a huge philosophical change between the end of last season and this year. I mean, they have poured millions and millions of dollars into this football program.

Nearly 30 million, your sources say. That's right. On this roster alone, players alone nearly 30 million the salary cap on this team. They have, I don't think there's many programs in the nation that have spent as much or more than Virginia has to become relevant this past year. And on top of that, they have what some national publications have called the fourth easiest schedule in the country. Yeah.

And so, you know, if you want to believe that there's a revival in Virginia football, and there should be starting this year, and, you know, I don't know that it'll last. I'm assuming they'll continue to do this if that's the way the rules are going to remain to where it's the Wild Wild West. I don't know if they're going to reform football and bring it back several notches to some kind of a realistic method of organization to where NIL becomes more restrictive. and transfer portal is more restrictive and it returns to some kind of normalcy like we were accustomed to for all of our lives or if it's going to continue to be nuts

and I'm assuming if it does continue to be nuts Virginia remains committed with the money Virginia Tech obviously has not done that and that may show up on the football field this season And if they weren't that successful in the portal, I don't know. I haven't followed their team that closely. But if I were a Virginia fan, I would be pretty fired up about the possibilities of this football team. You have seven home games.

I don't know if it's good or bad. So many of them are early in the season, and the rest of them are spread out, Was it four of the first five or home? I got the schedule right here in front of me. Coastal Carolina, where they're now 12.5 point favorites, guys, on August 30th, 11 days from now, at NC State, week two, week three, the tribe of William and Mary here in Charlottesville, Stanford, week four in Charlottesville, Florida State, a big one in Charlottesville. So you got, what, one, two, three, four, four of the first five. Yeah, so, and that's what's five. Five of the first seven.

Yeah. What's the What's the date of that Florida State game? Florida State games Friday, September 26. So you play four of your home games by the end of September. You only have three home games over the next two months. So I don't know if that's a good thing or not.

But it might be a good thing if you get off to a great start. I mean, we've circled that NC State game week too. But, you know, if I'm a Virginia fan, I would be pretty fired up about the possibilities of this season. If they don't do it, it's on the coaching staff. There's a good chance that they could go four and O going into this Florida State matchup.

There is. And all it would take, I think, is upsetting NC State. I imagine NC State's going to be favored. Yeah, because it's in Raleigh. Even though NC State opens a season against East Carolina, who beat them in the bowl game just the last time they were on the football field. So who knows, if East Carolina pulls off a win there,

and East Carolina hates NC State. I've covered that game a few times back before I ever got to Charlottesville. There's an incredible hatred between those two schools, particularly coming from the East Carolina fan base. East Carolina will go after them pretty hard. But if NC State falters out of the gate, who knows? Virginia might be able to go into Raleigh and win that game. They really could be 4-0 going into Florida State if things line up.

And if they're 4-0 going into that Florida State matchup, the last Friday in September, that's a 7 o'clock kick at Scott Stadium on national television ESPN. It's a Friday night, right? It's a Friday night game. You'd have the country watching that game. Friday night on ESPN. Now, goodness gracious, Florida State's got, they opened with Alabama to start the season. Who knows which Florida State team is going to show up?

Who knows if this is Florida State of yesteryear or Bobby Bowdo or Jimbo Fisher or if it's the Florida State of last year? But 4-0 going into that matchup against the Seminoles in Scott Stadium and anything can happen. yeah Florida State was two and ten last year and I don't expect that's going to be the case this year but who knows comments continue to come in here this is an interesting one it's not and we've highlighted this on on on on past shows it's not just the athletic department and the fan base that need this team to win it's the community that needs the team to win heck it's a good comment the man runs a website tied to Virginia athletics he knows firsthand the importance of this team winning. Absolutely. I mean, this community is, and the fan base is starving. Starving.

For success on the football field. A lot of people remember how it was in the George Welsh days when every week was almost glorious. The early years of Algrove, there hasn't been a whole lot to celebrate since then, really. Bronco had it going for a little while. I'm sure everybody remembers the good

feelings of how they went into that I guess it was the Continental Tire. Well, I don't know what the was it. I don't even know what the name of the bowl was, but it was in Charlotte. I don't know if they were the Belk Bowl then or something else, but

I think they were the Belk Bowl. But they went in, South Carolina was cocky and Virginia beat the dog out of them in front of a huge South Carolina fan base there in the Charlotte Stadium. And then the following year, when they, with Bryce Perkins going crazy and winning the coastal division for the only time in divisional play, playing Clemson and the A.C. You see championship game, Clemson, that was part of their dynasty. And then giving Florida, which was a top 12 program in the country,

giving them a pretty good game in the Orange Bowl. 36 to 28 loss to Florida in the Orange Bowl. You're absolutely right, the Belk Bowl, where they beat the Bejibis out of South Carolina, 28 to nothing. Yeah. I mean, they dominated that game. Certainly Debo Samuels had set out that game. Yeah. And that might have made a little bit of a difference,

but I think Virginia still would have won the game, even if he'd have been healthy. But, I mean, those were some really good feelings, and it's been a while since they've had those kind of feelings. And, by the way, kudos to Bryce Perkins for getting signed by the Carolina Panthers this week. Hopefully he can stick. But it's been a while.

since this community has had an opportunity to feel good about football. And I think it's highly needed. I totally agree. Totally agree. Rob Neal watching the program. He's a diehard, a college football fan. Biggest JMU football fan I know is Rob Neal. He says this Virginia football team is going to go 8 and 4, Wahoo Wah,

and it's going to be a fantastic fall, a fun fall in Charlottesville. Certainly possible. Kevin asked the question, what's the mindset of the first? couple games go bad for Virginia. That's why we've circled on the calendar this NC State game in week two being maybe the most important game of the season.

Because if you beat NC State in Raleigh, if you beat the Wolfpack in Raleigh, ladies and gentlemen, in week two, the team's going to be playing with a lot of swag and a lot of confidence. And then you have William and Mary in week three, which you should beat, a Stanford team that you

should beat in Charlottesville. Then you have a true shot of going in and, you know, going 5 and 0 if you beat Florida State in Scott Stadium. If they can do that, there's no limit as to what this football team can do. Right, because if they go 5 and 0, I'm not going to pick them to beat Louisville and Saturday, October 4th at Louisville. They'll be big dog.

They should be a big underdog there. But then homecoming against Washington State to get Boa eligible the following week. And then who knows what happens when you close the season, North Carolina at Chapel Hill, cross-country against Cal and Berkeley, Wake Forest at home, Duke and Virginia Tech. I mean, eight wins is doable. Eight wins is very doable for this football team. And eight wins means Tony Elliott saves his job. Carla Williams, the heat is off her.

Eight wins means probably more fundraising. Eight wins means momentum going into Ryan Odom's first season. Certainly would help recruiting too. Would help recruiting? I think that would convince some players. in the state of Virginia that they can stay home and win. 100%. And Tony Elliott's got an heir

apparent for Chandler Morris in the cupboard. Someone who on paper may have even more quarterback upside than Chandler Morris in the cover. Possibly so. Just prototypical. Yeah. I mean, he has four years of eligibility left and

he would have probably been Nebraska starter had they not brought in a big five-star kid on top of him. kid had some pretty impressive numbers in high school so they shouldn't have any issues of quarterback for a long time assuming these guys stay healthy health and injuries star linebacker cam robinson may miss a couple games to start the year yeah it's a shame that that happened but you know they're being as a

smart move by the coaches. Very precautionary measures. They saw, he took a hit the first day of pads. And this is a guy who loves contact, so it's not like that... He plays hurt. Oh, he played last year

when most guys would have shut it down. So he's not a guy that shies away from physical contact, but they found a, fracture developing in his collarbone and decided to go ahead and fix it, put a plate and some screws in there, and stitches come out, I think, today or tomorrow. He'll start working non-contact just to get back in game shape, and we'll see how long it takes. knowing him, I don't think he'll be out as long as most guys would be.

So I wouldn't put too much of a timetable on it. But he's expected to miss at least the first two games, which is a shame because they could probably use him at NC State. But you don't want to rush that back and then have him jeopardize the rest of the season. Any other injury note you want to get out? Antonio O'Clari, the seventh year, seventh year safety, seventh year? Yeah, he should be back. Everybody that's banged up that's not going to miss the season seems to be on the mend and getting back to practice this week or certainly next week at the latest,

they're going to go into this opening game pretty healthy so it sounds like everybody we have an update on the website today about the guys that are nicked up a little bit but they're mending and should be back so should be full force for coastal Carolina live action folks on Saturday for college football

You got 22 Iowa State against 17 Kansas State on Saturday at high noon. You got Fresno State in Kansas. Then next week, Thursday, August 28th, is really the start of college football with some big-time matchups a week from this Thursday. And, of course, the one that we're following very closely in Charlottesville, the Coastal Carolina, Shana Clears, hit Scott Stadium on August 30th. that line started at 11, now up to 12.5, Virginia Favor. Some closing thoughts for the viewers and listeners hoody. Virginia Tech opens up with South Carolina, right? South Carolina, in Atlanta and Shane Beamer. One of the best documentaries I've seen in a while. I mentioned this last week. If you guys

have Netflix, please watch, and you're a college football fan, please watch any given Saturday. It is an insider's look on the Southeastern Conference. Shane Beamer is prominently featured in this documentary, and goodness gracious, did I become a huge Shane Bieber fan after watching this documentary? It was an awesome. He's an awesome guy. He's a good guy. Just like his dad. Right. His dad is one of the best people I've ever known. And so, um. Just a likable dude. It's like a guy. I was watching a regular dude. Just a regular dude. That's what it is. Shane Bieber. Just a regular guy. Same as Frank. Played golf with him a few times and hung out with him over the years. And he, he's

He's just a great guy. He's a guy he'd like to sit down and have a burger and a beer with. Just talk about football. And that's exactly who Shane Beamer was in the documentary. If you having a chance to watch it, please watch it. Viewers and listeners. Hootie Rackle, maybe some closing thoughts. One of the best shows we've done here.

And also what you have on the hopper on your website. 99% football from here on out. There's not much else really going on. The other sports are starting up. basketball's kind of been quiet lately. But it's football full bore from here on out. Jerry rackliff.com is what you want to jump on guys for this football season and for anything UVA related.

Jerry rackliff.com. You crushed it today, Hootie. Well, you know, it's fun talking. Football is my favorite sport, so I can talk about it until the cows come home, so to speak. I love sitting talking football, and we could sit here until three or four o'clock today and talk football. 100%. We just went an hour and seven minutes without taking a break, folks. Judah, Wickhauer, behind the camera. Thank you, Judah Wickhauer. This is the Jerry and Jerry Show. It's archive wherever you get your social media or podcasting content.

Check out Jerry Rackliff.com for anything UVA related. For Hootie Rackleff and for Judah Wickhauer, my name is Jerry Miller, and the I love to see if. show guys is up at 12.30. So long. Man, that flew block. Thank you.