CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – With all offseason to think about Saturday night’s season-opener against Coastal Carolina, Virginia’s players have been studying up on the Chanticleers, many of them, since the summer.
But it hasn’t been a steady diet of teal and black on videos.
Defensive players have spent time watching Western Kentucky, where Coastal’s offensive coordinator spent last season. They’ve also studiedMaryland and North Carolina State, where Chanticleers’ quarterback MJ Morris spent his previous college years.
Offensive players have been checking out video of Louisiana Tech’s defense, where new Coastal coordinator Jeremiah Johnson coached in 2024.
And with a roster that includes over 2/3 new players, UVA understands the opponent visiting Scott Stadium on Saturday figures to bear little resemblance to the one the Cavaliers’ smacked around in Conway, S.C. last year.
“There’s always a ton of unknown in a season opener,” UVA coach Tony Elliott said this week. “You kind of get bits and pieces off the internet and you try to listen for (that), but you really don’t know until you line up. So, you have to prepare for a lot of unknown.”
Of course, Virginia presents a bit of its own mystery. UVA has added 54 new players since ending the 2024 season with a 5-7 record. It’s expected to start transfers at quarterback, running back, center, wide receiver, defensive end, corner and safety spots.
But Coastal might have a game-planning edge in the fact that UVA hasn’t changed the men calling plays on offense and defense. Offensive coordinator Des Kitchings and defensive coordinator John Rudzinski have been at Virginia with Elliott since he took over the program before the
“They have changed their personnel quite a bit,” Chanticleers coach Tim Beck said this week. “We’re looking predominately more at the scheme, alignments, formations, things their coaching staff – which has been there – did last year. We’re basing a lot of it off of that. But you have to be ready to adjust.”
Such is the nature of season openers, notoriously ragged, mistake-prone, penalty-filled affairs that offer a sometimes-unsightly reminder that college football teams don’t get a chance to work out their kinks with any kind of preseason games or scrimmages.
The level of mystery has only ramped up in the transfer portal era, as some teams field lineups so chock full of new additions, coaches must study a dizzying array of video from the previous year to get a handle on their first opponent.
At Virginia, the remaking of the roster has the Cavaliers fielding what is expected to be a very veteran, experienced lineup in the opener. The 11 players listed atop the depth chart offensively include all seniors and graduate students.
The 11 on the defensive side of the ball are all juniors or older, with the exception of sophomore safety Ethan Minter and freshman defensive back Corey Costner, who is competing for a starting spot at the team’s spur/nickel back position with junior Ja’Son Prevard.
“When you have a room full of veteran guys, like we do, it lets you go a few steps further than you would if you had a lot of young guys,” left guard Noah Josey, a graduate student, said. “There’s some explaining of technique and stuff you don’t have to do, because everybody’s done it for so long. So, you’re able to go deeper into stuff.”
The question this week, with an opponent that’s completely remade itself in the offseason, is what stuff should UVA go deeper into.
“It’s gonna be a lot of cat and mouse early on trying to figure (it) out,” Elliott said. “I think this is where we’re gonna be in years going forward in college football, just because there is so much transition between rosters. And the key is gonna be how quickly those guys can get settled in in a game environment and execute your scheme to the best of their ability.”
