Following National Signing Day earlier this month, Virginia football Head Coach Al Groh (www.virginiasports.cstv.com) took a few minutes to sit down and talk to C-VILLE Weekly about his recruiting class, his coaching staff, and an interesting off-season.
 University of Virginia football’s Al Groh recently got a rare chance to think like a fan, and not a coach, while on the sidelines of the AFC Championship game. |
C-VILLE: National Signing Day is done and quarterback Peter Lalich’s name has emerged in this class; prior to that, much has been made about this young man. Just how good is he?
Al Groh: He’s got a chance to be real good. Not only does he have skill but he’s got the right type of mindset for it and that is he thinks “being a quarterback” 24 hours a day.
That’s who he is and that’s what he likes to do. He’s been an exceptional student in high school just off of his native intelligence and his responsibility to do well but his passion goes along with what his talent is.
That’s no different than someone who’s a great piano player, who makes good grades but is smart enough to recognize where that person has an exceptional talent and he understands that’s the case with him.
Defensive coordinator Mike London’s name was rumored to be involved in the start of the Old Dominion football program. Since then he has issued a statement saying he wants to remain at Virginia. Can you describe the uniqueness he added to your defensive improvements this past season?
Mike is a coach of high passion and energy and intensity. That’s important at all positions on the field, all 22 spots, but particularly on defense.
He really brought that energy on a day-to-day basis, heck, on a play-to-play basis during the course of practice. So it’s that energy and that fire that really became part of the personality of the defense and so much of the way Mike coaches.
I understand you got to be on the sidelines of the New England Patriots during the AFC Championship?
Besides the competition and watching the players and the coaches work, in our games I try to center all my thoughts, my vision, and my hearing on what occurs on the field, that is in between the lines and try to block out anything beyond that as much as the crowds, the sounds, everything because I’m there for one particular job and it takes my concentration. I’m there for a different reason, in a different capacity than most other people who are at the games.
So this gave me an opportunity to kind of take those blinders off and take those ear plugs out and take in the whole atmosphere before the game and the fans and enjoy the noise when I’m usually trying to block it out. It gave me a good perspective on how that can impact a game.
What’s your gut feeling? Do we see your good friend Bill Parcells as a head coach again in the NFL?
No. I think I’m just going to answer that on things I’ve heard him say (to me). His statements, while not definitive, were more that I wouldn’t rule out just as his (previous) retirement statement. I wouldn’t rule out his being involved with football but probably the odds are against his being on the field again.
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