The 63-21 beating the Cavaliers absorbed at the hands of Illinois a month ago in the Micronpc.com Bowl was still fresh in his mind, but Virginia football Coach George Welsh chose to focus on the future of the program in his press conference yesterday, a day after the Cavs inked 22 high school recruits.
"Overall, there's a lot of speed in this class, a lot of athleticism," Welsh said of a group that includes 14 skill position players and seven linemen. "But with the big guys, you're never sure."
Welsh said the Cavaliers hope to add two more players, but right now the jewel in this recruiting class is linebacker Raymond Mann. The Sporting News listed the Hampton native as the ninth best linebacking prospect in the nation and the 101st best recruit overall.
Bruising running back Jon Ward, a highly-regarded, 6-foot-1, 235-pound California native, surprised Welsh by faxing his letter of intent to Charlottesville yesterday morning. Ward chose the Cavs from a handful of schools after backing away from his earlier verbal commitment to Oregon State.
"I didn't think he was going to decide for another few days," Welsh said. "He's a big back and he can run. He's got some real skills."
The Cavaliers also signed Almondo "Muffin" Curry, a 5-foot-9 wide receiver/defensive back whose cousin, two-sport star Ronald Curry, chose North Carolina over Virginia two years ago. Muffin Curry is one of five recruits the Cavs plucked from Fork Union Military Academy, the Virginia prep school that produced 1999 Cavalier starters Maurice Anderson, Shannon Taylor and Anthony Southern.
Running back Art Thomas, one-fifth of the Fork Union faction, chose Virginia last year, but ended up in prep school after a transcript mix-up rendered him academically ineligible.
The Cavs also decided to extend a scholarship offer to placekicker Bryan Smith of Hampton. Welsh said with incumbent kickers Todd Braverman and David Greene nearing the end of their collegiate careers and no replacements apparent within the program, Virginia was forced to take the relatively unusual step of recruiting a kicker.
"I wanted a kicker this year," Welsh said. Offering Smith a scholarship was "the only way we could get him."
Welsh said first-year quarterbacks Matt Schaub and Bryson Spinner will split playing time in spring practice with incumbent starter Dan Ellis, but will be hard-pressed to take the third-year's job by the end of the spring.
"Schaub and Spinner will get enough work for us to have some kind of an idea at the end of spring practice," Welsh said.
Welsh also elaborated on comments he made following the blowout loss to Illinois, when he called every inch of the Cavalier program into question. Yesterday, he said that process will include a re-evaluation of everything from the practice schedule and the winter workout program, to the play-calling and player techniques.
"We're going to reinvent the corporation," Welsh said. "This is the first time in this decade we've done a wholesale evaluation."
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