As fall training camp drew to a close, Virginia's season-opening game against Richmond loomed on the horizon. Senior wide receiver Dontrelle Inman was fully aware that this season marked his final opportunity to make a difference as a Cavalier. He, like many of the other players in the Virginia locker room, had been handed a clean slate, void of the shadow of past disappointments or missed opportunities. Through Virginia's first two games this season, it seems Inman has embraced the chance to rewrite his history and fill the final chapter of his collegiate career with positive accomplishments on the field.
The South Carolina native started the 2010 campaign off with a bang, pulling in a career-best seven receptions for 88 yards during the Cavaliers' 34-13 victory against Richmond. Against Southern California, Inman continued to produce offensively as he tallied three catches for 54 yards against a talented and speedy Trojan secondary. Inman currently leads the Cavaliers in total receiving yards and receptions.
Finding success Saturday is nothing new for the 6-foot-3 wide-out, however.
Inman immediately burst onto the Virginia football scene during his freshman season in 2007. As one of only five true freshmen to start that year, Inman hauled in 17 receptions for 181 total yards and averaged 10.6 yards per catch. He ranked fourth in the ACC in receptions among freshman receivers and second on his own team.
Despite a strong first season with the Cavaliers, however, Inman failed to replicate his early successes during his sophomore and junior campaigns. In 2008, he saw little action as Kevin Ogletree emerged as the go-to man downfield. The following season, Inman suffered a nagging wrist injury. He only managed to bring in two receptions for 22 yards and eight receptions for 80 yards in 2008 and 2009, respectively.
His low production on the field notwithstanding, Inman emerged emboldened with a newfound confidence.
"It's been quite an experience, a very amazing transition from my freshman year to my senior year," Inman said. "I've enjoyed it all. I wouldn't trade it for the world. It helped me learn that it takes a lot to be in a place where you can actually make plays. You have to focus. You have to be willing to have the desire to take your game to the next level."
Although he had learned a great deal during the previous two seasons, Inman said he was somewhat apprehensive heading into his senior year. The 2010 season would be his final opportunity to prove that his impressive freshman performance was not a fluke.
"That was a worry for a split-second until I began to meet the coaching staff, and I began to really get to know them off the field and on the field," Inman said. "[Coach Mike London] told me that it was like a blank sheet of paper, whatever happened in the past, that's the past. We're looking for the future, and we're looking for you to help build this program up to a winning program."
New wide receivers coach Shawn Moore also has helped Inman translate his desire to improve into positive yardage on the field this season.
Moore - the gifted Virginia quarterback of the late 1980s and early 1990s and fourth-place finisher in the 1990 Heisman Trophy voting - returned to his alma mater this spring eager to revitalize the receiving corps. Although Moore did not come to Virginia with collegiate coaching experience, Inman said his new coach knows exactly what it takes to be successful in college football.
"You cannot tell that he came from high school, mostly because he was actually an elite player at one time," Inman said. "[As a] quarterback, [he] knows what the receivers need to do."
Inman also acknowledged that his fellow wide receivers help him improve on a weekly basis. Following every game, Inman and the other wide receivers gather together and watch game film, critiquing each others' performance on every down.
"As a position group, we find it better if we critique each other, that it's better than our coach saying something," Inman said. "Coach [Moore] is with us but he barely says anything because we run our mouths so much that he just sits back there and rolls the tape."
With these resources at his disposal, Inman may gain more attention from opposing defensive coordinators as the season progresses.
The receiver certainly has caught Jim Reid's eye. Virginia's defensive coordinator praised Inman's ability to make big catches and his relentless desire to improve.\n"You talk about Dontrelle Inman," Reid said, "you're not going to find any better man around than that guy"
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