Coach Tony Elliott announced the 2025 season captains for his team Oct. 28, as voted on by the players. The team voted Oct. 27 and were told to select four names. The elected captains are all graduate players — quarterback Chandler Morris, tight end Sage Ennis, defensive tackle Jahmeer Carter and linebacker James Jackson.
This is the first time under Elliott that Virginia will have permanent season-long captains during the season, who will wear a “C” on their jersey for the remainder of the 2025 campaign.
“I think that's one of the highest honors you can receive in the game of football,” Elliott said.
Previously under Elliott, Virginia voted on team captains after the season ended, as a post-campaign honor. During the past three seasons, the Cavaliers used game-specific captains, and Elliott sent those individuals out to midfield for the coin toss. The origin of the in-season captainship dates back to the end of last season, when, according to Elliott, players approached him with the idea of team captains voted on after eight games.
“I said, ‘I'm all for it,’” Elliott said.
With dozens of graduating players, it is possible for other players to continue the tradition of game-specific representatives for the coin toss — especially considering that over 30 players received a vote for captainship.
“In the past, what I've done is given every senior, or as many seniors as I possibly could, an opportunity just to experience [the coin toss],” Elliott said. “[Even though the permanent captains did the coin toss at California] there could possibly be other guys that might be game captains.”
The offensive captains, Morris and Ennis, have had different paths towards captainship. Morris transferred last offseason, and is one of the newest Cavaliers. However, as a veteran starting quarterback, leadership is prerequisite No. 1. Ennis was also a shoe-in, as he is a fellow graduate player who even started his collegiate career with Elliott at Clemson before transferring to Virginia in 2023.
“I couldn't ask for two better guys, along with a lot of other guys on offense,” Kitchings said. “There's a lot of belief in who we are as an offense, right?”
Recently, though, it has been the defense winning games for the Cavaliers. The defense is led by Jackson and Carter, the team’s longest tenured defensive starters. That duo has started for Virginia since 2022, a feat no other defender on the roster has achieved.
“It's frankly a product of the work that they've put in their love for the University of Virginia, and ultimately, as far as just their passion for again, as far as making the ones that are around them better,” defensive coordinator John Rudzinski said. “No two guys are more deserving than those two.”
According to Elliott, the voting process went smoothly. With no coach involvement, the decision was entirely up to the players, who picked four captains without a hitch.
But while Morris, Ennis, Carter and Jackson will be the only permanent team captains, Elliott noted that there were many contenders.
“I will say that when we tallied up the vote, I think we had 32 players receive captain votes,” Elliott said. “Which is a lot, which tells you that there's tremendous leadership all the way around. Not just from the guys that were selected captain.”
That leadership is fueled by the fact that, of the 65 spots on this week’s depth chart, 40 are filled by seniors or graduate students. Veteran experience has been a major part of Virginia’s success this year, regardless of who was elected as a captain.
“[The process] was very organic, and that's what they wanted,” Elliott said. “So [I am] excited for the guys that were captains, but also to want to encourage the guys that may not have been one of the four, we got more than just four team captains, [we have an entire] football team, and I think the results are proving that.”
Led by Morris, Ennis, Carter and Jackson, those results — a 8-1 record and 5-0 start to ACC play — are the best in program history. That quartet will hope to keep things rolling as they progress deeper into conference play.
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