When fans think about the stars who led 2025 Virginia football to the most wins in program history, the first player who comes to mind is probably graduate quarterback Chandler Morris. Perhaps graduate running back J’Mari Taylor is mentioned as well. Although those players are transfer portal products, Coach Tony Elliott does not think of his team as a ready-made transfer squad. Rather, he thinks of his team as a perfect blend that equally features in-house talent.
“It's really special,” Elliott said after winning the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl. “We've gotten contributions from all those guys, guys that were here from the beginning, guys that we recruited back when probably it wasn't the most sexy thing to come to Virginia.”
The collection of “those guys” Elliott mentioned are whom he deems, “the forefathers.” Virginia’s collection of forefathers is a small group of graduate players — linebacker James Jackson, safety Antonio Clary, defensive tackle Jahmeer Carter and offensive guard Noah Josey — all of whom have been with the Cavaliers since before Elliott was even their head coach.
In the current landscape of college football, forefathers are increasingly scarce. Elsewhere, players and programs ruin their relationships over NIL disputes, playing time or petty conflicts, and alumni disparage how their program operates in roster construction.
Jackson, Clary, Carter and Josey chose to stay when Elliott took over as head coach in 2022, and their commitment never wavered despite Virginia’s years at the bottom of the ACC standings. Now, Clary and Carter have declared for the NFL Draft while Josey received one more year of eligibility. Jackson has yet to declare a draft entry.
Jackson, a team captain in 2023 and 2025, has been a staple of Virginia’s defense — starting a total of 39 games since 2022. Clary battled through several injuries since his 2019 debut, capping off his seven-year career with a bowl victory in his hometown of Jacksonville, Fla. Carter — a captain in 2025 — has been with the program since 2020, appearing in 69 games as a force up front. Josey has been one of the Cavaliers’ most reliable linemen, starting 43 games since 2022.
As the Cavaliers added more than 30 players via the transfer portal last offseason, Elliott leaned on the forefathers to lead on and off the field — which included welcoming new players with open arms.
“What [the 2025 team has] been able to do is phenomenal,” Elliott said. “You take guys from totally different backgrounds, different universities, different experiences, coming to Virginia, then everybody putting their own personal goals and agendas to the side to commit to the team and the overall mission of the team.”
With both transfers and forefathers blending into one collective unit, Virginia won its most games in a single season ever. That feat was not authored solely by forefathers — notably, captains Morris and graduate tight end Sage Ennis played a major role in team leadership. However, those who have spent four-plus years in Charlottesville are a valuable and dying breed in college football.
Other longtime contributors include senior kicker Will Bettridge, senior receiver Eli Wood and senior offensive tackle McKale Boley, who have spent their entire collegiate careers as Cavaliers. Bettridge has been a starter for nearly his whole tenure — and has broken several program records — and Wood is one of the rarest examples of a walk-on player who fights his way into a prominent role. His future is uncertain, though, as he entered the transfer portal Saturday.
Boley started every game he played in over the past three years, including the ACC Championship game in which he played through a high ankle sprain. Boley will headline the 2026 crop of forefathers, as he is returning for a graduate season.
“I told him [Boley] that that's the heart of a champion, because normally it's a couple weeks [to recover] and he battled through and he found a way to get back,” Elliott said postgame.
In order for Elliott to continue Virginia’s success into 2026 and beyond, he will inevitably have to produce another top-tier portal haul. But just as importantly — if not most importantly — Elliott will seek to retain longtime contributors. Several players have already announced their intent to return, including Josey, who received an additional year of eligibility.
As the Cavaliers head into the 2026 season, several key players are likely to return. Many have already posted social media statements stating, “I’m Back,” in capital letters. These posts seem to greatly outnumber their counterparts who have announced a portal entry. According to Elliott, his returning players have demonstrated a level of commitment and enthusiasm that is increasingly uncommon in the current landscape of college football.
“It's been really refreshing for me to realize in a landscape where there's so many narratives [about the portal or playing time] that at the end of the day these are young people that want to win football games,” Elliott said.
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