Virginia Athletics announced a contract extension with Coach Tony Elliott Wednesday that adds three seasons to his deal with the Cavaliers. Elliott’s contract was originally set to expire on the final day of March 2028, but will now run through the 2030 season.
“The commitment to football at the University of Virginia is real and palpable throughout our building,” Elliott said in a Virginia Athletics press release Wednesday. “I’m proud of the foundation that we have laid and excited for what we can do together in the years to come.”
In the 2025 campaign, Elliott was named the ACC Coach of the Year, the Bear Bryant ACC Coach of the Year and the Associated Press ACC Coach of the Year. He received an automatic one-year extension after Virginia recorded 10-plus wins last season, but Wednesday’s extension secures his spot as head coach for the next several years.
“I want to thank [Athletic Director Carla Williams] and the administration for their support of this football program,” Elliott said in the press release. “I also want to recognize that we are not in the position that we are without the loyalty of this staff and the buy-in from our scholar-athletes past and present.”
Elliott and company won 11 games in 2025 — the most in a single season in Virginia football history. The Cavaliers finished ranked No. 16 in the final AP Poll, which is the program’s best mark at the end of a season since 1995.
If Elliott is still the head coach during the 2030 season, he will become just the fourth coach in program history to have spent at least nine seasons as head coach of the Cavaliers — joining George Welsh, Al Groh and Frank Murray.
As evidenced through a first-place finish in the 2025 ACC standings, continuity has paid dividends for Virginia football’s development. Elliott and all three of his coordinators, Des Kitchings, John Rudzinski and Keith Gaither, have been with the program since Elliott took over before the 2022 season.
Williams reaffirmed Virginia’s commitment to Elliott, his staff and his vision for the program in the press release.
“We are extremely fortunate to have Tony Elliott continue to lead our football program,” Williams said. “His commitment to the values of the University of Virginia and his commitment to developing the whole person through football have been a blessing. His vision of building the model program has never wavered, despite extraordinary adversity. The future is bright for U.Va. football and we’re excited to continue this work together.”
The Cavaliers are currently in the spring practice window, which culminates with a spring scrimmage April 18 that is open to the public but will not be broadcast. Virginia’s 2026 season begins in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Aug. 29 against NC State.
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