Juan Thornhill comes up with an interception in last year’s 28-21 win over Duke Juan Thornhill appropriately named his Twitter account, “The_Juan_and_Only.” The senior free safety from Altavista, and admitted country boy, does not lack for confidence. Or athletic ability. That’s what Virginia coach Bronco Mendenhall is banking on, moving Thornhill over from cornerback to free safety, where job demands are more physical. You want physical? Don’t mess with Thornhill. “Juan is a freak,” said Shawn Griswold, UVa’s strength and conditioning guru. There’s reason for Griz’s awe. In the final week of summer conditioning, when all the measurables are compiled, […]

Historic Lambeth Field is where the Wahoos held their 6th fall practice Thursday. More than 100 Virginia football players made the short trek from the McCue Center across the footbridge over Emmet Street, spilling into sacred ground at Lambeth Field on a toasty August afternoon Thursday. Lambeth’s history goes unnoticed by today’s players. They know Virginia once played there, but that’s about it. Even most media attending the first 30 minutes of the practice had never been to Lambeth and knew nothing of the place. UVa coach Bronco Mendenhall likes to conduct practice there once in awhile because it’s the […]

James Thomas “Monk” Bingler We knew him simply as “Monk,” the man at the door of Scott Stadium’s press box and various spots around John Paul Jones Arena. Year after year, Monk was always there with a handshake, a ready smile, a twinkle in his eyes, and usually a really corny joke. James Thomas “Monk” Bingler, a Charlottesville legend, a University of Virginia “ambassador,” left us this week at the age of 94. Most media that walked through the double doors to the press box each autumn had no idea of Monk’s background. He must have told me a jillion […]

With historic Lambeth Field as a backdrop, Virginia’s football team finished its sixth practice of fall camp on Thursday. It wasn’t the best. Coach Bronco Mendenhall said he had been pleased with the five previous practices but wasn’t happy with the lack of sharpness. He quickly recognized that the competitiveness in practices building up to Thursday had taken its toll. “The team showed signs of a lot of work,” Mendenhall said. “We have been increasing the work capacity, pushing the limits in every possible way, and it showed today.” The coach plans on having a “significant” scrimmage on Saturday, and […]

Scattershooting around Wahoos World, while wondering if a true freshman will be Virginia’s answer as a deep threat … One of Bronco Mendenhall’s chief concerns in training camp is finding a vertical threat to replace Andre Levrone and Doni Dowling. It was a concern in the spring and remains one in August. “We have first-years coming in, Wooby Theork-Youmans (Naples, Fla.), Ugo Obasi (Baltimore, Md.), Billy Kemp (Highland Springs), and Tavares Kelly (Fort Launderdale, Fla.), and possibly (senior) Olamide Zaccheaus [at wide receiver] with one of the other guys playing his position in the slot,” Mendenhall said. “It’s a need […]

With eight returning starters on offense and eight on defense, is the learning curve for Virginia’s football team less of a burden as Bronco Mendenhall opened his training camp Friday night? Well, yes, and no. “Defensively, especially with eight of the 11 back … and then there’s this pause,” Mendenhall said after the Cavaliers’ first practice. “Without Micah, without Quin, and without who Andrew Brown became, those are still big shoes to fill. “The identity, the chemistry … there’s confidence and experience, but there’s still some uncertainty in who now replaces that production,” Mendenhall explained. “I think it will be […]

Garett Tujague knows a little something about offensive lines. He started at left guard for LaVell Edwards at Brigham Young, and later became Bronco Mendenhall’s line coach at both BYU and Virginia. When he walked into the Cavaliers’ offensive linemen’s meeting room this week and saw 20 players greeting him, he was in football heaven. “I had to make sure I’m not in a dream,” Tujague (pronounced TOO-Jay) said after Friday night’s opening of UVa’s fall training camp. “It’s nice to have good numbers, good quality kids guys that are all about Bronco and his program, about hard work and […]

On a Virginia offensive line that is thirsting for experience, graduate transfer Marcus Applefield should provide a ton of veteran leadership. The former Rutgers standout, who moves from right guard to right tackle, is settling in nicely in his new role in Charlottesville, and is eager to show his younger teammates the ropes. Marcus Applefield “I’m a big guy, obviously, with experience,” Applefield told reporters Friday. “I can move well on my feet and I’m a strong guy.” It will all take some getting used to, but after Friday’s first fall practice, the 6-foot-5 lineman who started 10 games for […]

As a lifelong sportswriter, I have really come to appreciate Bronco Mendenhall’s candor. Everyone huddled around the Virginia football coach after Friday night’s first practice, hoping to get some kind of scoop on the Cavaliers, got more than they bargained for. Bronco Mendenhall Talks To Reporters Yes, everyone who closely follows UVa’s football team already knew that transfer quarterback Bryce Perkins and speedy slot back Olamide Zaccheaus were going to be huge keys to the Cavaliers season. However, for a coach to come out and say it without hesitation on the first night of practice, well, that just doesn’t happen […]

Bronco Mendenhall kicks off his third fall training camp Friday night, hoping to build off last year’s momentum that unexpectedly delivered a bowl trip. The Cavaliers return eight starters on both sides of the ball, in addition to several players who gained valuable playing experience last season when pressed into service due to injuries to starters. Ideally, Mendenhall would like to go bowling again this season and avoid a second half of the season slump that barely allowed his Wahoos to become bowl eligible. The back end of the schedule isn’t quite as loaded as it was last season when […]

Director of Football Development & Performance Shawn Griswold encourages a player during the bench press At 5:45 a.m., Charlottesville is still dark and quiet on a sleepy summer morning. All that is about to change at the McCue Center, home of Virginia football. That’s the appointed hour the Cavaliers come rolling in four times a week, but this day – Friday – was special, the beginning of a new tradition. Senior wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus performs the “Break the Rock” ceremony “Break the Rock,” is an idea that new UVa strength and conditioning coach Shawn Griswold (affectionately tagged “Griz” by […]

One of the great things about walking the hallways of the global headquarters of JerryRatcliffe.com is the opportunity to debate Hootie on the latest story he just wrote. Which was the case last night when he said the Wahoos would definitely not finish last in the Coastal Division of the ACC. I actually agree with that, as North Carolina is a steaming, smoking, dumpster fire destined to spend the year in the league’s basement. But proclaiming Miami the best, saying Boston College was a dark horse, and dismissing Virginia Tech the way most dismiss a telemarketer calling during dinner…those were […]

I’ve always had a problem with preseason polls. Voters are usually fairly accurate about the top of the polls but after that it’s a crapshoot, and in the case of last week’s ACC Football Kickoff with hundreds of media attending, anyone can vote. By anyone, I mean anyone as in the voter who gave North Carolina a first place vote in the Coastal Division. Really? I totally agree that Miami and Clemson should be the preseason favorites in their respective divisions. Florida State will be interesting with a new coach inheriting a load of talent. Boston College is my darkhorse. […]

It was inevitable that media attending this past week’s ACC Football Kickoff event in Charlotte would bring up Virginia coach Bronco Mendenhall’s comments to the school’s Board of Visitors in June, particularly the remark about having but 27 ACC caliber players on the roster. The original report from a different publication didn’t clarify at the time Mendenhall had referred to his roster at that exact time. His number didn’t include players that had just graduated, the likes of Quin Blanding, Micah Kiser, Andrew Brown, Kurt Benkert, and several other departed players. That number also did not include players that would […]

CHARLOTTE, NC.- When Virginia coach Bronco Mendenhall decided to leave Brigham Young University for Charlottesville prior to the 2016 campaign, he admits that he really didn’t know all that much about UVa’s football history, nor the importance of the Virginia Tech rivalry. Mendenhall jested that things have cleared up quite a bit in that regard since his tenure began. “[I knew] some about the history, some about the expectations and some about the rivalry,” Mendenhall explained during his press conference at the ACC Kickoff on Wednesday, “but now that I’ve been at UVa for two years it’s becoming clearer what […]

CHARLOTTE, NC – As University of Virginia head coach Bronco Mendenhall put it during Wednesday’s ACC Kickoff press conference, one of the guiding principles of the program is, “less drama, more work.” No one on the team, according to the coach, exemplifies that motto like senior linebacker Chris Peace. “He is that,” Mendenhall said of the Newport News native and Denbigh High product Peace, who is credited with coining the phrase, “New Standard,” another mantra that the Cavaliers have stood by over the past year, which helped lead the team to a trip to the postseason for the first time […]

While Larry Fedora was setting himself on fire in front of the press today, Miami’s Mark Richt may have had the quote of the day when asked about his reaction to one of the more publicized – and annoying – gimmicks in college football last season: the turnover chain. “What’s been my reaction? It’s the greatest thing since sliced bread.” Richt said. “It’s really the greatest thing since the 10-bite sandwich, actually. People ask me about that — first of all, I didn’t know about the turnover chain until the first game. Coach Diaz is like, hey, Coach, by the […]

Under a burning Virginia sun Friday morning, about 40 Cavalier football players were finishing an hour-long conditioning period with 60-yard sprints. One thing jumped out immediately during these runs after a grueling workout. The player winning the sprints wasn’t a running back, wide receiver or defensive back. It was Bryce Perkins, UVa’s starting quarterback coming out of spring practice. That’s right, a quarterback. Just how unusual was that? “It is very weird,” said Joe Reed, a wide receiver and kickoff return specialist, who is pretty darned fast himself. “Weird, but you know I’m so glad to see that. I’ve never […]