Elliott: No staff changes; didn’t mean to run off Colandrea

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Virginia coach Tony Elliott said Wednesday that he doesn’t anticipate any changes in the makeup of his coaching staff, but did leave a slight crack in the door.

Elliott also pointed out that it was not his intention to chase quarterback Anthony Colandrea out of the program when he benched the season-long starter for the regular-season finale at Virginia Tech (more on that later in the story).

“I don’t anticipate any [coaching staff changes] right now,” Elliott said. “Again, I’ve been very, very critical of myself first and foremost. It starts with me. Then just evaluating from the standpoint of relationships to ability to put the players in the right positions.

“Do you consistently put them in an advantageous numbers situation or angle situation for them to be successful? I haven’t heard anything from any of my coaches. I’m going to continue to evaluate. We’re about a few days postseason, but right now I don’t anticipate any changes.”

The news wasn’t well received by many Virginia fans on social media. Most of their frustration was pointed toward offensive coordinator Des Kitchings, with many expressing disappointment that there wasn’t a change.

Their frustration is backed up by numbers. Virginia fielded one of the worst offenses in the nation, finishing the regular season ranked between No. 101 and 132 out of 133 FBS programs in all of the major offensive metrics (see related story on this site).

There have been suggestions that if Elliott isn’t going to fire Kitchings, perhaps he could be reassigned to running backs coach with Elliott taking over the play-calling responsibilities. After all, that’s what attracted Virginia to Elliott in the first place. He called the plays for Clemson during the Tigers’ 10-year stretch of domination in the ACC prior to him taking the UVA job.

Elliott said after last Saturday night’s loss at Virginia Tech that he would wait and closely evaluate his entire program following Wednesday’s National Signing Day.

Colandrea, a sophomore, was clearly upset that he was benched for the final game, the most important game of the season with bowl eligibility on the line. He officially announced Wednesday that he is entering the transfer portal, confirming what he told some teammates following Saturday night’s loss.

Elliott said he was hoping to give the offense a spark after Colandrea’s performance had declined late in the season.

“Unfortunate situation with AC,” Elliott said Wednesday. “The intention with the decision I made was never to get him to entertain or think about the portal. I was planning on him coming back and being the guy for us going forward.

“Man, things change. Now we will have to go and look and find a veteran guy in the portal. We’re going to be aggressive from that standpoint because I think we’ve got a lot to sell. I wish AC well. He’s leaving here on good terms. There’s no bad blood from my perspective.”

It’s most likely Virginia will have to bring in two experienced QBs from the portal because of the lack of experience at that position on the roster.

“It’s just unfortunate that the intent was not for AC to leave the program. I was excited about getting back to work this offseason and helping to get him to a place of getting his  confidence back at the highest level. Also, I knew that I have a responsibility to go put some more pieces in place around him.

“Unfortunately we’ll be doing that with another veteran quarterback through the portal process.”