UVA new D-line coach Sintim: ‘I’m living my dream’

By Scott Ratcliffe

As he describes it, Virginia defensive line coach Clint Sintim is living a dream. The former Cavalier standout has found his way home to his alma mater and old stomping grounds, and now he’s ready to help lead the next generation of Wahoos to greener pastures.

Sintim takes over for Vic So’oto, who departed for Southern California in the offseason, and he inherits the deepest, most experienced group of D-linemen the UVA program has seen in a long time.

Sintim, a native of Woodbridge in Northern Virginia, enjoyed a stellar four-year career in Charlottesville from 2005-09 as a star linebacker. He was drafted in the second round of the 2009 NFL Draft and was a member of the New York Giants for four seasons before injuries forced him to hang up the cleats in 2013.

Since then, Sintim has gotten his feet wet in the coaching ranks, having most recently served as linebackers/defensive ends coach at a pair of FCS schools, Richmond (2015-16) and Delaware (2017-19), helping lead each program to the playoffs. When Bronco Mendenhall asked Sintim to fill the vacant spot on his staff a few months back, he jumped at the opportunity.

“I’m living my dream right now,” said Sintim, who earned a Super Bowl championship ring with the Giants in 2011, “and since I retired and I got into coaching, the goal was always to come back here to Virginia and then be on the staff in some capacity and make a contribution. So when Coach gave me that call in mid-February to come down and interview, my wife and I came down, we met with the staff, and then shortly after when he offered me the job, it didn’t take much to say, ‘We’re coming.’

“So I’m excited to be here. I’m excited to contribute, and whatever role I can play to help his team be better than what it was, okay, that’s what I’m here to do.”

Sintim’s unit is anchored by seniors Richard Burney and Mandy Alonso, junior Aaron Faumui, and sophomore Jowon Briggs, while only losing one major contributor to graduation in Eli Hanback. All those aforementioned linemen have seen significant reps and experience during their time as a Cavalier, and that bodes well for Sintim in his debut season.

The Hoos will also have an extra weapon in the trenches in 6-foot-3, 275-pound JMU grad transfer Adeeb Atariwa (who registered 52 tackles at the FCS level in 2019), with a few promising youngsters in the mix — redshirt freshman Ben Smiley III, who appeared in two games last season, and true freshmen Olasunkonmi “Su” Agunloye and Jahmeer Carter, among others — that should be able to slide in and get thrown into the fire while giving the starters a breather. Sintim likes what he’s seen in his first three days of practice in terms of positive energy.

“I think overall, we’ve got a good group of guys learning the culture every day,” Sintim said. “But right now, what I see is guys coming in here every day working hard and trying to get better. So we’re just gonna keep pushing forward and try to make the best out of our situation and then hope for the best.”

Without a traditional spring practice session and the obvious challenges of not being able to meet his players in person prior to camp, Sintim was still able to build relationships with them through Zoom video conferencing.

“It’s unique. I mean, it’s unique just like everybody in college football,” admitted Sintim of the current social struggles. “We’re kind of dealing with different circumstances. So the Zoom was different, but I think with Coach Mendenhall, he made Zoom as consistent to being here as you possibly could.

“So I was able to pick up pieces of the culture. I think the leadership on this team, on this defense, some of the older guys, they welcomed me and gave me an opportunity to learn and really just follow suit as far as the expectations. So they made the transition easier, because there’s a bunch of guys who’ve played and done some good things. So we’re just continuing to build now, now we’re on the field, and they get a chance to be around me as a coach and then continue to build that relationship.”

Burney and Briggs each spoke with the media on Wednesday, and echoed Sintim’s sentiments on the uniqueness of their respective relationships, as well as the coach getting more familiar with the group as a whole.

“We’re developing a good relationship,” Burney explained. “I do respect the fact that he was a UVA graduate, played at UVA. He has a lot of insight and a lot of knowledge about the school and just football in general, so I respect him. He’s a good guy, a great mentor, and overall, I think a great coach.

“We’re getting to know each other more on an everyday basis. Obviously, I would have hoped that we had spring ball so we would have been able to develop that relationship even more, but even while we were at home while we were doing our Zoom calls and things of that nature, we were developing a relationship — the only difference was it was just online. So, like I said earlier, he’s a great coach, a great mentor, and I really honestly look up to him and I think a lot of other guys do too, because he came from UVA. He’s walked in the shoes we’ve walked in, so we have a lot to relate to.”

Briggs added: “Coach Sintim wasted no time making sure that we had a foundation of trust and understanding with each other. He is very knowledgeable about the game. Obviously, we all know about his career here and his career in the league, so it’s really easy to find myself being a sponge and absorbing all the information he can have for us.”

The fact that Sintim is not only a Virginia alum but also grew up in the state could play a key factor in the Hoos’ recruiting future within the Commonwealth. He explained Wednesday how he believes that can shake out down the road.

“When I first got the job and it went public, a lot of high school coaches from the Virginia area reached out just to show support, and I think over the years, Coach Mendenhall and his staff have done a better job each year as far as making relationships within the state. So for me as an in-state guy, coming from UVA, I just want to continue to build on what they’ve already done a good job of. So [the plan is to] continue to expand my network, try to continue to bring in relationships, and then hopefully get the best players out of the state of Virginia to come to the University of Virginia.”

Due to the ongoing pandemic, there are certainly a lot of unknowns heading into ACC football season, but as Wahoo camp rolls on over the next few weeks, Sintim and his players will obviously continue to get more acquainted with one another while preparing to fight for a second straight trip to the conference championship game. In the meantime, Sintim will continue to live his dream and love every second of it.

“Obviously, we’re not oblivious to what’s going on in college football right now,” admitted Sintim, who was recently a guest on The Jerry Ratcliffe Show (in case you missed it, you can listen here). “But I think [Coach Mendenhall] has said it best multiple times – ‘Control the controllables.’ So right now we’ve all been given an opportunity to come out here and practice and play football, and for me to coach football, so we’re all doing what we love and until we hear otherwise, that’s all we’re gonna keep doing. We’re gonna keep marching away.”