Virginia shows up in style at ACC Kickoff with personalized shoes designed by Jay Huff’s wife

By Jerry Ratcliffe

CHARLOTTE — Virginia’s representatives at the annual ACC Football Kickoff showed up in style on Thursday, with eye-catching, personalized sneakers compliments of a former Wahoo basketball player’s wife.

Coach Tony Elliott, quarterback Brennan Armstrong, wide receiver Keytaon Thompson and linebacker Nick Jackson were all sporting the colorful shoes for their interview sessions with ACC media (see photos).

“Yeah, they’re pretty cool,” said Armstrong, who is one of the star QBs in the star-studded lineup of outstanding quarterbacks in the league this season.

Elliott credited Jim Daves, UVA’s  director of media relations, who suggested the coach and the Cavaliers’ reps wear shoes designed by Lindsey Huff, a licensed artist who happens to be married to former Virginia star basketball player Jay Huff, who plays in the Los Angeles Lakers organization.

“So [Daves] reached out to her because he saw some of her work,” Elliott said. “And so he had an idea to kind of take each shoe and tell a story. So each of the shoes tells the story of the individual, things they are passionate about and then also the connection with UVA.”

For example, one of Elliott’s shoes displays the story about the day he was hired at Virginia and that he came from Clemson, where he was offensive coordinator for much of the Tigers’ dominance of the ACC. Another shoe tells some of Elliott’s life story as a student-athlete, an engineer, a coach, highlights his family and expresses his desires for the UVA football program.

“She did an unbelievable job of telling the story of each individual,” Elliott said. “So, pretty cool.”

Armstrong said each player gave Lindsey Huff ideas of what they wanted included on their shoes.

“Shout out to her,” Armstrong said.

What’s on the quarterback’s shoes?

“Just like hometown stuff like my high school team, my number (5),” Armstrong said. “I got the state of Ohio with a star where my hometown is. I don’t know if you guys ever heard of Cedar Point, but it’s up in northern Ohio. There’s a big amusement park there.”

Also on his shoes is a logo of his beard, his UVA passing record and something from the Virginia Tech game, along with a little shamrock  four-leaf clover.

COMING UP: Armstrong talks about his week at the Mannings’ quarterback camp and more from the ACC Kickoff