CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Virginia coach Al Groh finds the end of the football season to almost always be something of a downer. Suddenly, the coach who works into the wee hours has no next game to prepare for, no reason to spend hours analyzing film and scheming.
The Cavaliers’ season finale against No. 14 Virginia Tech maybe doubly tough for the 65-year-old Groh; it will likely be the last at his alma mater after nine up-and-down seasons.
Athletic director Craig Littlepage has said that Groh’s situation will be evaluated at season’s end, allowing the administration to consider his whole body of work. He also said it’s important to the school that fans support the program, and attendance is down significantly.
Groh, however, isn’t interested in discussing his job status just yet.
“It’s really not about me. It’s about the team and it’s about the players,” he said when asked to discuss his future at his weekly press conference on Monday. “You know, that’s all I’m really thinking about, so I don’t really have any thoughts on it.”
The answer is similar to one he has given numerous times in recent weeks as the Cavaliers (3-8) lost five straight, a skid that will land them at home for Christmas for the third time in four years.
Groh said he hasn’t considered that Saturday could be his final game.
“I just try to be the same person that I talk to the team about being, that we get all our focus on the one game we have and I think that’s part of the reason why we’ve always been able to have a lot of energy,” he said Sunday night. “... Right now, all of my focus is on everything that we can do to get our team ready to play its very best on Saturday.”
That has been a challenge in the series for Virginia under Groh.
The Cavaliers have lost seven times in eight games against the Hokies, and none of the players that will suit up for the home team on Saturday has ever beaten Virginia Tech.
In a disappointing season, and with the cloud of doubt about Groh’s return hanging overhead, senior defensive end Nate Collins said a win Saturday would be especially sweet. “It would definitely be a bright spot for everybody to end off with a ‘W,”’ he said. “And just for the coaching staff, not knowing what’s going on with all of their futures.”
Groh agreed that it would be nice, but mostly for the sake of players like Collins, wide receiver Vic Hall and 28 others who will take part in pregame ceremonies as seniors.
Many of the seniors, he said, “have certainly put everything they’ve got into this for four or five years. “That’s one of the really nice things when you’re successful in a game, that you see the pleasure on the part of the players and reinforcement that they get from everything they put into it. That would be a great thing to be able to experience together.”
