Fire the coach!

I wanted to be the first to say it, but it's probably too late.  Already there are "dead coach walking" lists all over the internet.

Al Groh of UVA seems to be at the top of most lists.  0-2 after losing to Texas Christian today, William & Mary last week. By most objective criteria, Groh has not achieved a great deal in Charlottesville.

Well, except he has a great deal.  In Charlottesville.

Roughly $1.7 million a season through 2011.

And there's the rub.  How do you fire a coach who is into you for that much money, the year after UVA spent $2.1 million to part ways with basketball coach Dave Leitao?

Firing Groh would be the responsibility of Athletic Director Craig Littlepage.  Which would force Littlepage to walk that long last mile to tell the nice folks at the Virginia Athletic Foundation that large sums of money must be advanced to buy out the coach whose contract he extended after the 2007 season.

How would that conversation go?

"I had the right vision for UVA football and basketball.  It was all coming together.  And then it didn't.  So, I'll need you to dig just a little deeper...."

At which point the VAF will probably begin to wonder how much it would cost to buy out Littlepage.  Which is probably a question which should be asked.

Craig Littlepage isn't exactly Bernie Madoff, but he's done a reasonable imitation, promising unrealistic returns on investment.  Like Madoff's ponzi scheme, the investors in UVA athletics have come to realize the money is gone with little to show for it.

Groh's extension was tied to a vision of national championship contention.  Littlepage sold that vision, which is probably not achievable at UVA, with or without Al Groh as head coach.

Simply put, Charlottesville is not a destination location for the type of players needed to put UVA into one of the major bowls.  There is not history of success, no more of a pipeline to the NFL than other ACC schools, and the ACC itself is not a marquee football conference. 

Could another coach change that?  Butch Davis at UNC is a close comparison, and while Davis is moving Carolina in the right direction it is a multi-year project with no guarantee of anything more than the Top 20.

And Al Groh is no Butch Davis.  A good offensive mind, an experienced coach, someone who should consistently win eight to ten games a season.  But not a national title.

Where does that leave UVA?

With an AD who probably can't pull the trigger, but may be fired himself.  And with a coach who will probably ride out the season before getting a golden parachute from the VAF. 

And lots of unrealized dreams.