Tony Elliott

Fralin Family Head Football Coach Tony Elliott enters his fourth season directing the UVA program in 2025. He was named Virginia’s 41^st head football coach on Dec. 10, 2021, after spending 11 seasons at Clemson University – his alma mater – as an assistant coach under Dabo Swinney. Elliott brought a wealth of championship experience to UVA after helping the Tigers win six Atlantic Coast Conference championships and appear in four College Football Playoff title games, capturing national championships in 2016 and 2018.

With the support of the Virginia administration, donors and fans, Elliott has fully embraced the rapidly evolving landscape of college athletics, while remaining committed to his stated vision of molding UVA into the nation’s model college football program. Still heavily emphasizing the development of the high school student-athlete with 22 highly-rated newcomers in his 2025 signing class, Elliott and his staff made a statement in the transfer portal by landing 32 additions to complete one of the deepest UVA rosters in recent memory. The 2025 transfer portal class was ranked No. 18 in the nation by Rivals.com.

In three seasons under Elliott, Virginia has churned out three impact NFL players including wide receivers Dontayvion Wicks (Packers) and Malik Washington (Dolphins), along with 2025 third-round draft choice Jonas Sanker (Saints). Washington, who came to UVA with 110 receptions in four seasons at Northwestern, compiled an ACC record with 120 receptions, which also led the country in 2023, and became one of only three UVA wideouts to attain All-America status since 2000. Sanker, a Charlottesville native, was UVA’s highest defensive draft pick since 2019 after leading the league in solo tackles per game each of his last two seasons. Including three First Team All-ACC selections in Sanker, Washington and former standout cornerback Anthony Johnson, 17 Cavaliers have garnered all-conference honors in three seasons under Elliott’s tutelage.

The Cavaliers began the 2024 season winning four of its first five games and received votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll for the first time since 2021. The program recorded its signature win of the year in front of national audience on ACC Network, knocking off then-No. 23 Pitt in Acrisure Stadium. The win marked UVA’s third away from Scott Stadium, its most since the 2011 season. The victory also came nearly a calendar year after the Cavaliers took down then-No. 10 North Carolina in Chapel Hill to earn the program’s first-ever win over a top-10 opponent on the road.

Elliott’s first two seasons as a head coach were unlike any ever experienced by a college coach. Near the end of his rookie campaign in 2022, a campus shooting took the lives of three UVA players – Lavel Davis Jr., Devin Chandler and D’Sean Perry. The remainder of the season was canceled, and Elliott faced an unforeseeable and monumental challenge.

The program was grieving, looking for purpose and a way forward. With faith, passion and determination, Elliott found a way, a cause and a purpose for the Cavaliers. But he didn’t do it alone.

Together, with assistant coaches, a dedicated staff, an empathetic administration and an embracing community, they provided unconditional support and care for each other. They leaned on each other like never before and that compassion is now a cornerstone of the program. As a result, the football program has rebuilt itself based on commitment, appreciation, dedication and love. A true band of brothers, they extended their purpose well beyond the boundaries of a football field.

“We did not choose this path, but were chosen for it,” Elliott said. In hindsight, it is evident he was also the coach, the leader, the person best suited to walk alongside them through it all.

A patient man, Elliott waited for the right fit before leaving the assistant coaching ranks to take on the responsibility of leading the Virginia program. During his 11 years at Clemson, several opportunities arose, but it was not until Virginia came calling that he felt the setting was right for what he hoped to accomplish.

“I chose UVA because I wanted to lead a program that was partnered with a university that had world-class academics,” Elliott said at his introductory press conference in Charlottesville. “I wanted to be able to recruit the best and the brightest student-athletes.

“I wanted to compete in the best conference in college athletics. I wanted to be a part of an alignment with (Director of Athletics) Ms. Carla (Williams) and President (Jim) Ryan that shared a vision that was similar to mine, which is centered around the holistic development of the student-athlete. And lastly, I wanted to be part of a university and athletic department that would not compromise its values to win.

“There is no better place for me than UVA. And there is no better time than now.”

Since arriving at Virginia, Elliott has worked to craft what he had hoped to build for years – The Model Program.

“My vision for the UVA football program is to become the model in college football, the model program in college football,” he said. “My goal is to contribute to changing the narrative in college football and demonstrate that you can win at the highest level and you can do so while achieving excellence in education, leadership and service.”

Elliott’s cornerstones of that culture are based on H.E.A.R.T. – humility, effort, accountability, respect and toughness.

“I think that building a championship culture starts with making sure that you have alignment and a vision,” he said. “You clearly state the vision and you are particular in the people that you bring in and make sure that they align with the vision, and then you stay grounded to the principles that you set in place for the players and the staff, and you go to work every single day, and you keep an inside-out mentality. It’s one day at a time, and eventually that will bring your championship culture to life.”

During his championship-filled tenure at Clemson, Elliott was promoted to assistant head coach and offensive coordinator in January 2021 after seven seasons as co-offensive coordinator (2014–20) and a decade as running backs coach (2011–20). Following his elevation to co-offensive coordinator before the 2014 Russell Athletic Bowl, the Tigers went 89-10 and ranked in the top 12 nationally in total offense five times. His 2018 and 2019 units produced two of the 22 highest-scoring seasons in major college football history, each surpassing 650 points.

Elliott was named the Frank Broyles Award recipient as the nation’s top assistant coach in 2017. Before transitioning to the tight ends room in 2021, Elliott oversaw Clemson’s running backs for his first 10 seasons. In that time, he guided Clemson running back Travis Etienne to one of the most illustrious careers in ACC and college football history, helping him set the NCAA record for most games scoring a touchdown (46) and secure ACC records for career rushing yards (4,952), total touchdowns (78), rushing touchdowns (70) and points (468).

As the Tigers’ offensive coordinator, Elliott coached two quarterbacks who became NFL first-round draft picks, including Trevor Lawrence, the first overall selection in 2021. Between 2015-20, a Clemson offensive player took home both the ACC’s Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year awards four times.

Prior to returning to his alma mater, Elliott spent three seasons at Furman (2008-10) and two at South Carolina State (2006-07) coaching wide receivers at both schools. Prior to his coaching career, he worked for Michelin North America for two years.

In 2002, Elliott earned his bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Clemson, where he was a first-team All-ACC Academic selection and a CoSIDA Academic District III member. He was also a recipient of an ACC Weaver-James-Corrigan Postgraduate Scholarship.

Under Tommy Bowden, Elliott came to Clemson as a walk-on wide receiver in the fall of 1999 and finished his career with four letters after appearing in 44 games. Swinney was his position coach his senior year (2003) in which he was named a co-captain of a team that finished with a 9-4 record and a No. 22 final ranking by AP and USA Today.

Born in Watsonville, Calif., Elliott and his wife, Tamika, have two sons, A.J. and Ace.