Delaney Embracing Expanded Role

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By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com
 
CHARLOTTESVILLE– In December 2015, as a junior at Westfield High School, Brian Delaney celebrated a state championship at Scott Stadium. Against Oscar Smith High, he kicked seven extra points to help Westfield capture the Virginia High School League’s 6A title with a 49-42 victory in triple overtime.
 
Thirty-four months later, Delaney found himself in the midst of another frenzied scene on the same football field late Saturday night. This one followed a nationally televised ACC game in which Virginia upset No. 16 Miami 16-13.
 
The victory was the Cavaliers’ first over a ranked opponent since 2014, and Delaney played a leading role in the triumph.
 
Until Saturday night, the 5-10, 200-pound sophomore from Chantilly had never attempted a field goal for the Wahoos. But he was 3 for 3 against the Hurricanes, connecting from 26, 46 and 32 yards, and a fourth field goal would have counted had the ‘Hoos not taken a penalty (and automatic first down) in its place.
 
“I’m ecstatic, because the number-one thing we want to do is get points on field goals and PATs,” said Ricky Brumfield, who’s in his first year as Virginia’s special teams coordinator.
 
The Cavaliers entered the game having made only three of six field-goal attempts this season. Not since its 2015 season finale against Virginia Tech had UVA made a field goal of at least 40 yards.
 
‘It just felt great to be able to help the team out and deliver,” Delaney said Monday at the McCue Center. “It was a close game, so it definitely was needed, and I definitely had the nerves going, but I felt good about it going out there and I felt good about it after the fact.”
 
Among the fans who made their way onto the field at game’s end Saturday night were Delaney’s parents.
 
After celebrating for a few minutes with a mass of teammates, fellow students and fans near midfield, Delaney recalled, “I was like, ‘Wow, I’ve got to find my mom.’ ” 
 
He looked over at the section where family members of UVA players sit at Scott Stadium and didn’t see his parents. It turned out that fellow kicker A.J. Mejia was “trying to help them find me for a while,” Delaney said. “I finally found them and gave them a hug.”
 
After helping Westfield repeat as 6A state champion in 2016, Delaney accepted a scholarship offer from UVA and joined head coach Bronco Mendenhall’s program the next summer.
 
Delaney, who was born and raised in Northern Virginia, ranked among the top recruits nationally as both a kicker and a punter. He came to UVA expecting to compete for a starting job at each position as a true freshman, only to be disappointed.
 
Mejia kicked field goals and Lester Coleman punted for the Cavaliers in 2017. Mejia was 8 for 12, with a long of 38 yards, and Coleman made the All-ACC second team. Delaney kicked off for the ‘Hoos.
 
“When I came in, I didn’t know Lester was as good as Lester is,” Delaney said, laughing. “That wouldn’t have changed anything in my [college] decision, but I had no idea he was as good as he is.”
 
One of 17 true freshmen to play for Virginia last season, Delaney kicked off 56 times, with 20 touchbacks, and generally performed well in that phase of the game. Still, he said, “I guess last year would probably be [considered] pretty underwhelming, just doing kickoffs. But it was what I earned.”
 
The starting assignments remained unchanged coming out of training camp this year. But after Mejia struggled early in the season, making only 1 of 4 field-goal attempts, the Cavaliers turned to true freshman Hunter Pearson, who was 2 for 2 in a win over Louisville, connecting from 28 and 24 yards.
 
Delaney, one of Coleman’s backups at punter, continued to work on field goals during practice. But until recently most of them were 45 yards or longer, in case “we needed it going into the half or at the end of the game,” he said.
 
After losing 35-21 at NC State on Sept. 25, Virginia had a bye week, during which the coaching staff began to seriously consider Delaney as an option as the No. 1 kicker.
 
“We had him kick some more field goals, just to say, ‘Hey, Brian, let’s get you rolling a little more than just long-range emergency situations,’ ” said Drew Meyer, a graduate assistant who works with Virginia’s specialists. “He was all for that.”
 
During the bye week, a competition began between Pearson and Delaney, who would attempt field goals in practice as their teammates and coaches hooted and hollered near them. Delaney won the battle and earned the right to handle extra points and field goals against Miami, as well as kickoffs.
 
He’ll be cast in those roles again Saturday afternoon, when Virginia (4-2 overall, 1-1 ACC) meets Coastal Division rival Duke (5-1, 1-1) at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, N.C. Of his 31 kickoffs this season, 18 have been touchbacks.
 
Delany won’t have to engage in head-to-head competition against other kickers in practice this week, Mendenhall told reporters Monday. However, Mendenhall said, if “a player then doesn’t perform well in practice or looks lackluster or the consistency doesn’t seem to be there, it opens up again. Brian controls that now. If he practices like he just did and performs like he did in [the Miami] game, it’s his job.”
 
Having a kicker capable of making 46-yard – or longer – field goals gives offensive coordinator Robert Anae more options with his play-calling and “changes the way the game is managed,” said Mendenhall said, who’s in his third season at Virginia.
 
“We haven’t had that in place until Saturday, at least in the time I’ve been here. Now, whether it will remain in place, that’s still a question. One game is not enough to then say Brian has arrived and now UVA is strong finally in the field-goal area. At least it’s a start. With the expansion of how far out we can kick the football, that, again, will lead to game-management decisions that we haven’t been able to make for a long time.”
 
Kickers don’t often take turns in the spotlight, but Saturday night the honor of smashing the rock in UVA’s locker room, a post-victory tradition, went to Delaney, who had expected senior safety Juan Thornhill to get to swing the sledgehammer.
 
“That was pretty cool,” Delaney said.
 
Two days later, he was Ahmad Hawkins’ guest on The Walkthrough. If Delaney was nervous while filming the popular video feature, which is posted each week on VirginiaSports.com during football season, it wasn’t apparent.
 
Nor did he appear flustered during the game against Miami, even if he had butterflies.
 
Delaney doesn’t rattle easily, Mendenhall said, and “doesn’t take himself too seriously, which in a game like that where he just steps up and kicks in that role, in that kind of setting, with the pressure on him like he did, I think will endear him to his teammates and certainly the coaches.”
 
Meyer, who was an all-Big Ten punter at Wisconsin, agreed.
 
“I’ve got a lot of confidence in Brian,” Meyer said. “He’s the type of guy that wants to come in and work hard. He’s a blue-collar guy. He’s just going to come in and handle his business and really try to get after it, but also have fun. And he keeps things light.
 
“He doesn’t get too down if he misses. He gets excited when he makes it, but he doesn’t go over that hump and get cocky. He is very even-keeled, but also loves to enjoy the moment and have fun with it. He keeps the mood a little light in our room and is always kind of joking around during meetings.”
 
Delaney, who played soccer as a boy, focused on football in high school. As a ninth-grader at Westfield, in fact, not only did he kick for the freshman team, he played offensive tackle.
 
As a sophomore on the varsity, he was a second-team offensive lineman during preseason practice. 
 
“I actually got in a scrimmage at right tackle against DeMatha, and it went …. probably not the best,” Delaney said, smiling. “That’s when we decided it would probably be best if I just stuck to kicking.”
 
He lives with John Kirven, who played defensive end for Virginia as a true freshman last year but had to give up football for medical reasons. Kirven remains involved with the team and assists the coaching staff in practice.
 
Delaney, who’s likely to major in foreign affairs, is close with the Cavaliers’ other kickers, too.
 
“We’re really supportive of each other,” Delaney said. “If somebody’s missing in practice, we’re working with each other to figure out what’s going wrong. 
 
“There’s definitely no hard feelings going on in the group, because we know everybody has to produce, and if you’re not, then we’re going to open up the competition.”