Hoos Aiming to Build on 2025 SuccessHoos Aiming to Build on 2025 Success

Hoos Aiming to Build on 2025 Success

Spring practice started this week for the UVA football team, which is head into its fifth season under Tony Elliott. The Wahoos' spring game is April 18 at Scott Stadium.

By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — As he proudly watched nearly 20 of his former players work out for NFL scouts in the George Welsh Indoor Practice Facility on Tuesday, University of Virginia head coach Tony Elliott was reminded how much talent his program lost after last season.

“We had Pro Day today, and it was awesome to the see the turnout and the number of guys participate,” Elliott said Tuesday night at the Hardie Center, “but also we watched a lot of leadership walk out.”

From a team that finished 11-3 after defeating Missouri in the Gator Bowl, gone are such players as Jahmeer Carter, J’Mari Taylor, Harrison Waylee, James Jackson, Daniel Rickert, Mitchell Melton, Antonio Clary, Brady Wilson, Sage Ennis, Cam Ross, Trell Harris and, at least for the moment, Chandler Morris.

Now more than ever, though, turnover is a part of college football, and Elliott noted that the Cavaliers returned a strong core of veterans, among them are offensive linemen McKale Boley, Noah Josey and Drake Metcalf and linebackers Kam Robinson and Maddox Marcellus. New to the program this semester are 27 transfers and seven true freshmen, all of whom enrolled at the University in January.

UVA held its first spring practice Tuesday, and Boley addressed his teammates afterward, urging them to make the most of every day and to not take anything for granted. (The first practice originally was scheduled for Monday, but the threat of storms forced a postponement until Tuesday.)

Boley, who starts at left tackle, is in his fifth year in the program, and “so he's a guy that we're going to lean on,” Elliott said. “Now, his leadership style may be different, but the great thing is that he understands [the philosophy of the program], and he's seen up close and personal what it looks like. And I think he's going to embrace that role. So the key for us is to help foster that leadership with the guys that are returning within the program.”

The focus Tuesday, Elliott said, was introducing the newcomers to the Cavaliers’ practice habits and practice standards. “So I'm excited to see us about five practices from now, when everybody knows where they're going, what they're doing.”

Morris, Virginia’s starting quarterback in 2025, is awaiting a ruling on his latest appeal for another season of eligibility. He’s not on the active roster this spring, and leading the competition at quarterback are transfers Beau Pribula (Missouri) and Eli Holstein (Pittsburgh), along with Cole Geer, who played in two games as a UVA true freshman last season.

Pribula, who opted out at Mizzou after the 2025 regular season and so didn’t play against Virginia in the Gator Bowl, put in considerable work Tuesday. During Pro Day, he threw to the players who ran pass routes. Then came his first practice as a Wahoo.

“It was a two-a-day, but it was awesome,” said Pribula, who began his college career at Penn State. “It's a great opportunity to be able to throw for those guys. I was glad I was able to do that for them, and that was good work in the morning. And then afternoon, first spring ball practice.”

The Cavaliers are heading into their fifth season under Elliott. They finished under .500 in each of his first three seasons before breaking through last year. They reclaimed the Commonwealth Cup from Virginia Tech and set a program record by winning 11 games.

Now comes a new challenge for the Hoos as they prepare for the upcoming season: showing they can handle success.

“And so the biggest message today is that we have to go create this team's identity,” he said. “There’s not any carryover of stats and plays from last year, so we’ve got to start over. We’ve got to double down on our core values. And we’ve got to create an identity for this team based off of the foundation that's been laid from a program standpoint.“

Offensive tackle Monroe Mills said: “You don't want to get on your high horse ... You want to keep your nose to the grindstone, keep working, grind your butt off and do what you did last year, but even harder. Because we came [up] short. The fact is, we came [up] short.”

UVA finished the 2025 regular season with a 7-1 record in conference play. With a win over Duke in the ACC title game, Virginia would have advanced to the College Football Playoff. The Hoos lost to the Blue Devils in overtime, however, and missed the CFP.

“That’s the floor,” cornerback Jam Jackson said Tuesday of the Cavaliers’ 2025 success. “We’re trying to go above that.”

College football teams are allowed 15 spring practices. For the Hoos, the 15th will be their annual spring game, April 18 at Scott Stadium.

Tony Elliott at practice TuesdayTony Elliott at practice Tuesday

Players who are recovering from injuries and won’t be full participants this spring include Josey, Robinson, Marcellus, tailback Xavier Brown, tight end Lukas Ungar (transfer from New Mexico State), defensive end Billy Koudelka, linebacker Landon Danley and defensive backs Ethan Minter, Corey Costner and Ja’Maric Morris.

“So it's going to be a lot of fun when we get to fall camp and we’ve got everybody back,” Elliott said. “But it also creates some opportunity for other guys to get some quality reps [this spring].”

Those players include offensive linemen Jon Adair, Ben York and Grayson Reid. The O-line is probably the team’s most experienced and talented group, but capable reserves are required so the starters “don't have to play every snap,” Elliott said. “[The Hoos played] 14 games last year and are trying to play more this year. That's a long season, and you need quality competitive depth. So those are a couple guys that I'm anxious to see take the next step.”

At quarterback, Elliott said, “I want to see Cole Geer take the next step. I know everyone's talking about Beau, everybody's talking about Eli, but I want to see [Geer] take the next step. Why not? Go compete with those guys.”

Elliott also hopes to see similar improvement from such players as wide receivers Isaiah Robinson, Dillon Newton-Short and Josiah Abdullah, defensive tackles Jason Hammond, Anthony Britton and Sichan John, and linebackers Myles Brown, Caleb Hardy, Isaiah Reese, Justin Rowe and Cayden Cook-Cash.

Kam Robinson, Danley and Marcellus are Virginia’s top three returning linebackers. With them out this spring, Elliott said, “I think it's a great opportunity for all [other ‘backers] to be able to get some good quality reps. And then when you come back in the fall and you add Kam back and Danley back and Marcellus, you add a bunch of experience with some youth that has developed, and you have a chance to be pretty dynamic. And then all of those guys hopefully will gain some confidence that even though they may not play as much as they like at linebacker, they can dominate on special teams for us.”

Among Virginia’s returning players are four veterans who missed all of last season while recovering from injuries: Mills and Makilan Thomas and defensive backs Jam Jackson and Ja'Maric Morris.

Mills and Thomas are projected to start at right tackle and right guard this fall, respectively. They joined the program last year as transfers: Mills from Louisville and Thomas from Arkansas State. Both practiced Tuesday.

“Really happy for them, because I know how devastating it was to transfer in [with] high, high hopes for what you thought was your last season of college football,” Elliott said. “And before you know it, boom, you're out and you miss an entire year. So really, really proud of their perseverance. And both of them led all the way through last season. But for them to now be out there just to see the smile on their face is awesome.”

Mills is listed at 6-foot-7, 320 pounds and Thomas at 6-foot-3, 315 pounds, and when those “two big jokers get out there and start moving around, you're like, ‘Yeah, that's what it's supposed to look like,’ ” Elliott said, smiling.

To be back practicing “was awesome,” Mills said Tuesday night. “I just missed it. You don’t know [how much you’ll] miss it until it's gone, and I definitely felt that today.”

Even though he didn’t play last season, Mills was a fixture at practice and took on a leadership role with his fellow offensive linemen. The impact of players like Mills, Boley, Josey and Metcalf is significant, Elliott said, because “I can only see so much, and there's a lot of things that happen in the locker room and then just in the community, when the guys are out, that impacts how we perform.

“And so to have guys that understand that balance and what is acceptable and what’s not, to be able to be that extra set of eyes, it’s huge.”

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