Britton Leads From Front on Defensive Line

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

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — As a defensive lineman at Lake Taylor High in Norfolk, Anthony Britton recorded a school-record 28 sacks as a senior. That was not, he said, because he’d mastered his position.

“It was just me being bigger than a lot of the kids I was playing with,” Britton said this week at the Hardie Center. “And then truly just power.”

Not until he arrived at the University of Virginia in 2023 did Britton’s education as a defensive tackle really begin. At Lake Taylor, he said, the coaching staff essentially “told us to get off the ball and just go.”

That was apparent to UVA’s coaches when they first scouted Britton. Still, his combination of size, strength and athleticism impressed head coach Tony Elliott, who watched Britton at a camp at UVA, and a scholarship offer followed.

“He was handpicked by Coach E,” Virginia associate head coach Kevin Downing said.

Britton liked the atmosphere at UVA, its coaching staff and the school’s proximity to Norfolk. He committed to the Cavaliers in August 2022, but he was far from a finished product when he arrived on Grounds in 2023.

“Yeah, that’s very true,” Britton said.

“When we first got him, he was really raw, as raw as I had seen,” recalled Downing, who coaches Virginia’s defensive tackles.

Elliott has a similar recollection.

“When Britt showed up here, I don't know if he knew what offense or defense was,” Elliott said Tuesday, smiling. “He was so raw of a talent, just a big guy that was trying to figure out the game. And now what you see is a guy that is understanding the scheme. He's understanding how to play blocks, how to read blocks, how to check back alignments to be able to play fast and anticipate what's coming. And then you're starting to see now his natural talent [allowing him to] just play freely.”

In his fourth year at UVA, the 6-foot-3, 308-pound Britton is becoming a force up front. He’s coming off a game in which he led the Cavaliers with nine tackles—one shy of his career high—and he’s tied for fourth on the team with 23 stops this season.

“I think he's playing with a ton of confidence,” Elliott said. “He’s absorbing the workload with some of the injuries that we've had at the position, and he just continues to get better. And so it's awesome to see him kind of start to step into the type of player that he can be. I think he's still got more before he reaches the ceiling, and I've challenged him. I've said this to him several times: I think he can be one of the best in the league.”

In December of his senior year at Lake Taylor, Britton played in the U.S. Army Bowl in Frisco, Texas, about 30 miles north of Dallas. He’ll be back in the Lone Star State this weekend.

At noon Eastern, UVA (4-2 overall, 2-1 ACC) meets No. 24 SMU (4-1, 2-1) on Saturday at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas. This will be the second game between these programs. The first was in November 2024 at Scott Stadium, where No. 13 SMU won 33-7. Britton started that game and made four tackles.

Game 7 #GoHoos 🔶⚔️🔷 https://t.co/5PSQCXVmju

— Virginia Football (@UVAFootball) October 13, 2026

Britton’s classmates include his fellow defensive tackle and close friend Jason Hammond, who’s from Miami. Hammond starred at St. Thomas Aquinas, which has one of the nation’s premier high school football programs, and his coaches there included former NFL players Jason Taylor and Kevin White.

Hammond and Britton were at different developmental stages when they joined the Cavaliers’ program, Downing said. “When Jason got here, fundamentally he was ready.”

As a true freshman in 2023, Hammond played in seven games, and he earned a starting job in training camp the next summer. Four games into the 2024 season, however, Hammond suffered an injury that sidelined him for the rest of the year. Britton took Hammond’s spot on the first-team defensive line, and he was named Virginia’s most improved defensive player after the season.

Hammond returned to health last year and started every game for a UVA team that finished with a program-record 11 games. Britton was a key reserve in 2025 and went into this season starting alongside Hammond.

Their partnership was short-lived. On Sept. 11, for the second time in his UVA career, Hammond suffered a season-ending injury.

“It's really unfortunate, because Jason has a truly high ceiling,” said Britton, who appeared in four games as a true freshman. “He's a really good player, and when I first got here, I modeled a lot of what I did off of what he was doing, because I felt like he was at a certain level that I wasn't at yet. And to see him get hurt these past two times, it really hurts.”

With Hammond out, Britton has put “a little bit more on his shoulders to know that ‘I gotta go lead,’ ” Downing said, “and his production has risen tremendously. So he’s met the challenge.”

The injury to Hammond has “forced [Britton] to become the player that he needs to be,” defensive end Fisher Camac said. “The stress is on him, because he's the guy now. He’s just pushing himself, and he's been playing really well. It's been awesome to see.”

UVA’s other defensive tackles include Sichan John, Darrion Henry-Young, Kervins Choute and Jonathan Allen. With Hammond sidelined, Britton is the most experienced member of the group, and he’s “got to be the leader of that room now,” Downing said. “But Jason's still very vocal. He's still a very big part of it.”

Britton said he tries “to guide everybody, whether that be the younger guys or the [transfers] who just got here. But no matter what, I have to take up a leadership role in the room, because nobody else can.”

A foreign affairs major in UVA’s department of politics, Britton will earn his bachelor’s degree in December. In the football program, he’s big on leading by example.

 “Words are cool,” Britton said. “It’s nice if you can talk to somebody and tell them what to do. But I feel like nobody would really appreciate what you're saying if you don't back it up with your actions.”

Born and raised in Norfolk, he learned the game from his father, Anthony Britton Sr., whom Downing described as “a hard-nosed, blue-collar guy.”

Britton Jr. said his father “does not play [around] at all. At halftime of every game, he makes sure to send me a text of what I'm doing good, what I'm doing bad, what I need to work on. It’s like my little cheat read.”

No. 55’s mother and stepmother provide strong support too, Downing said, “so he has a really, really good village surrounding him. And I think what you see is a kid that's starting to step into who he can become.”

Britton feels the same way.

“I think there’s definitely a higher level I can take this to,” he said. “It just comes down to putting my head down, trying to figure out, what I need to work on and focusing specifically on that, one day at a time, just trying to get 1% better every day, basically. But I definitely do think that there's still more to come.”

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