Fralin Family Head Football Coach Tony Elliott enters his fifth season directing the UVA program in 2026. He was named Virginia’s 41st 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, appear in four College Football Playoff title games and capture national championships in 2016 and 2018.
With the support of the Virginia administration, donors and fans, Elliott has demonstrated his ability to adapt to the rapidly evolving landscape of college athletics. At the same time, he has remained committed to his stated vision of molding UVA into the nation’s model college football program, with a continued emphasis on the development of the student-athlete coming from the high-school ranks.
The 2025 season, Elliott’s fourth at the helm, was the most successful in the history of Virginia football. The Cavaliers won a school-record 11 games and were victorious over Missouri in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, UVA’s first bowl triumph in seven years. Virginia also finished 7-1 in ACC play, matching the program’s single-season ACC wins record, and sat alone atop the league’s regular season standings for the first time in program history. The 11-win campaign also marked the second-largest win improvement among all college football programs from 2024 to 2025.
In recognition of UVA's historic season, Elliott was voted ACC Coach of the Year by his peers and garnered ACC Coach of the Year honors from the Associated Press. He also was named the Bear Bryant ACC Coach of the Year and took home the Bobby Ross Coach of the Year Award from the Touchdown Club of Richmond. Elliott was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson, Paul “Bear” Bryant and George Munger national Coach of the Year awards.
The Cavaliers were ranked in each of the six College Football Playoff Rankings and finished the 2025 season No. 16 in the AP poll, the program's highest final ranking since 1995 and its first appearance in the final poll since 2002.
In a testament to the talent acquired and developed by Elliott and his staff, a total of 14 Cavaliers received All-ACC accolades, headlined by running back J’Mari Taylor, who earned the league’s regular-season rushing title and co-led the ACC with 15 total touchdowns. Triumph on the field was complemented by unmatched success in the classroom as the Cavaliers posted a 3.201 team GPA in the fall of 2025, the highest in program history. Kicker Will Bettridge won the prestigious Jim Tatum Award as the league’s top senior student-athlete and tight end Sage Ennis became the 12th UVA football player to achieve Academic All-America status. A total of 14 players were listed on the ACC All-Academic Team and 81 were members of the ACC Academic Honor Roll.
Under Elliott, Virginia has produced three impact NFL players, including wide receivers Dontayvion Wicks (Packers & Eagles) 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, set the ACC’s single-season receptions record (120), which also led all players nationally in 2023. Additionally, Washington was one of only three UVA wideouts since 2000 to attain All-America status. A Charlottesville native, Sanker was UVA’s highest defensive draft pick since 2019 after being selected in the third round by the New Orleans Saints in the 2025 NFL Draft. Sanker led the ACC in solo tackles per game in each of his final two seasons, 2023 and 2024.
The Cavaliers began the 2024 season winning four of their 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 a 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 second season was unlike any previously 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 one another. They leaned on each other like never before, and that compassion is now a cornerstone of the program. As a result, UVA Football has rebuilt itself based on commitment, appreciation, dedication and love. A true family in spirit, Elliott and his staff carried their purpose far 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, leader and 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. “I wanted to be able to recruit the best and the brightest student-athletes.”
Elliott elaborated on that vision, emphasizing his desire “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 foundation for that culture is built 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. Prior to transitioning to the tight ends room in 2021, Elliott guided Clemson running back Travis Etienne to one of the most illustrious careers in college football history. Under Elliott’s leadership, Etienne set the NCAA record for most games scoring a touchdown (46) and secured ACC records for career rushing yards (4,952), total touchdowns (78), rushing touchdowns (70), and points (468).
As the Tigers’ offensive coordinator, Elliott mentored 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 the ACC’s 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), when he was also named co-captain of a team that finished with a 9-4 record and a No. 22 final ranking by the Associated Press and USA Today.
Born in Watsonville, Calif., Elliott and his wife, Tamika, have two sons, A.J. and Ace.