Head Coach: Tony Elliott is entering his 4th season with the Cavaliers with an 11-23 record. His record does not stick out but he led the program through very difficult and tragic circumstances at the end of the 2022 season. Last year they finally started started to show some progress in the win column but the pressure is on for Elliott to continue to make progress.
Program Outlook: Virginia football has struggled a lot, they only have 4 winning seasons since 2006. It doesn’t seem to make sense, they have the resources so why isn’t it translating to success in football? It isn’t as blatant as Duke for example, but Virginia is quietly a basketball school and that’s often where the donors put their weight. That’s not to say success isn’t possible Virginia once was a steady program for a long period of time. From 1987-2005 Virginia only had one losing season, now two decades after that success they need to find out how to get back to winning like that.
How does the 2025 Roster look?: Virginia ranks 32nd in the country returning 61.5% of their production per Punt and Rally’s returning production rankings. They didn’t just sit there, they brought in a whooping 30 transfers! This includes potential impact players such as QB Chandler Morris (North Texas), and receiver Jahmal Edrine (Purdue). Morris is intriguing he’s shown so much potential, he was the original start of the 2022 TCU team that went to the national title, got hurt and didn’t play again, then the same thing happened in 2023, finally last season at North Texas he got to play the full season. Next to Edrine at receiver will be Trell Harris who is a solid target. The Cava have good backs in Xavier Brown and NC Central transfer J’Mari Taylor who could both do some damage if they get room to run. The defense will also have key experienced playmakers such as LB Kam Robinson and S Antonio Clary. The defensive line is solid led by Jahmeer Carter, but they’re hoping the portal pickups led by Mitchell Melton (Ohio State) help with getting after opposing QBs. James Jackson is a key player to have back after he got hurt during a good season last year and Trey McDonald fills out a good LB group around Robinson. The challenges for the Cavaliers will be sorting out the offensive line that lost a lot of experience and a secondary that tends to give up too many completions, especially if top corner Jam Jackson’s injury proves to be serious.
Screenshot from FBSchedules.com
2025 Schedule Thoughts: It’s hard to find a more dramatic shift in schedule without changing conferences compared to what Virginia has. In their non-conference schedule they play Washington State instead of Notre Dame, and they have a “non-conference” game for some reason against NC State. Coastal Carolina is at home instead of on the road, though William & Mary could be a good FCS team this year. The ACC schedule appears about as good as it could possibly be, Virginia avoids Clemson, Georgia Tech, Miami FL, SMU, Pitt and Syracuse that is incredible fortune! If there is one downside for the Cavaliers it’s that their toughest games on the surface are all on the road. Still, this schedule paves a very realistic path to a bowl game and maybe even more for Virginia.
Final Thoughts: Virginia is entering a critical season for their program, and it’s clear that with the transfers they brought in Tony Elliott knows that. With this schedule they have the upside to win 8 games, and it would be immensely disappointing if they failed to reach a bowl. One last key to monitor with Virginia, constant turnover and penalty issues they have really cost themselves opportunities to win. Cleaning that up and playing disciplined football will go a long ways toward helping the Cavaliers find more wins in 2025.
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