A side note from the Duke game. Remember how Clint Sintim and Ras-I Dowling missed big chunks of the game? They had cramps. That’s right. Cramps! What the hell?

A reader wrote in reminding me of a conversation we had about cramps last season. Here’s what he said at the time:

I was chatting with a buddy recently about the untimely loss of the men’s tennis team. During our discussion, we stumbled on the commonality across teams this year: cramping. There were high-profile cramping issues in football, men’s basketball and now tennis. There may have been others that didn’t bubble up on the radar (volleyball, women’s basketball) because of the higher profile of those three sports.

One instance of cramping may be an anomaly. Two instances could be coincidence. Now with three instances, across three sports in three different times of the year, we had to wonder what the relatively new nutritionist is doing, and if he has a plan. This is more disconcerting because part of the hype behind JPJA was the athlete dining hall, and I’m not sure we’re starting to see some of the promised benefits from having that part of the facility.

Add another two crampers to the mix. And I remember JR Reynolds cramping two years ago all the time too. I don’t know if there’s anything to this theory about the nutritionist or if there’s a different explanation or if this is just bad luck, but here’s another thing that the Athletic Department has to look into.

JHoo’s article (sub. req.) on the Duke game is up. As a fellow UVa fan writing about the team, I can identify with how hard it is to cover the program right now.

Since I’ve been covering more program-level issues, I’ll pluck out this paragraph from his recap:

To me, the Duke loss was telling in a way that neither of the first two losses were: it reflected a lack of leadership on the team that is new and troubling.

As with everything else about the Virginia football program, the discussion starts at the top for the very simple reason that Al Groh insists that every discussion start at the top. I know that there are plenty of coaches on the staff to whom the players can relate and in fact genuinely like (I have no interest in pointing out who falls into which category, particularly given that different players would have different views anyway). But regardless, the simple fact is that the head coach specifically and the “staff” generally are not reaching many of the players right now.

I still do not think this is a case of the players “quitting” on the coaches. Instead, I think this is a case of the players struggling – there’s that word again – to believe generally in the direction of the program and weekly in the fact that if they properly execute the game plan they are given, good things will result. When that kind of trust breaks down, the staff has a lot of work to do to rebuild things (and almost no time to do so)….

To me, the lack of the right mix of top-down and bottom-up leadership on this team may be the biggest impediment to the turnaround I would love to see.

And that lack of trust in the direction of the program is stemming from the fact that the direction of the program is heading down, down, down. I don’t blame the players for this sort of concern — and certainly a decline in passion and effort is an obvious symptom of larger problems. But at the same time, failure starts to breed failure, as the program’s decline begins to feed upon itself.

What does it say about the program when fans of other ACC schools are pissed that we’re not on their schedule? (hat-tip FOV).

From Beachoo* on the Edge board:

Will it be more expensive to the program if the administration does NOT take action than if it DOES? In other words, will it cost more than $6.2 million if they retain [Groh] than if they don’t?

That $6.2 million is the buyout number, in case you’re wondering.

Beachoo thinks that it’s “entirely possible” and perhaps even “likely” that the numbers will favor canning Groh. I remain doubtful. That’s a lot of lost donations and other revenue. If the administration is able to convince the Group A donors that this year is an attrition-fueled aberration that isn’t Groh’s fault, then the pilot stays in the plane. Personally, I think Casteen and Littlepage will be able to spin this season and kick the can down the road. We shall see.

*subscription-only message board link that will expire

Well deserved. At least some good came out of Lars leaving.

Can we get the federal government to bail us out of the buyout clause?

In all seriousness, the severe economic crisis and continuing downturn has to be hurting state and University and Athletic Department budgets. So, that’s another thing that ain’t gonna help with the calculus in deciding to eat Groh’s entire contract.

I’ve said for a while that Al Groh is safe this year. He’s just a season removed from being the ACC Coach of the Year and winning 9 games and earning the best bowl invite for the Hoos in a decade. The University is notoriously gun shy about firing coaches, especially those with huge buyout clauses. And if President Casteen and Craig Littlepage need a piano wire-style excuse (thin but strong), they just have to point to the sudden and surprising attrition on the team (especially losing two starting quarterbacks in a year) that they can blame on poor player judgment.

Of course, getting blown out by Duke could have set some wheels in motion. Perhaps ending the season with one meager win against a 1-AA team will prove too much for even this University. Maybe the $6.2 million buyout clause will not be deemed too be much money at that point.

But let’s assume the likely for now: Groh will be around another season. At the same time, assuming that Casteen and ‘Page won’t fire Groh, they can’t simply do nothing, right?

Back in the tail end of Pete Gillen’s flame out, they were similarly faced with a giant buyout clause that made them similarly reluctant to fire a coach that looked like he’d lost his program. Instead, they negotiated a last gasp with Gillen: we’ll give you one last shot to make it work in exchange for a smaller buyout agreement. Gillen, the good guy that he was, agreed. He certainly wanted one last shot to succeed at Virginia. He got that shot, failed, and Virginia got off easy.

The university said in a statement that under the terms of Gillen’s contract he will receive a buyout of approximately $2 million. Gillen had six years remaining on a 10-year, $9 million contract he signed after the 2000-01 season.

I think it’s time again for some renegotiations. Of course, I have no idea whether Groh will agree to a Gillen-like arrangement. He’s certainly a thousand times more stubborn that Gillen, and he could always just stand on his contract. UVa doesn’t have much leverage here. But he’s also a bleed-orange-and-blue Wahoo who should care a bit more about what’s best for the University. Any coach, but especially Groh, should have the ego to believe that he’ll be turning this sinking ship around, and so weakening his buyout will turn out irrelevant. Hence, this might be the time to broach the subject with him.

On top of a contract renegotiation, it’s time for Casteen and ‘Page to ask Groh to do what may be unthinkable for him: let his son Mike Groh leave. As the offensive coordinator, Mike has been in charge of own of the worst offenses in college football the past few years. In fact, it is the next-to-worst offense in college football this season. We don’t have to call it a “firing” or “forced resignation” — perhaps find him a head coaching gig somewhere far, far away (probably in FCS land) or an athletic department/front office type job either at UVa or some other school or event the NFL. At this point, it’s painfully obvious that a staff shakeup is required, and Mike Groh (God bless him for his UVa football career as a player) is the one that needs the most shaking.

Some more bad news* for the program and us Virginia fans: Brandon Albert just got carted off the field during the Chiefs-Broncos game.

He twisted his leg and couldn’t move the leg after the play, so a cart had to be driven onto the field to take him to the locker room.

Looks like a serious injury — perhaps a season ender. Man, what a bad weekend for Wahoo fans.

Update: News reports are saying an elbow injury now.

*message board link that will expire

I and others have been guilty in just counting 2006 (losing record) and 2008 (um, blown out by Duke?!) in Al Groh’s bad years. We should be adding 2005 as well, and also the back end of 2004.

I’ve long thought of 2005 as a moderate success because of the final winning record and bowl win. But that year fits in with the current tail spin pattern, with Virginia finishing the regular season barely over .500 and sporting a losing conference record. It’s one of those seasons that can be argued either way, but it starts looking worse and worse when we take in the broader context.

In fact, looking back to 2004, we could possibly pinpoint the long slope downward to Oct. 16, 2004. With the drubbing that a supposedly #6 team in the country took at Florida State, the Hoos lost the majority of their games the rest of the season. Yes, that was a winning season overall. In actuality, however, it was a tale of two seasons: starting out 5-0 by beating some cupcakes and weak ACC opponents and then finishing the rest of the schedule with a 3-4 death spiral.

Thus, the malaise that has cratered the program has really been going on for a while (as many longtime Groh critics have been pointing out for years). And save for a Chris Long-fueled aberration in 2007, this season appears simply to be the continuation of a long decline to a new depressing low.

Ben takes a look at what could be a winless opening stanza for the Hoos in conference play.