Jared Soares | The Roanoke Times

Virginia safety Brandon Woods hangs his head after a third-quarter touchdown pass by Southern Cal's Mark Sanchez during UVa's loss.

Kyle Green | The Roanoke Times

Virginia linebacker Jon Copper of Northside talks with UVa head coach Al Groh during the game against USC.

It was a scene that was re-enacted on numerous occasions during Virginia's 9-4 football season in 2007:

The UVa defense would come to the sidelines after a critical stop and there would be defensive coordinator Mike London to greet them with a chest bump or a high-five or some other sort of congratulatory gesture.

Sometimes, London would be there to chastise them, to get in their faces if the situation warranted. As a former Richmond police detective, he could be a disciplinarian.

London is the head coach at Richmond now, so he isn't around to meet the UVa defense on its way off the field, not that there's been a whole lot to celebrate. What seems strange is, while London isn't on the UVa sideline, neither is his successor as defensive coordinator, Bob Pruett.

Observers on both sidelines Saturday at Connecticut were struck by the absence of emotion displayed by the Cavaliers on and off the field. Head coach Al Groh huddled with the defense periodically, but, when play resumed, he had to go back to watching the game.

The only UVa assistant coaches who were on the sideline were Anthony Poindexter, Dave Borbely and Bob Diaco. It's a good thing the players were behaving themselves. If an altercation had broken out, the staff might have been powerless to contain it.

In London's two seasons as Virginia's defensive coordinator, Groh was heavily involved in the defensive game plan and called defensive signals on game day. London had served as UVa's defensive line coach from 2001-04, so when he returned from a one-year hiatus with the NFL's Houston Texans, he knew what to expect.

Some would say that London was the Cavaliers' D-coordinator in title only, but the players liked him and they respected him, which is not to say they don't respect Pruett. But, the idea of having three assistant coaches on the field and six in the press box is not the way that most teams do business.

Moreover, two of the coaches who are on the field, Borbely and Poindexter, are offensive coaches. Borbely coaches the offensive line and Poindexter the running backs. Diaco is nominally the linebackers coach, but his primary responsibility is special teams. In effect, Groh is the linebackers coach.

Groh has tremendous faith in his own football instincts, but, in this case, he's spread too thin. The Virginia players should have been angry Saturday during a 45-10 loss to UConn, but the defensive unit sat quietly as the final minutes ticked off the clock. There was nobody in their faces. Not a coach. Not another player.

In 2007, maybe London would have been rallying the troops. Or maybe it would have been defensive end and co-captain Chris Long. A coach familiar with the UVa operation said that Long and his father, NFL Hall of Famer Howie Long, had a "larger than life" influence on the UVa program.

The Longs lived in Charlottesville, so players could go home with Chris and talk football or they could get away from football. Long's constant encouragement spurred roommate and close friend Clint Sintim to an outstanding season in 2007. Is it a coincidence, in Long's absence this year, that Sintim is still waiting to get on track?

The Cavaliers aren't going to get Long back. They aren't going to get London back. In his mid-60s, Pruett does not have the same demographical profile as London, 48, but he has always had a reputation as a players' coach. Why not put him on the sideline and find out?