When Al Groh said last month that Vic Hall would get a look at quarterback this spring, he wasn't talking about a token tryout.

"This spring, Vic will work at quarterback exclusively," said Groh as Virginia football team prepared for the start of workouts today.

In fact, Hall will begin spring practice as Virginia's No. 1 quarterback.

"We have to start some place with the rotation," Groh said, "and, as with all positions, that will change with competition over 15 days of practices.

"But, the player on our team who last started a game at quarterback was Vic."

That was also the first start at quarterback for Hall, a fourth-year junior who previously had made 24 consecutive starts on defense.

"He'll be the first person up," Groh said. "The next person who started at quarterback here was Marc [Verica]. He'll follow Vic. The person after that who has started a game at Virginia is Jameel [Sewell], so he'll come in after Marc does."

Sewell started 22 consecutive games at quarterback for the Cavaliers before he was placed on academic suspension and missed the 2008 season. Verica wasn't the original choice to replace him but was pressed into service when two-game starter Peter Lalich was dismissed from the team.

The Cavaliers won four games in a row with Verica as their starting quarterback, then lost three in a row before Hall made an unannounced move to quarterback prior to UVa's final game.

Hall, who set state records for passing yardage and total offense while at Gretna High School, rushed for 109 yards and two touchdowns in a 17-14 loss to Virginia Tech.

Virginia returns both players who started at cornerback against the Hokies, junior Ras-I Dowling and sophomore Chase Minnifield. Chris Cook, who started games in parts of three seasons before joining Sewell on academic probation, only deepens the cornerback pool.

The Cavaliers have the luxury of taking Rodney McLeod, who was named their outstanding first-year player, and moving him from cornerback to safety.

"If that's where he ends up, it gives us a player with significantly higher cover skills than often go with that position," Groh said.

"We want to make sure we start him there [in the spring]. We don't want to jazz him up by flipping him around too much."

Besides, the Cavaliers can always use Hall at cornerback.

"He's got plenty of background there," said Groh, who used Hall at quarterback and cornerback against Tech.

Groh compared Hall's situation at corner to the spring of 2008, when offensive tackle Eugene Monroe barely practiced after undergoing offseason shoulder surgery.

"Clearly, it didn't set him back," said Groh, who saw Monroe win the Jacobs Blocking Trophy as the ACC's top offensive lineman. "He'd had enough time at position. We think the same thing would apply to Vic.

"We all know what kind of player Vic's been for us and how much he's contributed. There is no better competitor. Never has been on our team. We're going to have Vic in for the maximum amount of plays that he can stand over the course of next season, wherever that might be."

Hall also has served as UVa principal punt returner since his redshirt freshman season. If the Cavaliers keep him in that role, he will come under the supervision of new special teams coach Ron Prince, who recruited Hall for UVa before spending three seasons as the head coach at Kansas State.

"Really, the area where our team can make the greatest leap forward is with special teams," said Groh, whose previous special teams coach Bob Diaco resigned to become the defensive coordinator at Cincinnati.

Notes

Groh said that 6-foot-6 Andrew Devlin, who started two games at tight end as a redshirt freshman, now weighs close to 270 and is being moved to defensive end. ... Mark Ambrose, another tight end in UVa's 2007 signing class, moved to linebacker last fall but has been forced to give up football because of chronic shoulder problems. ... Mikell Simpson, who missed the final three games of the 2008 season after suffering a broken collarbone, has been cleared to start spring drills.