Thursday, November 02, 2006
Borbely getting good grades unless he's doing the grading
Recruit Bradley a late bloomer
Doug Doughty
Doug Doughty's UVa Insider is exclusive to roanoke.com and is posted by 5 p.m. Thursdays in season.
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I can’t remember how many weeks ago it was, but when Virginia’s football team was really struggling at the start of the season, I noted that two of the Cavaliers’ underachieving units – the offensive line and secondary – were being coached by first-year UVa assistants.
In that context, it would be only fair to extend credit where credit is being given.
Who knows how the Cavaliers’ offensive line will do against Florida State, Miami and Virginia Tech, but the running game, in particular, has been much better over the past month and people are saying some nice things about new line coach Dave Borbely.
One of the testimonials comes from Mike Lipsey, father of UVa center Jordy Lipsey, profiled in Thursday’s print edition of The Roanoke Times. My phone conversation with Lipsey’s dad took place too late for his thoughts to be included in the story.
“I think this new offensive-line coach has just been huge,” said Mike Lipsey, whose two older sons had played at Washington and Lee. “Jeff Faine came from Orlando, Fla., he played at Notre Dame, I think he’s now with the Saints. He’s a great, great center.”
Borbely coached Faine at Notre Dame, “so he really related to Jordy the first day he stepped on the field,” said Mike Lipsey, whose family lives in the Orlando suburb of Longwood, Fla. “I think what we’re really going to see out of Virginia is a team that can run.
“For the first time in three or four years, he’s going to teach these guys how to run the ball. He’s mastered [the run game] whether it’s at Colorado or Notre Dame. Kids seem to love him now and they respect him.”
FORMER OFFENSIVE-LINE coach Ron Prince did not lack for respect and the Cavaliers had a respectable running game when he was the offensive coordinator. He didn’t get the head-coaching job at Kansas State because he wasn’t getting the job done.
And, to those people who would remind me that I thought UVa should have hired Curt Newsome from James Madison, it wasn’t because Newsome was the best offensive-line coach on the market (like I’d know that) but because he is a terrific recruiter.
There were a few chuckles this week when UVa offensive guard Branden Albert was named ACC offensive lineman of the week after grading 78 percent. Everybody acknowledges that Borbely is a tough grader and Groh said he isn’t sure there has ever been a good game in Borbely’s estimation.
“It wasn’t too much of a transition for me [to Borbely],” Jordy Lipsey said. “If I could create the perfect coach that really fit the way I was, it would be him. It’s just everything about him that makes me really enjoy playing for him – the way he conducts practice, the way he treats his players and the way that he corrects his players, just everything he does.”
Two of the starters, fourth-year juniors Lipsey and right guard Ian-Yates Cunningham had reached a stage where their careers were at a crossroads. Cunningham started one game last year, when Marshal Ausberry started 11 games at right guard, the position Cunningham reclaimed this year.
Cunningham, who did not letter in 2005, did have to make an adjustment to Borbely.
It was “everything,” Cunningham said. “He has a different style of coaching. Different calls. One call was something and now it’s another thing. So, you have to get used to that. He demands a lot out of you, but he’s an awesome coach, an awesome person.”
MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE was the only Division I-AA program to make an offer to 6-foot-7, 270-pound Landon Bradley before he got the offer that resulted in a commitment to Virginia, but Bradley wasn’t surprised by the late spike in interest.
“A year ago, I had never even seen myself playing college football,” Bradley said. “I was always undersized and coaches were always hard on me, telling me I wasn’t any good and stuff like that. I think [that was because] they saw something. I wasn’t strong. I didn’t have any weight on me.”
Bradley was 6-6 and 225 pounds as a junior, when he was the blocking tight end in a scheme that frequently used two tight ends. He suffered a sprained knee that caused him to miss four games but became more of an every-down player on his return for Conway (S.C.) High School, where he plays tackle this year.
In recent weeks, scouts from South Carolina, Florida State and LSU had come to watch him play and he also had attracted the attention of North Carolina and North Carolina State.Virginia was of particular interest because he had attended UVa’s camp during the summer.
Bradley said the Virginia offer had been on the table for 3-4 weeks and that he was aware that UVa has 21 commitments, not counting 2006 signee Asa Chapman, who is at Fork Union but is unlikely to qualify this year and probably will attend junior college. Virginia was not in position where it could wait on Bradley for an extended period.
“I thought about that, too,” said Bradley, a 3.5 student, “but I didn’t want that to be the only reason. I just figured, if I waited, that’s [Virginia] where I was still going to go anyway. But Virginia made me well aware of the fact that if I didn’t take it soon, it might be gone.”
