Groh's successor faces daunting task

Over the course of the search for Al Groh's replacement, you might hear it said that the Virginia coaching position is a great job.

That's a matter of opinion.

Mine is that it's not such a great job.

It's a good job, all right, especially for somebody not currently coaching in a BCS conference. But it's not as good a job now as it was when Groh was hired nine years ago. I think we can all agree on that.

At any rate, can the U.Va. position really be a great job when taking it means stepping into a role of perennial No. 2 in the state?

As always is the case when a coach is fired, Groh's successor has a lot of work to do. U.Va.'s football image is as gray as the sweatshirt the departed coach wore on the sidelines.

A bright coat of paint can be applied fairly quickly. But the new coach also will need to mend fences with disillusioned fans while working to reconnect with U.Va.'s recruiting base. In-state recruiting is the program's chief issue.

With that in mind, is it too soon to speculate that the No. 1 candidate for the job is Al Golden? There's every reason to think he should be the man.

U.Va. wouldn't just be replacing one Al with another, it would be moving

toward the future with a young man (Golden is 40) who in four years at Temple has lifted a moribund program to nine victories and the brink of a bowl game.

An infusion of youthful exuberance is a must if U.Va. is to break free from its doldrums. And Golden knows the school. As a Groh assistant between 2001 and '05, he was an outstanding recruiter. Today, he's considered to be one of the best recruiters in the East.

Golden has something else going for him. If offered the U.Va. position, he'd most likely take it. Some others wouldn't.

Don't believe all the names that will get thrown against the wall when the U.Va. job is discussed. A few may reflect reality; but most will be the product of pipe dreams.

Rule of thumb: If a coach is included on the rumored short list to replace Charlie Weis at Notre Dame, he's not interested in U.Va.

Head coach at U.Va. is not the great opportunity some would have you believe. It's fraught with too many uncertainties and systemic hurdles. Sure, there are attractive elements to the job. It means coaching in a solid conference at a school that does things the right way.

But the commonwealth already has a football school. It's called Virginia Tech, and the Hokies aren't going away. The shadows they cast are long and deep, and not easily escaped.

Once Tech was admitted to the ACC, U.Va.'s one major recruiting advantage over its state rival disappeared.

We don't live in Texas, Florida or Alabama, states capable of producing more than a single big-time, headline-grabbing football team. When in-state rivals inhabit the same conference, it's that much tougher on the program that lags behind.

What keeps U.Va. from being a great job may be one of the things that marks the university as a great school - academics. Not to belabor the obvious, but when many top jocks choose schools that wink at academics, U.Va.'s reputation can work against it.

Or is that, as some insist, simply a cop-out?

Could a new coach, with a different vision, overcome the perception created during the Groh years that U.Va. is relatively tough on jocks?

Anything is possible. Any new blood creates renewed hope.

Maybe a brighter future begins by seizing on a Golden opportunity.

Whoever U.Va. hires, he won't be stepping into a great job, though with time and the right coach, it could begin to resemble one.

Bob Molinaro, (757) 446-2372, bob.molinaro@pilotonline.com