As Virginia’s search to find a replacement for Bronco Mendenhall reaches into the start of a second week, a new name is emerging as the Cavaliers’ bid to hire Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott stretches into a murky limbo.
Sources tell FootballScoop Tony Elliott left Virginia with an offer and told them he would respond no later than tomorrow morning.
Sources share with FootballScoop Thursday evening, Michigan offensive coordinator Josh Gattis – newly minted Broyles Award winner – is speaking with Cavaliers' leadership this evening.
Gattis has strong ties in the Atlantic Coast Conference footprint where the Cavaliers reside; he’s a Durham, N.C., native who played collegiately at Wake Forest. Gattis was drafted into the NFL, had a brief professional career and then transitioned into collegiate coaching in 2010 at North Carolina.
Since that time, the 37-year-old Gattis has been on a steadily ascending career arc – first breaking through in a major way as a key figure on James Franklin’s staff at Vanderbilt and Penn State – the former where Franklin & Co. led the Commodores to their most successful stretch of football since the 1920s.
Gattis then served as Alabama’s and Nick Saban’s co-offensive coordinator at Alabama in 2018, helping the time to a spot in the College Football Playoff.
Jim Harbaugh then hired away Gattis from Alabama to run Harbaugh’s Michigan offense, and after two lackluster campaigns, Gattis & Co. broke through in 2021 behind a dominant offensive line, dynamic ground game and opportunistic passing game.
The Big Ten champion Wolverines are set to face Georgia in the CFP Semifinals opposite No. 3 Georgia in the Orange Bowl.
Initially, former Cavaliers standout Anthony Poindexter had surfaced as Virginia’s overwhelmingly top target, and Poindexter this week spoke with UVa officials while in Las Vegas for Poindexter’s induction into the College Football Hall of Fame.
However, while the Cavaliers’ search seemed to shift its attention to Elliott, Poindexter declared that he would remain on Franklin’s Penn State staff.
The NCAA’s early signing period begins Wednesday and runs for three days; the organization’s Transfer Portal also has countless new additions to it.
College football’s “quiet period” begins early next week, and its dead period follows the early signing period for a more-than-two-week hiatus of all recruiting activities, before things are allowed to resume in early- to mid-January 2022.
We'll keep you posted as more becomes clear on this one.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest coaching news.