The case against Al Groh

Al Groh

It’s not just that Al Groh inherited a Virginia football program that had gone 14 years (1987-2000) without a losing season and is now on his way to his fourth losing campaign in nine years.

It’s not just that Groh has more losing seasons (three) in eight years than George Welsh had in nineteen (two). One of those was in Welsh’s first year, which followed a 29-year stretch of Virginia football that included just two winning seasons.

It’s not just that Al Groh had failed as a college football head coach (Wake Forest) and quit as an NFL head coach before being handed the job.

It’s not just that Al Groh has struggled while a gregarious University of Virginia alum named Jim Grobe has turned Wake Forest into a winner, drawing praise for his classy program and how he’s raised the profile of his school.

It’s not just that Al Groh was run out of New York by fans, media, and his own players after just one (9-7) season.

It’s not just that Al Groh has done far less with much greater facilities, resources, and salary than Welsh.

It’s not just that Al Groh has conceded in-state recruiting to Virginia Tech, operating instead as if he’s working for Rutgers or Syracuse, focusing his efforts on New York and New Jersey.

It’s not just that Al Groh fancies himself a no-nonsense guy, but even on the rare occasions when he lands blue-chip, in-state recruits (Ahmad Brooks, Peter Lalich), he can’t inspire them to stay out of trouble.

It’s not just that Al Groh does not even make the initial “also considering” list whenever a Percy Harvin or other top in-state recruit begins considering schools.

It’s not just that Al Groh forever touts his NFL experience, even though he did not get a job as a coordinator until the age of 48, was back working as a linebackers coach at 52, and spent all of one season as an NFL head coach. This despite the connections built working mostly for two men, Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick, whom he considers close friends and the rest of the league views as geniuses.

It’s not just that Al Groh only got an NFL head coaching gig following a bizarre saga in which Belichick resigned after accepting the Jets job.

It’s not just that Al Groh’s Jets players had little positive to say about him. “He tried to micromanage and a lot of guys tuned him out a long time ago,” then-Jets center Kevin Mawae said at the time. (Mawae is a six-time Pro Bowler and now President of the NFL Players Association.) “I don’t think there’s much heartache about Al leaving.”

It’s not just that in the two years after Al Groh’s resignation, the Jets twice made the playoffs.

It’s not just that Al Groh has managed to make a blowhard like Keyshawn Johnson look absolutely right.

It’s not just that Al Groh, like Charlie Weis, proves that sometimes the apple does fall far from the Parcells/Belichick coaching tree.

It’s not just that Al Groh went 5-7 in his first season at Virginia (2001) with a roster than included Welsh recruits Matt Schaub, Heath Miller, Chris Canty, Alvin Pearman, Elton Brown, Angelo Crowell, and Billy McMullen.

It’s not just that Al Groh stuck with an antiquated run-first offense, becoming one of the last coaches in America to consider using the spread.

It’s not just that Al Groh continued to employ his overmatched son as offensive coordinator, even though Mike Groh was even less innovative than Jeff Bowden.

It’s not just that Al Groh, even after a flurry of eye-popping contracts to successful college coaches, remains among the top 25 highest-paid, at more than $2 million annually.

It’s not just that Al Groh is paranoid about his players talking to agents, but employs one (Neil Cornrich), who was suspended for one year by the NFL Players’ Association for violating the union’s conflict of interest policy.

It’s not just that Al Groh is forever trumpeting the success of his former assistants, but it’s Welsh who has two former coordinators (Tom O’Brien, Frank Spaziani) working as head coaches in the ACC.

It’s not just that Al Groh is forever touting the fact that a Hall of Fame defensive end (Howie Long) sent his son to play for him, but it’s Welsh who prominent football coaches (Joe Paterno, Bill Curry, Vince Dooley) sent their sons to play or coach under.

It’s not just that Al Groh has been given a long leash by an athletic director who himself was 23-63 in his last college (basketball) head coaching job and has been given a pass for the train wreck in the football and men’s basketball offices.

It’s not just that Al Groh is making $2 million-plus annually and Craig Littlepage is making a handsome salary as athletic director while Vince Dooley’s son Derek, a former Virginia receiver with a law degree, is earning rave reviews and making a mere $435,000 at Louisiana Tech as the only head coach/AD in Division I.

It’s not just that Al Groh is still employed while it’s possible to envision a Dooley coaching staff at Virginia featuring his brother-in-lawn (Patrick Jeffers), along with perhaps Chris Slade and even Welsh as a special advisor.

It’s not just that Georgia Tech fired another ex-NFL head coach (Chan Gailey) whose performance was arguably better than Groh’s.

It’s not just that Al Groh, like Dave Wannstedt, returned from the NFL to his alma mater with the program in good shape. Unlike Wannstedt, Groh has not dominated in-state recruiting, landed top 20 classes, and taken his program up a notch.

It’s not just that Al Groh is 1-7 against Virginia Tech and Welsh was 9-10, including 8-6 beginning in 1987.

It’s not just that Al Groh produces a lot of NFL talent – first-round picks in fact – but can’t seem to win many games with them at Virginia.

It’s not just that Virginia Tech, fielding a team mostly from the Commonwealth, has averaged 10 wins a season during the Groh era

It’s not just that Al Groh, since 2006, has lost to Western Michigan and William & Mary (both in Charlottesville) and last season lost, 31-3, on the road to Duke, the Blue Devils’ first win in 26 conference games.

It’s not just that Al Groh received yet another contract extension following the 2007 season, a year that included five wins of two points or less, including a scare at Middle Tennessee State, and an epic collapse against Texas Tech in the Gator Bowl.

It’s not just that Al Groh has lost six of his nine season openers, winning only against Duke, Temple, and Western Michigan – all at home.

No, it’s not any of that. In fact, even if Groh were winning, none of that would matter because of two other factors. Groh has conducted himself and represented the University of Virginia with a degree of arrogance that is embarrassing to fans, students, and alumni. Plus, not only has he fielded a team of players who have underachieved, but he’s had a steady stream of players suspended, dismissed, and arrested.

I’d be willing to bet you could take any four-year stretch of Groh’s Virginia career and find more knuckleheads suspended or booted off the team for academic, criminal or “personal” reasons than during Welsh’s entire 19-year tenure.

The only reason Groh has lasted this long is because Virginia fans always have placed football in the proper perspective. If the team wins, that’s terrific. If not, who cares? This isn’t Clemson or an SEC school that needs football to have an identity. Even in the Internet era, there aren’t thousands of rabid fans calling for Groh’s head (yet).

That’s why Welsh was such a perfect fit for Virginia. He had won at Navy, another school that put football in the proper perspective. Welsh won at Virginia – and won consistently – with in-state players that represented the school well, guys like Shawn and Herman Moore, Chris Slade and Terry Kirby, Tiki and Ronde Barber. Sure he had the occasional knucklehead (Barry Word, Chris Warren), but such cases were few and far between.

The success of the football program shouldn’t matter, but it does. Were it not for its basketball team, Duke would be Davidson College, Washington University, or perhaps Wake Forest.

So often I tell people I went to Virginia and they say, “Oh, Virginia Tech?”

That’s because Virginia Tech, long before the 2007 shootings, had overtaken U.Va.on the national radar in large part because of its football team. This despite a campus in the middle of nowhere that fields teams wearing one of the ugliest color schemes in college sports. The mascot is hokey – and a Hokie – and its most prominent alum (though he never graduated) is best known for running a dogfighting operation.

U.Va. has a sharp logo, colors, and mascot. It has a longer history, better athletic facilities, more beautiful grounds, and is located in one of the nation’s best college towns. It’s considered a (slightly) more prestigious school academically.

Lately, though, I find myself admiring Virginia Tech football. That’s because its head coach, Frank Beamer, is a stand-up guy who runs a clean, successful program that’s rarely embarrassed by the off-field behavior of its players. He’s not obsessed, as Groh is, with building an NFL prep school but rather a successful college program.

Beamer, like Jim Grobe at Wake, has a reputation for being unfailingly cooperative with the news media. Groh comes from the Parcells/Belichick school of media relations. He’s combative, inaccessible, and arrogant, refusing to parcel out even the most innocuous information.

In pro sports, this does not matter. In college, the head coach is representing the school. Every news conference, every post-game news briefing, is an opportunity to promote the school and communicate with fans.

Welsh understood this, even though he never embraced the process. He never had much to say, but he was always calm and professional, like the Navy officer he once was. He also was surprisingly quotable. He didn’t speak in clichés, half-truths and coach-speak.

When a guy has a Super Bowl ring as a head coach like Parcells, Belichick or Tom Coughlin, another member of their coaching tree, he can get away with such boorish behavior. The Napoleon act of Nick Saban, another Belichick guy, is inexcusable, but at least he has a national title.

Actually, I like Al Groh. Several years ago, I wrote a book called THE DRAFT: A Year inside the NFL’s Search for Talent. The book focused in part on Groh and how he prepares players for the NFL. I had pleasant dealings with Groh; I just wish he would have granted me more time and opened up a little more. The guy knows defense, especially the linebacker position. Though he has a football-only persona publicly, he’s actually a well-read, complex guy.

But the bottom line, as always, is the bottom line. Groh has been paid far too much for far too long to produce so few wins with so many off-field embarrassments.

John Casteen, Virginia’s long-time president, has announced his retirement effective next August. Casteen has had a remarkable run over the last two decades building the school’s endowment, remodeling or redoing just about every building on grounds, and raising the school’s already prominent reputation.

Casteen’s legacy is secure, but his choice of football coach for 2010 is important.

That man could be Derek Dooley, Mike London or someone else.

But it should not be Al Groh.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 7th, 2009 at 6:40 pm and is filed under Sports Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

17 Responses to “The case against Al Groh”

Bruce Milam says:

September 8, 2009 at 1:56 pm

Pete, the one thing here that is new to me is that UVA was resented by the Gator Bowl people. That’s certainly not what I heard while I was there. Virginia players showed up for the big dinner prior the day before the game in coats and ties, while TT’s players were in jeans and tees. The Gator Bowl people and the Mayor were very appreciative that we showed them some respect. Jacksonville natives had glowing reports about the players and the fans there. I hadn’t heard a negative about UVA all that week or since. Your comments on that aspect just don’t compute for me.
Christopher says:

September 8, 2009 at 5:17 pm

I honestly don’t think its possible to lay it all out there and say what most of us Cavalier fans feel any better than you what you have done on your blog.

My only issue that I disagree with is I am not ready to take a chance on a Mike London or Derek Dooley, despite their U-Va roots, to take over the program. Sure would love to go after Mike Leach or Mike Kelly but its would take money and not sure how much is left from rich alums after buying Groh out.
taylor says:

September 8, 2009 at 5:58 pm

i dont think i could have been more annoyed with a writing style than the begining of this article
claybrdr says:

September 8, 2009 at 6:17 pm

Preach it, brother!
Ron says:

September 8, 2009 at 7:21 pm

Pretty spot on.

“Lately, though, I find myself admiring Virginia Tech football. That’s because its head coach, Frank Beamer, is a stand-up guy who runs a clean, successful program that’s rarely embarrassed by the off-field behavior of its players.”

When did Lately begin….Yesterday? You lost some credability on that one.
Senlin says:

September 8, 2009 at 9:21 pm

You missed the fact that Groh, in his public comments, never has anything good to say about his players, but rather pins the blame on individuals with a remarkable insensitivity that these highly talented athletes are in fact boys. It is unforgivable conduct reminiscent of Bobby Knight.
Roger Cash says:

September 9, 2009 at 8:47 am

“Frank Beamer, is a stand-up guy who runs a clean, successful program that’s rarely embarrassed by the off-field behavior of its players. He’s not obsessed, as Groh is, with building an NFL prep school but rather a successful college program”

Please tell me that this is your attempt at humor. What a joke.
Pete says:

September 9, 2009 at 9:20 am

No joke. No college program is completely free of off-field embarrassments, though Tech seems to have fewer than most, certainly fewer than U.Va. Perhaps you are referring to the Vick brothers? I don’t recall Michael embarrassing the school while he was there. Marcus, absolutely. Then again, U.Va. recruited him hard, too.
Ben T says:

September 9, 2009 at 11:29 am

Its not just that Welsh played a much easier schedule over the years than Groh, well, expect that it is…

If both Groh and Welsh have won 40-41% of games against D-1A teams that finished with winning records, and both coaches won 79-80% of games against losing 1-A schools and 1-AA schools, how could Welsh have such better results? Well, Welsh just played more losers than Groh. Welsh never played ten games like UVa didn last season. Welsh never played 8 straight games against bowl teams, like UVa did last year. Welsh never routinely played a strong (albiet overrated) VT program.

The Welsh years should be remembered fondly for what they were, a nice change from before. But let us not exaggerate what was accmplished, 40/80, just like Groh did. Just like we’ve been since 1981. 40/80.

There’s only been one five year stretch in school history where UVa has beaten more than 50% of opponants that finished with a winning record, and that was 1987-1991 when we went 16-14-1 against winners, but were only above .500 against winners in two of those seasons. 1989 and 1991.

If you look at 1987, 1988, 1990 and 1991, we played either 5 or 6 teams a year that finished with winning records. We played ten in 2008, ten. More than any other year in school history. Curious about 2007 when we went 9-5, well, we only played five schools that finished with a winning record.

We are, who we’ve always been, a 40/80 school. There’s a much greater chance we will fail to be that under a new coach, than there is that we exceed that 40/80.

Do your homework, gain some perspective. The only thing a new coach will do, is unite the fanbase temporarily, until the 40/80 resumes.
Pete says:

September 9, 2009 at 12:05 pm

Ben — Appreciate the research. Not sure I agree with all of it. Here are Welsh’s non-conference ranked opponents (1984: West Virginia, #12; 1987: Georgia, #20; 1988: Penn State, #18; 1989: Notre Dame, #2, Penn State #12, Illionis (bowl), #11; 1990: Tennessee, #10 (bowl); 1991: Oklahoma #20 (bowl); 1993: BC, #15 (bowl); 1995: Michigan, #14, Texas, #16; 1996: Texas, #13, Miami, #19 (bowl); 1997: Auburn: #17; 1998: Auburn, #25, Georgia, #19 (bowl); 1999: BYU, #17….Va Tech, then a non-conference foe, also was ranked every year but 1997 from 1993-2000. Were the Hokies as good as they’ve been during Groh’s era? Not generally, but that’s partially a function of Groh’s in-state recruiting. Florida State also was a much more formidable foe from 1992-2000 than during the Groh era, ranked 6-1-3-2-3-3-6-1-6 at the time of its Virginia game. Welsh also faced (and struggled with) much tougher Clemson teams. In Groh’s first four seasons, the ranked non-conference teams he saw were Wisconsin (No.22/2001), South Carolina (No.22/2002), West Virginia (No.15/2002 Tire Bowl) — none in 2003-04, including bowl foes. I don’t have the other years handy, but I’ll concede that all of your numbers are correct — and appreciate the insight. My concern is more with how Groh has represented the University and how his players have (mis)behaved.
Scott says:

September 9, 2009 at 3:07 pm

As a VT fan, I love seeing Groh and his attitude represent UVa so VT gets all the in state recruits while UVa gets kids from Ohio, PA, NJ and NY.
Bruce Milam says:

September 9, 2009 at 4:24 pm

I double checked my source from Jacksonville and sent him your article. He’s already made his mind up that Groh must go. But he said you were way off base regarding the Gator Bowl committee’s feelings toward UVa. They will never invite TT back again, not UVa. TT totally embarrassed themselves at functions and in public. UVa did everything it was supposed to that week and met every obligation with aplomb and courtesy. You are onto some bad information on that one.
Pete says:

September 10, 2009 at 8:54 am

Bruce — Yes, I corrected this in the original post and addressed it in the 9/9 post. Thanks.
theo says:

September 10, 2009 at 9:11 am

Although the numbers may not “lie,” the trick is in the interpretation of them. In UVa’s case, you have to know one critical thing about the school first: in the two decades prior to Welsh, in-state recruiting of talented black football players was either nil or highly negligible. In the Welsh years, that reversed. So, the success potential quotient for the school, all other things being equal, really improved remarkably. But not all other things ever remain constant, and UVa hasn’t been able to mine the commonwealth for diverse talent uncontested. First and foremost, the standards of this highly competitive academic university are a real challenge for recruiting down to the three-deep level. Just is. Second, UVa has sharp competition for talent within the state and, frankly, on its borders. Kids might like the fact that the cavs present a high-quality option, but that’s all we are. VPI, Maryland, UNC are big players in our pond, and the smaller anglers — JMU, W and M, and U of R — are pretty formidable, perhaps not for 4 stars, but they can steal some of the guys you’d love to have as backups on your roster. What Welsh did that was crucial at the time he started (which was my second year as a student, btw), was establish UVa as a serious contender for the top in-state talent, regardless of race, and got people very comfortable talking about being a Wahoo despite concerns they may have had in the past. That was foundational work, it really was, and it shouldn’t be dismissed by arguments like Ben’s, that reduce everything to “40/80″ against winning teams, etc. But, as we all know, Welsh got things started — he didn’t end them, obviously. When Welsh fatigued, the cupboard wasn’t bare (as you’ve pointed out with Miller, Schaub, Canty, Pearman, et al), and the recruiting trail wasn’t cold. Still, he’d had a couple of high profile misses that probably stung pretty good (Curry, Vick, come to mind), and the Hokies were really getting traction in-state. That meant that the next guy’s challenge would be two-fold: (1) continue what Welsh had established, in all its key components; and (2) manage the competitive scrum. Groh hasn’t managed the first part well in that he has let the in-state recruiting slip materially. And he finds himself looking east and north for kids that just don’t bleed the Wahoo-Wa as a commonwealth kid would. The big failures reflect something bad at the core. Welsh didn’t have that problem, and Groh has prob ably reached his end because of his failure to bring committed commonwealth stalwarts into the fold.
Anonymous says:

September 14, 2009 at 4:03 pm

Pete – I have never replied to something like this and am not sure why I am now other than I have some unique insight into the Coach Groh world. I played for him! I won’t say where because that is not important. What is important is that I have first hand experience of how he treats players. I can tell you that he is not number one on my list. He personally treated me with an arrogance and callousness that to this day I still find offensive. I think it is a shame that UVA is not a successful program under his watch and I think that the points you raise are right on. I witnessed numerous times where his arrogance and personal gain were clearly at the forefront over player and school. Personally – I think that UVA needs to make a switch. Not for any other reason than the time has come for them to move on!
FireThatGuy says:

September 23, 2009 at 7:22 pm

FIRE AL GROH: Hey UVA fans… Love your team, but hate your coach??? Well check out our great new shirts… GROH MUST GO, NO MO GROH & more – http://www.FireThatGuy.com
Dick Bestwick says:

October 19, 2009 at 2:00 pm

Pete:

You’re dead on with this column. I’ll add something else: Name me another NFL coach so gutless and lacking in confidence that he would resign from the New York Jets after going 9-7 to go coach a college team. I don’t think the move Groh made has ever been duplicated.
He was just looking for a temporary free ride using Welsh’s recruits because he knew he’d be fired the next season and back to being a defensive assistant. Groh’s such a joke he makes my tenure look good.
Great column!

Dickie B