University of Virginia football enters this season with college football playoff hopes.
The Cavaliers took a historic step forward in 2025, their fourth season under Head Coach Tony Elliott, by tying a program record with 10 wins on their way to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game.
A win over Duke in the conference title game would have earned Virginia the right to represent the ACC in the expanded 12-team national playoff.
Instead, Duke won. The Hoos had to settle for setting the program’s new single-season record of 11 wins by finishing off the season with a Gator Bowl victory over Missouri.
Elliott is looking to build on that with a push for the ACC title this fall.
“Every one of these young men prayed to be in a position where there are expectations,” Elliott says. “They’ve also been the young men that have elevated the floor and created those expectations.
“So, now you’ve got to embrace them. And the way that you embrace them is you just stay true to who you are, right? You minimize the distractions. You don’t pay attention to it and don’t look in the rearview mirror. You focus on what’s ahead.”
Looking toward the future means focusing on a different team than the one that made UVA history last year. Key starters, including almost half the offense and starting quarterback Chandler Morris, departed the program last spring.
Here’s a look at what’s ahead for the Cavaliers after a busy offseason.
What’s new
Navigating the transfer portal was a new experience not just for Virginia General Manager Justin Speros, but for every football program in the NCAA this offseason.
College football transitioned from two portal windows in December and April to a single two-week stretch in January, during which higher-profile players are often looking to join winning programs.
For this first time in the Elliott era, UVA could count itself among those winners. As Speros puts it, Virginia was part of some “heavyweight battles” for top recruits.
One of these battles involved former Missouri quarterback Beau Pribula, who was reportedly targeted by Tennessee before he committed to the Cavaliers in January.
Pribula, who started his college career with two years at Penn State, most recently led Missouri to a 6-1 start before a left ankle injury derailed his junior season.
When asked what drew him to Charlottesville for his senior year, he says it was the Cavs’ recent success.
“ACC runner-ups, bowl game champs,” Pribula says. “A lot of my decision is based off of that, just the upward trajectory of the program and the way Coach E. runs the program.”
Pribula is part of the Cavaliers’ response to losing players responsible for 45 percent of last season’s offensive production, according to the ACC Network.
In total, Virginia acquired 31 transfers, many of whom bring extensive college experience to Charlottesville. That includes quarterback Eli Holstein, who will back up Pribula after making 14 career starts for Pitt.
Running back Jekail Middlebrook, who recorded 752 rushing yards for Middle Tennessee State last season, could take over a backfield, also staffed by Tennessee transfer Peyton Lewis.
The Hoos’ new wide receiver room features Rico Flores Jr. (UCLA), Da’Shawn Martin (Kent State), and Jacquon Gibson (Massachusetts), who combined for almost 1,400 receiving yards last season.
The portal also reshaped the defense. Cornerbacks Omillio Agard (Wisconsin) and Jacobie Henderson (Rutgers) are expected to join safety Brandyn Hillman (Michigan) in UVA’s secondary. Rounding out the defensive line are Ezekiel Larry (Yale), Matthew Fobbs-White (Baylor), and Darrion Henry-Young (Coastal Carolina).
Ahead of fall camp, Speros said he felt the Cavaliers’ success last season proves the program maintains its identity despite a large transfer class.
After all, Morris transferred from North Texas to Virginia months before he quarterbacked the Cavaliers to within two scores of an ACC championship last season.
“I think the public perception is that when you build a team with transfers, they’re going to be one-year mercenaries, and they’re not going to have any attachment emotionally to the university, and they’re just going to be hired people to come in and play,” Speros says. “That’s just not the case. That’s not reality in the building.
“I mean, Chandler Morris. If you ask Chandler Morris where he went to school, he’s going to tell you Virginia. That’s the special part about the type of experience that they had last year.”
Virginia also brought in more than a dozen high school players, including four-star linebacker Derek Uran, who flipped his commitment from Cincinnati last summer.
Elliott feels the Cavaliers have gotten stronger in the offseason. At an recent press conference, he said the team is “faster at linebacker. We’re longer. We’re more athletic at linebacker.” Elliott believes the D-line looks more intimidating on the field.
During fall camp, Elliott wondered whether these newcomers could establish a bond by Week 0.
“I think physically, when you look at us, we’re different and improved,” Elliott says. “Now, the question is, collectively, when it’s time to go play, do we have the chemistry, the communication, the cohesion, to be able to go and executive at a high level like we did last year?”
That cohesion could be further tested if college athletics moves forward with a Colorado court’s preliminary injunction ruling that some players from the 2022 high school class might be able to return for a fifth college season.
UVA football announced shortly afterward that Jacob Holmes and Cazeem Moore, both members of last season’s defensive line, would be returning for preseason activities.
The biggest challenge in adapting to that potential change so close to the season, Elliott says, will be quickly integrating players into a roster that has already undergone the bulk of offseason training without them.
What’s staying the same
UVA’s roster has undergone significantly more change than its coaching staff.
Speros noted this summer that Elliott is still working alongside nine of the same 11 position coaches he started out with in 2022.
“These guys have a very short time frame to maximize their college career, three to five years,” Speros says about players. “And what they can’t have during those three to five years is instability and change at position coach, coordinator, head coach, strength staff.
“We have great stability not only in our coaching staff, but in our administration as well, which really creates a great environment for players to ultimately do what they want to do most: develop.”
The coaching staff isn’t the only constant for the Cavaliers amid all the turnover this offseason.
Offensive linemen McKale Boley and Noah Josey are returning for a fifth and sixth season, respectively. Both Boley and Josey have stuck around since the Hoos’ back-to-back three-win seasons in Elliott’s first two wins as head coach.
“I think it definitely motivates us, because guys see that we’re trending in the right direction,” Boley says. “And for guys who have been here since 2022, like me and Josey, guys that have literally been through the change, through the 3-7, 3-9, 5-7 to 11 wins—it’s just inspiring to see that everything we’re doing is paying off.”
Kicker Will Bettridge and punter Daniel Sparks will return for their fifth seasons with the program, something Elliott says will be “crucial” to the Cavs’ success.
“It takes a little bit of pressure off the offense and the defense to have to be perfect, so you can be a little bit more aggressive, and then being a little bit more aggressive can maybe result in some more turnovers,” Elliott says.
Some players are hoping to take on a larger role in their return. That includes offensive linemen Makilan Thomas and Monroe Mills, who are both back after missing last season due to injury.
Other players preparing to return from season-ending injuries are linebacker Kam Robinson, running back Xavier Brown, and tight end Dakota Twitty.
Robinson is expected to lead a linebacker room also staffed by returner Maddox Marcellus. Twitty will provide another target for Pribula alongside wide receiver Kam Courtney, who is looking to take a step forward in his sophomore season.
Defensive lineman Fisher Camac is back after impressing with a 2.5-sack outing against Duke during last year’s regular season. Ethan Minter and Corey Costner could anchor the defensive backfield, while Donavon Platt, Jason Hammond, and Anthony Britton are returning to the defensive line.
In addition to these players, UVA hopes fans too will return to Charlottesville.
Average attendance at Scott Stadium has almost doubled over Elliott’s tenure. Thousands of fans rushed the field after a September win against Florida State. November’s rivalry game against Virginia Tech drew the program’s largest crowd since 2011.
Pribula, who played last season for a team averaging more than 57,000 fans per home game, is hoping that trend continues for the Cavaliers’ season-opener against N.C. State on Saturday.
“Any time you can be at home and have a stadium that’s rocking, it just makes it so much harder for opposing teams,” Pribula said at ACC Football Kickoff.
What needs to change
Virginia’s playoff hopes ended last December after turnovers and missed tackles made the difference in a 27-20 ACC title game loss to Duke.
Adding Pribula to the offense might now drive some improvements on defense. Defensive Coordinator John Rudzinski says he thinks scrimmaging against the new Cavs quarterback has made camp more challenging.
“He makes us really, really good on defense, because he’ll stress us,” Rudzinski says about Pribula. “He’ll come into the meeting room or come on the truck, go, ‘Hey, Rud, just FYI, your corner’s doing this, your safety’s doing this, and I know this call’s coming.’ That’s good for me as a coordinator to know.”
Meanwhile, Offensive Coordinator Des Kitchings is looking for Pribula to help his own unit advance down the field within two downs next season.
“Kind of a double-edged sword, right? We were pretty good on third-down conversions, but we were also one of the top teams in the country in third-down attempts,” Kitchings says about the 2025-2026 season. “So, we’ve got to do better.”
UVA ranked among the top 30 teams in the country in total offense while stunning multiple opponents with late-game comebacks last season. This year, Virginia will look to make fewer comebacks necessary.
“For us to take the next step as a program is about what’s going to be our winning edges, how can we gain these next inches?” Kitchings says. “We talked about, as you climb the mountaintop, the air gets thinner. So the details, the precision, and everything you do becomes more magnified.”
What’s still
to come
Elliott started out the season by handing out the rings the 2025 team earned with last December’s bowl win.
“The first three years, we won 11 games,” Elliott says. “There was no postseason, there were no rings, there was nothing.
“Well, this year, we’ve got a bowl ring. … I’m giving out bowl rings, and I don’t have rings for guys that weren’t there. Now I’ve got to spin that as, ‘Hey, this is a reward for last year and motivation for you guys to get us one next year.’”
Motivational moments like these are something Elliott says he has been preparing for since those three-win seasons early in his UVA tenure.
“I’ve been talking about this moment from day one. And I know a lot of
people thought I was crazy, right?”
Elliott says. “Even the folks that were joining the staff were like, ‘Man, what are you talking about? We haven’t done anything. How are you talking about handling success?’
“Well, that’s the hardest part. Everybody’s going to be hungry to go chase success. It’s when you’ve had success, how do you maintain that hunger?”
Elliott feels the current Cavaliers are the “deepest roster we’ve had” in terms of physicality, but said as of camp it remained to be seen if the group has that drive.
Robinson, for his part, is already convinced he could be making his return from injury to the strongest team of his five-year tenure as a Hoo.
“I think this team might be better than last year,” Robinson says. “We’re trying to prove something to the country, that we can do it twice in a row. This Virginia train is going to keep rolling.”
