How long does it really take to flip a college football program? On Friday night, Virginia and Florida State delivered a blunt answer: with money, veterans and vision, the transformation doesn’t take years, it takes only a few months.
Virginia’s thrilling 46-38 upset of then-No. 8 Florida State in double overtime shouldn’t have been a surprise. Chalk up the shell shock to the habitual attention and blind faith we provide name brands and blue bloods, but the Cavaliers provided a reminder that NIL has leveled the playing field — at least for those willing to foot the bill.
Simply put, we must change our aging ways of analyzing college football.
As the nation was entranced by the Seminoles’ incredible turnaround from a two-win season to rocking Alabama and climbing into their familiar, comfortable seat in the top 10, Virginia was quietly building a program only a few thought possible, and they did it in short order with a similar blueprint. With their head coach Tony Elliott firmly on the hot seat following a three-score loss to rival Virginia Tech at the end of his third season, an anonymous supporter stepped out of the shadows in November and gifted the program’s NIL collective with the largest one-time cash donation in their history.
Virginia fined $50,000 by ACC for fans storming field after upset overtime win over No. 8 Florida State
Brad Crawford
The multi-million-dollar gift was the tipping point. Virginia only dabbled in the NIL system in 2024, athletics director Carla Williams admitted this summer, but that changed with the reconfiguration of the front office, which included the addition of general manager Tyler Jones and the influx of new cash.
“It was an absolute game-changer for us. How I would articulate it is our entire recruiting board changed, literally,” Jones said in July, lifting his right hand to snap his fingers, “that quick.
“It was an incredible jolt of energy and excitement for the program. It certainly did pay dividends for us in acquiring elite student-athletes.”
Overnight, the Cavaliers went from lightweight to heavyweight thanks to an angel investor. The Cavs promised $20 million in NIL contracts in the offseason, sources told CBS Sports, attracting a mix of proven vets and hungry small-school stars who wanted a shot in the ACC spotlight.
More importantly, they snagged Chandler Morris, a wayward quarterback at his fourth school, to elevate the offense and lead the charge.
On Friday night, the Cavs’ new roster of reinforcements was the propellant fueling a top-10 offense and an opportunistic defense that worked in tandem to turn two FSU turnovers into a 14-0 lead.
The overhaul wasn’t cosmetic. Twenty-one transfers played, eight started and nearly every big moment came from a newcomer: Morris at quarterback, Jamal Edrine and Cam Ross catching passes, Devin Neal and Ja’Son Prevard locking down the secondary. This was a roster reborn in real time.
Prevard, a Morgan State transfer, intercepted two passes, including the game-clinching pick in the end zone in double overtime. Morris scored five times, becoming only the third ACC quarterback in history to score multiple passing and rushing touchdowns against a top 10 team. Virginia’s seventh win all-time against a top 10 opponent also came against the nation’s No. 1 offense, and the Cavs held serve with 440 yards of their own.
You can get lost in the numbers, the production, and the suddenly resurgent offense that averages 539.6 yards and 45.6 points, a jump from near the bottom of the FBS last season to the luxury seats, but don’t forget the pain and toll.
This is a program that won only 11 games in Elliott’s first three seasons. For Elliott, wins and losses only tell part of the story. The program’s climb out of despair began with tragedy — the 2022 shooting deaths of Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry. Every step forward since has carried their memory, and Friday’s victory was layered with that weight.
“I know what I signed up for, so I understand that, man, heavy is the crown,” Elliott said Friday night. “It’s really about the Davis family, the Chandler family, the Perry family, the coaches in that locker room, the staff, the players and just trying to be a model of that belief. There have been days that I didn’t know how I was going to do it, but as soon as I walk in the office and I see one of their faces, it reminds me why we’re here, what we’re about. Stay the course, don’t deviate from the plan, double down on what you believe in. I came here because I believe that Virginia can be one of the premier football programs in the country, to go alongside being one of the premier academic schools.
“Everything associated with this university can just ooze with excellence, and that’s why I came here, and I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, and I didn’t know what adversity we were going to walk into. But here’s what I do know: adversity is a companion of a champion, an enemy to the weak, and so we had to embrace the adversity, and that’s really what this is about. Hopefully, we can change people from the inside out. Everybody who is associated and touches the program can look to us and say, ‘You know what? There’s something different about that group.'”
Virginia was picked 14th in the ACC’s preseason poll but now stares at a schedule that suddenly looks wide open. No ranked teams remain after a 4-1 start, the best record since Bronco Mendenhall led the Cavs to the ACC Championship Game in 2019. Their toughest trip on paper is this week at Louisville. The combined record of their ensuing opponents is 16-12, including North Carolina, Wake Forest and rival Virginia Tech.
So why not Virginia? Why not the Cavs chasing the Hurricanes in December? If Friday proved anything, it’s that the old timelines for rebuilding don’t exist anymore.
“We’ve got to keep two hands on the wheel,” said Elliott, “put the seat belt on, make sure that we check the rearview mirror, make sure we’re awake, so that we don’t hit a pothole along the way.”
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