London taking hands-on approach at UVa

London bringing a hands-on approach

By Michael Phillips

Media General News Service

CHARLOTTESVILLE — A college football team has more than 100 players, several assistant coaches, and dozens of staffers and student assistants that see to the day-to-day needs of the program.

At the top, Virginia head coach Mike London finds a way to get personally involved with each of them and their responsibilities.

Since taking the job less than a year ago, London has left no doubt who calls the shots for the Cavaliers. He picked both the defensive formations and the music playlist for practices. He arranged a summer speaking tour, and changed the color of the paint on the equipment shed.

There is no detail too small to get his attention.

“I concern myself with what they eat, what they wear, how we travel, all those things,” he said. “And I always try to do it in a representative manner of the university.”

His goal is to sell a culture change in Charlottesville, not just to the players but also the students and fans. As classes begin this week, he’ll make time to meet with campus groups, including the school’s band, regarding what he envisions the game-day experience to be.

During training camp, though, his top priority is his team. London seems to run just as much as the players during a two-hour practice. He arrived in Thursday’s heat wearing three layers of clothing, joking that all the sweat was an effective dieting technique.

The position coaches run the practice, working with their players and fine-tuning technique, but every few minutes London finds his way to each group to shout out encouragement and advice.

“I want everybody to know that I’m walking around and I’m watching,” he said. “If you don’t see the type of effort that’s needed, it needs to be addressed. It needs to be corrected at that moment, instead of later on.

“I think sometimes you do get the withdrawal from not actually coaching a position, but I’m looking at the bigger picture now.”

When he first arrived he brought in his longtime friend and coaching veteran Jim Reid as the defensive coordinator. London is a believer in a 4-3 defense, Reid a 3-4 specialist. Reid briefly tried to change the coach’s mind.

“My background had been in 3-4 defense, so we were talking in spring, and he said that he really likes the 4-3 style,” Reid said last spring. “So I said, ‘OK, you know, if you take this guy and his head is up…’ and he said, ‘Well, I really like the 4-3.’”

Reid emphasized, though, that he’s fully on board with the new style, and he said that London accomplishes things because of his honesty and integrity.

“Anything he says gets done. Bang. That’s it,” Reid said. “He’s as open and honest as the day is long. It’s a privilege to be at the University of Virginia with Mike London.”

London also brings a seemingly inexhaustible supply of energy. He admits that during the summer he found himself torn in multiple directions as he worked both to build his team, speak at numerous functions statewide, and also spend time with his family and children during the summer.

But any fatigue disappears when he gathers his team and begins a pep talk. Receiver Kris Burd (Matoaca) remembers hearing the coach address the team for the first time.

“He came in real fiery, real passionate for what he said, and he brought a real energy,” said Burd, a junior. “He said we’re going to switch the uniforms up, we’re going to switch the cleats up, we’re going to create a whole new U.Va. football image.”

Those decisions made, London now approaches one thing he doesn’t have total control over – the games themselves.

He won’t allow himself to define this season, a rebuilding year, in terms of wins and losses. Instead he wants people to see the changes that have been made and rethink their view of Virginia football.

“You look around at the facilities that have been upgraded, and you go our to our practice field, and a constant theme emerges of what we want to be like,” the coach said. “How we want to play like. How we want to act. We’re looking forward.”