Ratcliffe: London not wavering in confidence

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Hot Seat.

It’s the place that no coach wants to occupy but seemingly every preseason football magazine and every college football television show has Mike London resting squarely upon one.

After back-to-back 4-8 and 2-10 seasons, and predicted to finish dead last in the ACC’s Coastal Division at Monday’s ACC Football Kickoff, London wasn’t sweating when he was grilled by media about his job status. Even an eternal optimist like the Virginia coach would have to feel some heat, right?

The general thought is that London’s Cavaliers must reach bowl eligibility this season in order for him to keep his job. That would mean winning six games, half the four nonconference games and half the conference games. Doesn’t seem like an unreasonable ask from a guy heading into his fifth season as UVa’s head coach.

Whatever London has been told by his superiors, he’s keeping that to himself.

“Without getting into specifics, the obvious is playing better,” the UVa coach said. “We can’t go 2-10. The commitment level from all of us is to perform better. It’s about the progress of the program.”

Complicating the issue is what is viewed by most of the college football world as one of the toughest schedules in the nation: 10 of 12 opponents having played in bowl games last season, including national champion Florida State on the road and Top 10 preseason pick UCLA to open the season in Charlottesville.

Facing a tough challenge

London isn’t offering up any excuses, only optimism.

When confronted with one scribe’s question as to whether he felt hamstrung or betrayed by his own administration by aggressive scheduling, the Cavaliers’ coach didn’t flinch.

“I look at the schedule, I see the schedule, I also approve parts of the schedule and I also embrace the schedule,” London said.

Whether he was hedging was unclear, but he didn’t use the opportunity as a crutch either. A portion of Wahoo fans would have preferred the program play nonconference cupcakes to become bowl eligible and build the program via that route. Others like the fact that UVa is playing top-notch competition, but wish the Cavaliers were competitive.

Ah, there’s the rub.

“That’s been the rallying cry for this team, that we’re going to play one of the best schedules in college football,” London said. “I like the opportunities.”

Why all the optimism coming off a winless ACC campaign and the third losing season in four years? London carries a mental list that gives him hope.

“Last season was a very humbling type of season,” he said. “This season is about being hungry.”

Turning the page

He has one of the most experienced teams in the country returning; seven starters on offense, 10 on defense (with five others that have starting experience) and both kickers.

Yeah, we know. It’s the old joke that the good news is there are 19 starters back, and that the bad news is that there are 19 starters back.

London doesn’t view it that way.

“I see a team that is unified,” he said. “I see a team that is older. The focus for me is to put a team together that is competitive and I believe we’ll be competitive. At the end of the season we can speak to the outcome.”

London is also encouraged that he has some veteran wide receivers returning, although talented tight end Jake McGee waved bye-bye after graduation and headed to the Swamp for his last year of eligibility as a Gator. The coach is also excited that most all of his defense is back and with good reason, including six defensive backs that have played in 112 games, second most by a secondary in the country.

Then there’s Eli Harold, who is the ACC’s second-leading returning pass rusher, the league’s only returning 1,000-yard rusher in Kevin Parks, and a quarterback (Greyson Lambert) whom Wahoo fans are counting on to lead their program out of the wilderness in Moses-like fashion.

Oh, and there are two coaching additions in veterans Mike Archer and Jappy Oliver. London believes both have been strong gains for his program. He’s learned from Archer already. He’s also learned from Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly, from an offseason visit.

“I know the league has gotten better and I know the schedule is challenging, but I like our team,” London said.

All-American safety Anthony Harris said Sunday at the ACC Kickoff event that last year he and his teammates were merely trying to feel their way through the new offensive, defensive and special teams systems with new coordinators heading each unit. Harris said he noticed everyone played a bit conservatively, a step slow.

London believes with so many experienced players returning for a second year in those systems, with those coordinators still in place, that things will be different.

What the coach saw in the spring and in NCAA-permitted workouts with coaches over the summer is that his players aren’t nearly as concerned about simply getting lined up in the right place, what gap they’re responsible for, what deep third of the field is theirs. Instead of knowing their assignments, they also know what the guys beside of them are supposed to be doing.

“There’s a huge comfort level of what’s being asked of them to do,” London said.

His battle cry is that if his players get beaten on a play then it had better be because they were beaten physically and not because of a mental blunder.

It all starts at the top

London knows he has to do a better job, too, and learned from some of his own mistakes the past two seasons in terms of clock and game management.

“You always learn,” he said. “I take things that happen hard, personally, because I’m responsible. Behind closed doors, it’s one thing that I have to deal with.”

He often leans on his faith in himself in such instances.

“I can’t help what’s being said, what’s being written,” London pointed out. “Guys like Andrew Brown (the nation’s No. 1-rated high school defensive line prospect last season) and Quin Blanding (the nation’s top safety prospect) weren’t concerned about that.”

The coach knocked on wood when asked about recruiting future talent. He tells current prospects that he plans on being back at UVa next season and that this team will be successful. He knows rival coaches tell a different story to recruits.

“I’m quite sure my competitors out there are always using that [negativity] on the recruiting trail,” London said.

Yes, London’s seat is hot, but you’d never know it by watching him conduct his business.