Cavs’ Cain takes the wheel

By Jay Jenkins

Published: August 16, 2008

En route to Virginia’s annual Meet the Team Day festivities last week, offensive line coach Dave Borbely looked to his left in amazement.
In surprising fashion, offensive lineman Isaac Cain had jumped behind the wheel of one of the buses designated to haul the players from the McCue Center to Scott Stadium.
“Sure enough, Isaac Cain was driving the bus,” Borbely chuckled. “I couldn’t believe it.”
Yes, Cain certainly knows that the wheels on a bus go round and round.
Last summer, when the walk-on was in search of a small financial boost, a job posting for an opening as a driver with the University Transit Service caught his eye.
“I needed a summer job and they were out there advertising so I signed up,” Cain said. “It’s fun. It’s not that straining and it doesn’t put that much work on my legs.”
After a tutorial, one that included a minor fender bender, Cain was at home in his lofty perch.
Many of his teammates have been a passenger on Cain’s routes.
“I have driven around campus with him before and wherever you need to go, he gets you there quick and safe,” said wide receiver Cary Koch. “Obviously, he gets some strange looks because he is one of the biggest bus drivers there is.”
Others have only witnessed Cain’s maneuvering from a far.
“I have never been in his bus with him but I see him all the time and I wave at him and he honks the horn,” said tight end John Phillips. “He always has his shades on and is looking sweet in there.
“He is obviously just trying to get paid and make some money.”
But when Cain elected to drive his teammates to the meet and greet festivities, it forced several players to do a double take.
“That was funny,” said wide receiver Jared Green. “I didn’t even know he was driving because there was another driver in there, but we were goofing around and all of a sudden the [regular] driver sat next to me.
“I said, ‘Woah.’ That was hilarious. I had no idea he was going to drive in his football uniform, but he is a seasoned vet at driving that bus.”
Cain said it was just a spontaneous action.
“I didn’t have to,” he said with a grin. “It was just for a little bit of fun. None of the guys said anything to my face, but they all told me that they thought I was joking.
“I just hopped on the bus and drove through Central Grounds.”
Cain has given his teammates and coaches another reason to take notice. After emerging as a virtual unknown in recruiting circles, Cain has risen up the depth chart and is working with the second team at right tackle behind starter Will Barker.
Oddly enough, it was not until his junior year that Cain traded in his tuba in Hampton High’s marching band to join the football team.
“I wanted to play football but my mom was iffy about it,” he explained. “My junior year she let me play and I guess I had a knack for it.”
In his senior season in 2005, Cain was named to the All-Peninsula District team as a member of Hampton’s state championship squad.
Former Virginia defensive coordinator Mike London stumbled across Cain late in the recruiting process and invited the 298-pound lineman to Charlottesville for an official visit. After helping Cain gain admissions to the school, he elected to bypass a roster spot at Norfolk State to become a Cavalier.
“I would say that I always had a goal like [playing at UVa], but this was actually a last minute thing,” Cain said, “and I just took it and ran with it.”
After working on the scout team in 2006, the hiring of strength and conditioning coach Matt Balis opened a new world for Cain.
“When he got here, he changed everyone’s mindset,” Cain said. “We have all had tremendous body fat drops and muscle gains. I certainly did. Coach Balis is a great guy and he has helped me so much.”
It was also during that timeframe in ‘07 that Cain and others bought into the company line of “we, us and ours.”
“Honestly, that is just how we think,” he said.
That team concept, whether he is on the field or behind the wheel, pushes Cain to strive for greatness.
“Every role on this team is important,” he added. “Everybody has a job and I am just trying to do my part.”