How Virginia and Tony Elliott rebounded from the darkest moment in program history

The early 2020s were a roller coaster of a time for Virginia football.

Coming off a landmark 9-5 season in 2019 that included an ACC Championship appearance, an Orange Bowl berth, and their first win over Virginia Tech in 15 years.

They lost a lot of talent that offseason, but then followed it up with another bowl-eligible season in 2020. Albeit, they did not play in a bowl, as they opted out after a very difficult COVID-affected season for everyone involved.

2021 saw them finish 6-6, but there was a lot of frustration involved. Brennan Armstrong was as good as any quarterback in America, but it felt like there was always something going wrong around him. The Cavaliers finished that season 6-6, ending it with a maddening loss to Virginia Tech in which they ran a screen pass to an offensive tackle with the game on the line.

After that season, Bronco Mendenhall shockingly resigned. He had revived the program since he arrived in 2016, and it was a surprise to everyone involved when he decided to walk away.

The new man for the job was Tony Elliott, the former Clemson offensive coordinator.

His first season in 2022 did not go as planned. Through ten games, Virginia was 3-7 and only 1-6 in ACC play.

Two days after Virginia’s 37-7 loss to Pitt, a heartbreaking headline shocked the college football world early in the morning of November 14.

Three Virginia players, Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D'Sean Perry, were shot and killed while getting off a bus from a team field trip late on Sunday night.

The murderer was identified as Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., who walked on to the team back in 2018 and never played.

As someone who grew up a Virginia fan and loved the program my entire life, this was impossible to comprehend. Just fifteen days earlier, I was at Scott Stadium watching them play; now three of them were dead.

As would be expected, they canceled their two remaining games to grieve.

The next day, Elliott gave what is the most difficult press conference of his life.

He told reporters “it feels like it’s a nightmare, to be honest with you, and I’m ready for somebody to pinch me and wake me up and say that this didn’t happen.” and described his responsibilities to the rest of the team by saying “These are outstanding young men that we don’t understand why they’re gone so early. And I’ll look for the signs as we move forward, but right now it’s just to put my arms around these guys and tell them we love them and realize and figure out the best way to grieve.”

In their first game back at Scott Stadium after the shooting, Mike Hollins, who was hospitalized and thankfully survived, scored a touchdown early in the game.

It was a very symbolic and emotional moment for the team and the fans, who were obviously still grieving over the tragic event.

After the game, Elliott said of Hollins, “He’s a walking miracle”.

While Virginia lost that game, that touchdown and that day in general were the first step in returning back to normalcy.

The next two years were not ideal on the field, but that was not the first thing on anybody’s mind. The program was still healing from the tragedy over the next two years, and is still healing today.

In their 55-16 rout over William and Mary in September, they celebrated their third annual UVA Strong day, a remembrance of the three men who lost their lives.

It was obviously an incredibly emotional day in Charlottesville, but Elliott views it as a day of celebration instead of a day of grief.

After the game, Elliott said to Cavalier Daily, “It’s been a very challenging week for a lot of folks within the program, especially the folks that were here back in November 2022.”

They welcomed back any former players who wanted to attend, one of whom was James Jackson. He graduated in 2024, but on UVA Strong day, he came back to speak to the team.

He said to Cavalier Daily, “The thing that I try to do when I get the chance is talk about the qualities of Lavel, Devin, and D’Sean. Letting guys know that they weren’t here what they're a part of and what this program is about.”

In the current day, Virginia football is at its best it has been since that special 2019 season.

Their win and historic field rush against then #8 Florida State was the brightest day for the program since that win over Virginia Tech back in 2019.

The Cavaliers are one of the two teams sitting at 3-0 in ACC play as they chase their first ACC Championship Game appearance since 2019 and are dreaming of a first College Football Playoff appearance in program history.

There is no situation you could ever put a college coach in that would be more difficult than what Tony Elliott has faced in the last three seasons.

Losing three players in the middle of the year is an unimaginably difficult situation for any team to go through, but Elliott has handled it masterfully.

While the legacies of Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D'Sean Perry will live on forever, Elliott is using their memories to write a new, brighter chapter in Virginia football history.

Edison Pellumbi is a first-year student studying broadcast journalism. To contact him, email him at ejp5889@psu.edu.