Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 15, 1991 TAG: 9103150012
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Welsh completed his staff by hiring Archer, who will coach the linebackers, and Jim Bollman, who will handle the offensive line.
Tom O'Brien, recently elevated to offensive coordinator, will serve as quarterback coach. O'Brien has coached the UVa offensive line since Welsh's arrival in 1982.
Archer was the youngest Division I-A head coach in the country when, at 34, he directed the Tigers to a 10-1-1 record in 1987. He had an overall record of 27-18-1, including a 5-6 mark this past season, after which he was relieved of his duties.
"He originally called me to recommend some of the people on his staff," said Welsh, whose wife, Sandra, taught Archer as a 10th-grader in State College, Pa.
"We started talking and he said he might be interested in coaching offense."
Archer was the defensive coordinator at LSU from 1985-86 and previously had worked with new UVa defensive coordinator Rick Lantz on the staff at Miami, Archer's alma mater.
"After we decided to make [O'Brien] the quarterback coach, Rick told me that Mike might be willing to coach defense," Welsh said. "I wasn't sure he would do it. I thought he would want to be a coordinator."
Although coaching staffs must be trimmed from nine to eight full-time assistants for the 1992 season, Welsh said he doesn't consider Archer a temporary addition.
"He's a little bit like Gary [Tranquill]," said Welsh, referring to the ex-Navy head coach who was at UVa from 1987-90. "He could be here for a while."
Tranquill resigned after the season to become quarterback coach for the Cleveland Browns. Linebacker coach Phil Elmassian went to Syracuse and defensive coordinator Frank Spaziani resigned after he was replaced by Lantz.
Bollman, O'Brien's successor as line coach, coached at N.C. State in the early 1980s and has been the offensive coordinator for the past two years at Youngstown State, which was 11-1 in 1990.
Bollman, 36, is a 1977 graduate of Ohio University, where he was an offensive lineman. He was a visitor to UVa's spring practice in 1990 as an observer.
Welsh earlier had referred to O'Brien as "one of the nation's top line coaches, if not the best," and said his preliminary plans were to leave O'Brien with the offensive line.
"I looked at the moon and decided we needed our coordinator involved with the passing game," Welsh said. "The line coach doesn't work with the passing game in practice."
Welsh said he would help O'Brien with the quarterbacks, an area in which O'Brien has no background. Also, Welsh said that Lantz would work with Art Markos, a longtime UVa assistant who will be working with the secondary for the first time.
"I think that everyone's relieved, including me, that the search is over," Welsh said. "It was worth the wait, so we could get the kind of people we wanted."
Bollman has recruited in North Carolina and Ohio, and Archer has ties in Florida. "I'm sure he's good [as a recruiter]," Welsh said, "but I didn't take that much into consideration."
by CNB