Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, December 25, 1994 TAG: 9412290037
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-12 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Long
If it's true that Tom O'Brien will leave Virginia for Navy in another week, nothing will have prepared him to be a Division I-A head football coach like the 1994 season.
O'Brien has been praised and panned, hailed and heckled, and somehow he has managed to keep his sanity and his sense of humor as Virginia prepares to meet Texas Christian on Wednesday night in the Independence Bowl.
So, what has it really been like?
``Fun,'' said O'Brien, wrapping up his 13th year at Virginia, the past four as offensive coordinator. ``It's been a great year.''
What could be more fun than leaving the press box at the close of a tough loss and being accosted by fans? Or having callers to radio talk shows suggest you and the head coach should take a hike? Or being questioned by sportswriters?
``It's easy to second-guess the guy who calls the plays,'' O'Brien said last week. ``That's just a fact of life. And it happens all the time. If you run the ball inside, you should have run outside. If you run the ball, you should have thrown it. If you throw it, you should have run.
``If it works, it's a great play. As I said to my wife: `After Carolina, I was smart. Then, I got real dumb after Duke. I got real smart again after Virginia Tech. Then, I got real dumb again after N.C. State.' It's a what-have-you-done-lately world.''
UVa is the only team in ACC history to score more than 300 points in six consecutive seasons, but right now, people remember only that the Cavaliers were 0-for-3 in fourth-down situations and failed on two two-point conversion attempts in a 30-27 loss to North Carolina State.
The regular-season finale may have come down to one play, a handoff to fullback Charles Way on fourth-and-one from the Wolfpack's 19-yard line with barely three minutes left.
Blocking back Darrell Medley was lined up in the slot to the left, flanker Patrick Jeffers went in motion to the left and State's defenders shifted to their right, seemingly knowing where the play was going.
``Maybe they did,'' O'Brien said. ``We established this program back in 1982 as being a physical, hard-nosed, running football team. When it comes down to a point like that, you have to go with your best play [and] your best back carrying and say, `Hey, we're Virginia. This is what we do.'''
Although O'Brien coached the offensive line for the early part of his career, colleagues say he has worked hard to stay abreast of advances in the passing game. UVa has had the ACC's top-ranked passer in three of O`Brien's four seasons as coordinator, and, in the fourth, Symmion Willis set a school record for passing yardage.
O'Brien has turned down opportunities to become a Division I-AA head coach, as well as an NFL assistant, but it remains unclear what really happened last year when O'Brien was interviewed for the head coach's job at Duke, then removed his name from consideration.
ACC sources say O'Brien was offered the Duke job, which went to Fred Goldsmith from Rice. Under Goldsmith, all the Blue Devils did was win their first seven games and finish 8-3, which has caused many to question O'Brien's decision.
What has become apparent from private conversations with O'Brien and others familiar with the process is that the job Goldsmith accepted was not the same one O`Brien turned down. In other words, O'Brien had some reservations about the situation that were not completely addressed until the search was re-opened.
``I have to feel right, and I just didn't feel right,'' O'Brien said. ``I've got to make myself happy.''
At Navy, O'Brien would take over a program that has not had a winning record since O'Brien's last season as an assistant there, 1981. O'Brien was a starter at defensive end for Navy from 1968-70 and was a Middies assistant under George Welsh from 1975-81.
Like O'Brien, Welsh was a former player who directed Navy to its greatest football success of the past quarter-century. The Middies have had three ``civilian'' coaches since then - Gary Tranquill, Elliot Uzelac and George Chaump - and there is a feeling in Annapolis, Md., that a Navy background is essential.
``I don't know if there's any more of an itch [to become a head coach] or not,'' said O'Brien, 46. ``I think there are some factors involved that are personal that are not for public consumption by anybody.''
There has been some friction at times between O'Brien and Welsh, who seemed to take a more active role in the play-calling, or at least called for the headset on a more regular basis late in the year.
``You can criticize a lot of calls in any game,'' Welsh said. ``I used to get criticized, too, a lot of the time when I was calling the games. He's a mature young guy. He can handle it. And he'll be a good head coach whenever he gets the opportunity.
``I think it's unfair. Some of the calls, I've had some input into. He's called 99 percent of the game, actually, but I've made some of the calls he's been criticized for - I know it and he knows it.''
Whatever the fans may think, O'Brien never has been more popular with another group, job-seekers. He has made four lists for the 10 to 15 calls he gets each day.
``I've been associated with some head-coaching jobs, so one list is for people calling about Navy,'' he said. ``Two is people that want my job if I should leave. Three is the [vacant] offensive line job here. Four is people who want to be graduate assistants.''
If any hope to get as far as O'Brien, they better be ready to take the heat.
by CNB