Cavaliers must once again go find a new offensive assistant
Virginia Football lost a program institution on Monday, when receivers coach Marques Hagans departed Charlottesville to take the same position at Penn State. Hagans, who famously played quarterback and receiver at UVa before a brief pro career, was the longest-tenured coach on UVa’s staff, working with the program for 12 years. His time in Charlottesville spanned three head coaches, and saw plenty of highs and lows.
Hagans’ reputation as a coach continued to gain more and more traction over his time at Virginia. By the time he left for Happy Valley, Hagans was arguably the most beloved person around the program and in addition to making the receiver room one of the best units over the years, he was a major part of the Cavalier football community and Charlottesville at large.
Moving on to Penn State should help Hagans move forward in his coaching career and potentially he will return to Charlottesville one day in an elevated role.
But in the meantime, Tony Elliott has another pivotal hire to make in his second offseason as head coach.
Hagans will be very difficult to replace for a number of reasons but the Hoos still need someone to coach up their suddenly very different receiver room.
So we’re taking a look at some options for Elliott to fill the open spot on his staff, as he makes his second change on the offensive side of the ball heading into Year 2.
Adam Mims
Senior Offensive Analyst at Virginia
Like we did with the offensive line coach candidates, we’re starting with internal promotion possibilities. Mims joined the staff following a three-year stint at UT-Chattanooga, where he served as the receivers coach. Mims has bounced around a bit at the FCS level, coaching receivers at Tennessee Tech and Presbyterian before landing at Chattanooga. He was an all-conference receiver at Furman, where he was coached for a time by Elliott, then WR coach.
Mims was part of UVa’s staff in a non-coaching role last season, serving as a senior offensive analyst. Bumping him up would appear to be an easy transition, should Elliott feel that he’s ready for the opportunity.
Keith Gaither
RB Coach at Virginia
It’s not an internal promotion, but it is a potential move from within the organization. Prior to his time at Virginia, Gaither worked with receivers both at Army and Ball State. In fact, his switch to the running back position, along with special teams duties, was a change after Gaither was initially slated to work with defensive backs. When John Rudzinski brought Curome Cox with him from Air Force, Gaither slid over to the offensive side of the ball but the receivers room was already occupied by Hagans.
Pulling Gaither to receivers would allow Elliott to hire a coach elsewhere on the staff. A replacement for him at the RB spot could be in the works or Elliott could continue to shuffle and give Des Kitchings running backs in addition to OC duties, and hire a special teams coordinator that coaches tight ends or something like that.
Xavier Dye
RB Coach at Coastal Carolina
UVa might have missed the window to add this particular coach to the staff but Elliott could still make a call to gauge interest. Dye was a starting receiver at Clemson a little over a decade ago and got into coaching after his career ended. He coached at the FCS and high school level for a few years before ending up at Clemson as a grad assistant helping out with the receivers. Dye was part of Clemson’s first national title team under Dabo Swinney, working with current NFL wideouts Hunter Renfrow and Tee Higgins among others. He left Clemson in 2019 to become the receivers coach at WVU before Jeff Scott hired him to coach receivers at USF. Dye eventually worked with tight ends and served as the recruiting coordinator but Scott was fired midseason, and Dye recently landed a job on the staff at Coastal Carolina coaching running backs.
Dye’s background makes him a logical fit for the job, though it’s tough to know if he’d want to change course after just accepting a job on Tim Beck’s staff.
Latrell Scott
Passing Game Coordinator at ECU
Another somewhat logical fit, Scott has deep roots in the Commonwealth and experience at UVa. He coached at UVa for one year in 2009, working with Al Groh’s wide receivers. Before that, Scott had stops at Fork Union Military Academy, VMI, Richmond and Tennessee. He was hired to replace Mike London at Richmond when London got the UVa job, and Scott was there one year before resigning after a DUI charge. Since then, he was an assistant at JMU and the head coach at Virginia State and Norfolk State for a number of years. For the last two seasons, Scott has been the passing game coordinator at ECU, working with tight ends and inside receivers.
Scott’s name was thrown out there a few times when Elliott was putting his initial staff together a year ago and perhaps he resurfaces as an option now.
Brent Stockstill
QB Coach/Passing Game Coordinator at MTSU
He’s not coaching receivers right now, but Stockstill was hired to coach the position for the Blue Raiders in 2021. He was a very solid QB for MTSU, playing for his father Rick, who was Elliott’s receivers coach at Clemson two decades ago. Brent coached briefly at FAU and then for one year at USF under Scott before his father hired him for the MTSU staff to coach receivers. The younger Stockstill moved over to QBs and passing game coordinator duties in 2022.
Stockstill has connections to Elliott through his father, and was a name that was thrown around for the QB coach position a year ago. Perhaps he wants to continue coaching the position he played, but if he’s willing to switch back to receivers, an opportunity to coach at the Power-5 level if offered could be attractive to Stockstill.
Artavis Scott
Graduate Assistant at Clemson
There’s not too much to add here really. Scott was an excellent receiver at Clemson while Elliott was the OC there, and he returned to work as a grad assistant in 2021. Perhaps he’s not ready for an opportunity like this at this level, but there is a connection there. The same can be said of former Clemson QB and 757 native Tajh Boyd, also working for the Clemson program in an off-field role.
Jeff Scott
Former USF Head Coach
Don’t get your hopes up on this one. Jeff Scott and Elliott were Co-OC’s together at Clemson before Scott was hired at USF. Elliott was present for Scott’s introductory presser with the Bulls, which tells us something about their relationship. Scott has a background at the receiver position, coaching them at Presbyterian and Clemson before eventually working as the Co-OC and WR coach for the Tigers.
Scott was fired by USF midseason, and is currently available. Still, he has told some that he plans to take a year off from coaching and survey his options for a return and there have also been rumors that he could join Clemson as an analyst. But unless he’s bored and just wants to work, it’s difficult to imagine Scott wanting to take a position coach job not far removed from serving as an OC in national title games.
Fontel Mines
WR Coach at Virginia Tech
Don’t get your hopes up with this one either. Mines is a UVa alum who coaches receivers in Blacksburg and could have been considered for the job at UVa last year had Hagans departed. Still, despite the fact that Mines played at UVa, he’s in what appears to be a more stable situation right now at Tech and a decision to switch sides seems unlikely.
Matt Johns
QB Coach at William & Mary
A bit of an unconventional option, this is a name that UVa fans will surely be familiar with. Johns did coach inside receivers for his first year on London’s staff at William & Mary, in addition to working with the tight ends group. Since then, he has spent three seasons as the QB coach and passing game coordinator, and has done a great job helping to turn around the Tribe’s offense into one of the best units in FCS football. Johns seems like a bright young coach that is on his way and has familiarity with UVa having played and coached in Charlottesville. We’re not sure this is the right job/time for Johns as the receivers room could really benefit from someone that knows the position inside and out, but ne could be a name to watch in the future if other opportunities arise.
“A Heffernan Hire”
It’s a bit of a hedge, but it’s worth mentioning that UVa could go the route they went with the offensive line job, and hire a coach with Power-5 experience that is available because of head coaching changes at that school, or otherwise.
Former Wisconsin OC Bobby Engram got caught up in the coaching change at Wisconsin, with Luke Fickell replacing Paul Chryst. Engram has NFL coaching experience and coached receivers at Pitt too, and will likely have plenty of opportunities.
The man Hagans replaced at Penn State, Taylor Stubblefield, is obviously on the job market after James Franklin made the change. Stubblefield has a long coaching resume for someone so young (41 years old), coaching receivers in the MAC, as well as several stops in the ACC at Wake Forest and Miami. Stubblefield overlapped with John Rudzinski at Air Force, when he coached receivers there for the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
There are plenty of other receivers coaches that have been caught up in coaching changes at the college and pro level that could be looking for work as well.
And it’s a long shot, butElliott should give Will Healy a call and see what his plans are. The former Charlotte head coach has a great reputation as a recruiter, and began his career coaching receivers at UT-Chattanooga. He’s probably taking a year off or looking for another head coaching opportunity at the FCS level or elsewhere, but it’s worth a shot.
