The Surber family didn’t get very far back up the road for home after Virginia’s spring game when they made a stop to eat—and have a frank conversation.

They hadn’t made the trip to Scott Stadium as fans. Three-star offensive lineman Cole Surber had long been an important target for UVa’s 2023 recruiting class. The Blue-White Game was his latest chance to catch up with UVa offensive line coach Garett Tujague and watch Tony Elliott, the Hoos’ first-year head coach, in person.

Before heading out of Charlottesville, Surber wanted to talk about a few things with his parents. So the family stopped at Burton’s Grill & Bar in the Shops at Stonefield to have a discussion.

“We talked, they gave me their opinions,” Surber recalled for CavsCorner, “and they both told me that they thought that UVa was the best place for me.”

“Now at the end of the day it was my decision,” he continued, “so even with them saying that, I could have gone to West Virginia, Duke. But I thought about it hard. And I thought about it long. And I realized that UVa is where I’m gonna be the happiest, where I know I’m gonna be supported and succeed.”

Not quite a week after that conversation, Surber made his decision public. He announced Friday night on Twitter that he’d committed to Virginia, making the in-state product the first member of UVa’s 2023 class.

Tujague had been recruiting Surber since late in his sophomore season at Patriot High School. Last May, Virginia became the first program to offer big lineman. Elliott, hired in December after the resignation of previous head coach Bronco Mendenhall, made a strong initial impression on Surber the first time they interacted at a January Junior Day visit. Surber again came away impressed during a mid-April visit to UVa to watch a spring practice.

Surber admitted that his commitment brought some relief, allowing him to turn his full attention to his senior high school season. As he put it, he now knows the destination for his current journey.

“Ever since the season stopped I’ve been grinding in the offseason,” he said, “but now I get to hopefully work with Coach Tujague, maybe he’ll coach me up when we call. I get to meet some of the other coaches. Again, the journey has not stopped. A new journey has just begun.”

Surber went in-depth with CavsCorner to discuss the process behind his decision to commit to Virginia and what comes next:

I had called Coach Tujague on Wednesday and I had let him know, and I called Coach Elliott the day after. But I was trying to be respectful of the other coaches that had recruited me and I wanted Friday to be the day where I called them all up and I wanted to let them know. And then after I had done that, I would have officially stated that I had committed to UVa. I was just trying to be respectful to all of them and thank them for their time and the relationships that we had built. Really, it was all respect bound, but that’s how I wanted to do it.

Oh man, he was fired up. He was happy. He was just thankful that I chose him, and anxious to get to work with me when I finally get down there in a year. It was the same feeling on my part. He was pretty pumped, man. He was pretty pumped.

I think it played in almost 100 percent. Again, my first offer was UVa so I’ve had about a year now to develop a relationship with Coach Tujague. I would call him almost every Wednesday at the same time, and we would just talk and build a relationship. So I think that relationship with Tujague helps astronomically, because now going down there it’s like I already know him, so all I’ve got to do is just get into his coaching style and then we’ll be rolling.

Almost the same as Tujague but he was very humbled. He was very humbled that I chose him and he just wanted to thank me. With Coach Elliott, talking to him, you can tell that he’s very humble from the way that he is and the man that he is. He was just very grateful that I had chosen to go to where he was and chosen him to be my head coach.

The spring practice was a great time for me to just watch Coach Tujague and all the other coaches coach their players and how they discipline them and everything like that. And I got the chance to see the after-practice huddle and just hear Coach Elliott talk to the players, and address what needed to be fixed and the things that were good. It was an amazing experience because it was like I was a player there being coached.

The spring game, I was able to watch the determination of all those players, especially the linemen who played on both sides of the ball. I mean, I just was thoroughly impressed to see how it had all come together and how they were just having fun, man. Players having fun. It was incredible. I had a great experience.

I’ve seen some big results. Weightlifting-wise, I can definitely tell that my strength has increased. There’s no doubt about that. Skill-wise, like fundamentals and technique, it’s improving every day. I’m learning new drills. I’ve been able to go to different spring practices to see how different coaches do different things. And I’ve been able to learn from them and the drills that they do with their players and it’s helped me improve my technique and my skill too.

I’m gonna be dangerous next year, man. I’m telling you that right now. Dangerous.

I don’t think the motivation level has really changed. It might have gone up a little bit but even with the decision, I’m still three days a week going to the gym, getting work in, getting fundamental work in. My schedule is not changed and I’m still getting after it every day.

Now I know that I’ll be close to family so they don’t have to travel far to see me play. Even when I’m away at away games it’s mostly on the coast because Virginia plays on the Atlantic coast. Except Notre Dame in ’24. I know that my family is close, it relieves me that they don’t have to travel as far. I know they would but regardless of that.

And being the first, it now allows me to help other players see how great Coach Elliott and all the other coaches are, to see how Virginia is the place for them and just teach them how Virginia can better them not only as a player, but as a person entirely. I can’t wait to help out with recruiting and see what other players want to join us.