There was a familiar face in the audience as new Virginia football coach Tony Elliott introduced himself to the team last Sunday.
Clemson, where Elliott was co-offensive coordinator at the time, was among the schools to recruit Lavel Davis when he was playing at Dorcester (SC) Woodland High School. But the Tigers and other schools backed off when Davis injured a knee while in high school. The UVa staff continued to recruit the receiver, and Davis ultimately signed with the Wahoos in December 2019.
So when the two were reunited last weekend, the new coach had a lighthearted greeting for his big receiver.
“He was like, ‘Hey knucklehead, you’re still ugly,’” the 6-foot-7 sophomore shared, drawing laughs from a cluster of reporters following Elliott’s introduction at UVa on Monday.
Elliott spent 11 seasons on Dabo Swinney’s coaching staff at Clemson, ascending to co-offensive coordinator prior to the 2014 bowl season before spending the last two years as offensive coordinator. He added the title of assistant head coach this year. In 2017, Elliott received the Broyles Award, given to the top assistant coach in the country.
When the coordinator’s name surfaced as a possible successor to outgoing UVa coach Bronco Mendenhall, most players knew who Elliott was given his high-profile role at Clemson, Davis said. But teammates still sought the opinion of the receiver who had been recruited by Elliott in high school.
“Everybody was asking me how he was,” Davis recalled. “I was like, ‘He's similar to Coach Hagans. If y'all know him, he's kind of similar.’”
The presence of receivers coach Marques Hagans was a big reason why Davis ended up committing to UVa. Under Hagans, Davis recorded one of the best first-year seasons for a receiver in program history in 2020. His 515 receiving yards ranked seventh nationally among freshmen; his five touchdown catches were tied for fifth in the country among freshmen. Davis averaged 25.75 yards per catch, which ranked second nationally among all players last season.
After bursting onto the scene last fall, Davis was expected to be an even bigger big-play threat in the UVa offense this season. Instead, another knee injury suffered in spring practices kept the sophomore sidelined for the entire year. He confirmed on Monday that he will not play in UVa’s Fenway Bowl matchup against SMU on December 29th.
“We’d rather just be safe than sorry,” Davis explained, “and really focus on just getting back to 100 percent. And right now I feel like I'm like 85-90 percent, So I’d just rather just do what I've got to do for the for the betterment of my career.”
Despite losing Davis for the year, the UVa passing game was one of the best in the country, finishing the regular season second in the country in passing yards and 13th in touchdowns through the air. Being forced to watch that aerial attack from the sideline was “very tough,” Davis admitted. “Very, very tough.”
“I'm just staying patient,” he added. “And what's for me will be for me in the future. I'm just working hard, getting back to my routine. I'm making sure that I'm not a step behind when my time does come for the future.”
Davis is running routes again, and he told reporters the knee is back to pre-injury strength. He sounded more comfortable with the idea of not testing the knee in a game situation until the 2022 season kicks off next September, nearly a year-and-a-half removed from when he got hurt in April.
By that point, Elliott will be about 10 months into his tenure as head coach of the Cavaliers. According to Davis, Elliott was the only coach at Clemson to remain in contact with Davis following his high school knee injury. That memory resonated with the South Carolina native and his family when the Clemson coordinator’s hire was announced last Friday.
“My grandma, she called me, she was like, ‘It’s meant to be. You’re supposed to be at Virginia,’” Davis said on Monday. “It was really cool. I was really excited about the whole thing.”
Davis liked what he heard from Elliott in that initial team meeting on Sunday. He was hopeful that the coach’s message had a similar impact on the rest of the Wahoos, and eager to catch up with Elliott one-on-one for a more substantial conversation at some point soon.
Elliott did not discuss his plans for a coaching staff with the team during that conversation. Davis admitted he would like to see Hagans and a few other assistants from Mendenhall’s staff retained.
“But I’m really just putting my trust into Coach Elliott,” Davis added. “Whatever process that he has, that he delivers and he goes through, I feel like that'll be the best for Virginia.”
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