Though he came with Bronco Mendenhall from BYU, technically his time as an assistant coach has been solely at UVa, meaning Shane Hunter was primed this season to have perhaps the best, most experienced group of inside linebackers in his career.

Of course, as the potential season opener in Blacksburg draws closer, that remains the case. But there’s nothing remotely normal about this season outside of the fact that Mendenhall and Co. figure to have a very good defense.

Much of that is because of the experience of UVa’s linebacking corps, especially inside. Hunter returns not only seniors Zane Zandier and Rob Snyder but he also brings back talented second-year Nick Jackson, someone from whom much will be expected this season and beyond.

“Well, I think you take a look at kind of where we were when we got here four years ago, transitioning from a 4-3 defense to a 3-4 defense and getting the type of backers you want to be able to play outside linebacker, the guys who are more inside linebackers,” Hunter said last week. “And so you can see that this is really that fifth year. These are the guys we've recruited, the guys we've brought in, and we've been able to develop them and kind of build them into this defense that we want.

“And so I would say that this year, we're probably the deepest we've ever been at linebacker which in terms of the Coronavirus and everything that's going on, that's a really good thing,” he added. “But at the same time, you look and you say, ‘We’ve got a bunch of really good players that can play a lot of snaps for us and right behind them if anything does happen, we have a lot of really good players too.’”

Virginia typically likes long, athletic types at OLB but also tends to favor shorter, more compact athletes inside. But it’s been the case that several of the guys have played other positions within the heart of the D. To Hunter, that’s a very good thing given the potential for uncertainty ahead.

“I think that's one thing that, if you look at our linebackers over the last four years here, a lot of the guys that are inside they've been outside linebackers for us at one point, some of the guys that are outside they've been inside guys, and so there's so much that goes on both ways,” he explained. “A lot of the things that we ask our defense, because we are so multiple, that we give them the opportunity to learn those different techniques that outside linebackers play or the inside linebackers play. So I think that we do have a lot of guys that can play multiple, different linebacker positions.”

While schools around the country do their best to figure out how best to manage the potential for outbreaks, some have seen whole position groups taken out thanks to positive tests and contact tracing. Obviously, that's something UVa would like to avoid.

“We've actually done a couple different things when it comes to practice, in terms of having two different huddles—or not really two different huddles but two different ends— going and that gives us a chance to keep guys away,” Hunter said. “But one of the big things that we're always preaching is the social distancing, wearing your mask, doing all those little things so that as soon as you go out into the community and when you have to wear [one], when school starts and all the students are coming back, that our guys are completely ready for that, that they've learned how to handle themselves, and so that they're not at risk. Now, in terms of having whole position groups, man we're very aware of that, trying to keep the guys kind of spread out as much as possible. I think that if that happens? Shoot, our guys have done a good enough job that there shouldn't be that contact tracing.”

Like many teams, the Cavaliers didn’t have spring ball in 2020 but instead were able to spend a lot of time meeting virtually, which Hunter believes provided them with the opportunity to do a lot of things and work on the game differently.

“So in terms of coaching, I think the thing that obviously changed is not having our guys with us, over the summer and obviously not getting spring ball,” he said. “And so really, the physical development really became up to the players. Obviously, we provided them the structure and Coach Griz (Shawn Griswold) and the strength staff did an amazing job making sure that our guys were ready to go and that they physically had everything that they need so that they could take care of that. But then being able to have the Zoom meetings and being able to meet with the guys, the mental part of the game is where I feel like we took a huge step forward.

“They were able to focus on that,” Hunter added. “They were able to develop and see that, really take it to the next level, so that once we got back we were already further ahead in terms of where we've been mentally because they were able to do all those things. And then to me personally, dealing with that, I think it got to the point that they've been in enough Zoom meetings that they were so excited when we finally actually got to be back together, seeing everything that’s changed, whether it's a team meeting in the indoor facility with everybody spread out versus position meetings where everybody is staying socially distant, everyone has their masks. I mean, those are things that now they're just the norm, that that's just what we're used to. But I think at first it took a little bit of adjusting to get used to but now it's just what we do each and every day. Our players have all bought in and they're doing a great job of handling that.”

In the spring, Mendenhall said that he hoped UVa’s culture would help the team withstand the lack of spring and the unknowns that lay in front of them. Looking back, it’s clear that they did.

“One of the things I think is that we have really great leadership on our team,” Hunter said, “at multiple different positions. We have great, great guys. From Charles Snowden to Terrell Jana to, I mean, really any position group you look at. There are really good guys that have been in the program a long time. So they've been developed over these years with all of the things that we push. ‘Will before skill,’ the effort, all those type of things, that they've been a part of the program so long that when we ask them to do things they understand why we're asking them and once they understand that, then they're going to do it. And that's what I think has been the most impressive thing is, how our players have really taken over and they want it for themselves because they want to play.”

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