The 2022 college football season comes to an end tonight, with the National Championship game between Georgia and TCU in Los Angeles.

Virginia’s season ended nearly two months ago now, and the Hoos are in the midst of what looks to be a transformational offseason for the program.

There have been some highs and lows since the season ended and plenty of drama and intrigue along the way. There is still plenty of work to do too from a roster management perspective.

With the 2022 season officially wrapping up, all eyes are now on 2023 for the entire sport, UVa included.

Today, we’re taking a look at three key storylines for the program as the offseason moves forward and spring football approaches.

NC State announced the hiring of Garett Tujague for its offensive line position on December 12. So, it’s been nearly a month and UVa still hasn’t hired a replacement or at the very least haven’t made that choice public.

Tony Elliott said in his press conference on NSD that he expected a hire to be in place by the team when the guys came back from winter break and as always he wants to make sure that he gets the hire right rather than rushing to make a decision.

Still, UVa suffered the consequences of a long hiring process over the weekend. Transfer offensive lineman Daijon Parker committed to the Cavaliers following an official visit to Charlottesville in December. That commitment came just before Tujague’s official departure, and Parker stuck with the Cavaliers and was announced as an addition on Signing Day. But over the weekend, he wrapped up a visit to Iowa and committed to the Hawkeyes.

These decisions don’t always come down to one thing but the fact that UVa has yet to replace Tujague certainly didn’t help here. Parker has one year of football left to play and although he was set to enroll at Virginia this month, can he really be blamed for a change of course given the uncertainty around who would be coaching him at UVa?

Ultimately, Virginia has to get this hire correct and hopefully get it done very soon. Offensive linemen require more development than most other positions and whomever takes this job will have a tall task to get a line that struggled last season to improve, especially without John Paul Flores (Louisville) and Logan Taylor (Boston College) transferring. That, plus the fact that UVa is looking to add transfers right away if possible adds to the stress to get the hire closed as quickly as possible so they don’t miss out on potential starters who may look for a more stable situation elsewhere.

The Wahoos had plenty of “outs” in the transfer portal, losing several key players on both sides of the ball with many of them either committed to or getting interest from some of the sport’s top programs.

While many players moved on, UVa has continued to look for their replacements, starting with the transfer portal. Parker’s defection to Iowa was disappointing but the Cavaliers are still expecting the arrivals of QB Tony Muskett, WR Malik Washington, and RB Kobe Pace this month.

They added another talented and intriguing transfer to the roster late last week, too. Former UNC defensive back Cam’Ron Kelly committed to Virginia following a visit to Charlottesville last week. His name is likely familiar to UVa fans that follow recruiting, of course, as the Cavaliers were involved in his high school recruitment when he starred at Oscar Smith in Chesapeake. Kelly ultimately landed at Auburn before transferring to UNC, where he was one of the Tar Heels’ key defenders in 2022. He recorded 49 tackles and an interception for the Heels and was third-team All-ACC in 2021. UVa’s situation likely appealed to the Virginia native, with playing time available in the secondary and UVa’s defensive back coaches demonstrating some success developing Anthony Johnson and Fentrell Cypress this season.

The Wahoos will need to continue to work the portal for additions at a few different positions. Offensive line is chief among them, especially after the loss of Parker. Once a coach is in place, perhaps they will have more luck attracting talent as playing time should be readily available across the line. UVa could also use another defensive back or two, and perhaps a long snapper, too.

The 2024 recruiting cycle will take center stage this spring as well, with junior days upcoming and spring practice right around the corner. The ’24 class will be pivotal for this staff as they look to add young talent to the roster, and create a roster that aligns with what this staff wants to do schematically.

In addition to the loss of Parker on Saturday, another noteworthy announcement came when former UVa quarterback Brennan Armstrong went public with his intention to transfer to NC State for the final season of his collegiate career. Of course, Armstrong struggled mightily in UVa’s new offensive system in 2022 but he now has a chance to get his career back on track.

The Ohio native will of course be reuniting with former UVa offensive coordinator Robert Anae who moved over to Raleigh after one year at Syracuse. Together, Anae and Armstrong set records in Charlottesville, and it will be interesting to see if they can regain their old form together with the Wolfpack.

And like UVa’s game against Anae and Jason Beck at Syracuse in October, Virginia will again be in a similar spot this year but this time against State. The ACC should release the football schedule dates later this month but we do know that the Hoos will host the Wolfpack at Scott Stadium at some point this fall.

And while it’s not fair to judge a program on the results of one game, this contest could be another poignant referendum for UVa’s progress.

The marriage between the staff and Armstrong clearly wasn’t working, and after making the decision to return to UVa rather than going pro last year Armstrong jumped in the portal soon after the season, and decided to get the gang back together in Raleigh in an attempt to finish his career on a good note. Conversely, UVa chose to add Muskett from the portal and have Jay Woolfolk returning, as the Hoos try to get the offense to be far more productive than they were in 2022.

If Muskett comes in and looks good, perhaps Armstrong simply wasn’t a good fit for what Elliott, Des Kitchings and Co. want to do. But if UVa’s offense continues to struggle to move the ball through the air, and Armstrong comes to Charlottesville and lights up the Cavaliers playing in his old system, that will be hard for Cavalier fans to ignore.