Kitchings is excited by all of the options on UVa's offensive table

Virginia hired an offensive coordinator as its head coach when Tony Elliott was tapped to replace Bronco Mendenhall in December. Typically, bringing in a coordinator to run the program means that coach will install their offense, and often, will be the primary play caller.

But Elliott went another way, brining in veteran coach Des Kitchings to be his offensive coordinator after the two developed a relationship many years ago.

And it’s a decision that could be a big one for the new staff in Year 1.

Kitchings and Elliott briefly crossed paths early in their career, and with the former Clemson OC now the head whistle in Charlottesville, the two coaches are reunited.

Prior to accepting the job at UVa, Kitchings was the running backs coach with the Atlanta Falcons. Before that he’s been the co-OC at NC State and Vanderbilt, calling plays for the Commodores for one season. He also served as a running backs coach with the Wolfpack and eventually at South Carolina before jumping to the NFL.

This model is something with which Elliott is familiar: When Ehelliott was at Clemson, he shared offensive coordinator duties with Jeff Scott, now the head coach at USF. At UVa, it seems that Kitchings will be the play caller but Elliott will certainly have input.

Last week at UVa’s media day prior to the start of fall camp, Kitchings made it clear that everyone is willing to leave ego out of the equation and work together to find the best solution for the team.

“It’s good to have a guy like Tony who has won a championship game calling plays,” Kitchings said at last week’s luncheon. “I tell him all the time ‘you ain’t going to hurt my feelings,’…let’s make a change, make adjustments. So it’s been awesome.”

There has been an increased emphasis on the running game since the coaching change, and the new staff has made their intention to become more balanced quite public. Both Elliott and Kitchings have experience coaching running backs and understand that the running game won’t always work but it’s the big picture that matters.

“That’s where the marriage with Tony and I is a good one because his beliefs are similar to my beliefs,” Kitchings said of the philosophies of the two coaches when it comes to running the ball. “We’re not going to get frustrated if we have a 1-yard run. You can’t let that frustrate you. It’s like novocaine, give it time and it’ll work. But the end goal is the average…Are we averaging over 4 yards per rush? That might be two 20-yard runs and five 1-yard runs, but it’s the average and the accumulation on the defense, as opposed to ‘pass and just letting those guys rush you up the field.’”

And while there will be a renewed emphasis on the ground game, the coaching staff understands the makeup of the current team and the success the Wahoos had through the air in 2021.

“We may have to throw the ball 60 times to win the game, and we’re fine with doing that,” UVa’s new OC explained. “But that’s not our intention coming into each game, to do that.”

And speaking of those skill players, they too seem to crave a more balanced offense after such a pass-heavy attack last fall. Kitchings mentioned that several receivers mentioned the need to emphasize the ground game in their early conversations after taking the job, which he found remarkable.

“A receiver saying we have to run the ball? So they understood (the need) for balance,” Kitchings said. “The whole goal is to try to win as many games as we can. It may require that in the second half of the game, we may just have to play milk the clock, or ‘boys, we’ve got to go.’ So the players, they’re fine with that, but obviously we just have to go win.”

Virginia’s offense should play at a faster pace in 2022 as well. Elliott described his scheme as a “two-back, no-huddle spread,” which is similar to what Robert Anae ran in some ways, though UVa’s former OC scrapped the fast pace after a few games in 2016. Kitchings made it clear that UVa will work with intention, while the actual pace of play may vary based on situation.

“I could be the stubborn guy where we just want to line up in one formation and try to get 100 snaps, no, no, no. We do have an elaborate personnel group that we can mix and match, so we’ll have to substitute,” Kitchings said of his expected tempo for the offense. “But at the same time, the way we practice, the way we try to train these guys, is that the substitutions still happen quickly so that we can continue to put pressure on the defense. We might huddle for a whole series, who knows. We want to be very, very flexible in that, ultimately knowing that whether we’re breaking the huddle or we’re on the ball, there’s an intent or an urgency to play fast.”

Whether its pace, language, or actual plays, it’s a huge asset to the coaching staff to have a veteran quarterback. Brennan Armstrong isn’t just a veteran, though, as he also returns as one of the most-productive quarterbacks in college football. Kitchings and the rest of the coaching staff understand how lucky they are to have Armstrong as their quarterback in Year 1.

“It feels really good, compared to some other situations I’ve been in where you sit there like ‘holy crap, what are we going to do?’,” Kitchings joked. “At the same time, there’s a fine line…You have this guy, we can just go do everything and anything, but then we don’t get good at anything. There’s a fine line as a coach, you’re like the kid in the candy store: You can’t eat it all.”

One of the elements that suits Armstrong but wasn’t necessarily a big part of last-year’s offense is run-pass option looks. RPOs were a staple of Elliott’s Clemson offenses, and with Armstrong UVa has a dual-threat quarterback that’s capable of making those plays work and giving the defense one more thing to worry about.

“That’s just another element of being able to throw the ball,” Kitchings said. “Not just drop-back passing, but the RPO world. They allow you to do that in college, so why not take advantage of it? Especially if we’re able to run the ball as effectively as we hope we can, then it may lead to some people to come into the box that frees up some stuff from an RPO standpoint.”

Outside of the quarterback, Kitchings and Elliott are fortunate to have a great group of skill players to work with in their first season in Charlottesville. One of those players is Keytaon Thompson, and Kitchings’ background could provide some interesting opportunities for No. 99. Kitchings worked with a running back/tight end hybrid at NC State in Jaylen Samuels and helped turn Atlanta Falcons receiver Cordarrelle Patterson into a running threat last season.

“Keytaon is going to be utilized,” Kitching said. “(Falcons head coach) Arthur Smith back in Atlanta, we were talking one time and he was like ‘man, you’ve got a guy up there that’s pretty good. I expect to see you use him a lot.’

“The thing I appreciate about him, he has a really high football IQ,” Kitchings continued. “Maybe it’s attributed to him playing quarterback and all the stuff they were doing with him last year. He learns things very easily and can adjust very easily. He can play in the backfield, he can play as a tight end, he can play as a receiver, and he’ll be utilized. However we can score the ball, that’s the bottom line. If he has to come back and play running back for 10 plays, to give us the best chance to score the ball, that’s what we’re doing. If he’s playing Z receiver to get him the ball, that’s what he’s doing. And he can handle that because he’s done a lot for us throughout the spring and the summer.”

Virginia’s new offensive coordinator has a lot of mouths to feed in this year’s offense, so to speak. That’s a good problem to have, and Kitchings knows that as long as all of the receivers and backs stay ready, their time will come.

“I was a skill player, I wanted to touch the ball all the time too.” Kitchings said. “But within the scheme, the way that we teach them and the way we do things, based on coverage, Brennan is going to find the open guy. It may not be you this time, but next time it will be. You’ve just got to be where you’re supposed to be, doing what you’re supposed to do.

“There’s going to be some things specifically designed for (Thompson),” he added. “There might be something specifically designed for (Billy) Kemp. Dontayvion (Wicks), I think he’s really damn good, like ‘he hasn’t touched the ball in 10 plays guys, what are we doing?’”

In addition to his role as the offensive coordinator, Kitchings coaches the tight ends. In Virginia’s two-back offense, the tight end has an interesting role to play, often lined up as an H-back in the backfield. That player can be used in a variety of ways, but the current crop of tight ends have mostly played in reserve roles, if at all, to this point. Kitchings is happy with where the group is but notes that the depth at receiver makes it so they will only be used a lot if they earn those snaps.

“Sackett (Wood), (Grant) Misch, and Josh (Rawlings) had a great summer,” he said. “There’s a lot of skill guys, you earn your play, and earn your right to touch the ball. In spring practice, Sackett and Misch, they earned the right to be considered to touch the ball.

“As we continue here through training camp, we know we’re going to play with five offensive linemen and a quarterback, so that’s six,” he added. “The other five of y’all, how does that unfold? It’s up to them.”