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Al Groh

Al "Chessmaster" Groh (born July 13, 1944 in New York City, New York) is the current head coach of the University of Virginia college football team and the former head coach of the New York Jets of the NFL. He is a two-time Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year, winning the award in 2002 and 2007. Groh has over 38 years of professional and collegiate coaching experience; This history includes 13 seasons in the NFL, an NFL championship with the 1990 New York Giants, and over a decade of working under coach Bill Parcells.

Personal Life

Groh is a native of Manhasset, New York, on the North Shore of New York's Long Island. He is a 1962 graduate of Chaminade High School, and a 1967 graduate of the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce, he returned to his alma mater in 2001 as the head coach of the Cavaliers football team.

Coaching Career

College

Throughout his career, Groh has been a friend and protégé of Bill Parcells, working with him for over 13 years in both collegiate and professional positions. Groh was an assistant under Parcells in two Super Bowls, including a 1990 Super Bowl XXV victory with the New York Giants and a 1996 loss in Super Bowl XXXI with the New England Patriots.

Groh began his college coaching career in 1968 as the defensive coach of the plebe squad at Army, working with Parcells for his first time. Groh returned to Virginia in 1970 as head coach of the freshmen team and later defensive line coach. From 1973 through 1977, he was an assistant at North Carolina, followed by a year (1978) as Parcells’ defensive coordinator at Air Force and a year at Texas Tech in 1980. Groh received his first head football coach experience with Wake Forest from 1981 through 1986 where his record was 26-40.

NFL

In 1987, Groh made his NFL debut as the special teams and tight ends coach of the Atlanta Falcons. After a brief return to the college ranks in 1988 as the offensive coordinator for South Carolina, Groh joined the New York Giants coaching staff. He served as the Giants’ linebackers coach from 1989 to 1990 and as defensive coordinator in 1991. Groh’s expertise in linebackers led to Bill Belichick hiring him as an assistant with the Cleveland Browns in 1992. Groh then reunited with Parcells in New England from 1993 to 1996 as the defensive coordinator, following him to the New York Jets as the linebacker coach from 1997 through 1999.

Virginia Cavaliers

Groh was named the head coach of the Cavaliers on December 30, 2000, succeeding George Welsh, who retired as the winningest coach in school and Atlantic Coast Conference history. At Virginia, Groh has become known for his implementing a 3-4 defense, rare for the college game, and for maintaining his NFL mentality. After a 5-7 record in 2001, Groh led Virginia to four consecutive winning seasons and three bowl victories before another 5-7 campaign in 2006. He was named the ACC Coach of the Year in 2002 and 2007.

2001

Groh’s first year as Virginia’s head coach contained struggles both on and off the field. The 2001 Cavalier team posted a 5-7 record, and Groh, a native of New York City and Long Island, was involved in controversy surrounding comments regarding the September 11, 2001 attacks in his hometown. In response to a reporters question about whether he and his team should be afraid to fly their charter plane to Clemson soon thereafter, Groh stated "I'm not saying this to make light of it by any means, but I'm not planning on having Arabs in the traveling party, so therefore I think probably that the threat of our being hijacked is pretty remote."

Both Groh and the President of the University, John T. Casteen III, apologized and recognized the inappropriateness of the remarks. Subsequent to the 2001 season, Groh was selected as the defensive head coach of the Gray team in the 64th Annual Blue-Gray Football Classic; Al Golden joined Groh on the Gray team's coaching staff.

2002-2005

During Groh’s second year as head coach, Virginia amassed a 9-5 record with a schedule ranked the 11th toughest in the nation by Jeff Sagarin of USA Today, and Groh was voted the ACC Coach of the Year. In 2003, Virginia was nationally-ranked all season and finished with an 8-5 record. Groh continued coaching the team to winning seasons in 2004 (8-4) and 2005 (7-5).

2006

The 2006 Cavaliers were a young team with several new assistant coaches. The team experienced some growing pains, and a few games into the season, freshman Jameel Sewell earned the starting quarterback position, leading Virginia to a 5-7 season record. No Cavalier player made first team All-ACC team for the first time in 20 years. While Groh acknowledged that the year would be a rebuilding experience and a slow start upset some fans, Virginia athletic director Craig Littlepage stated that, "Al will be our head coach" through at least the 2007 season.

Littlepage, however, later refused to exercise an option to extend Groh's contract by one year stating that Virginia's expectations were higher than 5-7.

Unlike past seasons, Groh only played one true freshman in 2006, which preserved the redshirt of true freshman.

2007

In the 2007 preseason, Groh was listed among the five worst coaches in college football by Sports Illustrated columnist Stewart Mandel

However, after Groh's 2007 Cavaliers lost their first game at Wyoming, they won their next seven games and started 4-0 in the ACC. After Virginia won their ninth game of 2007, Stewart Mandel stated "there's no question he's gotten every ounce out of that team," and revisited his preseason column by stating "I ended up going with Groh, and obviously he's the one who's most proven it wrong."

The team finished the regular season 9-3 overall and 6-2 in the ACC, leading to the Cavaliers' fifth bowl game in the past six seasons. Subsequent to the regular season, Groh was voted the 2007 ACC Coach of the Year by the ACC Media Association

2008

After leading his team to a 1-3 start, including a 31-3 loss to a Duke team who had not won an ACC game in its previous 25 attempts, Groh was once again faced with widespread pleas from fans and the media to resign

Legacy

Since Groh's arrival at Virginia, 13 Cavaliers have been selected in the NFL Draft, while 19 others have signed pro contracts as free agents. During his first five years, Groh maintained a strategy of hiring young, ambitious assistants, and he hoped to build a network of protégés through the football ranks. His young assistants have gone on to become head coaches at other Division I-A programs (Ron Prince at Kansas State and Al Golden at Temple) and assistants in the NFL (Bill Musgrave, previously with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Washington Redskins, now at the Atlanta Falcons, and Mike London at the Houston Texans, although London has since returned to Groh's staff.)

Virginia under Groh has a 3-2 record in bowl games, with the two losses coming to Fresno State in the 2004 MPC Computers Bowl and Texas Tech in the 2008 Gator Bowl. The Cavaliers defeated West Virginia and Pittsburgh in the 2002 and 2003 Continental Tire Bowls and Minnesota in the 2005 Music City Bowl.

Playing history

Groh played for the University of Virginia football team from 1963-65, lettering at defensive end in 1965. A two-sport athlete, Groh also lettered on defense for the Cavalier lacrosse team.