September 24, 2009

Rivals.com Staff

At the College Football Roundtable each week, we ask each member of the college football coverage staff for his opinion about a topic in the sport.

TODAY'S QUESTION: Who do you think the first coach fired will be this season?

You mean Al Groh hasn't been fired yet? Coaches more successful than Groh - who is 56-47 in nine seasons at Virginia - have gotten canned, so it would seem his ouster is imminent. The Cavaliers have endured losing seasons in two of the past three seasons and appear spiraling downhill this season with an 0-3 start. Losing to FCS member William & Mary in the season opener had to inflame what already was a hot seat. Then, last week the Cavaliers blew a 27-10 lead and lost 37-34 to Southern Miss. The Cavs are idle this week. Maybe the extra practice time will enable Groh to shore up areas in which the Cavs are struggling. Perhaps they will bounce back and have a strong run through October and November. But the Cavs couldn't beat William & Mary, so their chances against North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Miami, Clemson and Virginia Tech don't appear good. Can Groh survive another losing season? Not likely.

- OLIN BUCHANAN

It almost certainly will be Virginia's Al Groh, who seems to have worn out his welcome in his ninth season in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers have struggled in recent seasons under Groh, posting losing records in two of the past three years. This year looks to be Groh's worst yet, as Virginia is off to an 0-3 start. UVa opened with an ugly home loss to FCS member William & Mary. Losses to TCU and Southern Miss followed. Also hurting Groh is that he has been dominated by Virginia Tech, going 1-7 vs. the Hokies in the battle for the Commonwealth Cup. Groh has developed some good defenses during his tenure, but he also will be remembered for never consistently having good offenses.

- TOM DIENHART

The only question here is which athletic director is going to drop all the pretense and fire a coach midseason. That's the great X-factor. The best candidate would be Al Groh, but I'm not sure it's in Virginia's nature to fire a coach before the end of the season, as ACC rival Clemson did with Tommy Bowden last season. Groh's performance has warranted a change of leadership. His two best seasons - 2002 and 2007 - have been nine-win campaigns when the Cavs only flirted with the ACC title. Sprinkled in are three, and soon to be four, losing seasons. The only variable for Virginia is time.

- DAVID FOX

The only coach I'm sure won't be back next season is Al Groh, but I am not sure Virginia would fire a coach during the season. Colorado's Dan Hawkins is in trouble, too, but the school may not be able to afford his reported $3 million buyout. This is all just a roundabout way of me saying I don't know who will be first fired. There will be an AD who fires his coach during the season; I just don't think it will be Virginia's Craig Littlepage.

- MIKE HUGUENIN

I'm not sure if this will represent the first coaching move of the year because it probably wouldn't fit Virginia's style to make a change midway through the season, but it would surprise me a great deal if Al Groh still is with the Cavaliers by the end of the year. Groh took himself off the hot seat with a 9-4 season in 2007, but the Cavaliers followed that up by going 5-7 last season and joining Duke as the only ACC teams that failed to reach a bowl. And this season already has been an utter disaster. Groh didn't settle on a quarterback at the start of the season, and the instability showed in a stunning loss to FCS program William & Mary. Jameel Sewell may have solidified the quarterback situation last week at Southern Miss, but the Cavaliers revealed plenty of other flaws as they blew a 27-10 halftime lead and dropped to 0-3. Virginia also started slowly last year before rallying midway through the season, but it's hard to imagine the Cavaliers enjoying a similar rebound this year. This program is in desperate need of a fresh start.

- STEVE MEGARGEE