Reaction to UVa hiring a new offensive coordinator

VIRGINIA FOOTBALL

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The Wahoos wasted no time hiring an offensive coordinator, naming Steve Fairchild to that position Wednesday. Bill Lazor left Tuesday to pursue an opportunity with the Philadelphia Eagles.

I don't know much about Fairchild. Here is an article from The Daily Progress that is chock-full of info.

http://www.dailyprogress.com/sports/article_fd527f52-6b2f-11e2-9cd3-001a4bcf6878.html

Steve Fairchild

My gut reaction is this is an OK hire, but not great. He certainly has lots of experience, and that seems to be the main thing UVa went for when hiring its new coaches. And he has lots of college experience, which is good.

But how well will he mesh with Tom O'Brien? What kind of offense does he run? Will it be hard to adjust to? Do we have the type of players on offense he likes? Associate athletics director Jon Oliver has said he is a good recruiter, so that is a plus.

I think I can answer one of those questions. In Jeff White's virginiasports.com story, Fairchild reveals that he knows O'Brien: "I know Tom. When he was at N.C. State, I actually visited him there to learn about his system. I've got all the respect for him. Tom's a very veteran, successful football coach. I'm glad he's on the staff." So, props to UVa for hiring someone that looks like will get along with O'Brien, who the 'Hoos obviously brought in to really help right this ship.

When he was with the Bills about a decade ago, Fairchild coached quarterback J.P. Losman to the 11th-best passer rating in the NFL. On thesabre.com, I saw someone say that if he can make Losman look good, he must be pretty good. If you don't know much about Losman, he flamed out in the NFL and played in the now-defunct UFL for a year and helped the Las Vegas Locomotives to the UFL title.

Time will tell on all these hires, but there were certainly problems with Lazor. He improved the offense immensely from 2009 to 2010, when he got hired, but it had regressed the last two years. His system seemed rigid. He was an NFL guy through and through. Perhaps he would have been a better offensive coordinator at UVa under Al Groh, who recruited more "NFL-type" guys. Now, the team has more speed and Mike London has landed recruits with more of a pedigree it would seem for college-level success, and Lazor didn't seem flexible and willing to tailor his system and game plans to the talent on the Cavaliers' roster.

It also seemed like Lazor clashed with London. I don't think he liked that London seemed to meddle in the offense at times. I have to believe, coming from the NFL, Lazor did not take kindly to any such QB rotation, and that UVa's rotation was London's brainchild. Hopefully, the new coaches, namely Fairchild and O'Brien, are better able to stand up to London, mentor him as well, and tell him, "Hey, we have to go with this guy" and stick with him.

Jon Oliver

Something I and some other fans don't get is Oliver's statement at the end of the Progress article. He says, "We are in the process of implementing new systems on both sides of the ball. These types of changes take time and [we'll] need to be patient as we seek to improve this football program." It sounds as if Oliver is asking for fans to be patient, that 2013 might not be a great year. I understand, but Virginia has had four losing seasons in the last five years. Patience is wearing thin. And if you think we are truly rebuilding, why schedule Oregon? I still like the fact that UVa scheduled Oregon, and I think it is cool, but why would you admit that 2013 could be rough the day after scheduling one of the top 5 programs over the past five years? Why not schedule a team that we would have a better chance of beating? That doesn't make sense. It is as if the program is asking for trouble and biting off more than it can chew.

Oliver has had lots of say in these hires. He is from Washington State and so he helped bring in Tony Bennett for the hoops program and that is working out. But so far his football decisions have been somewhat questionable. He can always be seen on the sidelines at football games. Fans are starting to call him the GM of the program. If he doesn't help get things turned around soon, he is going to look more and more like Jerry Jones, the kind of guy who seems to mean well and wants to do well, but doesn't know what he's doing.