In a press conference Monday at 1:00 p.m., Virginia is set to announce the new head coach of their football team, and he won’t have to travel very far: it’s Richmond’s Mike London. Seemingly, the Cavaliers were just waiting for Richmond’s season to end so they could hire away London, and on Saturday, the Spiders obliged, falling 35-31 Appalachian State in the FCS Playoffs.
Virginia To Introduce Richmond’s Mike London As New Head Coach Coach
The courtship was a brief one.
Yesterday morning, following the Spiders' loss to Appalachian State, Virginia officials formally requested permission from Richmond to speak to the Spiders' head coach, a request that was granted. Prior to that, all discussions had gone through a third-party search firm that the Cavs hired to assist with the process. [...]
For the Cavs, there was little that stood in their way. The Associated Press reported yesterday that Memphis, Western Kentucky and Akron were also interested in the coach, though it seemed unlikely that those schools could compete with a BCS-conference school in which London has family ties.
In addition to his time as defensive coordinator and defensive line coach, London's brother Paul was a defensive back under George Welsh, and his daughter Kristen played basketball for the Cavs ... Working at Richmond, London had to recruit under similar academic circumstances to those at Virginia. He has maintained strong relations with state high-school coaches, an area where Virginia has lost ground in recruiting.
London, who won the 2008 FCS National Championship in just his first year at Richmond, is expected to make as much as four times what he was making with the Spiders.
UVA's in-state rivals, Virginia Tech, is already wary, as detailed by SB Nation's Gobbler Country.
London is the kind of young, energetic coach with local ties who can compete with Tech’s coaches for the Commonwealth’s top talent. He was UVa’s recruiting coordinator for three years and its defensive coordinator for two before going to Richmond and winning the NCAA Division 1 national title in his first year with the Spiders.
London becomes just the second minority head coach of a BCS school, joining Miami’s Randy Shannon.
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