A year ago, the pressure in Charlottesville sat almost entirely on Tony Elliott. Virginia was coming off three straight seasons without a winning record, and the head coach was feeling every bit of that heat.
That picture looks different now. After a school-record 11 wins, Elliott’s job is no longer about survival. The scrutiny has shifted to something else: keeping the momentum going and making sure last season wasn’t a one-off.
And with 13 players who started the Gator Bowl win over Missouri no longer on the roster, the burden has spread. Virginia is asking a new group to step forward, and when camp opens Wednesday, three newcomers stand out as the ones carrying the most pressure.
At the top of the list is quarterback Chandler Pribula, and that’s no mystery. The quarterback spot always comes with the biggest spotlight, but Pribula arrives with even more attention than usual.
He transferred to Virginia after stops at Penn State and Missouri, and published reports pegged his NIL deal at between $1.5 million and $1.8 million. Penn State coach James Franklin, who coached him with the Nittany Lions, was openly frustrated when Pribula left and praised both his physical tools and his mental makeup.
Still, the résumé is more promise than production. Pribula never beat out Drew Allar at Penn State, and last season at Missouri he threw 11 touchdown passes against nine interceptions.
He won the spring battle over fellow transfer Eli Holstein, which gives him the job and, more importantly, his final big chance to show he can deliver at this level and catch the eye of NFL scouts. The arm, the mobility and the supporting cast are all there.
Now he has to turn that into results.
The pressure doesn’t stop at quarterback. Trell Harris is next, and his assignment is a big one. He comes to Virginia as another two-time transfer, after productive stretches in complementary roles at Notre Dame and UCLA, where he totaled 65 catches across two years with the Irish and one with the Bruins.
Now the Cavaliers need him to become the kind of featured receiver Virginia has leaned on in recent years - the role filled by Olamide Zaccheaus, Dontayvion Wicks, Keytaon Thompson, Malik Washington, Malachi Fields and Trell Harris. At 6-2 and 211 pounds, he has the size, speed and experience to do it.
He should also have help from an experienced offensive line, Pribula’s arm and a run game that can keep defenses honest. But the job gets tougher when top cornerbacks start shading his way and double-teams show up.
Then there’s safety Xavier Hillman, who brings a different kind of expectation. He has something every Cavalier wants: a championship ring. Hillman was part of Michigan’s 2024 national title team as a backup, then moved into a starting safety role last season and earned honorable mention All-Big Ten recognition.
A Virginia native, Hillman is expected to slide into the strong safety spot Devin Neal handled last season, when Neal led the Cavaliers with 88 tackles. Hillman should also be a key voice in a secondary with several newcomers in important roles, serving as the back-end organizer and the last line of defense when things break down.
In Other News...
How Tony Elliotts Virginia Teams Have Set The Tone At Scott Stadium
Tony Elliotts Virginia teams have made a habit of setting the tone early at Scott Stadium, where the Cavaliers have won three of their four season openers under the head coach. The review of those openers shows more than just clean starts in the standings. It also captures the little markers that help define a program in August and September, from freshman debuts to uniform choices to the kind of offensive rhythm Virginia has tried to establish at home.
The 2023 and 2024 openers were especially revealing, with the Cavaliers showing real pop on offense and several players reaching meaningful firsts in the process. Virginia has leaned on those home openers as a chance to announce itself before the schedule gets harder, and that pattern will matter again when the next one arrives at Scott Stadium, with the program looking to keep the early-season momentum going in a place that has already been good to Elliott. [Read more 🡒]