Virginia football is spending more than it used to, but Tony Elliott still isn’t building his roster around the biggest paycheck.
That was the message Monday at Elliott’s preseason press conference, where the Cavaliers’ coach made it clear that talent and NIL dollars matter - just not as much as whether a player actually fits what Virginia is trying to do.
One of the reasons Virginia surged to an 11-3 season in 2025 was the added financial backing from alumni and boosters, which helped Elliott bring veteran transfers to Charlottesville. The program is still investing, but the Cavaliers aren’t trying to win a bidding war with the sport’s biggest spenders.
According to The Sideline, Virginia ranks 60th nationally in total athlete payments at $24.6 million, with $13.5 million of that going to football. That places the Cavaliers well behind Texas, which leads the country at an estimated $65.4 million in athlete payroll, including $45.9 million for football. Miami, last season’s national runner-up, is third at $56.4 million, with $37.9 million earmarked for football.
Even within the ACC, Virginia sits 13th among the league’s 17 schools in expected total athlete payment this academic year. And yet the Cavaliers won the ACC regular-season football title last season and finished fifth in the 2025-26 Learfield Directors Cup all-sports standings.
For Elliott, that gap in spending only reinforces the need to be selective.
"I learned early on it's all about fit," Elliott said Monday at a preseason press conference. "And so there were guys that I wouldn't recruit, even though they were great players, because I knew they wouldn't fit. And that's what I've asked the staff to do is to find the guys that fit."
He said Virginia wants top-end ability, but not at the expense of the locker room.
"Now, do we want the most talented guys? Absolutely.
But it's no good to have a guy that's super talented that doesn't fit into your culture because then now that could beat you every single day. So I think for us, the margins is finding guys that want to be at Virginia that are looking for this type of environment."
Elliott also said the school’s academic expectations remain part of the package, even as college football keeps drifting toward a more professional model.
"We're still serious about school and academics and education here," Elliott said. "And that starts at the top.
And I wholeheartedly believe in education. And so you're going to go to class.
And my number one desire for you is for you to earn your degree from the University of Virginia."
He added that the program’s standards extend beyond the classroom.
"So that's part of the fit. And then, man, we're going to coach you hard, right?
We're not going to be demeaning or disrespectful, but we're going to coach you hard. We're going to expect your best, and we're going to expect you to stay out of trouble, right?
We're going to expect you to do things the right way. ... We want to be the model program.
So that's what the scou ng staff and the coaches have done a really good job is finding those guys that are really good players, but they're also fit."
Virginia’s top NIL earner is quarterback Beau Pribula at $1.5 million, according to The Sideline. Defensive end Fisher Camac follows at $1.07 million, then offensive linemen McKale Boley at $1.05 million and Monroe Mills at $850,000.
Miami, by contrast, has five players making at least as much as Pribula, led by quarterback Darian Mensah at $6.5 million.
Elliott acknowledged Virginia probably won’t match the Hurricanes or other perennial contenders dollar for dollar. So the Cavaliers are leaning on chemistry, development and the kind of players who actually want what Virginia is offering.
"It's not fair to a young man to bring him into an environment that you know he's not looking for this ... all he wants is football," Elliott said. "And if that's the case, it's going to be hard here because of everything else we ask you to do."
"Do I want the players to get compensated? Do I support that?
Absolutely, but it's still college football. They're 18 to 22.
They need more development than just the game of football. And that's really the fit for us.
And I believe the staff has done a good job of finding those guys."
"And there's been many guys I'm like, man, I'd love to have him, right? But it's probably not going to bode well for either one. And I don't want to do that to a young man, bring him into an environment he's not, doesn't fully understand what he's ge ng into, and it's not what he's looking for."
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