Report: Dino Babers, Syracuse zeroing in on a pair of UVA assistant coaches

Dino Babers and the Syracuse Orange are apparently locking in on two Virginia football assistants, according to Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports. Syracuse is targeting former Virginia offensive coordinator Robert Anae and their current quarterbacks coach, Jason Beck.

According to Thamel, Syracuse wants Anae as their offensive coordinator and they want Beck as their quarterbacks coach.

Anae recently left Virginia and will not coach in their bowl game, the Wasabi Bowl vs. SMU. Jason Beck will assume the offensive play-calling duties for the Cavaliers in their upcoming bowl game. Both coaches have been in the spotlight after they guided quarterback Brennan Armstrong and the Virginia offense to historic numbers in 2021.

Armstrong shattered records this season for the Cavaliers, throwing for 4,444 passing yards, while tossing in 31 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions.

He became UVA’s single-season passing yardage leader against BYU, after he eclipsed Bryce Perkins’ mark of 3,538 passing yards. In that game, Armstrong reached 3,557 passing yards for the season. That’s not the only record he broke at UVA this year, as he threw for a school-record 554 passing yards against UNC in their 59-39 loss.

In Armstrong’s recent meeting with Virginia’s new head coach, Tony Elliott, he specifically requested that Elliott retain Beck as the quarterbacks coach for his new staff.

Whether he will or not, remains to be seen. Beck has produced elite results with the many different quarterbacks he’s coached during his tenure at Virginia. If the Cavaliers can keep him, it’d be an incredibly wise move.

Head coaching changes at UVA

Former Virginia head coach Bronco Mendenhall recently decided to announce he was stepping down at Virginia, after going 1-5 against their rival, Virginia Tech, during his six seasons there. He will coach the team in the upcoming bowl game, his final game with the team.

While many people were surprised by the move, it wasn’t surprising to many who have followed Mendenhall over the years and his extreme loyalty to the members of his coaching staff.

Plenty of UVA fans were unhappy with Mendenhall and especially his offensive coordinator, Robert Anae, after their recent 29-24 loss to a mediocre Virginia Tech team. The team’s defensive coordinator, Nick Howell, was also under fire after fielding one of the nation’s worst defenses in 2021. The Cavaliers allowed 31.8 points per game this year, ranking them 102nd out of 130 qualifying teams.

Virginia Tech game in 2021

Late in the game, when it was third and nine from the Virginia Tech nine yard line, Anae decided to call a pass behind the line of scrimmage from Brennan Armstrong to his left tackle, Bobby Haskins. It was one of the most inexplicable playcalls of Anae’s tumultuous tenure at Virginia.

Virginia Tech sniffed the play out and it never had a chance. It wasn’t even close. Virginia lost the game in excruciating fashion at home. Their fans looked on as Virginia Tech players and fans stormed the field at Scott Stadium.

The failed playcall was likely a big reason why he decided to leave Virginia early before the bowl game, as many fans were desiring a shakeup of the coaching staff.

Robert Anae finished his time at Virginia as an offensive coordinator who called some of the most brilliantly called games in UVA football history (2018 Belk Bowl vs. South Carolina, at UNC–2019). The quarterbacks in his system at Virginia often thrived and put up historic numbers for a few seasons.

However, he inexplicably tightened up in the highly pressurized moments of the Virginia Tech game over the years, when it mattered the most to the Virginia fan base.

Beck is the brother of former BYU great, quarterback John Beck. Virginia fans will definitely be monitoring the upcoming news around their quarterbacks coach very closely. It’ll be interesting to see what he decides to do.