Des Kitchings: "Balanced" Virginia Offense a Key in 2022
In the first week of January, Des Kitchings was in the final week of his first season as the running backs coach of the Atlanta Falcons, fulfilling a lifelong dream to serve as a coach in the National Football League. In his own words, "there's very few, if any, people that I would have left the NFL to come back to college to work with and one of those guys is Tony Elliott."
Elliott and Kitchings first crossed paths in 2008, when Elliott was hired to replace Kitchings on the Furman coaching staff after Kitchings took a job at Vanderbilt. Elliott and Kitchings kept in touch and competed against one another in the ACC when Elliott was at Clemson and Kitchings was at NC State (2012-2019), but the two had always said they would eventually work together if one of them ever became a head coach.
Sure enough, shortly after Tony Elliott was hired as Virginia's head football coach, Elliott gave Des Kitchings a call and he became UVA's next offensive coordinator.
In 2021, Virginia was ranked third in the nation in total offense at 515.8 yards per game and had the second-best passing offense in the country at 392.6 yards per game.
With one of the nation's best quarterbacks in Brennan Armstrong and most of his top receiving weapons returning next season, there is a unique opportunity, but also a unique challenge for Des Kitchings in his first season as UVA's offensive coordinator.
In his first media availability session on Wednesday, Kitchings indicated that executing a balanced offense was a point of emphasis for Virginia in 2022.
"We're not saying we're going to be 50% run, 50% pass, but we'll be balanced enough that if the game requires us to win the game running the football, that we're capable of doing that," Kitchings said on Wednesday. "And obviously, if we have to win the game throwing the ball more so, that we're still capable of doing that as well."
Virginia's passing offense was incredible in 2021 and there is no denying it. And, as the saying goes, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," right? However, UVA's reliance on the passing game ended up being a detriment late in the season, as the Cavaliers closed on a four-game losing streak. Virginia's run game was virtually non-existent (105th in the nation) last season and it proved to be a major issue when Brennan Armstrong went down with a rib injury and the Hoos were stuck with no alternative options for moving the ball down the field against Notre Dame.
There were more than a few times in 2021 when it would have been advantageous for Virginia to have a reliable run game. Running the football results in longer possessions, which gives the defense a rest (important) and keeps the opposing team's offense off the field (even more important). Running the ball also helps kill the clock if you have a lead and helps Brennan Armstrong and the passing game by making opposing defenses respect the run, rather than strictly defending the pass.
That being said, Des Kitchings also made it clear on Wednesday that he recognizes what Armstrong accomplished last season and wants to do all that is possible to maximize Armstrong's extraordinary talent in 2022.
"When we look back at it like Virginia last year and then the years past, they've done a really really good job of throwing the football and obviously, Brennan has been a big part of that," Kitchings said. "So, our job as coaches is try to mesh some of the things that Brennan has had success with... with what terminology was and try to restrict his learning curve offensively. So, a lot of conversations go through a past concept like, 'hey, what do you call this?' so it can match. So again, trying to limit his learning curve so that he can be the best player he can possibly be running the offense for us."
Many questions remain about what the Virginia offense will look like in 2022 from both a play-calling perspective as well as in terms of personnel, as the Cavaliers return a great deal of their skill position weapons, but cannot say the same about their offensive line, which saw all six of its rotation offensive linemen leave the program through graduation or the transfer portal. Offensive line coach Garett Tujague, retained from Bronco Mendenhall's staff, has done a remarkable job in reconstructing the offensive line by adding six offensive line commitments from the class of 2022 as well as two graduate transfer offensive linemen through the transfer portal.
The pieces are starting to come together for the 2022 season and we will get our first look at Virginia football in the Tony Elliott era at the UVA Football Spring Game on April 23rd at Scott Stadium.
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