Three early standouts from Virginia fall camp

Virginia football fall camp is well underway — and players are battling to earn limited starting spots and climb the depth chart ahead of the Aug. 29 season opener.

Coach Tony Elliott and offensive coordinator Des Kitchings have praised their 2026 Cavaliers in response to questions from the media. Here are three early standouts from fall camp.

DB Omillio Agard

"What stands out to me about Omillio is, man, he can flip that switch,” Elliott said.

Elliott elaborated, saying that Agard is a pleasant presence — on the field, though, he becomes an in-your-face defensive back.

“He's as pleasant a young man as you're going to meet. Very respectful, very humble. When he walks across those white lines, he flips a switch and he becomes what you want in a defensive back. And I saw quickly the suddenness and the burst.”

Agard was talking trash to quarterback Beau Pribula after the defense made a play during camp. But in the film room a familiar theme emerged — the mental game is just as important (if not more important) than the physical.

Elliott was pleased to see Agard participating with enthusiasm.

“He's a student of the game,” Elliott said. So when I'm in here asking questions about situational football, he sits about second row, two seats in, and he's answering the questions. He's got a ton of ability. He's a good teammate. He's a competitor.”

WR Jacquon Gibson

Gibson has impressed Virginia’s coaches in the slot. Gibson continues to earn reps, and he might be close to potentially earning the starting role at the slot receiver position.

“I tell you what I like about and appreciate with Jacquon — obviously his experience, but you can tell he's a football mind,” Kitchings said. “He loves football.”

Kitchings compared Gibson’s personality traits, work habits and positivity to Malik Washington and Cam Ross. He did provide the caveat of the comparison being unrelated to production, but those are hefty comparisons regardless. Washington and Ross were both one-year transfer acquisitions with a knack for piling up receptions.

That does not sound all too different from Gibson, who averaged 6.3 catches per game (12th in FBS).

“I just think his DNA of him and his competitive spirit that he's going to do some good things for us this fall,” Kitchings said.

Kitchings also said that Gibson “has flash.” Gibson has certainly stood out thus far, and he may play a much bigger role for Virginia than some originally anticipated. He has the physical talent and proven production to do so.

Deep ball 🏈@Grant_Jordan3 👉 @humblequann for 50 yards#Flagship 🚩 pic.twitter.com/UlYUN52887
— UMass Football (@UMassFootball) September 6, 2025

TE Dakota Twitty

Kitchings said that Twitty has grown from last year — specifically on the mental side of the game.

“My challenge to him this offseason was to grow mentally, understanding defensive structures, right?” Kitchings said. “Alignment, secondary rotation, linebacker alignment so that, pre-snap, we're getting a picture to play faster postsnap and he's showing that. He's talking football, he's asking questions in the meeting that he probably wouldn't have asked last year or the year before."

Once a four-star wide receiver recruit (ESPN, 247Sports) Twitty has played in 24 games as a tight end for Virginia. He was on the first Elliott team back in 2022, and later learned from longtime veteran Sage Ennis. According to Kitchings, Twitty has taken what he learned from Ennis and channeled it into a leadership role.

"Sage was a very strong personality too,” Kitchings said. “So I think [Twitty] absorbed and took some things from that. And he has grown within this team throughout the summer of feeling his leadership abilities to come out. He's a guy that has been here when it was not good, at the start.”

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