Virginia Cavaliers' Special Teams Welcomes Back Punter Daniel Sparks

The Virginia Cavaliers are slowly starting to heat up in the transfer portal, and at the same time, they've been able to retain quite a few players. While they've faced a substantial amount of loss offensively and defensively, not all hope is lost for UVA.

Two of their latest players to find their way back to the Cavaliers were place kicker Will Bettridge and, now, punter Daniel Sparks. Progress is being made this offseason — it's quite a bit slower than some of the other college football program, but Elliott is finally starting to gain traction in preparation for his upcoming campaign.

Virginia Welcomes Back Sparks

A football player in a white uniform kicking a brown football during a game — Nov 9, 2023; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Louisville Cardinals defensive back D'Angelo Hutchinson (21) blocks the punt of Virginia Cavaliers punter Daniel Sparks (38) during the first half at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images | Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

As announced today, senior Daniel Sparks is making his return to Virginia. Once his 2025 campaign wrapped up, he logged 37 punts, averaging 47.2 yards per punt. Although he wasn't a spotlight player, bringing any experienced player back to Scott Stadium is ideal. He knows the culture, he already has a strong relationship built with Elliott and he has already proven himself to b a reliable player.

Hoos Back.

After setting a program record 47.2 yards per punt last year, @Dsparks115 is finishing his career as a Hoo#GoHoos 🔶⚔️🔷 pic.twitter.com/FHtPoBADgq
— Virginia Football (@UVAFootball) January 11, 2026

"One is he's shown the ability to perform, and I think he's performing at an extremely high level right now, considering what we're asking him to do, doing double duty. He's just been present, great attitude of practice every single day, he challenges all those specialists. That's a different world. You know, when you're in that specialist world, that's kind of those forgotten toys at times, right?

Because their practice schedule is even different than our practice schedule, because they go out early to warm up, because they got to kick generally in the first part of practice. And then they don't kick again until sometimes at the end, but most times at the end (or) until the next day and so and then their world is very very finicky I'm not gonna sit here and say I'm an expert on the kicking where I understand the kicking game in special teams but to go out there and tell the kicker the angle and all that's why I rely on Drew (Meyer) and those specialists and then they also go attend different workshops in the summer to gain more experience and knowledge But he's just been present every day. He's had a great attitude. He works extremely hard. He performs, and he's earned the respect of not just the guys in the specialist room, but everybody on the team."

Elliott must continue to navigate the transfer portal and attempt to retain players if he wants to bring UVA back to the playoffs next season.

More Virginia Football News:

•Former Missouri Starting QB Beau Pribula Will Reportedly Visit Virginia

•A Deeper Look At Virginia’s Newest Transfer EDGE Devon Baxter

•Virginia Lands A Commitment From Michigan Transfer EDGE Devon Baxter

•North Carolina Transfer Tight End Expected To Land With Virginia Football