Virginia Head Coach Tony Elliott calls loss of opening trip to Brazil 'bittersweet'

Tony Elliott always talks about a holistic approach to making his University of Virginia athletes into better men as well as improved football players. So while Elliott, the coach, is happy to be hosting N.C. State on Aug. 29, part of him laments a lost opportunity.

The season opener was originally scheduled to be played in Brazil. But logistical challenges forced officials from the schools and the Atlantic Coast Conference to abandon the plan and move the game to Charlottesville.

"It's bittersweet, right?" Elliott said Wednesday at the annual ACC Kickoff preseason media event. "Now that we were kind of on the back end of the logistical nightmares and things associated with it, I was getting excited to think about how many guys may never travel outside the country again. ... This might be their one chance to experience something like that."

Why did the opener move?

Tony Elliott Virginia Cavalier — Jul 15, 2026; Charlotte, NC, USA; Virginia head coach Tony Elliott speaks to the media during ACC Media Days at Hilton Charlotte Uptown. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Earlier on Wednesday, ACC commissioner Jim Phillips revealed that the league began to doubt that Rio de Janeiro would be able to serve as an adequate host for the season opener. The final decision came in early June.

"The Brazil game was something that Virginia and N.C. State kind of came together on, and we started to talk about that opportunity," Phillips said. "You need to have a sponsor. There has to be some support in another country to be able to pull this game together.

Things seemed to be going along well over the course of the last seven or eight months. But very truthfully, I think it was in May, there was some serious doubt about whether the city and the area involved, the managing area involved, would be able to pull this game off."

In recent years, the ACC has made a point of exporting its game to other countries. On the same date the Cavaliers face the Wolfpack, North Carolina is scheduled to face TCU in Dublin, Ireland. Pittsburgh and Wisconsin will play there next year.

But concerns over financial support, field conditions and security forced what Phillips called "an educated decision." The league successfully petitioned ESPN to keep the game on Aug. 29 -- the season's so-called "Week Zero" -- and give it an advantageous 3:30 p.m. time slot.

There weren't too many protests -- even from the Wolfpack, who now have to play a true road game.

"Our crowd is antsy and excited that we're playing in Virginia instead of Brazil because they get to be a part of it now and go tailgate," N.C. State coach Dave Doeren said.

Like his coach, Virginia offensive tackle McKale Boley had what he called "mixed feelings" about the site change.

"It would have been a fun experience to play there," he said. "But with all the logistics ... They wanted us to get all these shots -- yellow fever, typhoid -- and then the travel and being there, they couldn't guarantee security. But I'm not going to complain about another game at Scott Stadium."

Neither is his coach.

"The flip side," Elliott said, "is we get a seventh game at Scott Stadium and a chance for our fans to experience the improvement we've made as a team."

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