Will Bettridge, Ted Lasso and the embodiment of a Virginia football player

Will Bettridge is about to become Virginia’s all-time leading scorer.

He is like a goldfish, according to former Virginia kicker Matt Ganyard.

“I think about what makes a great kicker,” Ganyard said in an interview with UVA On SI. “And then looking at Will, he absolutely embodies it. Thinking back to the Ted Lasso quote of ‘be a goldfish.’”

“Be a goldfish” means to have a short memory. When an athlete makes a mistake, beloved fictional soccer coach Ted Lasso instructs them to forget and turn their focus toward the next play. Ganyard said that one of Bettridge’s talents is to forget his missed field goals, and turn around to focus on the next attempt with the utmost confidence.

But while Bettridge is exceptional at purposeful forgetting, he is even more skilled at remembering. It is important for Bettridge to remember.

It all started back in 2022.

Bettridge missed his one field goal attempt of the game, from 43 yards out. He did make an extra point later on, but the result of that contest was a 37-7 blowout loss against Pitt at home Nov. 12, 2022. He did not get a chance to end his freshman season on a high note.

One day later, everything changed for the University of Virginia.

The Nov. 13, 2022 shooting took the lives of Lavel Davis Jr., Devin Chandler and D’Sean Perry. Bettridge and Perry were teammates at Gulliver Prep in Miami, and in a youth football league before joining Virginia. They were close. They were like brothers.

Bettridge, as a teenager, spoke to the University community days later at the memorial service. He was the only freshman of the student-athletes who spoke. He spoke to Perry.

“Your presence was felt each and every day I was able to share it with you,” Bettridge said. “You were the first one to be there with me after a make or a miss. Your outlook on life never changed. I strive to be like you in many ways, your work ethic, your compassion, your mindset, your loyalty. The world would be a better place with more people like you, D'Sean."

Ganyard and others took notice.

“I could tell, even before we were teammates, what kind of young man he is, what kind of leader he is,” Ganyard said. “When you think back to him speaking at the memorial service in JPJ, again, 19-year-old guy, just lost one of his closest friends on the team, speaking in front of your school, that would be a tough job for any adult, anybody who's been through a lot, and for him to go up and do that to speak what he spoke about what D’Sean meant to him, and articulate that in front of that crowd in that moment, I think, says volumes about who he is as a person.”

To honor D’Sean, Bettridge changed his number from No. 17 to Perry’s No. 41, which the kicker has worn since 2023. Coach Tony Elliott was the one who asked Bettridge if he wanted to do it. He then received the blessing to wear the number from D’Sean’s parents.

Every player who now dons No. 1, 15 or 41 also wears a jersey patch to honor Lavel, Devin or D’Sean. Bettridge has carried D’Sean with him since the 2023 season. Bettridge is the only Cavalier to wear No. 1, 15 or 41 for four straight seasons at Virginia since 2023.

Bettridge, wearing D’Sean’s No. 41, has become one of the highest scoring Cavaliers in program history. He is primed to become the all-time scoring leader.

Longevity is a big reason why. Bettridge has seen action since 2022, but he truly burst onto the scene in 2023.

2023 was also when a 34-year-old Ganyard joined the team. He applied for an eligibility waiver, which was accepted just before fall camp. Ganyard and Bettridge became competition. But according to Ganyard, Bettridge was not curt. Instead, he was the first Cavalier to reach out to Ganyard.

“I think it says a lot about him as a person, his character,” Ganyard said. “Will is not your average guy, he's going to not only rise above, but be the one to stick out that hand and say, ‘hey, welcome aboard, looking forward to it,’ and that's really resonating…Him being the first one to reach out to me certainly says a lot in my mind, and so that that kind of thing just set the foundation for his character as a person and as a teammate.”

Ganyard and Bettridge co-existed at a position where rotating players is not ultra-common. Ganyard became the kickoff specialist while Bettridge handled the field goals. It worked well for both parties. They still keep in touch.

“I was 19 years old at that time, and I didn't really know much,” Bettridge said in an interview with UVA On SI. “[Ganyard] came in, and he really put it into real life, how grateful you have to be to be in this position, and then how much you have to understand that kicking in college and playing college football is only a small part of your life, and you're much bigger than that, and obviously he had a very different experience in his life than everyone else has had but I was very grateful to have him kind of in my ear and in my corner just as I grew as a man but also a player.”

Bettridge played in all 12 games in 2023. He made all 31 of his extra point attempts in his sophomore season, plus 85.7 percent of his field goal attempts, which ranked 16th nationally. He hit the same 85.7 mark in 2024. He also nailed every extra point try.

But something was still missing. Bettridge was performing as one of the ACC’s better kickers, but Virginia had yet to find success as a team — that is, until 2025.

The crucial moment came in a back-and-forth battle for the ages. Virginia found itself trailing 38-35 against No. 8 Florida State in overtime. Elliott called upon Bettridge to nail a 39-yard attempt and extend the game to a second overtime period.

He drilled it. The Cavaliers went on to win 46-38 in double overtime, and eventually authored the winningest season in program history.

2025 was a difficult season for Bettridge, though. He missed the same amount of field goals as his 2023 and 2024 seasons combined. Some of those misses were in big games, such as the ACC Championship or TaxSlayer Gator Bowl. However, Bettridge is exceptional at flushing out previous results — an Elliott mantra — and being a goldfish. Bettridge told UVA On SI he has to work that way. Ganyard concurred.

“Will is going to go out and he is going to compete,” Ganyard said. “He is going to put in the time, putting the effort on the practice field. He's going to get mad he misses the kick. That's what makes him great. But he's got a short memory, because he's going to come back and drill the next one.”

Even though Bettridge missed a kick in the Gator Bowl, he hit two other field goals in a game that Virginia won by six points. He also added an extra point, so he scored seven points in the 13-7 Cavaliers victory.

“[You can’t let] a kick hurt you twice,” Bettridge said. “Have the next kick mentality, whether you make or miss, you got to move on.”

Bettridge has spent years in Elliott’s program, and that comes out when he speaks. Bettridge echoes the coach’s concepts, as a locker room leader.

Now, just 16 points away from becoming Virginia’s all-time leading scorer, Bettridge returns for a graduate season in 2026. He should earn that record sooner rather than later. When Bettridge does, he will do it having spent all five seasons with Elliott’s program, he will do it donning Perry’s number and he will do it representing his family and his team.

“You'll rarely see a kicker be the face of a franchise or the face of a team,” Ganyard said. “If I could think of one kicker in the country who I'd want to be the face of my team in the kicker role, it's Will, hands down. The humility, the drive day-in, day-out, the everything off the field that most will never see.”

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