One unsung Virginia football assistant coach is quietly changing the program

Tony Elliott has put together a top-notch coaching staff, but one of his most impactful assistants has been flying under the radar

Coach Keith Gaither, at practice. | UVA Athletics

Ever since Tony Elliott brought Special Teams/RB Coach Keith Gaither to Virginia as part of his inaugural staff in 2022, he's been an integral part of fixing the Cavaliers' offense. His ability to mold and develop guys like Mike Hollins, Xavier Brown and J'Mari Taylor has been crucial in turning the program around over the past few seasons.

Though J'Mari Taylor was the first running back to really pop off individually during his tenure, Coach Gaither has been able to get pretty decent overall production out of his backfields despite not having a good offensive line until 2025.

Coach Gaither has helped in more than one area

The way Gaither has been able to help the team acquire talented running backs via the transfer portal, like Kobe Pace, Harrison Waylee and Taylor, has gone a long way in UVA's success between the "20's" and in short-yardage situations.

As we all know, the run game and passing game are directly correlated to each other, and if one suffers, the other usually does as well. The ground game needs to be successful in order to open up the passing game, and vice versa. This is an area that's been noticeably different since 2024, as things have looked a lot smoother in both phases of the game. Specifically in 2025 with Chandler Morris and J'Mari Taylor, the offense was consistently able to convert on third downs, allowing the team to move up and down the field like a well-oiled machine.

When UVA was dominating on the ground, it opened up the passing game by giving the pass-catchers a numbers advantage downfield as oppponents began to stack the box. When defenders played loose and started to backpedal at the snap, then J'Mari Taylor and the team's dominant offensive line began to take the game over.

As a position coach, watching Keith Gaither be able to adapt and tailor his position group to the multiplicity of OC Des Kitchings' offensive scheme has been incredibly impressive over the past few seasons. Gaither definitely doesn't get enough credit for what he does every year, not only for the offense, but for the special teams as well.

It goes without saying that Virginia has had some incredibly reliable special teams units as of late, and that's mostly because of the way Keith Gaither has coached players like Will Bettridge, Daniel Sparks, and various players on the kick coverage/return units.

It's completely fair to give Tony Elliott and Des Kitchings a ton of credit for revamping the offense, but Keith Gaither has played a much larger role in Charlottesville than most people think.