Virginia is rediscovering the key to its offense

Last season, Virginia’s offense performed in two distinct phases. When tight ends Sage Ennis and Dakota Twitty were healthy, the Cavaliers scored 30-plus points in each of their first six games. But when Twitty went down with a season-ending injury, Virginia scored 30 points twice in its final eight games.

Twitty's injury reaffirmed the fact that the key to this offense lies in atypical sets. Usually, an offense deploys three wide receivers, one tight end and one running back. This is called 11 personnel — the most common alignment. Virginia will use 11 personnel, but finds more success when mixing up which players are on the field.

The code for packages starts with the number of running backs, then the number of tight ends. The number of receivers is omitted, because mathematically, personnel must add up to five (overall, there are 11 players on offense, and there must be five linemen and one quarterback).

The package with one running back plus Twitty and Ennis is called 12 personnel. Offensive coordinator Des Kitchings found tremendous success in 2025 when he had his top two tight ends on the field.

“You look at the tight end room, and as we say, do they become the core of the offense?” Kitchings said Wednesday. “Nobody wants to work on their core. They got to be the glue that kind of holds this thing together, our tight end room. That was evident last year when we lost Dak, and kind of how that impacts some of the things, and we feel like we have some good depth there in that room.”

The use of 12 personnel can lead to a stronger run game than 11 personnel, because a tight end is usually a better blocker than a receiver. The real power, though, lies in the 12 personnel passing game. Virginia can fake a run, then roll to pass and have more open targets — called play action. Opponents are kept on their heels, unsure of whether to backpedal or attack.

Kitchings described the benefits of extra-tight end sets at fall camp.

“[Multiple tight end sets] tend to be heavy run sets, and we had some success last year with running the football,” Kitchings said. “So a couple of those play actions out of those sets benefited Sage, and it all ties together, right? If we're able to run the football, then a lot of times it can create for tight ends to have the ability to find some space.”

For Ennis, the 12 personnel play action game was highly beneficial. Ennis was primarily a blocking tight end — but he ended up tying for the team lead with five receiving touchdowns. Ennis, a core part of Kitchings’ offense, exhausted eligibility this offseason.

In his place, the Cavaliers have been experimenting with alternative sets. Virginia could roll out 22 personnel, or possibly 23 or 13 personnel.

“They're evolving, and what we've been doing is trying to really evaluate all of our personnel,” Kitchings said. “So whether we're in three receiver sets, two tight ends, three tight ends and just seeing kind of how it comes together, who's being the most consistent and making plays for us consistently, right? Limiting missed assignments, right? So it's fun in that right. We got some pieces to play with and are trying to just figure out exactly what's the best way for us to move to football.”

Experimenting with different sets can also help injury-proof Virginia’s offense. Kitchings and staff realized that losing Twitty last year was far too detrimental — so having different approaches to lineups can be highly valuable.

“We may have a guy out this day, right?” Kitchings said. “Well, can somebody go in there and fill the void to help us get ourselves through practices? And then you try to see what guys can do skill-wise. You know, whether it's you know two tight ends, two backs or three receivers. We're gonna play with five O-Linemen and a quarterback. So that makes up six, right? Where are the other guys going to come from? So, and like I said, [there is] this new climate kind of per se of college football, and we built the roster.”

Virginia has experimented with special packages before — most notably in short-yardage situations. The Cavaliers have used the quarterback sneak (Grady Bunch) and the direct snap to the running back (J’Mari Taylor package). Kitchings said that the Cavaliers have been working on exotic plays. Perhaps some new ones will emerge.

The heart of this offense will be the run game. Virginia is overloaded with talent in its running back stable. The key to everything, however, lies in the personnel Kitchings and the Cavaliers can use to benefit both the run and the pass.

“We feel like we got some variety of pieces to kind of put together. So, that's the exciting part about it,” Kitchings said.

Add us as a preferred source on Google