Timing kept Virginia from adding another quarterback after Jay Woolfolk's departure

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — This close to the beginning of training camp, there wasn’t time to restock the roster.
Virginia coach Tony Elliott couldn’t replace the depth the Cavaliers lost at their quarterback spot following Jay Woolfolk’s choice two weeks ago to leave the football program in order to concentrate on his baseball.
“It’s tough because there’s not guys out there that you can go and bring into the program that will replace the competition you lost with Jay departing,” Elliott said Wednesday at ACC Kickoff, “and the experience he had this late in the game.
“And we didn’t want to go out and just add somebody to the roster,” Elliott continued, “especially, with the chemistry and progress we’ve made from a cultural standpoint. Didn’t want to put a young man in that situation. Plus, there weren’t many options.”
2023 ACC Kickoff
Virginia head coach Tony Elliott speaks at the 2023 ACC Kickoff in Charlotte, N.C., on Wednesday.
Nell Redmond, ACC
Elliott said even though he knew Woolfolk — the hard-throwing right-handed pitcher who pitched with USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team earlier this month — had a pro future on the mound, he didn’t anticipate the timing of Woolfolk’s decision.
Woolfolk was expected to battle with Monmouth transfer Tony Muskett for the Hoos’ starting quarterback role in August.
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“Every week or so, he’d text and say, ‘Hey Coach, you got a second to talk?’” Elliott explained. “And we’d chat and I was thinking that when I got this text, it’d be, ‘Hey, Coach, I’m about to be done with my time with Team USA and I’m getting excited to come back.’ But it was one of those things where it was, ‘I discussed it with my family and we feel like the best decision is for me to focus on baseball,’ and I completely respect it.”
So, the Cavaliers will move forward with Muskett, who Elliott said he didn’t need to have a conversation with after Woolfolk’s decision was known. Elliott said he, “didn’t need to make it bigger than it is.”
Muskett said he has always prepped himself like he’d be the starter anyway, and doesn’t believe the loss of Woolfolk will hinder the depth of the quarterbacks.
Virginia quarterback Tony Muskett discusses the Cavaliers' quarterback situation after Jay Woolfolk's departure.
Also on the roster are fifth-year senior Jared Rayman, sophomores Delaney Crawford and Grady Brosterhous and freshman Anthony Colandrea.
Running back Perris Jones said he believes Colandrea could handle the backup job if he wins it. Colandrea impressed as an early enrollee freshman in spring practice this past March and April.
“I do. I’m very confident he can come in and do well with no fall off,” Jones said.
Said Muskett: “They can all play the position at a high level and [quarterbacks coach Taylor] Lamb is so good at making sure we prepare as if each of us were the starter, so if push comes to shove, I feel like we can put anybody out there and they’d be able to play at a high level. I’m not too worried about it.”
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