Loyalty Runs Deep for Groh

Two hours was all it took for New York Jet Coach Al Groh to dazzle a contingent of Virginia officials, bringing his alma mater’s nearly three-week search for a coach to a startling conclusion.

Groh “articulated all that you could want him to” about football, academics, recruiting and Virginia during his interview, Athletic Director Terry Holland said. “He always had the right answers.”

Holland said he first spoke to Groh about the job within a week of George Welsh’s retirement announcement Dec. 11.

Groh accepted the job, agreeing to return to the school where he played defensive end until he graduated in 1967. His son, Mike, was a Virginia quarterback in 1994 and ’95.

Groh received a seven-year contract that will pay him $765,000 in the first year and more than $5 million over the life of the deal, Holland said. Mike Groh is also expected to be a member of the coaching staff.

“The University of Virginia is my school,” Groh said. “I wore that jersey and it means a great deal to me. My mom lives there and my dad is buried there.”

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Georgia running back Jasper Sanks, a junior who rushed for 352 yards, was arrested and charged with drug possession in his hometown of Columbus, Ga.

Sanks, who lost his starting job to freshman Musa Smith, is one of seven men charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana, according to a report in the Atlanta Journal Constitution. The men were arrested at a Columbus hotel and Sanks was released on $321.25 bond and court costs.

Sanks told the Athens Daily News/Banner Herald that he does not plan to hire an attorney.

“There is nothing to follow through,” Sanks said. “It was no big deal. It was just being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“It wasn’t like nothing was on me.”