Seven Candidates to Fill Virginia's Offensive Line Coaching Vacancy

Who will Tony Elliott hire to replace Garett Tujague as UVA's next offensive line coach?

After seven seasons at Virginia, Garett Tujague is leaving to take the job as NC State's next offensive line coach, joining former UVA offensive coordinator Robert Anae on Dave Doeren's coaching staff in Raleigh. His departure is a significant loss for the Cavaliers, as Tujague proved to be an excellent recruiter and developer of talent, not to mention a fan-favorite and a coach beloved by his players in his time at Virginia.

Football games are won and lost in the trenches, which makes finding the right guy to fill this coaching vacancy a top priority for Tony Elliott. Here's seven candidates to replace Garett Tujague as the offensive line coach at Virginia:

Steed Lobotzke, Air Force - Offensive Line

As one of the top offensive line coaches in all of college football, Steed Lobotzke should be at the top of the list of candidates to fill any offensive coaching vacancy for a Power Five team. Throw in the fact that Lobotzke has 13 years of experience coaching in the Atlantic Coast Conference and that makes it a no-brainer for Tony Elliott to at least make the call. 

Lobotzke has coached at Air Force for eight seasons, including the last six as the offensive line coach. In each of the last five seasons, the Falcons have ranked in the top five in the nation in rushing offense. Air Force has had the top rushing offense each of the last three seasons and is the only program in the last three years to average over 300 yards rushing per game. In 2021, Lobotzke's offensive line unit was a finalist for the Joe Moore Award, presented annually to the top offensive line in college football, making Air Force the first Group of 5 program to ever have a finalist for that award. Lobotzke accomplished that feat despite having eight different starting lineups, including three different starting centers. His offensive line was a semifinalist for the Joe Moore Award again this season. 

It might be difficult to tear Lobotzke away from his alma mater, but it wouldn't be his first time making the move to the ACC, as he spent 13 years on Jim Grobe's staff at Wake Forest, including a successful 11-year run as offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. Tony Elliott clearly has a liking for coaches at service academies, as he hired a total of four coaches from Air Force, Navy, and Army to his UVA coaching staff last year. With two of Lobotzke's former Air Force colleagues on the current Virginia coaching staff in defensive coordinator John Rudzinski and defensive backs coach Curome Cox, that might be enough for Elliott to convince Lobotzke to come to Charlottesville. Given Lobotzke's impressive resume, it's certainly worth a shot. 

Ed Warinner, Florida Atlantic - Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line

This one might be a long shot, but Ed Warinner - and his 35 years of coaching experience - is someone Tony Elliott should at least consider reaching out to. Warinner's resume speaks for itself: stints at Michigan, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Michigan State, Minnesota, Army, Air Force, Illinois, Kansas, Akron and Florida Atlantic, where he has been since 2021. He won a national championship with Ohio State in 2014, produced several offensive line NFL draft picks with the Buckeyes, and was elevated to full-time offensive coordinator for the 2015 and 2016 seasons. He turned the Michigan offensive line unit from a weakness into one of the team's biggest strengths from 2018-2020, but the Wolverines' 2-4 record in 2020 resulted in a lot of coaching changes and Warinner was one of the casualties. He was then hired by Willie Taggart at FAU and then retained by Tom Herman when he was hired to replace Taggart at FAU a couple of weeks ago. 

There is the question of how willing Warriner will be to making drastic moves between programs at 61 years of age, especially having just been retained at Florida Atlantic earlier this month, but Tony Elliott can give Warriner the opportunity to coach again at the Power Five level. There's also the service academy connection, as Warriner spent 13 seasons at Army and three seasons at Air Force, but that was some 20 years ago. Having coached at big-time programs like Ohio State, Michigan, and Notre Dame, Warriner might not find the situation at Virginia appealing, but the Cavaliers won't know for sure unless they make the call. 

Daryl Agpalsa, Northern Illinois - Assistant Coach/Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line

Daryl Agpalsa has checked all of the boxes as a brilliant coach just waiting to get an opportunity to move up to the Power Five level. He began his coaching career as the offensive line coach at two Division III programs from 2003-2009 before joining the Minnesota coaching staff as a graduate assistant, working with the Golden Gophers' offensive line from 2010-2012. He went back to the D-III level, serving as the offensive line coach for a Wisconsin-Whitewater program that went undefeated and won the national championship in each of the two seasons Agpalsa was on staff. 

Agpalsa then served as the offensive line coach at Buffalo from from 2014-2018, where he coached five All-MAC performers and his teams ranked top ten in the country in fewest sacks and fewest tackles for loss allowed in 2018. He has been at Northern Illinois since 2019, coaching five more All-MAC offensive linemen. The Huskies had the fourth-best rushing offense in the country at 241.4 yards per game in 2021 and had the second-fewest sacks in all of FBS with 13 total sacks allowed in 14 games that year. Behind a powerful offensive line and a strong run game, Northern Illinois went on to win the 2021 MAC Championship. Agpalsa has yet to be given an opportunity to match that level of success at the Power Five level. Could Virginia be the program to give him that chance?

Scott Wachenheim

Scott Wachenheim is a name a lot of UVA fans have been throwing around since the news of Tujague's departure to NC State came out on Sunday due to his familiarity with the Virginia football program and experience coaching the offensive line for the Cavaliers. Wachenheim was the offensive line coach at UVA from 2011 to 2014 before taking the head coaching job at VMI for the last eight seasons. He led the Keydets to their first back-to-back winning seasons in 60 years, but then a 1-10 campaign in 2022 led to Wachenheim stepping down from his position at the end of the season, stating a need to step back and reassess, but specifically not using the term 'retirement'. 

Another coach with service academy ties, Wachenheim was a four-year starter on the offensive line at Air Force until 1983. After completing his military service, Wachenheim coached at Utah State, Rice, and Liberty before briefly making the jump to the NFL to coach tight ends for the Washington Redskins for one season in 2009. Wachenheim was then hired by Mike London at Virginia to coach tight ends in 2010, before switching to the offensive line from 2011-2014. In that period, four UVA offensive linemen went on to make NFL rosters: Morgan Moses, Luke Bowanko, Austin Pasztor, and Oday Aboushi. Wachenheim's connection to UVA and his familiarity with coaching and developing offensive linemen at Virginia makes him a strong candidate for the job, with perhaps the biggest obstacle being his readiness to step back into coaching just a few weeks after stepping down as head coach at VMI. 

Mike Goff, San Diego State - Offensive Line

A 12-year NFL veteran as an offensive lineman for the Cincinnati Bengals, San Diego Chargers, and Kansas City Chiefs, Goff has experienced arguably even more success since entering the coaching ranks in 2010. After two years as a volunteer assistant at San Diego State and one season as an assistant coach at the high school level, Goff became the offensive line coach at Southern California, a huge opportunity at a historically-great football program for the young coach. Goff helped two offensive linemen earn All-America honors and had three offensive linemen drafted to the NFL in his four seasons at USC. His Trojan offensive line was a semifinalist for the Joe Moore Award in 2016 after ranking in the top seven nationally in fewest sacks and tackles per loss allowed per game. 

Goff became the offensive line coach at Western Kentucky in 2019 and coached five All-Conference USA offensive linemen in two seasons. His offensive line was the No. 1-ranked pass-blocking unit by Pro Football Focus in 2019. Goff then took the offensive line job at San Diego State, where he has coached five total All-Mountain West selections in the last two years. At 46 years old, it's almost certain Goff will get another job at the Power Five level at some point - could it be with the Cavaliers in Charlottesville?

Mike Hallett, Toledo - Co-Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach

Hallett has been coaching since 1999, but only entered the Division I ranks for the first time in 2016 as the offensive line coach at Toledo. He coached the offensive line unit that blocked for Kareem Hunt's record-breaking 1,475-yard rushing season in 2016 and coached two All-MAC First Team offensive linemen in 2017. Hallett was promoted to co-offensive coordinator in 2020 and Toledo has consistently been one of the top offenses in the Mid-American Conference over the course of his time there. The Rockets led the MAC in scoring in each of the last two seasons and Hallett has coached several All-MAC performers, including center Bryce Harris, who was a candidate for the Rimington Trophy in 2021. 

Hallett has been at Toledo for seven years and has checked all the boxes both as a great all-around offensive coach, but especially as an adept offensive line coach. He seems ready to make the jump to the Power Five and Virginia should give him a look. 

Jay Guillermo, Virginia - Offensive Graduate Assistant

If UVA wants to promote from within, Jay Guillermo is probably the route Tony Elliott would go. A two-time All-ACC selection and team captain as a center at Clemson, Guillermo helped the Tigers win the 2016 National Championship along with Tony Elliott. He was a graduate assistant at Georgia State in 2019 working with an offensive line that had three All-Sun Belt selections that year and paved the way for an offense that averaged 245 rushing yards per game. Guillermo then became the tight ends coach at Western Carolina from 2020-2021 before coming to Virginia to serve on Tony Elliott's staff as an offensive graduate assistant. 

His coaching resume is certainly lacking in the experience department, but Guillermo does have the knowledge of what it takes to succeed at the highest level as an offensive lineman in the Atlantic Coast Conference, having earned two All-ACC selections and having played in two national title games. 

CavaliersNow will have all the latest updates as Tony Elliott looks to hire Virginia's next offensive line coach. 

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