Reports: Tony Elliott Makes Three More Hires to UVA Football Coaching Staff

Navy defensive ends coach Kevin Downing, Army wide receivers coach Keith Gaither, and former UVA football player Chris Slade will reportedly be joining Elliott's coaching staff

Matt Newton | Jan 3, 2022

Photo courtesy of Virginia Athletics Communications

Just a couple hours after the news broke that Atlanta Falcons running backs coach Des Kitchings had been hired as the offensive coordinator for the Virginia football team, it seems that Tony Elliott has secured three more hirings for his UVA football coaching staff. Yahoo Sports' Pete Thamel reported on Monday afternoon that Navy defensive ends coach Kevin Downing, Army wide receivers coach Keith Gaither, and former UVA football and NFL star Chris Slade will be joining Elliott's staff at Virginia.

Sources: Virginia expected to add three members to Tony Elliott’s on-field coaching staff – Navy DL coach Kevin Downing, Army WR coach Keith Gaither and former UVA star and NFL first-round pick Chris Slade, who is an accomplished HS coach in Atlanta area.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 3, 2022

Chris Slade played linebacker for head coach George Welsh at Virginia from 1989 to 1992. Slade was a consensus first-team All-American in 1991 and 1992 and his 40 career sacks remain an ACC record. Slade was selected in the second round of the 1993 NFL Draft and played nine seasons in the NFL - eight with the Patriots and one with the Panthers. He was a Pro Bowl and All-Pro selection in 1997. While he has not held a coaching position at the college football or NFL level, Slade coached high school football at the Pace Academy in Atlanta and led the Knights to their first state title in 2015. After nine seasons and a 59-42 overall record, Slade resigned on December 7th, 2021.

Chris Slade Virginia Cavaliers football — Chris Slade (UVA football, 1991) / Photo courtesy of USA TODAY Sports

Kevin Downing has been the defensive ends and "raiders" coach at Navy for the past three seasons. In 2019, the Navy defense was ranked in the top 20 nationally in third down defense, rushing defense, and total defense, allowing the Midshipmen to win a school-record tying 11 games. Before arriving in Annapolis, Downing was the defensive ends coach at Kennesaw State for four seasons and also spent four seasons on the defensive coaching staffs at both Elon and Winston-Salem State.

Keith Gaither has been a football coach since 1997 and has had several coaching stints, primarily as a wide receivers coach, at Winston-Salem State, Elon, Ball State, Army, East Carolina, Western Michigan, and then Army again for the past two seasons. Gaither was the wide receivers coach for the Black Knights in 2015 and 2016 and then returned to West Point to be Army's assistant coach and wide receivers coach in 2020 and 2021.

The specific roles these coaches will be filling on Tony Elliott's Virginia football staff have yet to be announced. So far, it has been confirmed that Des Kitchings will be Virginia's offensive coordinator and Adam Smotherman will serve as UVA's strength and conditioning coach. Additionally, three coaches from former UVA head coach Bronco Mendenhall's coaching staff - wide receivers coach Marques Hagans, defensive line coach Clint Sintim, and offensive line coach Garett Tujague - have been retained by Elliott on the UVA coaching staff moving forward.

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