Hunter Osborne Brings Championship Mentality to UVA's Defensive Line

Aidan Baller | Mar 17, 2025

UVA Athletic Communications

National Championship or bust. 

That was the expectation for the football program at the University of Alabama, a program that practiced with the highest level of detail, with every game being a must-win. 

For the last two years, Hunter Osborne lived within that culture of winning, a culture that he will look to cultivate in Charlottesville, with Osborne and fellow teammates having their eyes on hardware and competing against the best teams in college football. 

"We all want to be the best that we can be. And you know, to get to the best, you have to win your conference," said Osborne. 

With a goal of a conference championship, Osborne alludes to a desire to play in the College Football Playoff by nature of an automatic bid. A playoff berth would solidify Virginia as a top team in college football, but realistically, these goals would feel lofty after a 3-9 season in 2023 and a 5-7 record in 2024. 

Despite the previous poor results, Osborne believes the unity amongst his new orange and blue teammates will be the key to success in 2025. 

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"I feel like as a team, as a whole, we're really meshing together," said Osborne. "We need to have a real close relationship together to get the same goal, which is to win, to be the best team that we can be." 

Relationships were also the driving force behind his recruitment, which started with a Zoom call with defensive tackles coach Kevin Downing. 

"If you give me the opportunity, we can work to continue to build our relationship as time goes on. I feel like that stuck out to me," said Osborne on what Kevin Downing told him on their introductory Zoom call. 

Not long after, Osborne, a Trussville, Alabama native, made the trip up north to Charlottesville with his family and was immediately satisfied. 

"My parents came up to Virginia, and it was everything that I thought it could be, even better," said Osborne. "My family felt that this is the place for me. I felt like this was the place for me."

Osborne, who has received some of the best coaching in the country the last two years at Alabama, has seen himself and other transfers use their differing experiences to self-coach other players, sometimes a key to a winning culture.

"I'm really starting to see a lot of guys mesh with people in other positions, talking to other positions, and a lot of self-coaching amongst one another, and not people taking it as, 'oh, hating,' but constructive criticism and listening. And so that's one piece to being a great team, and we're working to accomplish that," said Osborne. 

From personal experiences, one of the big things Osborne learned during his two years in Tuscaloosa was the mental game, something that can be sometimes overlooked. 

"I feel like I can assess what's going on in the game at a quick pace and be able to call out on the field what we may expect," Osborne said. "You look at the personnel, you look at the formation, and you're able to read and identify what may be coming before the ball is even snapped."

"He's a powerful kid, he's really really smart and he's been coached well," said Coach Kevin Downing. "He's a low rep kid where he picks things up pretty fast."

Now, on Grounds, Osborne looks to embrace the culture of a Virginia athlete, a talent on and off the field. 

"I want to continue with my academics. Our goal here is a 3.0 [GPA]," said Osborne. "I want that to continue to be a main aspect for me and on the field to be the best player I can possibly be, the strongest, the fastest, the most physical, the most violent guy that can be on the field to help our team."

Osborne joins a defensive tackle room alongside Jason Hammond, Jahmeer Carter, and Anthony Britton, who will look to establish themselves as a dominant unit this fall. 

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