Virginia exercises option on Groh's contract, adding year to coach's deal

11/27/2007 2:48 PM

By HANK KURZ Jr.
AP Sports Writer

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) -Virginia exercised an option to add a year onto the contract of coach Al Groh, who guided the Cavaliers to a 9-3 record this season.

Groh's deal will now run through the 2011 season.

``This is an indication of confidence on my part and the university's part on the work that Al and his staff have done,'' Cavaliers athletic director Craig Littlepage said. ``I think it's also a good indication of the confidence that we have in the future direction of the football program, both in the short term, that is, in the upcoming bowl game, as well as in the long-term future. I'm very pleased we're at this point.''

Groh, who won Atlantic Coast Conference coach of the year honors Tuesday, said he was appreciative of the ``gesture,'' but hadn't thought about the extension since last year.

``I don't coach for contracts. I coach for the players and for the sense of accomplishment that comes from our achieving together,'' he said.

Virginia finished 9-3 in the regular season and ranked No. 22. The Cavaliers lost on Saturday 33-21 to No. 6 Virginia Tech in a game to determine the Coastal Division's representative in the ACC championship against No. 15 Boston College.

With its bowl destination yet to be determined, the Cavaliers still have a chance to become only the second team in school history to win 10 games.

A year ago, the Cavaliers finished 5-7 and did not qualify for a bowl game, and the school declined to exercise its right to add another year to Groh's contract then.

At the time, there was speculation that the school's wait-and-see approach to Groh might damage recruiting, and Groh said other programs tried to use it against him.

``The way it came out last year caused some people that we recruited against last year to blow it into a bigger issue than what it was,'' Groh said.

This year, he won't have that concern.