APIn early May, Virginia landed Alabama transfer Phillip Sims. The offshoot of that? The move apparently cost the Hoos their most experienced quarterback.
Douglas Doughty of the Roanoke Times is reporting that Michael Rocco has asked for and been granted a release from his UVa scholarship. Rocco reportedly met with head coach Mike London Friday and the decision to part ways was described as amicable.
As Rocco is a true junior and yet to use his redshirt, he’d be able to transfer to an FBS program and, after redshirting during a transfer season in 2013, would have one final year of eligibility in 2014.
The school has yet to address Rocco’s status for 2013.
Rocco started eight games this season, with Sims starting the other four. He started a total of 21 games the past two seasons and will end his Cavaliers career as a top-ten passer in a handful of statistical categories.
While Rocco started more games than Sims, the quarterbacking duo each played in all 12 games as UVa’s coaching staff rotated the players on a weekly basis, sometimes series-by-series, for the latter half of the season.
He could transfer to Richmond and play immediately. His uncle is their head coach.
@dmcgrann That’s true, but his former UVA teammate Michael Strauss took over this year as their starter midway through this year, so it probably won’t happen.
@ biggestredmiami, true that, and Strauss has played very well for the Spiders. Liberty would also seem to be a real possibility if he wanted to drop to FCS, given his background.
Rocco prob felt he would not get a fair shake at starting job next year, which oddly enough could be London’s last year.
I’m going to guess he lands at Wisconsin…
Wisconsin had bad luck with O’Brien. Stave before he got hurt was playing well and he is either a true freshman or redshirt freshman.
Not too many russell wilson’s floating around.
I’ve learned that I’m not correct regarding Rocco’s ability to play immediately at the FCS level. Since he’s never redshirted and is a rising senior, he has to sit out a year at both the FBS and FCS levels, and then has one year of eligibility.
While the article is about Rocco, it should be about Mike London’s gross incompetence as a head coach, creating the quarterback controversy between Rocco and Sims. London is directly responsible for running Rocco out of the program. London is the worst FBS coach in the country who was not fired at the end of the season (as he should have been).