Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus?

Here are the possible replacements for Al Groh, and some of them would make my early Christmas wish list:

Lump of Coal:

• Ron Prince, 40, not coaching. Former UVa OC.
• Jeff Jagodzinski, 46, not coaching. Former Boston College head coach.

Clothes and Books:

• Tom O’Brien, 61, head coach, NC State. Former coach and OC at UVa for 15 years.
• Danny Rocco, 49, head coach, Liberty. Former UVa Assistant Coach.

The crazy unknown gift that could be fun:

• Gus Malzahn, age 43, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach, Auburn. Former OC at Arkansas and “introduced Wildcat.”
• Jon Tenuta, 52, defensive coordinator, Notre Dame. Played at UVa.
• Jeff Mullen, offensive coordinator, WVU.
• Charlie Strong, 49, defensive coordinator, University of Florida.

The good gifts on your list you were expecting and were guessing correctly while unwrapping:

• Mike London, 49, head coach, University of Richmond. Former UVa DC.
• Al Golden, 40, head coach, Temple. Former UVa DC.
• Jim Grobe, 57, head coach, Wake Forest. 2006 national coach of the year. Played for UVA.
• Derek Dooley, 40, head coach, Louisiana Tech. Played for UVa, coached under Nick Saban.

The gifts not on your list but thought about:

• Troy Calhoun, 44, head coach, Air Force.
• Tim Murphy, 53, head coach, Harvard.
• Randy Edsall, 51, head coach, UConn.
• Greg Schiano, 43, head coach, Rutgers.
• Turner Gill, 47, head coach, Buffalo.
• Skip Holtz, 45, head coach, East Carolina.
• Ken Niumatalolo, 44, head coach, Navy.
• Kevin Sumlin, 45, head coach, Houston.

The awesome gift you were up all night dreaming about but weren’t expecting to get:

• Tommy Tuberville, 55, not coaching. Was the 2004 national coach of the year at Auburn.
• Chris Petersen, 45, head coach, Boise State.
• Gary Patterson, 49, head coach, TCU.
• Brian Kelly, 48, head coach, Cincinnati.

The outlandish wishes, like a pony:

• Bud Foster, 50, defensive coordinator, Virginia Tech.
• Jon Gruden, 46, Monday Night Football commentator. Former Super Bowl winning coach.
• Bill Cowher, 52, not coaching. Former Super Bowl winning coach.
• Mike Shanahan, 57, not coaching. Former Super Bowl winning coach.