CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Tony Elliott guided Virginia football – picked to finish near the bottom of the ACC – to 10 regular-season wins and a spot in the conference championship game. Bob Chesney led JMU to a 12-1 season and a Sun Belt championship.

Both men were named finalists for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award on Tuesday.

They are joined on the list by Indiana’s Curt Cignetti, the former JMU coach, Ohio State’s Ryan Day, Texas A&M’s Mike Elko, Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman, Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea, Kennesaw State’s Jerry Mack, Texas Tech’s Joey McGuire, UConn’s Jim Mora, Georgia’s Kirby Smart and Tulane’s Jon Sumrall.

Elliott, the ACC Coach of the Year, is in his fourth season in Charlottesville. After three losing campaigns, he rebuilt the Cavaliers’ roster this year and had a breakout season. UVA will play Missouri in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., on Dec. 27.

“It’s a little bit surreal, to be honest with you, because I showed up with the staff back in ’22 — overzealous, big dreams, not really knowing how it was going to come to fruition, really relying on the players and staff to believe in something that they couldn’t see,” Elliott said. “Then we went through a time that was unimaginable on many different levels but still everybody maintained a belief when the outside world probably was telling them not to. But because they maintained that belief and they stuck together and they just kept showing up every single day, now they’re having an opportunity to kind of bring it full circle.

“So, it’s really, really, really cool just to be a small part of that. I don’t take too much credit because it was just a vision, but really it’s the folks that grab hold of that vision and work every single day to bring it to life.”

Chesney, in his second and final year leading the Dukes, will take over at UCLA when JMU’s run in the College Football Playoff ends. Madison faces fifth-seeded Oregon in Eugene on Dec. 20.

“It’s been a little extra emotion this whole week,” Chesney said after the Dukes defeated Troy in the Sun Belt title game Friday. “Every moment that you’re spending together with these guys, you don’t know if it’ll be your last or not. This is definitely our last on this field. You realize just how special a place JMU is. This is, to me, the greatest Group of Five school in the country and it’s not even close.”

 

2025 Eddie Robinson Award Finalists

Bob Chesney, James Madison
Curt Cignetti, Indiana
Ryan Day, Ohio State
Mike Elko, Texas A&M
Tony Elliott, Virginia
Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame
Clark Lea, Vanderbilt
Jerry Mack, Kennesaw State
Joey McGuire, Texas Tech
Jim Mora, UConn
Kirby Smart, Georgia
Jon Sumrall, Tulane