i don't make them for me, i make them for you

I took New Year's Day off. My bad, yo. I spent New Year's Eve playing a game I call "Drink Way Too Much Beer", the object of which is to drink way too much beer. I won. So Happy New Year - it certainly was for the first couple hours.

First just a quick linky link over to the recruiting board, which is updated with the addition of LB Jeremiah Mathis. That puts me a step ahead of the scouting services, which have zero on this kid. Mathis will probably get an offer, especially if Luke Kuechly commits elsewhere, and when he gets that offer he will probably commit. I haven't added LB Jordan Stanton yet, because he has neither an offer nor an official visit scheduled, but once either one of those happen, then he'll be on there.

In the spirit of the times, I've created my list of New Year's resolutions. Not for me. For our beloved Hoos. Follow them on the path to enlightenment and the Orange Bowl.

- Coach Al Groh: Trust your offensive coordinator with the offense, and focus your attention on making a decent defense better. We know how much you love coaching linebackers - the new crowd of them is going to need the attention.

- OC Gregg Brandon: Decide on a quarterback early. Let's not have this quarterback battle up to the last day again. Pick one by the end of the spring practices and spend fall camp practicing the offense, not having your quarterbacks look over their shoulder for the other guy.

- The whole team: Stay the hell away from the law, and especially, Club 216. And do your homework and stuff. No more weed-related attrition, no more stealing shit, and no more troubles in the classroom. The Fulmer Cup is not a good prize.

- Marc Verica: Trust your arm, but learn its limitations, and check your peripheral vision every once in a while. You can't chuck the ball over the middle past three maroon-clad evil minions and expect it to reach its target.

- Will Barker, Jack Shields, Austin Pasztor, B.J. Cabbell, and Landon Bradley: Hit the weight room. A lot. Our run-blocking problems could be helped if our line wasn't getting blasted into the backfield half the time.

- Matt Conrath: Do everything it takes to live up to the high praise that Chris Long gave you early in the year. 3 sacks and 7 TFL is a good start. It's better than Long's freshman year and about as good as his sophomore season. You have a chance to be dominant. Build on this year.

- Craig Littlepage: Stop meddling with the football team. Either trust your head coach or fire him. Don't be stepping in on discipline issues; you hired the coach to do that. And don't even think about another sign ban. Ever.

- Jeff Jones: Shoot five hundred jump shots in practice, every day.

- Sylven Landesberg: Stay in school. Pretty please? Four years? Can't replace that degree, ya know. Gotta have that sheepskin.

- Tony Tchani and Chris Agorsor: Go get some of those knee braces the offensive linemen wear.

- Dom Starsia: Schedule half an hour of faceoff practice after regular practice is over.

- Mike Groh: Wherever your next OC gig is, wherever you land, and I wish you luck there, but scratch the play-action-tight-end-screen out of your playbook unless you have a running quarterback.

- Fans: Enjoy what we have a little bit more. I don't want to go 5-7 any more than you do, but it wouldn't hurt any of us to remember that guys like Al Groh and Craig Littlepage are decent, hardworking folks who want the best of success for UVA as much as you and I. That doesn't immunize them from criticism if they mess up, but we (most of us, anyway) are alums of the single greatest university in the world and it won't kill us to look at the upcoming with a dose of optimism and the best wishes for the guys we root for. Happy New Year!