List of Virginia Cavaliers football seasons

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Scott Stadium, the home of Virginia football since 1931. Virginia Scott Stadium 2006.jpg
Scott Stadium, the home of Virginia football since 1931.

This is a list of Virginia Cavaliers football seasons. The Cavaliers are part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Since their inception in 1888, the Cavaliers have played in over 1,200 games through over a century of play along with 18 bowl games, with only an interruption from 1917 to 1918 due to World War I. [1]

In the early years, the team played as an independent Southern team, with the result being that they were declared champions of the South on an independent level numerous times from 1889 to 1908. They played in the South Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association from 1911 to 1921.

From 1921 to 1937, they played in the Southern Conference as a charter member, alongside universities such as Virginia Tech and North Carolina State. From 1937 to 1953, they played as an independent before joining the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1954.

The Cavaliers did not have much success in their early years in the ACC, as they took 12 years just to finish above 4th in the conference. Success eluded them until the hiring of George Welsh in 1982. In his third season, the team finished 2nd in the conference while winning seven games, losing twice and tying twice before being invited to the Peach Bowl, which they won 27–24 over Purdue. In 1989, they won the conference, their first conference title in over half a century, while winning 10 games for the first time in school history. The Cavaliers went to 12 bowl games during Welsh's 18 years as coach, with their highest finish in the polls being 15th in 1994. The Cavaliers won the ACC title in 1995 along with Florida State, which remains their last conference title. After Welsh retired in 2000, Al Groh was hired to become coach. In nine seasons, he led them to five bowl appearances, although he did not lead them to an ACC title prior to being fired in 2009. Mike London led the team for six seasons from 2010 to 2015, with more losing seasons (five) than bowl appearances (one). Bronco Mendenhall was hired as coach in 2016. He led them to an appearance in the Military Bowl in 2017, their first bowl appearance since 2011. [2]

Seasons

YearCoachOverallConferenceStandingBowl/playoffs Coaches#AP°
Unknown(Independent)(1887–1891)
1887 Unknown0–0–1 
1888 Unknown2–1 
1889 Unknown4–2 
1890 Unknown5–2 
1891 Unknown2–1–2 
William C. Spicer (Independent)(1892)
1892 William C. Spicer3–2–1 
John Poe (Independent)(1893–1894)
1893 John Poe8–3 
1894 John Poe8–2 
Harry Mackey (Independent)(1895)
1895 Harry Mackey9–2 
Martin Bergen (Independent)(1896–1897)
1896 Martin Bergen7–2–2 
1897 Martin Bergen6–2–1 
Joseph Massie (Independent)(1898)
1898 Joseph Massie6–5 
Archie Hoxton (Independent)(1899–1900)
1899 Archie Hoxton4–3–2 
1900 Archie Hoxton7–2–1 
Wesley Abbott (Independent)(1901)
1901 Wesley Abbott8–2 
John de Saulles (Independent)(1902)
1902 John DeSaulles8–1–1 
Gresham Poe (Independent)(1903)
1903 Gresham Poe7–2–1 
Foster Sanford (Independent)(1904)
1904 Foster Sanford6–3 
William Cole (Independent)(1905–1906)
1905 William Cole5–4 
1906 William Cole7–2–2 
Hammond Johnson (Independent)(1907)
1907 Hammond Johnson6–3–1 
M.T. Cooke (Independent)(1908)
1908 M.T. Cooke7–0–1 
John Neff (Independent)(1909)
1909 John Neff7–1 
Charles Crawford (Independent)(1910)
1910 Charles Crawford6–2 
Kemper Yancey (Independent)(1911)
1911 Kemper Yancey8–2 
Speed Elliott (SAIAA)(1912)
1912 Speed Elliott6–31–13rd  
Rice Warren (SAIAA)(1913)
1913 Rice Warren7–11–1T–3rd  
Joseph Wood (SAIAA)(1914)
1914 Joseph Wood8–13–0T–1st  
Harry Varner (SAIAA)(1915)
1915 Harry Varner8–12–0T–1st  
Peyton Evans (SAIAA)(1916)
1916 Peyton Evans4–52–1T–4th  
1917No team 
1918No team 
Harris Coleman (SAIAA)(1919)
1919 Harris Coleman2–5–21–1–1T–7th  
Rice Warren(SAIAA)(1920–1921)
1920 Rice Warren5–2–23–1T–4th  
1921 Rice Warren5–45–13rd  
Thomas J. Campbell (SoCon)(1922)
1922 Thomas J. Campbell4–4–11–1–19th  
Earle Neale (SoCon)(1923–1928)
1923 Earle Neale3–5–10–3–117th  
1924 Earle Neale5–43–2T–6th  
1925 Earle Neale7–1–14–1–1T–5th  
1926 Earle Neale6–2–24–2–16th  
1927 Earle Neale5–44–4T–8th  
1928 Earle Neale2–6–11–6T–19th  
Earl Abell (SoCon)(1929–1930)
1929 Earl Abell4–3–21–3–216th  
1930 Earl Abell4–62–517th  
Fred Dawson (SoCon)(1931–1933)
1931 Fred Dawson1–7–20–5–122nd  
1932 Fred Dawson5–42–3T–13th  
1933 Fred Dawson2–6–21–3–18th  
Gus Tebell (SoCon)(1934–1935)
1934 Gus Tebell3–61–49th  
1935 Gus Tebell1–5–40–3–2T–8th  
Gus Tebell(Independent)(1936)
1936 Gus Tebell2–7 
Frank Murray (Independent)(1937–1945)
1937 Frank Murray2–7 
1938 Frank Murray4–4–1 
1939 Frank Murray5–4 
1940 Frank Murray4–5 
1941 Frank Murray8–1 
1942 Frank Murray2–6–1 
1943 Frank Murray3–4–1 
1944 Frank Murray6–1–2 
1945 Frank Murray7–2 
Art Guepe (Independent)(1946–1952)
1946 Art Guepe4–4–1 
1947 Art Guepe7–3 
1948 Art Guepe5–3–1 
1949 Art Guepe7–2 
1950 Art Guepe8–2 
1951 Art Guepe8–1 13
1952 Art Guepe8–2 
Ned McDonald (Independent)(1953)
1953 Ned McDonald1–8 
Ned McDonald(ACC)(1954–1955)
1954 Ned McDonald3–60–27th
1955 Ned McDonald1–90–48th
Ben Martin (ACC)(1956–1957)
1956 Ben Martin4–61–48th
1957 Ben Martin3–6–12–46th
Richard Voris (ACC)(1958–1960)
1958 Richard Voris1–91–58th
1959 Richard Voris0–100–58th
1960 Richard Voris0–100–66th
Bill Elias (ACC)(1961–1964)
1961 Bill Elias4–62–48th
1962 Bill Elias5–51–47th
1963 Bill Elias2–7–10–5–18th
1964 Bill Elias5–51–58th
George Blackburn (ACC)(1965–1970)
1965 George Blackburn5–52–47th
1966 George Blackburn4–63–3T–3rd
1967 George Blackburn5–53–34th
1968 George Blackburn7–33–23rd
1969 George Blackburn3–71–58th
1970 George Blackburn5–60–68th
Don Lawrence (ACC)(1971–1973)
1971 Don Lawrence3–82–3T–3rd
1972 Don Lawrence4–71–5T–6th
1973 Don Lawrence4–73–34th
Sonny Randle (ACC)(1974–1975)
1974 Sonny Randle4–71–56th
1975 Sonny Randle1–100–57th
Dick Bestwick (ACC)(1976–1981)
1976 Dick Bestwick2–91–46th
1977 Dick Bestwick1–9–11–56th
1978 Dick Bestwick2–90–67th
1979 Dick Bestwick6–52–46th
1980 Dick Bestwick4–72–4T–4th
1981 Dick Bestwick1–100–67th
George Welsh (ACC)(1982–2000)
1982 George Welsh2–91–56th
1983 George Welsh6–53–3T–4th
1984 George Welsh8–2–23–1–22ndW Peach 1720
1985 George Welsh6–54–3T–3rd
1986 George Welsh3–82–5T–6th
1987 George Welsh8–45–22ndW All-American
1988 George Welsh7–45–22nd
1989 George Welsh10–36–1T–1stL Florida Citrus 1518
1990 George Welsh8–45–2T–2ndL Sugar 1523
1991 George Welsh8–3–14–2–14thL Gator
1992 George Welsh7–44–4T–4th
1993 George Welsh7–55–3T–3rdL Carquest
1994 George Welsh9–35–3T–3rdW Independence 1315
1995 George Welsh9–47–1T–1stW Peach 1716
1996 George Welsh7–55–34thL Carquest
1997 George Welsh7–45–3T–3rd
1998 George Welsh9–36–23rdL Peach 1818
1999 George Welsh7–55–3T–2ndL MicronPC.com
2000 George Welsh6–65–33rdL Oahu
Al Groh (ACC)(2001–2009)
2001 Al Groh5–73–5T–7th
2002 Al Groh9–56–2T–2ndW Continental Tire 2522
2003 Al Groh8–54–4T–4thW Continental Tire
2004 Al Groh8–45–3T–3rdL MPC Computers 2323
2005 Al Groh7–53–55th (Coastal)W Music City
2006 Al Groh5–74–43rd (Coastal)
2007 Al Groh9–46–22nd (Coastal)L Gator
2008 Al Groh5–73–55th (Coastal)
2009 Al Groh3–92–66th (Coastal)
Mike London (ACC)(2010–2015)
2010 Mike London4–81–7T–5th (Coastal)
2011 Mike London8–55–3T–2nd (Coastal)L Chick-fil-A
2012 Mike London4–82–66th (Coastal)
2013 Mike London2–100–87th (Coastal)
2014 Mike London5–73–5T–5th (Coastal)
2015 Mike London4–83–56th (Coastal)
Bronco Mendenhall (ACC)(2016–2021)
2016 Bronco Mendenhall2–101–7T–6th (Coastal)
2017 Bronco Mendenhall6–73–5T–4th (Coastal)L Military
2018 Bronco Mendenhall8–54–4T–3rd (Coastal)W Belk
2019 Bronco Mendenhall9–56–21st (Coastal)L Orange †25
2020 Bronco Mendenhall5–54–59th
2021 Bronco Mendenhall6–64–4T–3rd (Coastal) Fenway
Tony Elliott (ACC)(2022–2023)
2022 Tony Elliott3–71–6T–6th (Coastal)
2023 Tony Elliott3–92–6T–11th
Total:685–640–49 (.516)
      National championship        Conference title        Conference division title or championship game berth

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