An occasional foray onto the nation's hottest seats.

From a sportswriter’s perspective, Al Groh might be the most annoying coach in Division I-A. He always looks sour. He doesn't say anything interesting. And every time he looks like Virginia is poised for a breakthrough, they end up disappointing -- as they did in 2005 by upsetting undefeated Florida State, only to finish the regular season 6-5 and wind up in the Music City Bowl. But every time someone says he’s a dead man walking, as Stewart Mandel did right before the 2007 season, when the SI.com scribe called Groh the worst coach in D-IA, he somehow manages to prove the doubters wrong: After starting off the ’07 season with a humiliating loss to Wyoming, for examples, Groh led UVA on a death-defying seven-game winning streak (four of them by two points or less) and managed to put the 'Hoos in a New Year’s Day bowl for the first time since 1994. That season, however, was followed by a stumble to 5-7 in 2008, and some segments of the UVA fan base are getting a little tired of the roller-coaster ride.

Why he was hired: Groh is a Virginia grad, and his coaching résumé is fairly extensive. His six-year stretch at Wake Forest in the early 1980s was unremarkable (the Demon Deacons only notched one winning season during that span), but he’s also served stints as an NFL assistant under both Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick.

The "Uh-oh" moment: The Cavs picked up one of their biggest wins under Groh when they upset fourth-ranked Florida State at home, 26-21, after a slow start in 2005. The very next week, though, they went to North Carolina and provided a textbook case of the post-upset hangover: Against the same Tar Heels that had been tagged for 69 points by Louisville the previous week, the Cavs stumbled around for four miserable quarters and lost by the 1905-esque final of 7-5. That would also be UVA’s final record after pulling out a close win over Minnesota in the Music City Bowl to redeem a 52-14 beating at the hands of Virginia Tech. Since that bowl game, Virginia is just 19-18, with two losing seasons and zero wins against hated Tech.

Embarrassing attempt to right the ship. The ship hadn’t technically started listing yet when Groh introduced the “Sea of Orange” concept to Scott Stadium, encouraging fans to wear orange to the games instead of their usual, swanky game day attire, but he still managed to tick off a tradition-happy fan base aligned more with the coat-and-tie/sundress-and-pearls sartorial philosophy of the Deep South. By 2008, some members of UVA’s student government were proposing to collect the “Power of Orange” T-shirts distributed to all incoming freshmen and send them to developing nations overseas.

But the “Sea of Orange” concept still comes out smelling like a rose compared to Groh’s decision to promote his son (and former UVA quarterback) Mike to offensive coordinator in 2006. Groh the Younger’s offenses finished 113th, 101st, and 104th in the nation before he was finally canned — yes, by his own dad — barely a week after the Cavs concluded last year's fiasco. Mike was last seen angling for a graduate assistant gig at Alabama.

Can this marriage be saved?: Yes, says Brendan of Wahoo blog From Old Virginia, but it’s hardly a given:

I think there are a couple things that are conspiring right now to bring the heat on Groh (from the fans, at least) down from a boil to a simmer. First, a lot of the anger was directed also at Mike Groh, who was a lousy offensive coordinator and was replaced this year. The arrival of the spread offense helps to postpone some of the pressure while fans wait and see what we’ve got.

Most importantly I think, there’s an interesting duality among UVA fans that keeps us from speaking with one voice and prevents the heat on Groh from being a unified force. There are some fans who wonder why we can’t be like other schools and compete for ACC titles all the time. And some are angry at what they see as the turning of UVA into “Big State U” like other schools. Some of these fans are the same people.

As far as the administration goes, I think Groh is on a short leash, especially now that [men’s basketball coach] Dave Leitao has been fired. It was widely perceived (though not confirmed) that AD Craig Littlepage, not Groh, fired the three assistants last year. And it was more or less confirmed that Littlepage, not Groh, was responsible for the dismissal of ex-starting QB Peter Lalich. When the AD takes a hand in that stuff, it’s a bad sign for the head coach. Another bowl-less season would mark the first time we missed a bowl in consecutive seasons under Groh, and I think it’d be the end of his tenure.

Approximate heat of seat: The sunny side of the planet Mercury (let’s say 800 degrees, give or take). If Groh gets the Cavs back into a bowl, thereby approximating the seven-win standard he inherited from George Welsh, he’s probably safe. Even an enlightened egalitarian like Thomas Jefferson, though, would probably issue pink slips for a third losing season in four years.

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Other coaches on the hot seat: Steve Kragthorpe.