By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Not long after he was hired to coach the wide receivers on the University of Virginia football team, Adam Mims texted the man who preceded him in that position.
Marques Hagans left UVA last month to become offensive recruiting coordinator and wide receivers coach at Penn State. Hagans was a cornerstone of the Cavaliers’ program, first as a player under Al Groh and then as an assistant coach under Mike London, Bronco Mendenhall and, finally, Tony Elliott.
Mims served as a senior offensive analyst at Virginia in 2022, Elliott’s first year as head coach, and worked closely with Hagans.
“I learned a lot from him,” Mims said last week in his McCue Center office. “You’re talking about somebody who essentially became the face of UVA football, just for what he’s done for this program, for this university, not only as a player, but as a coach, as a community leader.”
In his text message to Hagans, Mims said, “I just thanked him for everything and I told him, ‘Man, I’ve got some big shoes to fill.’ I’m gonna do my very best, that’s for sure. But I can’t speak highly enough about him and the role that he played and what he’s done for this program and for this university.”
Mims, a native of Birmingham, Ala., joined the Wahoos’ staff in January 2022. He was new to Charlottesville but needed no introduction to Elliott or several of UVA’s assistants.
At Furman, where Mims starred at wideout, his position coach for his final three seasons was Elliott. UVA offensive coordinator Des Kitchings was Furman’s tight ends coach during Mims’ freshman season. Furman’s head coach during Mims’ college career was Bobby Lamb, whose son, Taylor Lamb, is Virginia’s quarterbacks coach.
“So I’ve known Taylor since he was itty bitty,” Mims said.
Moreover, Mims coached at Presbyterian College with Joey Orck, who’s now an offensive analyst at UVA, and Mims knew UVA defensive line coach Kevin Downing as well before coming to Charlottesville.
“That’s another thing that has made working here and this transition here a lot easier,” Mimis said, “being around familiar people. But besides them being really, really good ball coaches, we’ve just got good people on this staff.”
After graduating from Furman, Mims pursued a professional career, signing free-agent contracts with the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers in 2011 and the CFL’s…