Josey, who’s from Brentwood, Tenn., a suburb of Nashville, enrolled at UVA in 2021. He played in only one game as a true freshman that fall and thus retained that season of eligibility. He started four games in 2022 and then became a full-time starter last year.
He’s become accustomed to playing through pain. In December 2022, Josey had surgery to repair two herniated disks in his back. A long rehabilitation period followed, but he played in all 12 of UVA’s games in 2023.
Then came two more offseason surgeries: one on a hip and the other on a shoulder. For the second straight year, Josey missed spring ball while rehabbing, but he returned for training camp and has been a pillar up front.
“He’s been really, really steady,” head coach Tony Elliott said. “Shows up every week. Does his job. It’s almost like, okay, you don’t worry about what’s going on at left guard. You feel really good that he’s going to take care of business. He’s been leading, too. That’s been the awesome thing: He’s really embraced his role as a leader keeping those guys focused, keeping those guys going.”
Josey was named ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week for his performance in Virginia’s Sept. 21 win over Coastal Carolina in Conway, S.C. His blocking that afternoon helped the Hoos amass 384 yards rushing, their highest single-game total since 1998.
“He’s just had a great year,” Heffernan said of No. 77. “I think he’s shown a tremendous amount of growth and development. He spent the offseason kind of rebuilding his body for the struggles to come. He’s proven durable, he takes care of his body, he’s got a great routine.
“The thing for me is, he’s really bought into the process. I’ll go in the O-line room and he’s in there all times of the day just watching tape. He asks great questions, he brings other clips to the meetings for the other guys to see, and he’s just fallen in love with the process of preparing for the game.”
Elliott names four captains every week, each of whom has a chance to address the rest of the team after a practice ahead of the game. Josey was one of the captains for the Pitt game, and he shared an old proverb he’d learned from one of his coaches.
“It’s that a man never crosses through the same stream twice, because it’s not the same stream and he’s not the same man,” Josey said. “So, basically the point of that is every week is a new week, every game is a new game. The man you are for…