University of Virginia Library

Roper Fourth Assistant
To Desert Football Program

By DOUG DOUGHTY

Losing his fourth assistant
since the start of the year,
Cavalier football coach Don
Lawrence announced
yesterday that defensive
secondary aide Bobby Roper
has quit the staff and will move
to Iowa State.

Following in the footsteps
of defensive coordinator Bill
Clay, who transferred to
Virginia Tech, offensive
coordinator Sil Cornachione
and receiver coach Tom
Fletcher, Mr. Roper accepted
the call of Iowa State coach
John Majors, who offered him
a job for the second time
Sunday night.

When Mr. Majors became
the head coach at Iowa State
before the 1970-71 season, he
offered Mr. Roper a position
on his news staff, but at the time
the latter was a graduate
assistant at Alabama and,
unsure of his military status,
declined the offer.

"Roper's Bandits"

Coach Roper, whose
defensive backfield was
nicknamed "Roper's Bandits,"
for its ball-hawking prowess
during the past campaign, has
received nothing but praise
from his former superior. Mr.
Lawrence, saddened by
Roper's loss, lauded him. "He is an outstanding
young coach with an excellent
playing and coaching
background and will be a
definite asset to the Iowa State
football program".

NCAA Ruling

Mr. Lawrence is thinking of
several changes in the coaching
setup due to the
freshmen-eligible ruling handed
down by the NCAA. Instead of
a first-year team, he intends to
field a JV outfit next year, "we
are thinking in terms of hiring
two JV coaches, one to head
the defense and one to head
the offense, and these two men
would also handle our
scouting".

Present Staff

Decimated by the four
departures, the staff now
includes Mr. Lawrence,
ex-first-year head Peter Pucher,
line coach Turnley Todd, and a
holdover from the George
Blackburn regime, Al Groh,
Joe Mark, lost in the shuffle
when Jerry Claiborne took
over the coaching reins at
Maryland, brings a great deal of
coaching experience to his new
job as Wahoo assistant head
coach in charge of defense.

Signed to help with spring
practice are New York Giant
Norman Snead, who will prep
the quarterbacks for a week,
and ex-Cavalier great Jim
Copeland, a guard with the
Cleveland Brown, who will stay
with the team the duration of
the spring practice.

Fortunately for the
program, Wahoo recruiting has
already been consummated for
next year's incoming first-year
ball players. Coach Lawrence,
not entirely set on what
coaching format he will use
next season, does intend to
announce the signing of two
more assistants in the next day
or two.

Job Situations

Roper and Clay are the only
ex-Cavalier assistants who have
found outside employment.
Coach Cornachione has
received a couple of offers but
as yet has not signed with
anyone. Mr. Fletcher is
reportedly on the way to
North Carolina, although he
has gone only so far as to call
North Carolina's program
first rate, when interviewed
about the rumored move.

Spring Practice

Tentatively scheduled to
begin at the end of the week,
spring football practice may be
slow in getting off the ground.
Nevertheless, just as he struck
paydirt in bringing someone of
the caliber of Joe Mark to the
program, Mr. Lawrence may
very well pull an ace out of the
hole when he announces the
new appointments later in the
week.

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