BY TAFT COGHILL JR.
When Al Groh was fired as the football coach at the University of Virginia in November, it started a domino effect.
Richmond football coach Mike London was hired by Virginia shortly afterward.
Virginia wide receivers coach Latrell Scott was then hired to guide the Spiders.
Scott, 34, immediately became the youngest head coach in Division I football.
He spoke at a gathering at the Fredericksburg home of Richmond alum Charles G. McDaniel yesterday.
"No one wanted what happened to coach Groh to happen, but it did," Scott said. "All of us realize this is a big-boy business and you have to pull your pants up and move on. As unfortunate as it was, it opened up doors for a lot of people."
Scott took four Virginia assistant coaches with him to Richmond.
Former Essex and Richmond star Stacey Tutt is the Spiders' running backs coach.
The group now has the opportunity to guide one of the premier programs in the Football Championship Subdivision.
London led the Spiders to the 2008 FCS national title.
Scott was the recruiting coordinator and assistant head coach at Richmond from 2005-06. He was the wide receivers coach at Tennessee in 2008.
The Richmond native and Hampton University graduate said he wants to build on London's success.
He wants to do so by winning in-state recruiting battles and "to make sure we develop young men."
"We want to graduate young men and we want to win championships," Scott said. "The main basis of our football program is that we like to make sure a kid is better at 22 than he was at 18."
Former Louisa standout Kerry Wynn is one young man Scott is high on.
Wynn (6-foot-5, 215 pounds) is a redshirt freshman defensive end at Richmond.
Scott said Wynn had a very productive spring practice.
"Sky's the limit for Kerry," Scott said. "Kerry's a big-time athlete with big-time play-making potential. He's a smart kid, he's [well-mannered]. He's what we want at the University of Richmond."
The Spiders have also offered a scholarship to Mountain View junior wide receiver Anthony Johnson.
Scott can't talk publicly about a specific player until the player signs a national letter of intent.
But he said the Fredericksburg area is no different from the rest of Virginia.
It has talented players, and he wants to land as many of them as possible.
"If you walk into Hampton High School and don't know [football coach] Mike Smith you're going to struggle," Scott said. "If you walk into Varina or Highland Springs in Richmond or James Monroe here and don't know the people, you're going to struggle."
Scott knows at least one person at JM.
He and principal John Gordon have been friends for 10 years.
Gordon is a Richmond native and former basketball coach at Meadowbrook High School.
He said Scott's personality should be a hit with recruits.
"He relates to all the student-athletes so well," Gordon said. "A lot of people thought he was an up-and-coming coach. I think Richmond figured 'Why keep the up-and-coming title? Let's make him the coach right now.'"
Taft Coghill Jr.: 540/374-5526
Email: tcoghill@freelancestar.com