Dec. 7, 2009

• Complete Release at VirginiaSports.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE (virginiasports.com) - Mike London, the head football coach at the University of Richmond for the last two years, is the new head football coach at the University of Virginia, UVa Athletics Director Craig Littlepage announced today. London will be returning to head up a Cavalier program where he twice previously served stints as an assistant coach. He becomes the 39th coach in the program's history.

In two seasons at Richmond, London led the Spiders to a 24-5 record. His first year at the helm his team went 13-3 and won the Football Championship Series national title. This year's Spider team, ranked nine consecutive weeks at No. 1 in the FCS polls, went 11-2 and reached the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs. His teams were 13-4 in the Colonial Athletic Conference during the 2008 and 2009 campaigns.

London's efforts in 2008 earned him FCS National Coach of the Year honors from both the American Football Coaches Association and Schutt Sports/ American Football Monthly magazine. London was also honored as the Black Coaches Association Male Coach of the Year in 2008, beating out Mike Tomlin of the Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers for the award. In addition to the national honors, London was tabbed the State Coach of the Year from both VaSID and the Peninsula Sports Club.

Under London's watch, 16 Spiders were named to the All-CAA Football Team in 2009 after placing 12 in 2008. His first year at UR, nine Spiders garnered 15 All-America awards and six were recognized on the Academic All-Conference Team. DE Lawrence Sidbury was a fourth-round NFL draft pick by the Atlanta Falcons, while RB Josh Vaughan was a free-agent signee by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Before returning to coach his alma mater, London spent six of seven seasons coaching for Al Groh at Virginia. In 2001 London joined the UVa staff for the first time as the defensive line coach. He took over the responsibilities as recruiting coordinator in 2002. In 2005 London left UVa to work as the defensive line coach for the NFL's Houston Texas. He returned to Virginia in 2006 as the defensive coordinator and defensive line coach.

During his tenure with the Cavaliers, he saw five defensive players (Chris Long, Marcus Hamilton, Chris Canty, Andrew Hoffman and Monsanto Pope) drafted by NFL teams. Long was the ACC Defensive Player of the Year in 2007, earned unanimous All-America honors, was the Ted Hendricks Award winner as the nation¹s top defensive end and the second overall selection in the 2008 NFL Draft.

A native of Hampton, Va., London played defensive back at Richmond from 1979-82. Under head coach Dal Shealy, he led the Spiders with six interceptions as a senior captain in 1982. In addition to earning all-state honors, he was chosen the team¹s MVP and received the Spiders¹ Coaches Award. In 1982, the Virginia Peninsula Sports Club selected him as the male in-state Athlete of the Year.

London graduated from Richmond in 1983 with a bachelor's degree in sociology and a year later received a degree in law enforcement from the Richmond Police Academy, serving as a detective for the street crimes unit from November of 1984 to July of 1989. The Dallas Cowboys signed him as a free agent in 1983.