Fiesta Bowl next stop for Schudel?

It's Thursday afternoon and Paul Schudel sits in his Virginia football office, chomping on a peanut butter sandwich while getting ready for another win.

He doesn't have many worries, at least not the kind he had as Illinois offensive coordinator.

He no longer worries if his quarterback can complete a pass ... to a guy in the same jersey. He no longer wonders if Robert Holcombe will make it through one more day of being bashed from all sides.

The bad days are behind Schudel. The 54-year-old is enjoying life as Virginia's offensive line coach. George Welsh is the head coach. Sparky Woods is the offensive coordinator. Schudel is along for the ride.

"After you run the show for so many years, it's a little different adjusting," Schudel said. "Sparky's a great guy to work with. It's been good."

If he had his druthers, Schudel still would be running the show at Illinois. He echoes former Illini head coach Lou Tepper, who said the old staff would have had the '97 team in a bowl game.

"I had no question in my mind that we would have had a winning season," Schudel said.

After the '96 season, Schudel found himself out of work for the first time.

"It always worked out for me before," Schudel said. "This is a different experience for me. I got blindsided on that one."

Schudel's vision started to clear thanks to Welsh, who hired the longtime Michigan line coach.

Most of Schudel's career has been in the Midwest. The only time he ventured south was two years at William & Mary in the early '70s.

Schudel and his wife, Mary, are having a great time in Virginia. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the team is one of the nation's best.

Good start

Virginia opened the season with a 19-0 win at Auburn. The Cavaliers got past Maryland last Saturday 31-19.

Schudel's team hosts Clemson today ranked No. 10. It's going to get better.

Virginia plays Duke, San Jose State and Georgia Tech in the next month. Not gimmes but definitely games the Cavaliers should win.

There's a nasty three-game stretch starting in late October with North Carolina State. Virginia then travels to Wake Forest and Florida State.

The final two games are grudge matches with North Carolina and Virginia Tech.

Laugh if you want, but here's a guess Virginia wins them all. Do that, and Schudel's team spends Jan. 4 in Tempe, Ariz. Playing for the national title.

Schudel isn't getting ahead of himself. Two years at Illinois showed him to never count on anything.

"Two down and one to go," Schudel said. "The one is the next one."

Another shot

Though he is enjoying life as an assistant, Schudel wants to become a head coach again.

He ran the Ball State program for 10 years, going 60-48-4.

Schudel was supposed to interview for the Temple job after last season, but the school hired Bobby Wallace before Schudel made it to campus.

He hopes to have other chances.

"I think it's not out of the realm," Schudel said. "My record as a head coach was pretty good. I'm just sorry I couldn't help Lou more."

What will his two years at Illinois mean to prospective employees? Schudel isn't sure.

"I worked hard while I was there and tried to work with what we had," Schudel said. "I think it was coming around. I thought we had made some progress."

The Illinois administration didn't think so.

"I don't necessarily agree with what went on, but what the heck," Schudel said. "Let's move on. You've got to forgive and forget."

Bob Asmussen is a News-Gazette staff writer. His column on college football appears Saturdays throughout the season.

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