Sport - NCAA
Woolfolk 'making most' of busy spring at UVA
Tuesday, April 11th 2023, 8:30 AM EDT
Updated:
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (CBS19 SPORTS) -- A spring day for Jay Woolfolk is anything but the life of a typical college student-athlete.
"It's definitely a lot more because people also forget we have class too," Woolfolk smiled, "We also have class, so it's definitely a lot more this year."
Woolfolk has moved into prominent roles for Virginia on both sides of Massie Road, as the closer for baseball and competing for the starting quarterback job.
"Jay Woolfolk has gotten better and better throughout the year," UVA baseball coach Brian O'Connor said, "He's trying to do something, to play quarterback here and pitch, which is really unheard of and that just speaks to his competitive spirit and he just wants to impact both sports. I think he's just getting better and better as we move along and it's the perfect time for him to be at his best."
A year ago Woolfolk focused solely on baseball, but this spring both coaching staffs have developed a weekly plan to see him in both uniforms.
"It's been myself and Coach O'Connor with a lot of communication," UVA football coach Tony Elliott said, "And first and foremost what I told him is, Jay, that young man has just as bright a future in baseball as he does in football and I wouldn't want to stand in the way of that."
Each week begins with a couple back and forth messages on Sunday looking at the week.
"It's a big group message on Sunday and kind of figure out when's baseball's off day because you've got care hours and logs," UVA quarterbacks coach Taylor Lamb said, "How many hours he gets with baseball, how many hours he gets with football and you kind of get a plan together Sunday night."
The plan includes a 40 throw pitch count at football practice, but the plan changes every week depending on when Woolfolk pitches and UVA's travel schedule. Sometimes Woolfolk will not throw at all and instead focus on mental reps or quarterback-center exchanges.
"Coach Elliott understands if one day I'm not feeling too well I'm not going to practice here because he played baseball," Woolfolk said, "So he cares a lot about my future as a baseball player."
"He's a reliever, so I've seen baseball players, quarterbacks specifically, play field positions," Lamb said, "But obviously there's a certain amount of arm care to a guy throwing 97 on the outside corner."
As Woolfolk continues to establish himself as one of the ACC's most electric closers, he's making the most of every rep in the battle at QB with a year in the offense under his belt.
"Coach Elliott always talks about don't waste a rep and when you only have 40 throws you've got to make the most of it," Woolfolk said, "I got out there, try to read everything, try to make the best decision possible to help the team and to help myself."