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ultimately did make the deci- sion to leave, I knew I would have options and be able to go to a new school, to have that fresh start somewhere else. "As the spring went on. I just wasn't feeling the same way I had felt about being there prior to my injury. The idea of a new opportunity re- ally started to weigh on me more and more, and it just felt like the right decision for me." That injury, a torn ACL just days before the start of the 2015 season, came as he was poised to finally be East Carolina's starter. It unques- tionably changed his path and possibly McNeill's, too. Instead of continuing on as the head man at his alma ma- ter, the veteran coach was let go at the end of the season and then hired by Bronco Mendenhall to be UVA's as- sociate head coach and over- see the defensive line. The relationship between coach and player worked in UVA's favor on both sides. McNeill knew all about Ben- kert and vouched for him, while McNeill's presence on the staff gave Benkert all the confidence in the world that the Cavaliers, who wanted a QB to bridge the gap be- tween now and when some of the younger recruits would be ready, were a good fit. "Coach McNeill really deserves all of the credit for that," Mendenhall said. "We were very interested in finding someone who had two years of eligibility, that had a physical presence, that could both throw it and run the football. And Coach Ruff endorsed Kurt and at that point, that's all I needed. Because of an existing re- lationship between those two, that's how it was facili- tated so quickly, and it just worked out great for us all." "Well, I knew that wher- ever I wanted to go, with the summer coming up real soon, I had to pick a school and get the ball going and make sure I could get there as soon as possible," Benkert