Considered the franchise player for the team, the 24-year-old hit .283 with 14 homers and 51 RBI a season ago. Zimmerman missed much of June and July, however, after a shoulder injury landed the budding star on the disabled list.

The 2009 Virginia Spring Football Festival will take place Saturday, April 18 at Scott Stadium.

Here was Gruden’s answer: “It means I want to learn more football. I’m going to pick out two or three cool colleges that I think have great offenses. Great places. I want to go to Oregon. I want my son to go to Oregon football camp, and I want to learn what the Oregon Ducks are doing on offense. ... I want to go in there and try to be a guest coach. I want to go to Al Groh’s camp in Virginia. I love the way Al Groh coaches that football team. I want to learn a little bit about Coach [Jim] Leavitt. I want to learn about the USF team. I think he has done a hell of a job, building it from scratch. I think that’s one of the great stories in football, what he’s done in 12 years there at USF.“

Oday Aboushi - OT - Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian
GROH ON ABOUSHI: “He is a strong, multiple-purpose player. He was in our camp again last year. He is another player that we have really gotten to know as a person. His personality is vibrant and energetic. You know offensive line is kind of a quiet position by necessity, but when you have a guy that has a little bit of an outgoing personality he brings a lot of zip to that position.“

LoVante Battle - S - Hampton/Phoebus
GROH ON BATTLE: “This kid has the same kind of toughness and energy and aggressiveness that Antoine [Womack] had. He has multiple skills, one of the fastest players in Virginia high school football last year and one of the best hitters. We are very excited about where he is going to plug into things.“

Luke Bowanko - OL - Clifton/Centreville
GROH ON BOWANKO: “Luke is from the highly successful program in Centreville, another place where the coaches do such a great job for us. He has height, range, athletic ability and in the model of many of his predecessors.“

Sean Cascarano -  OT - Glenview, Ill./Glenbrrok South
GROH ON CASCARANO: “Sean is from outside Chicago. He was here with us last summer and has a lot of energy. He has a lot of personality. He is a tough-minded kid. He is tall, athletic, can run and in the model of say a player like [former offensive lineman] Brad Butler. Brad had a great career here and we will take all the Brad Butler’s we can get. I don’t want to put that onus on Sean, but he certainly does remind of Brad.“

Paul Freedman - TE - Belleair Beach, Fla./Clearwater Central Catholic
GROH ON FREEDMAN: “He fits the model of players who have come in here to play the tight end position. As everybody knows we have become the premiere team in the country for tight ends with Heath Miller and John Phillips and Jonathan Stupar and Tom Santi and the long list of players. Our tight ends have caught more passes in the last eight years than any group in the country. He is tall, he can run, he has multiple skills. He has good ball skills and we are very excited about adding a player from the Sunshine State.“

Will Hill - DE - Williamsburg/Lafayette
GROH ON HILL: “He is another really good in-state player. He was very well coached down there in Williamsburg. He enrolled in January. This is a new experiment around here. Many schools in the country have profited by being able to being players in in January. We are hopeful that this will lead to joining that movement which would certainly be advantageous for our program. Will, being here in the spring, will have an added opportunity to compete for playing time at a position where we could use a young player coming in and giving us a boost.“ 

Quintin Hunter - QB/WR - Orange/Orange County
GROH ON HUNTER: “Quintin Hunter is an outstanding multiple-skill, multiple-sport player who played quarterback the last two years up at Orange County High School and he has a chance to do that [at Virginia]. Quintin played quarterback there and did a great job for them playing quarterback. He has the skills to do that. He played wide receiver as a young player there and he clearly has the skills to do that. Those of who have seen him play basketball can attest to his overall athletic ability. He is a very purposeful, competitive player that has a great personality. He is going to have the opportunity to get on the field early here at Virginia.“

Perry Jones - RB - Chesapeake/Oscar Smith
GROH ON JONES: “Perry was an outstanding running back. He was the state player of the year - now that saying something. When you played on the same team as Tim Smith and you are the state player of the year then you know that player is really doing something. He sparked his team to the state championship with coach Rich Morgan, who has done an outstanding job with that Oscar Smith program. Perry is as tough as they come, he has a lot of versatility and amongst things we can see where he will be an outstanding special teams player. He has the versatility to find his way on the field at a number of different spots.“ 

Corey Lillard - DB - Remington/Liberty
GROH ON LILARD: “Corey is a very determined, purposeful kid that had wanted to be part of us for a long time, and we wanted to have him with us for a long time. We are real pleased about where Corey is going to fit in. He is probably going to be a safety here at Virginia.“

Jeremiah Mathis - OLB - Hyattsville, Md./DeMatha
GROH ON MATHIS: “Mathis comes from [coach] Bill McGregor’s nationally-reknowed program at DeMatha High School. If you get a player from DeMatha he knows how to compete, he knows how to work, he’s well-trained, he’s tuned into academic accountability. Rodney McCleod did such a great job for us as a first-year player for us last year, so we are always excited to be able to add to that line. [Mathis] is the same kind of kid coming from that program. He will be an outside linebacker for us. He showed on-the-line-of-scrimmage, run-stopping ability as well as pass-rush skills. It will be a little bit of a transition as it has been for most of our players that came here to be outside linebackers, say guys like Clint Sintim and Darryl Blackstock. But we see a lot of upside in [Mathis] and he is another one of those players ... that can’t stop smiling. J’s got that vibrant, upbeat, confident, happy personality that teams need to have.“

Connor McCartin - ILB - Warrenton/Fauquier
GROH ON McCARTIN: “He is another one of those multi-purpose players. He is on the basketball team, a strong student and he has got a brother who was a walk-on quarterback with us last year, Kyle McCartin. Just as with the Snyder’s, we are building up a real strong family legacy with those guys.“

Morgan Moses - OT - Richmond/Meadowbrook
GROH ON MOSES: “Morgan Moses is a player that obviously that people that follow Virginia high school football are very aware of. Morgan is a tremendously imposing player with great potential. He’s got a great personality; a great kid.We are very excited about what he can do here, and Morgan has a real clear look at the future and has the potential to be a great football player here and to use his experience here to change his life.“

Brent Urban - DE - Ontario, Canada/Mississauga
GROH ON URBAN: “He is very athletic. He has a lot of potential in front of him. Obviously, moving up to this level of competition is a little bit of a jump for him, but he has a big, high upside and we are going to try to move that upside along in a hurry.“

Ross Metheny - QB - Stephens City/Sherando
GROH ON METHENY: “The quarterback becomes the face of the, at least if the team is going to be any good. The quarterback’s influence throughout the team is probably second only to the head coach’s. So the quarterback really has to buy into the philosophy of the program, as well as the philosophy of the offense. Ross has had great success on the field, he started very early in his career at Sherando ... but most particularly his leadership quality is at the highest level. As we have seen when he has visited here, the players really relate to him, they kind of go to him like a magnet. He has been in our camp for two years so we know him as a person and he knows us. This school means a lot to him.“

Justin Renfrow - DE - Philadelphia/William Penn Charter School
GROH ON RENFROW: “He is a rangy, athletic player. He can run. He showed his ability and skill on the field. This guy has a lot of athletic ability. He has pass-rush ability, as well as stop-the-run ability. We envision him becoming a multi-purpose player for us.“

LaRoy Reynolds - S - Norfolk/Maury
GROH ON REYNOLDS: “He is another one of those players that is going to bring a lot of athletic ability to the perimeter, whether it is in the defensive backfield or at wide receiver.“

Kevin Royal - WR - Newburgh, N.Y./Brunswick School (Conn.)
GROH ON ROYAL: “Kevin is a real tall player for the position. He has real good skills to be able to go up and get the ball. We have seen what those tall receivers like Larry Fitzgerald can do.“

Bobby Smith - WR - Richmond/Varina
GROH ON SMITH: “Bobby Smith from Varina High School is a really tall receiver. He is 6-4, 6-5. He can go up and get the vertical ball. He is going to be tought to tackle when he catches the ball in space. We are excited about having a player from the great Varina program.“

Tim Smith - WR - Chesapeake/Oscar Smith
GROH ON SMITH: “Tim Smith played for the outstanding Oscar Smith team that won the state championship team undefeated. He is a multi-purpose player - punt returns every game for touchdowns, long pass receptions. He has speed, he has ball skills. He is very quiet off the field but he makes a lot of noise on the field. His versatility and his toughness is shown by the fact that he also made quite a few plays in the secondary, but the only secondary he’s going to get in from here on in is when he is catching the ball.“

Javanti Sparrow - ATH - Chesapeake/Western Branch
GROH ON SPARROW: He is another multi-sport, multi-skill player. He has real verifiable speed. He has a lot of different ways that he can get on the field for us, but again will bring speed and ambition to the perimter of our team, be it wide receiver, kick returner or defensive back.“

Hunter Steward - OL - Virginia Beach/Kellam
GROH ON STEWARD: “Hunter is a very intriguing, interesting story. He just came to Virginia last year to play at Kellam High School. His dad is in the Canadian military and was stationed at one of military bases in Virginia Beach and that brought the family down there. He is a young player - he just turned 17. He might be the biggest player in the class and one of the most athletically skilled players in the class. He has a very, very strong upside. There is a great opportunity for development.“

Jake Snyder - DE - Glen Allen/Deep Run
GROH ON SNYDER: “He has been around winning. He knows what it takes. His brother, Matt, is a second-year receiver on our team and he is tough-minded, ambitious, purposeful, aggressive and Jake comes from that same family line. It is a real good example of that deal ‘The apples don’t fall far from the tree.‘ He was also outstanding as a high school tight end, so that shows his versatility and his athletic skill, but he has playmaker ability.“

Cody Wallace - C/G - Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown
GROH ON WALLACE: “Cody is probably an interior player - center or guard. He is a good sized player in the model of players that we have had here before. He was one of the players that committed to our class early. He really wanted to be a part of the Virginia program. We are very enthused about Cody.“

Dominique Wallace - RB - Fredericksburg/Chancellor
GROH ON WALLACE: “This is a football guy through and through. He put his fortune with us very early and we really appreciate the trust that he showed in us in putting his career in our hands. He has multiple skills. He has a real good chance to see action next year and that’s what he wants to do. We are going to try to get him ready for that.“

Tucker Windle - LB Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Catholic
GROH ON WINDLE: Tucker has significant Virginia football history. His dad was a player here. Tucker has a lot of versatility. He played outside linebacker, he played tight end and he played fullback. He has multiple skills. He will help make our defense both versatile and tough-minded.“