These close UVA football wins are stressful. Just ask the coach’s wife

November 6, 2025
Tamika Elliot and Tony Elliot sitting in John Paul Jones arena at UVA

Tamika Elliott takes in a basketball game at John Paul Jones Arena alongside her husband, University of Virginia head football coach Tony Elliott. (Virginia Athletics photo)

The University of Virginia football team had just made a clutch play to continue its comeback attempt against Washington State University, but the head coach’s wife didn’t see it. 

Tamika Elliott was in the restroom. And now, with seven minutes left in the game and the Cavaliers within striking distance of erasing WSU’s lead following a Ja’son Prevard interception, Elliott had no choice but to stay in that restroom closest to her suite at Scott Stadium.

“If I’m in a position where we’re having success, I’ll stay,” Elliott said. “But if it’s not working, I’ll move around. … I stayed in that bathroom for a while.”

It worked. UVA, down by 10 points at the start of the fourth quarter, staged a late rally to secure a 22-20 win over Washington State on Oct. 18. Tamika, Tony Elliott’s spouse of nearly two decades, could exhale.

Tamika Elliot posing with her son Ace, left, and with her son A.J., right.

Ace, left, and A.J. Elliott, right, are all smiles next to their mother while attending a UVA football game. The Elliott boys are part of Tamika’s regular crew of fans who cheer on the Cavaliers from the family’s Scott Stadium suite. (Contributed photos)

“These games,” she said, “they’re very stressful.”

If you’ve been sweating out the weekly results of this Virginia football season, you’re in good company. 

The 8-1 Wahoos, ranked anywhere from 11th to 14th nationally, have leaned into the dramatics en route to their best start in 35 years. 

Since late September, UVA’s had three overtime wins – becoming only the ninth team in major college football history to have that many in a single season – plus the nail-biter over Washington State and last week’s 31-21 victory over the University of California, Berkeley, that wasn’t sealed until Kam Robinson returned an interception for a touchdown with 34 seconds left in the game.

“Everyone’s calling (this team) the ‘Cardiac Cavs,’ but really it’s a mindset,” Tony Elliott said. “These guys believe that they’re going to find a way to win.”

The thrill ride continues Saturday at 7 p.m. against Wake Forest University at Scott Stadium. Tamika will be back in her suite with what she calls her “crew” – a collection of friends, family, kids and fellow baseball moms who, like their host, can be superstitious. 

Thanks, It's vintage, Shop
Thanks, It's vintage, Shop

Tamika’s extended bathroom stay against Washington State came at the suggestion – or, perhaps, demand – of some crew members.

“They were like, ‘You can’t come out! We’re doing good!’” she recalled. 

Tamika insists she tries not to let her stress show while watching her husband’s games. Married to a football coach since 2006, she’s plenty battle-tested by now. She’s endured it all, from close losses to a last-second win in the 2016-17 national championship game while Tony was Clemson University’s co-offensive coordinator.

“I think I handle it better when I’m in person as opposed to when I’m away watching it,” she said. 

But even on the road this season, she’s shown poise.

Two weeks ago, as the Cavaliers were eking out a 17-16 overtime win at the University of North Carolina, Tamika was in Richmond at a baseball tournament for the Elliotts’ sons, 12-year-old A.J. and 10-year-old Ace. 

Tamika multi-tasked, watching her boys in real time while keeping tabs on her husband’s team in Chapel Hill via her phone.

Tony Elliot, Ace Elliot, A.J. Elliot, and Tamika Elliot pose for a photo in front of a UVA football background. The two boys are holding UVA football helmets.

The Elliott family poses for a photo on Dec. 13, 2021, the day Tony was introduced as UVA head football coach. (Virginia Athletics photo)

“If the boys are on defense, then I’m watching the football game. But if they’re up to bat, I’m watching them,” she said of a strategy she also deployed during last week’s Cal game, played while she was in Houston at another baseball tournament. “I go back and forth.

“But in Richmond, during the UNC game, there was a dad (of a player on the baseball team) and UVA fan who came up to me and was like, ‘I don’t know how you do this! I’m so stressed!’ I was like, ‘I’ve been doing this for 20 years.’”

Tamika has a doctoral degree in nursing from Hampton University and was a nurse practitioner in South Carolina before moving to Virginia after her husband’s hire in late 2021. Postgame debriefs with her husband typically reveal her concerns about the status of injured players more so than any critiques she has of Tony’s coaching decisions.

Tamika is also a woman of faith who admits to praying during games, but “I try not to pray for wins,” she said. “I don’t want to be too selfish. I try just to pray, ‘Lord, honor their hard work,’ because I know they've been working hard.”

So far this season, it’s come to fruition. The in-game stress has been rewarded with postgame celebrations. 

“It feels really good,” Tamika Elliott said. “For the school, for the fans, for the players, for the coaches, for the families, for the former players. I’m just so excited for everybody.” 

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