Mike London was going to catch bad guys. He pursued them with the daring and tenacity of a former college defensive back, while working in Richmond, Va., as a police detective in the street crimes unit in the late 1980s.

One night, though, London chased the wrong guy down the wrong alley. He found himself staring down the barrel of a handgun that looked bigger than a cannon pointed inches from his face.

There was nothing to be done. Everything happened in slow motion. London’s life flashed in front of his eyes as he looked into the face of the teenaged armed robbery suspect, and heard the click as the kid pulled the trigger.

The gun didn’t go off. London, now the head coach at Virginia, never found out why. In the aftermath, the suspect fled and the gun disappeared. Witnesses to the robbery feared retribution and refused to testify. The only charge that stuck was misdemeanor simple assault, because the suspect attempted to run London over with his van as he sped away.

London decided not long after that he needed a career change. For as long as he could remember, he’d wanted to work in law enforcement, with the ultimate goal of becoming a Secret Service agent.

After his near-death experience and the disillusioning response of the criminal justice system, he questioned whether the risk was worth it.

“That got me on the coaching path,” he says.

After 20 years, the path led him, for a third time, to the University of Virginia, where he took over for the fired Al Groh in December. London coached under Groh twice as a defensive assistant before becoming head coach at the University of Richmond, where he won a national title in 2008.

For all his ties to Groh, however, London’s hiring represents a stark change in direction at UVa. The personal styles of the two men could not be more different.

“I’m a big relationship guy,” London says.

Groh was not as warm, at least in public. Over nine years his program had come to be perceived as walled-off and distant from fans, state high school coaches and the media. Virginia’s in-state recruiting suffered, and its attendance dwindled along with its win totals.

Enter the energetic London, who has brought a “new sense of optimism” according to quarterback Marc Verica. He wasted no time opening the blinds and letting some light into the program. He even took the team on the road, holding a spring scrimmage in Norfolk, the heart of the talent-rich Hampton Roads recruiting area that has been owned recently by Virginia Tech.

“We’re trying to show that Virginia is a little different now, trying to be accessible and available,” he says.

London, 49, invested much time mending fences around the state. It’s already banked him some goodwill as he faces a major rebuilding task. He’s attacking it with gusto, as most new coaches do. The way he sees it, nothing he faces in football can be as daunting as some of the challenges he’s dealt with outside of it.

Years after he escaped death in that Richmond alley, London helped save the life of his daughter, Ticynn, who had a rare genetic disorder and needed a bone marrow transplant. Despite long odds, London was a donor match.

Those experiences, one near-death and one lifesaving, make him “twice blessed,” London says.

“When you’ve been twice-blessed, it’s time to be a blessing to someone else,” he says.

That people-first approach drove London’s career as an assistant, in which he gained a reputation as a gifted motivator and tireless recruiter. It carried him to the Football Championship Subdivision title at Richmond, where he inherited a good team that he took to the next level.

Admittedly not a “grinder” who sleeps in his office or an X’s and O’s guru devising complex schemes, London says his success has been based on building relationships. If that sounds a bit touchy-feely in the macho world of football, so be it.

“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care,” he says. “If you just foster the attitude that you care about these guys, what you get in return is their best effort.”

Virginia’s going to need everyone’s best effort as it tries to turn things around after three losing seasons in the last four, and with much ground to make up to Virginia Tech in state recruiting.

London’s installing new schemes, dumping Virginia’s failed spread offense for a power running and play-action passing game, and moving from a 3-4 defense to a 4-3. Changing the playbook is less important than changing the culture, though.

“Then, we’ll start getting players who feel the energy and vibe and want to be a part of this,” London says.

Players are feeling it already. Practices are quicker and the mood is lighter, they say. “You don’t have to walk around and have a tense face,” tailback Perry Jones says. “You’ll just say, ‘What’s up, coach?’ and he’ll say, ‘What’s up?’ back.

“That’s a good feeling and you want to play for somebody like that.”

How far the good feelings will carry Virginia remains to be seen. London’s determined to try to fashion a turnaround his way, though, one relationship at a time. He made that decision long ago.

“People ask me why I’m so positive and jacked up and energetic,” he says. “I tell them, ‘You would be, too, if the gun didn’t go off. You would be too.’”

This feature appears in the 2010 Athlon Sports Atlantic Coast magazine. Click here to purchase your copy.

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