ACC Kickoff 2023: Day 2

We are LIVE in Charlotte at the ACC Kickoff for the event's second day. We will have plenty of news and updates throughout the day so stay on ClemsonSportsTalk.com.

@clemsonsportstalk A quick tour around the 2023 ACC Kickoff #ACC #collegefootball #Clemson #FloridaState #Charlotte ♬ GameDay - Radio Edit - Mardyny

We will be adding notes and quotes from today’s event here! Take a look at some of the content from Day 1 here. Additionally, check out our Twitter and TikTok accounts for more content. 

• 10:00-10:30 Pitt Pat Narduzzi MJ Devonshire, Matt Goncalves, Phil Jurkovec
• 11:00-11:30 Duke Mike Elko DeWayne Carter, Riley Leonard, Jacob Monk
• 12:45-1:15 Virginia Tech Brent Pry Josh Fuga, Nick Gallo, Ali Jennings
• 1:30-2:00 Florida State Mike Norvell Kalen DeLoach, Jordan Travis, Jared Verse
• 2:30-3:00 Virginia Tony Elliott Chico Bennett, Perris Jones, Tony Musket

Pitt

Pat Narduzzi

Q. Kind of a big picture NIL question, have you gotten a sense of is there an advantage to your program being in a major city as opposed to maybe other schools in the ACC that could be in a smaller footprint? Do you have a gauge of that at all?

PAT NARDUZZI: Good morning, Mike. Any time you are in a larger metropolitan city like Pittsburgh you're going to have those advantages. It takes time to build those advantages as well. Our athletic department is working hard to just increase what's happening there as well as our collective.

Q. How are you doing this morning, Coach? As the last ACC champs ever at the moment from the Coastal, how do you feel when you hear people say, like, oh, now that there are no more divisions, it's going to be a little bit tougher on Coastal teams? How do you feel about that type of talk?

PAT NARDUZZI: I totally disagree with it. I appreciate you mentioning that championship. My man MJ has his ring on today. Show that ring, MJ. He has that championship ring on this morning. Nobody reminded me to bring my ring today.

I think it has nothing to do with it. I think back in '21 when we went to the championship game and beat Wake Forest, you beat the reigning champion in Clemson at home. You took care of business.

When you are in the Atlantic or in the Coastal Division, pretty much you have to beat Clemson to get there, correct? To me we did that and won the championship, so to me that makes it even sweeter.

Q. As far as the transfer portal goes, the ability to go anywhere and not have to sit out, especially within conference, you have obviously taken advantage of that. What do you think about the new rules and how you can find somebody going up against you and then have an opportunity to have them work for you the next season?

PAT NARDUZZI: Again, we tried not to make a living in the portal. I want to recruit high school football players. I think we've got some 21 or 22 committed to us for the '24 class. You go off of need, and if someone ends up leaving your program, you're able to supplement it with an older guy.

I think the rules are good. I think the portal window hopefully will shrink a little bit as far as figuring out -- 90% of the kids go in the portal the first five, seven days anyway. Let's shorten the windows and move on.

M.J. Devonshire

Q. So you not only had the pick six against West Virginia in The Backyard Brawl, but you also intercepted the pass that sealed the game in the bowl game against UCLA. Where does that knack for making big plays come from, and how is that something that, you know, in that moment of truth a lot of people panic, a lot of people might have dropped that pick, might not have returned it for six. How does that come about in you? Where does that come from?

MJ DEVONSHIRE: Honestly growing up as a kid, I was competitive. I started playing video games with my dad, and he would beat me all the time, and it would come down, and I would get closer to & closer to beating him, and I would just fold on the video games.

Then it carried over into real life. I'm going to finish these games. From there once I finally beat my dad, it's like I finally made it. I can be clutch.

Then getting on the field it's just the same way. Staying calm and staying collected. When in that moment comes, you get your opportunity. You have to make a play.

Q. I know you had the chance to go against Phil in high school in some seven-on-sevens. What's it like competing against him now compared to the first time you got to compete against him back in high school?

MJ DEVONSHIRE: My first time competing against Phil, I was kinda star-struck. He was tall and big, and I was a young guy. I was a sophomore. I was, like, wow, this is what a D1 football prayer are looks like, and he set an example for me.

Seeing the way he walked around, the confidence he had on the field, the way he carried himself and the way he believed in himself, it was like that's where I want to be.

Now getting to play against him, it's like I get to be on the same team as him. We get to work. We compete with each other. It's a great thing.

Every day I walk on the field, I'm like, I get to go against Phil. We talk about it with my friends. Me and him still talk about memories praying each other in basketball, playing each other on seven-on-seven. It was a great feeling competing against him.

Q. The history of Pitt Panthers' defense has been huge. Just what does it mean to you to be a part of that growing history right now and if you reflect back on some of the guys that came before you and are now playing in the NFL?

MJ DEVONSHIRE: Great. The best part about that before I answer your question is that those guys, they help us. They call. They come back, and they teach us. Especially in the secondary. So many guys playing in the NFL, they come could back and help you.

So being in a storied secondary, you get to learn things from people who have been playing at the next level and have accomplished some of the greatest things in football that you can't get in other places sometimes.

So being able to just meet those guys and talk to them and be coached by some of the best coaches in the country is always a great thing.

Matt Goncalves

Q. Matt, Coach Narduzzi talked about the ACC championship and the rings and all that earlier, but you've had one of the most storied careers in the history of this program in terms of, you know, you have blocked for a Heisman finalist in Kenny Pickett, started for that. You led an offensive line that had an ACC-leading rusher in Israel Abanikanda. You've been named All Conference and Freshman All American and all those good things. What keeps that motivation to get better? What puts that fire in your belly to say, I'm not going to rest on my laurels despite all the things that you have accomplished so far?

MATT GONCALVES: First off, I've worked very hard to be where I'm at today. It's a great question. I think the guys around me, my teammates keep driving me every day. People in the offensive line room, my coaches, Coach Narduzzi, and my family too told me to never give up. I never gave up, and I never back down.

That's where I'm at today, and I'm happy with it and still going to keep going no matter what.

Q. Kind of going off of that (off microphone) --

MATT GONCALVES: First starting off with No. 8, Kenny Pickett, the way he led our team in 2021, set the standard for the University of Pittsburgh.

Now coming on with Phil he has done a great job this spring and firing up the huddle and being there for all the guys and stuff like that. I mean, just the leadership that we have every year and the culture that we bring in with our players, it's outstanding. It all starts with Coach Narduzzi, and the standard that we set.

THE MODERATOR: From the podium asking the question. The relationship with the offensive line, is that different, that relationship different than other units at Pitt?

MATT GONCALVES: Yeah, I think it is. Everybody has their own unit, and I think it's special what we have in the offensive line. We're all a bunch of brothers.

I think it's really close. It's a big group of guys. Every day we get down to the grindstone, whether it's making sure we're on top of each other and watching film, correcting each other, critiquing each other.

I think it's a little bit different than other position groups as far as technique and different things like that, but I think we get the job done.

Q. I know you're a New York guy. You play Syracuse at Yankee Stadium. You're a big Yankees fan. How excited are you to play in that game in November?

MATT GONCALVES: I'm very excited. I have been a Yankees fan as far as I can remember. My dad bringing me to Yankee Stadium when I was younger seeing Derek Jeter, A-Rod and all those guys. I'm very excited to step on the field and just take in the moment.

My family, my friends are all going to be there, and I cannot wait for the 3:30 kickoff in New York. Can't wait.

Phil Jurkovec

Q. In terms of some of the things that you did at Boston College, your best career game came against Pitt. In terms of the only game that you had over 300 yards, over three touchdowns, and no interceptions, so some people would assume that you would have a lot of success against this defense, so how has that been in practice so far? Have you been that hot in practice so far?

PHIL JURKOVEC: I don't know. You have to ask MJ. No, we've had success.

It's a great defense. It's a hard defense to play. They have a different style, but Coach Cignetti and the offensive staff have us ready to go against them. We're looking forward to camp. It's going to be really competitive.

Q. Just can I get your thoughts on the game being played at Yankee Stadium in November?

PHIL JURKOVEC: It's going to be awesome. I've been to Yankee Stadium before, but being able to play on that field, it's legendary just thinking of all the great players that have been there in baseball and football, I guess.

Yeah, we can't wait for that one.

Q. What was it about Pitt that you felt was worth transferring for? I know you talk about coming back home, but what is it about this team that just felt like that's the last ride you want to take in college?

PHIL JURKOVEC: Yeah, it's really an amazing opportunity looking at it. It's wild. It was shocking how it's been able to work out. I'm so grateful to everybody, Coach Narduzzi, all the coaches for giving me the opportunity to represent Pittsburgh.

I think that's the biggest thing. I'm from Pittsburgh. I have so many family and friends from the area. I just want to have a great year for them.

Q. Phil, you kind of got the six degrees of separation. You worked with Frank Cignetti back at BC. A couple of other quarterbacks like that. Tyler Buchner, he is now with Alabama with Tommy Rees and then Brennan Armstrong is with Robert Anae. Talk about having that relationship. Of course, you're back home, but also having a face that you recognize. How has that experience been?

PHIL JURKOVEC: It's huge, and it had a lot to do with transferring. Being in the system for a couple of years, I know the offensive system that Coach Cignetti has, so I'm comfortable with it. I know the type of person he is. You can trust him. He is a really good coach. We're looking forward to a great year.

Duke

Mike Elko

Q. You guys return nine starters on offense, eight defensively. I want to know what are you trying to build at Duke as far as the culture, one of the best turnarounds in the ACC going from 0-8 to 5-3 in record play. A lot of games were close, one play here or there. What do you want to build at Duke university as far as culture?

MIKE ELKO: I think one of the biggest things we talk about in our program is our culture. I think last year was a testament that culture can win and turn things around really quick.

I think we have a lot of guys that have a lot of love for each other in that locker room. They enjoy playing together. They enjoy being around each other. That's maybe one of the things that doesn't get calculated when we do a lot of the preseason predictions, and I think that was one of the things last year that we knew we had.

We didn't know exactly what that would look like going into the season, but I think it played out really well.

Then obviously having a lot of returning starters and really excited for what this program is and how we can elevate it in year two and hopefully go out there and put an even better product on the field this fall.

Q. In that time period of coming into this team and seeing that change in a positive direction, what are some of the pillars that you came in and tried to build in your foundation and your culture that you saw had an immediate affect on this team to have success so quickly?

MIKE ELKO: Yeah, I think one of the things that we built really quick and we talked about it, we built this acronym "GRIND." Within that there were a couple of things that we thought were really important.

One was "grit." I think for us at Duke to be successful, we've got to be mentally tough. We've got to be able to overcome. We've got to be able to overachieve. That's something that's really important.

One of the other ones that's in there is "relentless effort." I think we felt like as a program maybe we had gotten away from that a little bit in recent times. That was something that we wanted to get back to. That we were just going to go out there and exhaust ourselves for each other and for this university.

I think those are some things that are intangibles, right? If it you can build some really strong intangibles, then you can take the talent you have and allow it to shine. Those were some of the things that we were able to build through our offseason program, through our summer development and I think in year two those things are even stronger.

Q. You had a nine-win season, which was the seventh in Duke program history. I believe first time a first-year head coach has ever done that at Duke. The only first-time head coach to have a better winning percentage in their first season than you was the person the stadium is named after, Wallace Wade. How do you build on that momentum going into year two?

MIKE ELKO: I think you just talk about elevating our product. I think one of the things that we even see when we look back, we had a lot of success last year. We had a lot of positive results, but when you really look at the details, there's still a lot of areas we can get better. There really are.

First time as a head coach, first time in a system, first time building our program, there's a lot of things that we feel like we can get better at and we can do better. So that was the emphasis.

Everything this offseason has just been about elevation, and we didn't come in to have one good season. We didn't come in to have one positive moment and then kind of let it all go away. We wanted to build a program. That goes over time. We know for us to be the program we want and to get the respect that we really want, this is something that has to happen year in and year out. We've got to be successful year in and year out. I don't think we're there yet.

We had a big offseason. I think we worked really hard this offseason. We're really excited for fall camp and look forward to go out there this fall and showing that hopefully we're a program that can sustain this level of success.

Q. What were the key on-the-field components last season that led to the reversal? Was it the turnaround in turnover margin or the exponential defense improvement that were key in your mind?

MIKE ELKO: Yeah, I think on the field I would point to probably two:

I think one was turnover margin. We had gone from one of the worst turnover teams in the country to the second best turnover margin in the nation, and we did a really good job of forcing them and we did a really good job of protecting the football. So when you look at how do you flip wins and losses, that's obviously the biggest indicator of success is how you do in the turnover margin.

That I think strategically was one of the really big things that played in our favor.

And I think we got stronger. The way that we were able to run the football, and the way that we were able to stop the run I think allowed us to control game flow significantly better. I think those two things played hand in hand because we weren't chasing games, we weren't getting behind early, we weren't having to force the issue, which I think allowed us to protect the football a lot more. Maybe forced other teams to try to throw the football or expose the football a little bit more. I think all of those things played hand in hand in last year.

DeWayne Carter

Q. DeWayne, you had five and a half sacks last year, but there was a direct correlation in that the team was 4-1 when you had half a sack or more last year in games. Can you talk about how your ability to kind of condense the pocket and create pressure from up the middle has a positive effect on defense and thusly, the team overall?

DeWAYNE CARTER: Yeah, first, that's pretty cool. I never knew that, so thank you for the fact.

I think it results in coaching. A lot of my game, God blessed me the ability to play at a high level. I think we're a very smart football team. A lot of my production, I feel like, comes from my football intelligence. And knowing this team, knowing what's coming, and that's just a tribute to our coaching staff preparing us day in and day out or week in and week out for each game.

Q. As a returning two-year starter at defensive tackle and team captain, how do you plan to use your experience and leadership to anchor the defense and guide the team to success in the upcoming season?

DeWAYNE CARTER: First, thank you. Great question. For me personally I feel like my leadership style is not a one size fits all. I'm a leader who likes to get to know the team individually one by one. I try to know everybody's name before camp, which is very hard if you know anything about 100-roster football team.

I also like just knowing what the team needs, being able to feed off their energy. That just stems from me actually knowing the players on a personal level, knowing what every person needs. Everybody can't be yelled at the same. Everybody can't take yelled at. You have to have conversations with different people. You have to take them on the side.

So many different factors play into leadership, and I've been blessed to be able to learn and grow in the leadership role the past couple of years.

Q. Can you just speak on just how have you been able to keep the team and yourself humble, blocking out the outside noise? You have a step-up in conversation. Clemson, Florida State, NC State, Notre Dame, the works basically. How have you been able to stay humble and keep yourself relaxed blocking out the outside noise?

DeWAYNE CARTER: 100%. First, you know we acknowledge our success and celebrate our success after the bowl game. I think it was however long we had before we came back to winter workouts, but that first day back it was a whole new season.

Our coaching staff and the strength staff certainly did not let us forget that we have to remember where we started from, right? When you are building something, you have to start at the foundation.

We had to build that same foundation that we built last year, and obviously an even better one to take that next step. The coolest part about it is our coaches do not let us get complacent. We don't really reference last year.

Of course, we watch film to get better from last year, but as far as last year goes, that's in the past, and we're focused on week one.

Riley Leonard

Q. Just wanted to ask you about your "you suck" bracelet. I know we talked about that with you at spring practice. Now that you get more recognition and praise from the outside media, how do you make sure says that you keep that chip on your shoulder?

RILEY LEONARD: For those of you that don't know, my whole life I've kind of been gotten a lot of praise. So I wanted my mom -- I went to my mom one day and said, hey, someone has to bash me and tell me I suck to give me motivation. She's, like, shoot, I'll do it.

Ever since then before every game she calls me, she texted me last night, "Hey, don't suck at these interviews," things like that. It just gives me some motivation.

Obviously people with just now starting to learn about that, but that's been happening for a long time ever since high school. Yeah, it's a pretty funny tradition we have going.

Q. Can you just tell me what makes Jalon Calhoun such a good receiver, how your chemistry is with him and what his skill set is that maybe separates him?

RILEY LEONARD: Two things: Number one, Coach Elko said, he just gets open. He is a great route runner. He is very sharp.

Number two, the thing that really makes him special is he is always asking me questions. We're always watching film together. It takes a lot for a player at that caliber to go to somebody else and say, hey, how can I get better? How can I do this? How can I do that? Whenever we're watching film together, we go through every single route, and he is constantly -- we're asking each other and feeding off each other.

It's not, hey, this is what I'm going to do, and I'm not, hey, this is the route I want you to run. We're constantly just feeding off each other and adapting to whoever -- whichever team we're playing.

Q. Being recognized as a preseason All-ACC selection by multiple publications is an amazing accomplishment. What do you believe sets you apart as a quarterback, and how would those strengths contribute to Duke's success this year?

RILEY LEONARD: My personal success, you know, obviously it's a great honor to get that All-ACC, however, my success comes from the team success.

As a quarterback, I can't do anything without the ten guys around me. If everybody is not on the same exact page, if my center over here is not making the right calls to protect me, I have no success in this league.

That ACC award was great, but there's a lot greater things that can come.

As far as my game goes, I think there's so much more that I can get better at. One thing I've been trying to do is just study NFL quarterbacks. There are intangible things. How do they approach the line of scrimmage? How do they respond after a turnover on the sideline? How are they preparing with the offensive linemen? How are they watching film with the receivers? It's those sort of things that I've really tried to step up this offseason. I'm looking forward to getting out on that field and competing with those guys.

Jacob Monk

Q. Between yourself and Graham Barton, this is supposed to be one of the best offensive line units coming back in the nation in terms of experience, in terms of you playing every position, tackle, guard, and center, starting ten games or more at all of them. How do you handle those expectations, and what are you looking forward to in terms of this offensive line taking a step forward in this new season?

JACOB MONK: Just going to work each and every day. That's the only thing that we can do. That's the only thing that we know how to do.

We're built on being tough, physical, and just playing hard. Each and every day just go to work, keep our head down and really believe in ourselves.

THE MODERATOR: From the podium. You played just about every position on the offensive line. Does it help you at center understand what everybody else is doing because you have been in those positions?

JACOB MONK: Definitely. Especially like being out at tackle and having to look and see at the safety tilt. That's definitely easier to understand from being on the outside and going to center and looking at that.

Just making a lot of calls that benefit the tackle and guards is something that has helped me at center I would say.

Q. Can you just speak on what do you think are the pros and cons of having the NIL for college athletes?

JACOB MONK: Pros, I would say athletes are getting paid. It's something that I feel like should be done.

Cons, I don't really know I would say. Maybe some regulations towards it, but I don't really know.

Q. Talk about your relationship with your father as he played the Duke and what role has he played in your career?

JACOB MONK: Anyone that's been to a Duke game has definitely seen my father in the stands. The most excited person in the stands and on the field, I would say.

I mean, I love that man to death. I love him and my mother, both behind the scenes doing everything for me.

He is my greatest motivator. Sends me texts every morning saying, you know, "Go to work, you're good, you got this, keep going, keep grinding," just do what I need to do to move forward each and every day.

Virginia Tech

Brent Pry

Q. Defensively you obviously returned strong players in the secondary. How do you feel about the growth on that side of the ball and what that unit can do for you?

BRENT PRY: I want to get to your question obviously, particularly about defensive personnel. Very comfortable there. I first want to mention we had a tough loss in our Hokie family the last couple of days. We lost our assistant tennis coach. A young man, 36 years old. Wife, 5-year-old. As everyone knows, we're a close group in Blacksburg. So I want to send prayers and condolences to the Sayer family and Coach Thompson and our tennis program before we move forward.

Defensively we lost a couple of leaders obviously with Chamarri and Dax, but I really like the speed and athleticism that returns on that side of the ball. We got a fast group. Coach Marve has them racing to the football.

We've really honed in on our fundamentals and techniques. We've got a good plan to create more explosives through personnel, through scheme, maximizing what we do well.

Q. So Virginia Tech heads into the season with 35 new scholarship players. Almost 41% of the roster. How have you structured this offseason to emphasize trust and chemistry amongst a team that has a ton of newcomers?

BRENT PRY: This is the most important thing to me before the portal, before name, image, and likeness. Our culture was going to be the foundation of who we became as a football team.

So protecting that, that's about relationships and trust and hard conversations. That's how we're building this thing, and that's just another area that we have to be great in.

We've got to be open and honest. We have to work through it. Bringing older guys in, transfers in, like Ali, the first thing that happens is they have to be right for us regardless of the talent.

Secondly, we have to know everything about them that we can. We have to do our homework. You spend two, three, four years recruiting a high school player. You're going to spend two, three weeks sometimes recruiting a transfer player.

So the more we can know about a guy, like Ali, his background, we knew a ton about him, a ton of people that know him. Guys on our team that knew Ali. There was less risk. We knew a lot that made us feel good that he would be in that locker room and be what we need him to be and would be like-minded, as well as the talent we needed to impact our roster.

It's not easy. It takes a lot of diligence, a lot of research, a lot of homework making sure we bring in the right guys.

Q. Obviously for a head coach in this collegiate climate you have NIL, you have the transfer portal, all these things going on that cause you to re-recruit your players while you're bringing them in and then year one, year two, year three, and so on and so forth. Being new to Virginia Tech in the sense of this past season, as well as everything else going on in college athletics, how do you balance all of that?

BRENT PRY: Honestly it's still about doing what's right for our kids, our staff, and our program, our university.

It's about what we believe in. I wasn't going to take the opportunity at Virginia Tech without the platform to do it the way we know it needs to be done at Tech.

A shared vision from our president, Dr. Sands, to Whit Babcock. The support has been phenomenal to do this thing the right way, the way it needs to be done at Virginia Tech, what's right for us.

So there's a lot of things that can send you on a detour, but we're going to do things the right way. We're not cutting corners. That gives us the pathway.

We try and eliminate the gray. There's too much nonsense going on in college football in our game. We want to be forthright with our players. We want to be forthright with our staff. We've got a platform to do that at Virginia Tech. So I'm thankful and appreciative of the atmosphere that exists where we can do this thing the right way because it is challenging right now.

But we've got good people. It goes back to bringing in the right staff and the right players that want to be at Virginia Tech for the right reasons. That has to come first. We want to be competitive in NIL. We want to eliminate guys going to the transfer portal, but in the end it's about first and foremost, do you want to be at Tech? It has to be the environment that they're looking for.

We don't song and dance guys to come to Tech. We do the very best job we can to have them understand what this experience would look like. If it's for them, that's awesome. That's great. If it's not, I would rather know you now than in a year when they want to hit the portal.

So we're going to get the right guys. If we do our homework and we recruit the heck out of a young man and his family, whether he is a transfer, at high school, and they choose to go somewhere else, I'm okay with that.

When a young man, particularly from the state of Virginia chooses another school and we didn't invest the time necessary and maybe they don't fully understand the experience or they're choosing not to come to Tech for a reason that's maybe not true or valid, I have a problem with that.

So that's why it's important to us. Ninth grade, eighth grade, let's build relationships. Let's make sure this family knows what we're all about. In the end we'll take the chips where they lay.

Q. You talk a lot about relationships and having the right staff and all that. Coach Price has been one of the hottest assistants in college football for a few years now, and he is still with this team. Can you tell me what it means to have a coach like him that is Virginia Tech through and through and that has meant so much to the program, and how you retain a guy like that that people are always probably clawing at or calling his agent trying to put in a word with?

BRENT PRY: Yeah, Coach Price is a great asset to our staff and to our program. Coach Price, and his wife. She's in the Hall of Fame at Virginia Tech. JC was An All-American when he was coaching at Virginia Tech the first time. You talk about a guy, if you cut his veins open, you got maroon and orange coming out of that dude.

For years JC and I were buddies after leaving Virginia Tech just watching him come up through the coaching ranks and all his time at Marshall.

I talked to James Franklin many time about JC and trying to get him involved at Penn State. We're very fortunate to have JC. He's a Hokie through and through. He does a great job with our defensive line as Josh Fuga will attest to. He is an asset in every way in what we're doing.

Like myself and some others on our staff, he has been part of championships at Virginia Tech. He knows what it looks like.

Q. I wanted to ask in terms of the offense, last year obviously a lack of playmakers. You've addressed some of that in the transfer portal. What is the vision for the offense, and how confident are you that that unit will be more productive?

BRENT PRY: I think first and foremost, just another year for Tyler Bowen as a playcaller. I know what it's like when it's year one, and there's growing pains.

I think it was probably a little more challenging because he wasn't in that room down the stretch. He spent a little more time with Coach Glenn and the quarterbacks, but moving in there full-time has been a real asset. He has been the right thing for us. The right thing for Grant, for Kyron, for the young quarterbacks.

At the same time we had to go out and get some explosive playmakers, and we did that. Three guys in that wide receiver room, with Ali being one of them, a tailback. We just did some things that were necessary to allow us to have a better opportunity to create big plays.

So schematically we're really working hard at our tempo, at our formations. How can we be simple for our guys in what we do but challenging to defenses? To me that's always a sign of good coaching, either side of the ball.

But we've got some good things we worked on all offseason. Again, you talk about explosive plays, but to me it really starts with our run game. We couldn't run the ball last year, and that hurts the ability to throw the ball, hurts the ability to protect. A lot of things. It hurts your defense.

So it starts there, and we've had some improvement there as well.

Nick Gallo

Q. You heard Coach talking about hopes for improvement offensively. What is your outlook for what that unit can look like?

NICK GALLO: I think we were definitely pretty disappointed with how we played last year, and I think kind of the first thing that we addressed was all the mistakes we were kind of making, putting ourselves in bad situations.

So one of the fundamentals we talk about is details. Offensively we've been really dialed in on the details all offseason. Like Coach Pry mentioned, we have a lot of great transfers in the portal. Playmakers there.

They're really talented, but more important than that they're all great culture guys. They hopped right in and were asking every weekend to throw routes, catch routes, all these things, so they fit right in.

Then I think experienced guys coming back, settling into the second year of Coach Bowen's offense, I think it's all going to pay off.

Q. Nick, we talked about the transfer portal. We've talked about Ali and all the weapons that are being brought in, but in terms of returners, you're the leading receiver of all the pass catchers on the team from last year. Has that kind of forced you into a leadership role and knowing what the culture at Virginia Tech is at a higher level perhaps than some of the transfers and whatnot? Have you kind of had to be forced into or have you stepped into a leadership role because of that pretty much?

NICK GALLO: Yeah. I wouldn't use the word "forced," but I would definitely say I stepped into it.

Just being at Tech for -- this will be my fifth season coming up, being able to bring those guys along and then being in the second year of Coach Bowen's offense.

There are a couple of us, Kaden Moore, Parker Clements, all these guys that can kind of really tell guys what we're looking for and the expectation we expect.

Q. You spoke about it going into year number five. You've seen so many different things over these last few years with Virginia Tech Hokies. What has Coach done culture-wise that you feel is going to take what we saw last season in the win-loss column and start to translate some of those things?

NICK GALLO: Yeah, Coach talks about our fundamentals all the time. I think this offseason especially with us not being satisfied with the season we had last year, really honing in on the competition aspect this offseason, winter, summer, spring. Every single rep is being charted, win or loss.

I think flipping that mindset to competing and going out and winning is really going to benefit us.

Ali Jennings

Q. Ali, we talked about the impact that you're expected to have here and the weapon that you are. We've all heard the phrase, if you can't beat them, join them, but in the game that you played with ODU against Virginia Tech last year, you went off for five receptions, 122 yards. What was it about Virginia Tech that made you say after that, hey, this is something I want to be a part of, and I want to be on this side of this game and doing things in the maroon and orange?

ALI JENNINGS: First off, I want to say I'm sorry to my coach and my teammates now about that last year (laughter), but it was really my visit. It was the first visit I took when I entered the portal and just getting around a few of the players, getting around the support staff and the coaches, and the environment, it was just addictive.

When you walk in the facility and everybody is greeting you and you see how high energy everyone is and how much everyone enjoys being around each other, it just hooked me. That was one of the big things I wanted to go to when I chose my new school.

When I was there, I was, like, I don't want to leave this place, and it was close to home for my family to come see my games. So that was definitely big for me.

Q. Coach spoke on the relationships of this team, and he spoke about he wants you to want to be here. What can you say about the overall continuity of this team and you coming in with this?

ALI JENNINGS: It's funny. I was just talking to Coach Pry about this last night over dinner. As most of you know, I've been a few places, but this environment here, it's the most tight-knit, family-oriented place I've been. You see guys coming in every day, staying long hours even after the mandatory meetings and workouts are done, doing whatever they can to help better each other, better themselves, and the team.

It's just something that you see a part of the culture that's, like, man, I see the trend that we're going in. I'm liking it, and I want to be a part of it.

Everybody loves being around each other. Everybody is having fun together. Everybody is working hard together. Everybody is bringing each other along, so I can't wait to see how everything works out for us this season.

Q. Kind of going off of that, just what you see brewing for this offense this season at Virginia Tech?

ALI JENNINGS: I see it being a fun year watching us this year. I like everything that Coach Bowen is about. He is aggressive. He is very smart. Like just talking to him about different concepts and how he wants us to play and things that he sees for us. It's going to be exciting to be in it, and hopefully we make it exciting for everyone to watch because we have a lot of good players, returning players and new guys.

The receiver room is insane. This is the deepest receiver room I've ever been in. It's going to be fun, and it's going to be -- I feel like it's going to be pretty hard to stop us.

Q. You started off last season on an absolute tear. It wasn't just Virginia Tech, so I know he apologized to you all, but you came through the first five games with nearly 700 yards and six touchdowns. Later on in the season we know you were hobbled a little bit and the injury bug kind of bit you at the end there, but how are you feeling now in terms of how to continue that going through all of next season what does that look like? The second part to that is there a significance to the number zero for you?

ALI JENNINGS: For the first question I am feeling amazing. I am 100% healthy. I'm as strong as I've ever been. I'm the fastest I've ever been. Just the hard work put in this offseason for coming in, rehabilitating, and then getting implemented into the workouts and just going hard every day.

I have my teammates pushing me. I have my coaches pushing me and the training room. I thank you to all my trainers that helped me to rehabilitate and get back to where I was before I got injured.

Now it's time for me to take it to another level and help bring my team along and the receiver room especially. I'm excited about it because this is going to be a good year for us.

What was your second question, again?

Q. The significance of number zero.

ALI JENNINGS: I'm kind of making it a significant thing for me. I got it two and a half years ago. My first year at Old Dominion. I've always wore No. 13. I always wore double digits, and leaving West Virginia and going to ODU was supposed to be like a restart for me, like a full reset without anything on my mind. Just going in and resetting and just starting my career over. Every time you count, you start at zero. I'm just taking that along with me.

Josh Fuga 

Q. What can you tell me about your outlook for the defense, where the unit is strong and maybe where there are some questions that still need to be addressed?

JOSH FUGA: Just like Coach Pry said, very fast, very powerful, very elusive. We are obviously disappointed on our performance as a team last year, so one of the ways of really getting back to how Virginia Tech was, was to be fast, elusive, and powerful. That's something that we are ready for and for everybody to expect from us.

Q. We had a couple of questions about NIL, but I want to talk about you making a difference in the community. You had an opportunity this offseason to impact the southwest Virginia through The Hokie Way with the Life Ring -- excuse me, The Hokie Way and Life Ring to support pediatric cancer and the Boys and Girls Club in the Eastmont Community Foundation. How has that impacted you, and what really led you to pursue something like that?

JOSH FUGA: Oh, man. Just to hear about it and the thought of it blew my mind. My aunt's mom, I call her Grandma Yvonne, she passed away from lung cancer. So just to hear what the Life Ring Foundation was doing and the NIL that's involved with it, I had no -- it was a no-brainer to hop on.

In order to honor my grandmother and to help those children that are in need, I couldn't say no to it. I immediately jumped on board, and I was full throttle. Let's do this, man. Whatever they need, if I have to show up, I'll show up. Whatever, they need something written, I'll write something. Whatever they need, I want those kids and those families to know that I'm standing there with them and they're not alone.

Q. Obviously we know the history of the lunch pail, but you're holding it right now. Just bring me into your connection to it and how you're bringing it into the season?

JOSH FUGA: Yeah. Brought it up here because, you know, it's back. We're back. Virginia Tech is back.

But I'm blessed and fortunate enough to be the bearer of the lunch pail. As I was saying all day, when is Coach Pry and the staff, Coach Marve, they instilled the mindset of the standard is excellence. This lunch pail is the standard of the institution. It's the standard of the program.

It's excellence. So what's in this lunch peal is excellence. Like I said before, I'm more than blessed to be the bearer of it. When everybody sees it, they have nothing but respect for it because they know what it is, they know what went through the history of Virginia Tech, and it's excellence for the standard.

The standard is excellence, and that's what this whole defense and this whole team is trying to uphold, which is excellence all around the ball through all three phases of football.

Q. You are a player that has -- we've talked about Coach Price and all that he is. We see Coach Pry's personality popping through here. What's it like to have coaches who not only have played your position, but that have coached your position, and have the personalities that they do because, you know, we know that defensive line coaches aren't necessarily known for that. What does that feel like for you?

JOSH FUGA: It feels amazing. Just how Ali alluded to it, when you walk in the building, man, it's nothing but good vibes. I'm a family-oriented guy, and Coach Pry and the whole staff have done a phenomenal job since they got here of making that the vibe. That this is a family place.

You can have hard conversations, and there's nothing -- there's no emotions to it. It's a hard conversation. You have to be able to have a hard conversation, but then also, you can also sit back and talk whatever about anything. You can laugh, joke with anybody in that building, and it means a lot. You don't want to be uptight every day like, oh, man, I got to do this, I got to do that.

No, you want to be loose, have fun a little bit, and then when it's time to go, it's time to go.

Florida State 

Mike Norvell

Q. What excites you about this particular roster, and what should Florida State fans expect from Florida State football team this year?

MIKE NORVELL: There's so much to expect and excite you about the team that I get to coach. It's the individuals. It's the journeys that they've all been on. Whether guys were there when we first came in the door, the great players we've been able to attract into the program and just seeing the work they put in.

That's what we talk a lot as a football team. It's always about the work. To see guys that embrace the challenge, they truly care about who they get to do it with and what they get to represent. It provides a great deal of excitement for the season that's ahead and obviously the experiences that we're going to get to go through.

This is a team that cares. They care a lot about what they represent, being a Florida State Seminole, and I appreciate them for that. Excited to kick off this season.

Q. The ACC is a particularly strong conference when it comes to quarterback play. What sets Jordan Travis apart from any of the other excellent quarterbacks in the conference?

MIKE NORVELL: Jordan is a special player. I think the greatest quality, I mean, you sit there and you watch all the things he can do on the field. His accuracy, the way he throws the ball vertically down the field, the decision he makes. Obviously Lord has blessed him with some great talent and being evasive and extending plays.

It's his heart. The heart that he has, how much he cares about his teammates. He has a humble spirit about himself, and then he shows up to work to make others better.

When you have that trait at your quarterback position, he is what I want Florida State to look like. Just the experiences he has had to go through, some of the great success and some of the challenges that he's had to overcome working through a college career. He's a special person.

When it comes to all the great quarterbacks within this league, I mean, they all have probably wonderful traits. I've got a special, special player and special person that's leading our team.

Q. I'm wondering, how has Fentrell Cypress fit in with your program since arriving from Virginia?

MIKE NORVELL: He has been remarkable. Fentrell, from the first day he's gotten here, once again, it's been about the work. Not just on the field, but building a relationship with his teammates, coming in and learning things that we do schematically.

He's just a wonderful young man, a wonderful representative of our program. Going through spring practice, you just saw the way that he was able to transition, and every day he worked to get better, to be more confident in the calls, more confident in the communication. Really took some great steps as spring progressed.

You see that confidence that's really emerged throughout the course of the summer work. He's in remarkable shape. He has done a great job with his physical development. He has put on great weight. I think he has a chance to be a really special player in our defensive back field.

We've all got to see him and have seen him play in ACC contests and play at a very high level, and I think he's about to take his game to a whole other level here in Tallahassee.

Q. Every game with Florida State there's always going to be a lot of hype around it and a lot of buzz around the team. How do you turn that hype into focusing on the field from your players?

MIKE NORVELL: Well, it's exciting to be a football player at FSU. There comes great expectations. There comes great excitement. There's nothing like running through the tunnel going out there at Doak Campbell Stadium.

It's about what we do. It's about the work that we put in and how we prepare and then it's maximizing every play.

You never know which play in the game has a chance to be the one or the one that flips the momentum or the one that is going to be looked back upon. So you have to approach all of them the same way.

We try to emphasize that throughout the course of our offseason and our training and in our spring and fall camps. Those are the lessons that you have to prepare yourself for.

You look back a season ago, and we took some great steps as a team. We had some really positive experiences, and we had some games where we came up short for a variety of different reasons. To be able to learn from those, you've got to be able to pour all that you have into it.

I want energy. I want passion. I want intensity. But I want focus. For these guys to go play up to the ability and the potential that they have, I mean, it takes it all. I think our guys embrace that.

Q. I'm actually going to pivot on my original question because I saw you can't see it now, but you have the Bobby Bowden logo on the tie. Can you just speak to why it's important the relationship that you have with him? You have developed the team-high GPA Seminole Scholar Program, the off-the-fieldwork you see with Jordan and Dillan Gibbons last year. Speak about why it's important to you to build this program the right way, the way it was built originally?

MIKE NORVELL: Because that is the standard at Florida State. We had the greatest example I think in collegiate football history of being able to sustain success.

What Coach Bowden and that staff and those great teams, what they were able to accomplish, there were tremendous players on the field, but it was also the standard and expectations for who they were developing and growing to be off the field.

I've got a great responsibility leading this program. I was fortunate to be able to meet Coach Bowden within those first couple of months of getting the job. I'll never forget sitting down with him at my desk in that office. I remember him telling me, be true to who you are, and you continue to make an impact on those young men helping them to where they're going.

That's a daily challenge, and I owe it to him. I owe it to his legacy to make sure we're doing this a certain way because I fully believe success is coming.

We took some positive steps last year. We had our 25th ten-win season. A lot of great things. When we achieve it, I want to be able to sustain it, and it's because of who we get to coach and what we represent being a Seminole and Coach Bowden was a special man, a special leader, and he had some incredible teams that he got to be a part of impacting those players' lives, and that still carries on today with those individuals and obviously in his legacy.

Kalen DeLoach

Q. You come from a very talented family. Your brother plays basketball at Georgia. Your sister was a track star at Ohio State. You're obviously a starting linebacker at Florida State. I'm sure it comes up at the Thanksgiving table, who is the best athlete in the family?

KALEN DeLOACH: You know I'm going to say me because I feel lying like I can play all three. I feel like I can play basketball and run track. I'm definitely going with me.

Q. Just what can you say about the tutelage of Randy Shannon, what you have taken away from his leadership?

KALEN DeLOACH: Coach Shannon has put a lot into our linebacker room. With me and Tatum being the older heads, he has given us gems that we are able to use in the game.

Just taking technique and fundamentals and just applying it to the field. You know, he helps us out out in the film room, whether it's based off running back alignments or off of the route concept and based off of formations. I feel like he has helped us develop the mindset and knowledge that we have right now.

Q. When people talk about great defenses, they say you need to be great it at all three levels. You need to have ballers at all three levels. Florida State is presumed to have that with Jared Verse up there, with yourself, with Fentrell Cypress and having one of the best cornerback duos potentially in the nation. Can you speak to what the top end or the leaders or the star power of this defense is going to mean for this team this year?

KALEN DeLOACH: I would say it's going to mean a lot. As leaders we are the voice of the defense. We have to make sure everybody is on the right page and we're going to be on the same page.

I feel like we're on the same page. We're going to get to work together and compete with each other on and off the field. We're going to push each other to be the best each and every day. Whether it's indy drills or meetings. We're going to make sure we get that work in. Just to have those people that are up front and in the back end that I can rely on like if something happened, I'm definitely counting on them.

THE MODERATOR: A follow-up from the podium. You say that you're the voice of the defense. How is it that you use that voice? What is your leadership style to make sure everybody is coming along?

KALEN DeLOACH: I'm a guy that I like to meet everybody. Doing fall camp, I'm in on the ping pong table with the specialists. Just so I can get that difference of where they come from.

My leadership, I'm more so when I need to meet everybody, so I can find my approach and way of how I'm going to be able to talk to them in a certain moment because everybody is different. You got to be able to understand everybody's background and where they come from because, like I say, everybody is different.

Jordan Travis

Q. Coach earlier stated that there is so much to be excited for this season, but there is always room for improvement. What are you most excited for for the season, and what areas of improvement are hoping to progress upon?

JORDAN TRAVIS: First, I would say the leadership. Leadership is everything for me. Trying to grow every year and every day just to be the best teammate I can be for my teammates.

I just want to keep growing as a leader and obviously keep putting weight on. I feel like I'm at a good size right now. But yeah, I can't wait for the season just to get out there and compete against somebody else other than your teammates.

Every time I get to run out in Doak Campbell Stadium, that in itself is a dream come true. I'm so blessed.

Q. I'm wondering, what makes Johnny Wilson such a good target to throw to? Is it the size? Is it the speed? The combination? Ability to get open? How do you kind of sum that up?

JORDAN TRAVIS: He is 6'7" and can jump pretty good. It's kind of like a cheat code. It's like a created player on Madden. I would say that.

I'm so glad he's on my team. It makes my job a lot easier. Outside of football Johnny is a tremendous person. Just the way he carries himself every single day is one of a kind. He always has a smile on his face. Not everything is always going good. You know what I mean? It's life. Not everything is always going good, but no matter what he always has a smile, and he is the same person every day.

Q. Last year was your first full year as quarterback one for Florida State. You were able to go in and play in some really big games, like beating LSU in the Superdome and things like that. Going into a year where there's a lot of expectations for not just Florida State, but yourself, how do you feel those experiences last year better prepare you for a season with those lofty expectations?

JORDAN TRAVIS: Yeah. We always have to keep the main thing the main thing. I always talk about that.

There's a lot of expectations, but it's one thing when you get on the field. All those expectations disappear when the ball is kicked off.

We just have to keep the main thing the main thing and go out and give everything we have every single day. I mean, last year there was a lot of learning experiences, a lot of ups and downs throughout the year. I always look back on the NC State game. That game helped change me as a man and change me as a person and a player.

It made me a lot tougher, and I've learned a lot from that. Yeah, man, you have to take these experiences and turn them all into positives.

Jared Verse

JARED VERSE: How are you all doing?

THE MODERATOR: The first one to address the crowd before the crowd addressed him. Well done.

Q. Obviously it was a huge decision for you to come back this year. Very pivotal for this defensive line. Florida State has had a run of very successful defensive ends in recent history. Also Patrick Payton coming up right behind you where, can you just talk about some of the things that led you into that decision to come back and what are some goals you're hoping personally and as a team to accomplish with this extra season at Florida State?

JARED VERSE: One of the biggest factors in coming back was probably seeing all these other guys come back. Like these two guys right here came back. Coaching staff was back. Fabien Lovett came back. Jarrian Jones came back. All these guys came back. Key players. They just kept telling me, what are you going to do? I had a feeling I was going to come back. I'm not done here yet. I accomplished what I wanted to. I put myself in conversations where I was able to go high up in the draft, but it wasn't what I wanted. We still had a lot more as a team to do.

Team goals, I don't really have any crazy goals. Obviously we want championships. We want to win ACC national championships, but I just want to reach all the full potential as a team because if we do that, the sky is the limit.

Q. You got asked why come back this season, but you've had an interesting road to get to Florida State via Albany. What can you say with the path that you took and maybe being looked over the first time around and then working towards that opportunity to stand where you stand today?

JARED VERSE: Honestly, it was all just betting on myself. Out of high school I had the opportunity to go to Albany, and I'm so thankful they took a chance on me. I got there and put in all the work. Then COVID happened. I put in as work as possible. I let a couple of things slip in my personal life that I would still do again just to be able to physically get to where I am today.

Then Coach Norvell gave me the opportunity to come here. I could have left for the draft. I said I'm going to bet on myself again and bet on the team because I know who I ride with.

Q. We all know about your pass rush ability, but the thing that stands out to me when I watch your tape is, especially in the LSU game, your ability to stand up tackles in the running game. How are you as good as you are in that out of a player that has so much explosiveness and is known for the ability to dip and bend around the edge?

JARED VERSE: Honestly everything starts with strength. You can't get anybody to bite off your speed if you're not strong. One thing I've always focused on was hitting the pad, just trying to put as much pressure, as much power into it as I could do.

I played the run game just like a bull rush. I'm going to run through your chest and place my hands and do whatever I can to get the best leverage, the edge so you can't run outside of me. You have to go inside. If you go inside, I have guys just like that that can fill the gap and take care of it.

THE MODERATOR: As a tight end in high school you didn't have any have scholarship offers. Is there a part of you that is still trying to prove yourself to others?

JARED VERSE: I definitely am still trying to prove myself, not in the aspect that people don't know what I can do, but in the aspect that I still have so much that I have left to do.

During my exit meeting with Coach Norvell that's something we spoke about. I made a lot of gains since I've come to Florida State, but there's so much more room. I can get faster and stronger and get better with my hands, better with my moves. My decision-making, there's still so much ground I have to cover. I fell like I have to prove that, but not to anybody. Just to myself.

Q. Coach Odell has been there for 30 years, one of the longest-tenured position coaches, one of the most storied position coaches in all of sports. Not just college football. What does it mean to be under the tutelage of somebody who has coached so many first-rounders, so many Hall of Famers, so many All-Pros and Pro Bowl guys?

JARED VERSE: It means a lot. Having a coach is one thing, but having somebody that you can look up to and understand, like, this person has done things that I wish I could do, you've been where I'm trying to get. So I have to listen to everything you say. There's no take it with a grain of salt. I'm listening to everything you say fully.

Me and Coach Odell sit down sometimes and we have a regular conversation. We have more conversations just about life. He tells me, you know, football is one thing, but you have to realize outside of football what are you doing to make yourself a better person that will translate to the field ultimately?

Having him is just the biggest tool I could possibly have.

Virginia

Tony Elliott

Q. Coach, you brought in transfer quarterback Tony Muskett this offseason. Can you speak on his game and what stands out about him?

TONY ELLIOTT: Great question. Really excited, and you'll have a chance to hear from him in a minute, and he'll be able to probably express better what I'm about to express.

But the thing about Tony Muskett is from day one you saw his confidence. It's not a cockiness. It's not an arrogance, but it's a confidence.

From day one he wasn't afraid to go into the locker room and say, you know what, fellows, I'm here to compete. I'm going to do it the right way. I have tremendous amount of respect for everybody in here, but this is the way that I lead.

It quickly galvanized the guys. When you go back and you watch him on film, one, he was very, very productive at Monmouth. He led his team the way that he needed to lead to be successful.

You watch him throw the ball in adverse conditions, and you see that the accuracy is there. That's always a challenge when you are evaluating because you do a lot of evaluation on tape, especially when you are dealing with the transfer portal.

When you got to see him in spring practice, like, okay, now he does throw an accurate ball. You know what, it's a very catchable ball.

Then from there he just continued to be who he is, and he is a guy that's got a lot of confidence, but he knows how to manage it. He is a team-first guy. He is always going to promote his team, and he just has that "it" factor.

It's hard to describe. When you talk about quarterbacks, you can't coach it, right, but you know it when you see it, and he just has that presence about him. I think his teammates will attest to that, and you'll be able to gauge that once you hear him speak.

Q. Obviously last season off the field and on the field there was adversity in things that nobody should have to go through off the field. How have you seen this community come together? How have you seen these guys really put those numbers on their chest every single day and just live something they shouldn't have to live through, but live it so strongly and so proudly for their brothers?

TONY ELLIOTT: Right. Great question. First and foremost, got to thank the college football community, which includes all of you guys and everybody across the country for just the outpour of support. We felt it in Charlottesville.

The same thing with the community of Charlottesville, the University of Virginia, our student body. Everybody came to our side immediately.

While we were in shock trying to regain our footing from what just happened, they held us up in the interim until we could kind of get ourselves grounded and figure out how we're going to navigate forward.

This situation is unprecedented. There's no preparation. Even though I experienced tragedy as a young person and throughout the course of my life, it still doesn't prepare you for a situation like this.

The way that you get through it is together, and that's the beauty of football. It's an ultimate team sport, and it forces you to sacrifice and rely on somebody else. It forces you to do hard things that you may not want to do because you have a connection and a bond and a love for your teammates.

So these guys really is what gave me the inspiration to lead because it's very difficult in a situation like that to know what to say, know what to do, and then to have an understanding of is it working and trying to figure out how to lead not just the players, but the staff and then also the athletic department through that situation.

But these guys accepted the challenge. They understood that they have a responsibility to Lavel, Devin, and D'Sean to move forward in the right way, not moving on. There's a difference. That was a big message within the program is we're not moving on. We're never going to forget this. We're not going to put this to the side and act like it didn't happen.

Unfortunately for us, it's our new normal. It's a part of our lives and will be a part of our lives forever, and we'll constantly be reminded of it.

There will be tough days, and they have to learn that they have to lean on each other in tough days. They also learned the importance of football, the structure that it provides, the safe haven that it provides, the community that it provides.

To watch these guys every single day, they made a decision. The guys that came back in January made a decision to embrace the hard and live it every single day. These guys have done it beyond any expectations that I had of them, and it started with just having an attitude of gratitude and appreciation for life.

I think for us that are in it and hopefully going forward anybody that has a connection to our program will see that it's bigger than us. Ultimately, as we all chase purpose in life. We realize that purpose is not about me. It's about what I can do for others.

They didn't ask for this. University of Virginia didn't ask for this, but we were given this opportunity. A tremendous challenge, but we were given an opportunity. The opportunity that we see is that we can take something that is unexplainable, unprecedented, very, very difficult. You wouldn't wish it on anybody, and we can find the beauty of it and use it to inspire others going forward by the way that we respond, by the way that we play, by the way that they live, by the way that they go forward in the future and the individual ways that they decided they wanted to honor the legacies of Lavel, Devin, and D'Sean.

Q. What's the advantage to returning as much as you do on the defensive line. What does it do for your defense, and what's the advantage there?

TONY ELLIOTT: You're hoping that the advantage is that you got leadership. What I've learned in my experience in the college game is that the game is won in the trenches. The best teams that I've been around, you had great leadership at quarterback and then you had great leadership along the front, in particular the defensive line.

So you're returning a lot of guys with game experience. I think that's going to help the transition on the outside at corner where we lost some very, very productive guys.

You're not having to reteach, re-install; right? You're just having to refine. Hopefully what that's going to do is going to allow for the transition and the development of the young guys that we've brought in.

So it gives you the ability to lead, push forward, bring along, develop, and hopefully set the tempo because the game is going to be won in the trenches. It's a team sport.

You know, you don't win championships on offense or defense. You win it collectively, but when you have good experience on defense, it's going to challenge the offense to get better.

Tony Muskett

Q. Is there any pressure coming into Virginia from Monmouth to perform at the pace that Virginia needs you to perform at since they're expecting so much from you from an offensive standpoint?

TONY MUSKETT: To be honest with you, I think there's pressure any time you play. I went to Monmouth. I was fortunate to start there for tree three straight years as a true freshman and then sophomore and junior year. Any time you are playing college football, you go out and try to win.

I don't let external factors dictate how I handle my business. Every time I approach a game, I approach it the same way, whether it's a championship game or you are playing the worst team in the division.

Every game is as important as the next. When you have that mentality, it doesn't matter if you are playing in front of 3,000 people or 75,000 people. I go out there. I put internal pressure on myself, and I try to perform my best every single time I take the field.

Q. You heard Coach say the previous staff had their way of doing offense. How would you describe this coaching staff's offensive philosophy? What is the vision big-picture for Virginia offense?

TONY MUSKETT: Score a lot of points. No, I love it. I love Coach E's system. It's very similar to what I ran back at Monmouth. More pro style. We want to establish the run game. We want to give our guys open looks at the ball.

I'm very comfortable with it. I'm coming in, like Coach E was saying, they didn't necessarily run the same system, so there is a bit of growing pains with that, but now the guys coming back, it's their year two in it, so they're more comfortable with it. I've had exposure to it. This is my fourth straight year now.

So certain little things, whether it's getting out of a play fake and throwing that dig route on time or just knowing where the back is supposed to be on his check-down route and little things that I've had the exposure to and had the opportunity to work through for years now. It's translating to that to the new terminology and then implement it in the system. I'm very comfortable with it, and I think we're going to be successful this year.

Q. Has there been in anything in terms of the adjustment from going from Monmouth to Virginia? I know football is football is football, but is there anything that in making this adjustment has surprised you a little bit about Virginia or about ACC football as a whole so far?

TONY MUSKETT: I think how committed the guys on the team are, and that's not to say people on Monmouth weren't, but I just think this group in particular that we have in the locker room right now, it's a lot of highly-committed guys.

I played a lot of football. I've been around a lot of football teams, but I'll tell you what, no matter what time of the day I go into the locker room, someone is going to be in there getting work in. Whether it's Perris getting extra routes, Chico getting extra lifting in, James Jackson, he is always in there doing something.

It's just there's a ton of guys in the program right now that love football and love Virginia football.

So I think when you are surrounded by a group like that, and you have those guys in the program that winning is the most important thing and getting better every single day is their number one task, that's when you start to see results and when the program starts to take a shift, major step forward.

Chico Bennett

Q. You had seven sacks last year, the most by a UVA player since 2019. What makes you such an effective pass rusher?

CHICO BENNETT: Man, it's a testament to Coach Rud and his philosophy for the defense. I think that the biggest thing he wanted to make sure for us as a unit was to just play fast, so he did a good job by just simplifying the defense as a whole and allowing us to just play fast, play reckless and violent. But all in the confines of the game and rules.

He has done a good job of that.

Q. Chico, you had the opportunity to decide to come back. What was it about Virginia that made you feel like you had to suit up one more time and ride with your brothers again?

CHICO BENNETT: I certainly would say the tragedy of what happened was definitely a big deciding factor because it would have been easy to just leave, but for me it was just leak -- it was a no-brainer to come back, man.

One, something like that, nobody should have to go through, but of course, we did. I think it was opportunity to build off that and take it as Coach Elliott likes to say, turn tragedy into triumph.

We truly embodied that just as a team and just in our individual lives, especially as we grieve alone and we grieve together as a unit, man, I think it definitely -- it's definitely important for me to come back.

Q. Getting back into your pass rushing bag a little bit here, your spin move on tape is a work of art almost every time I see it. How is it that you know or have that feel of when to keep working around the edge versus when you are being overset, and you need to counter back versus even moments where you get a jump set, and you spin right off the line at times? How do you feel that? How does that gauge come about for you?

CHICO BENNETT: Just, as you say, it's more so of a feeling. As my position coach, Coach Slade says, when you are going, don't try to overthink it. Don't be a robot. When you get comfortable, one, you get comfortable with the plays. You're able to rush freely obviously, but of course, within the confines of the defense.

Again, yeah, it's just a feel for it. Everything will come natural, especially when you don't have to think. You can just play free. It allows for moments like that.

Perris Jones

Q. You heard Tony Muskett's answer, but I'll ask you the same. What is the vision of the Virginia offense? What do you guys big-picture aim to be?

PERRIS JONES: Man, we aim to be special, man, electric. Our goal is to go out there and score every time we touch the field. We left a lot on the grass last year, and we're trying to make up for those mistakes, and I think the buy-in from the young guys and even with the older guys has been a lot better than it was. I think as a result, we're operating at a more efficient level.

Q. I'm wondering what kind of impact has having a marquee nonconference game to open up the season against Tennessee had on the offseason, had on the summer, if at all?

PERRIS JONES: It's definitely had an impact. I mean, growing up as a kid, that's something that you look forward to. You know, playing some of the best talent that the game has to offer on some of the biggest stages that it has to offer.

So it's one of those things where if you don't get excited about that, you're in the wrong sport. But it's also one of those things where you don't want to put too much emphasis on it. You don't want guys to just focus on that game specifically.

We have a lot of other games to play, but we're just trying to make sure every time we touch the field we put our best foot forward, and that's the first opportunity we get to do that, so that's what we're focused on.

Q. You had the opportunity as well to come back, and you heard what Chico had to say about it being different at Virginia and obviously wanting to come back. You don't have to come back, which is what Coach said as well. Why did you choose to do it, and why did you choose to just be a part of this family and navigate through this together on the field as well as off the field?

PERRIS JONES: Right. Same reasons as Chico had really, but even deeper than that. Coach Elliott and his staff were the first to actually believe in me and give me a chance in my abilities.

I feel like I left a lot out there. I didn't put my best foot forward, and I was always raised to do so by my parents. I have a lot more to give. You know, a lot more to give my teammates, a lot more to give my coaches, and a lot more to give this program.

That's what I aim to do with this last year. That was a big factor in coming back on top of obviously the tragedy and everything that transpired. I have a debt to pay to those guys, and I plan to pay it.

Q. In terms of the three wins that you all had last year, in two of those you averaged more than five yards per carry in those games. You're the leading returning rusher. You were the second leading rusher on the team outside of Brennan Armstrong last year, and obviously Tony Muskett comes with a different skill set. Are you expecting to take on a bigger role in terms of running the ball more and carrying more of a load in terms of offensive production based on the fact that there has been a direct correlation between your success and the team's success to some extent?

PERRIS JONES: I don't look at it like that, to be completely honest with you. I think all of our backs are talented. Whoever is in the arena, I have full confidence that they'll do what they need to do.

I'm just looking forward to being all that I can be, honestly. Whatever my team needs me to do, I plan on doing it to the best of my ability in the capacity that I'm in and helping our team get a win.

As long as I'm doing that, I don't really mind if I'm leading in the stat sheet or not.

THE MODERATOR: From the podium, let's respin that question a little bit. In those first four years at Virginia, you carried the ball three total times. Three. What was it about your with internal fortitude, your vision, your goal to stick with it to find that next opportunity?

PERRIS JONES: It was definitely challenging. I would be lying if I said it wasn't. There was sometimes where I felt like I wasn't in the right sport, like it wasn't for me, but I'm thankful for my teammates, my family. My mom and dad were a big part of that just keeping me true to myself. I've always been a hard-working kid, and I'm thankful that my hard work was saw by Coach Elliott and his staff, and they gave me a chance, thankfully.

It was definitely challenging. I knew that I had to stay true to who I was and the core of who I was, which is a hard-working kid, and I knew it would pay off at some point.