Available weekly press conference quotes from the ACC Football Head Coaches will be posted weekly on theACC.com. Listed below are the school names and primary press conference days for a standard week (Saturday game day). Schools that play on Thursday and/or Friday may adjust their press conference days. This page will be updated as quickly as possible with press conference quotes.
Click on school name to jump to press conference quotes.
Duke - Mondays at 12:30 p.m.
Florida State - Mondays at noon
Georgia Tech - Tuesdays post-practice, approx. 10:45 a.m.
Louisville - Mondays at noon
North Carolina - Mondays at 11 a.m.
Syracuse - Mondays at 11:30 a.m.
Virginia - Mondays at noon
Virginia Tech - Mondays at 11:45 a.m.
Wake Forest - Tuesdays at 4 p.m.
Duke Head Coach David Cutcliffe
Press Conference Video
(Ref.: Opening Statement)
"Good afternoon. I hope everybody's doing well. It's been a busy couple of days, as you might imagine. I'll open up with a statement about the North Carolina game that will hopefully answer many of the questions that may be floating in your head. I know we addressed some of this right afterwards, but really it comes down to we didn't do anything consistently that wins games. We did some good things on both sides of the ball, but nothing consistently that will win you football games. For example, we lost the turnover game, two to zero. That proved to be huge in that game. Offensively, we didn't finish drives. We moved the ball, but there are no points involved when you don't finish drives. I mean, a very critical opportunity that was missed more often than it should be. We gave up explosive plays. They had seven plays, that equaled 275 yards. That's 40 yards a play. We only produce three explosives in the game. These are things that are certainly counterproductive. What's the answer? Everybody wonders, and I've told our team this and I've told our staff this and I mentioned it, it all starts here. When those things as a team aren't happening, that's the head football coach. You own it and everybody has to own their own area. You own it, and then you run to the solutions. You don't walk. You don't run away ever. You run to the solutions. The solutions occur in the planning and the solutions occur on the practice field. It's really not all of that complex. People say, 'how do you get back up?' We're not down. You don't get back up when you're not down. You don't have time to get down in college football. You can't perform when you're doing this. So, we have to find that avenue that runs up here at a high rate of speed and a high productivity spot and stay in it. That's where my mind is, if you can't tell. It's been a lot of work right now to this point and a lot more work to do those things, to find those solutions. That's where we are.
"Quickly onto Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech's an extremely talented football team. Offensively, a lot of weapons starts with the quarterback, running back and receivers, but their offensive line is playing better. Defensively, they have a lot of speed on defense. They're different than they've been in the past. They've played a little bit of both of the defenses, but here recently, they've kind of settled into a three-down front. They've got really good interior people so they can two-gap you at center. They're a very similar concept to what I've seen Iowa State do over the last few years. A lot of work is going to go into that. I have great respect for the job that they do coaching. Their young people play really hard. They're good in the area of the kicking game. They're good on defense and they're good on offense. They ran into a very good Pittsburgh team, had some bad breaks early, got behind, but that game was pretty much an outlier. We've got a lot of work to get ready for."
(Ref.: On Duke's penalties)
"Well, I have to look in the mirror. Penalties don't just come from the practice field. How well are we listening in meetings? Are we really hearing what's said? And then once we learn here, what are we doing to act upon it once we get to the field. As a head coach, you can measure that really more than you think you can. I've got to do a much better job at making sure that we're hearing loud and clear. We started that process yesterday a little better. I don't ever think we have to reinvent the wheel because we have a really good program. But, that's all me. Maybe it's trusting too much. We got great young people, but you just can't trust that it has to be acted upon. We're not going to have an abundance of penalties. We had three penalties in the kicking game. It hurt. We had false starts, so we had pre-snap penalties. It's mine and I'm going to handle my business."
(Ref.: On how to teach and coach how to handle adversity)
"The way you do that, and it's become more difficult in the climate that we practice in, you create adversity at practice. You carry them to the wall. That's the way it's always been. You want to find out what a player's got at practice, not in the game. So, if you can't get up off the ground in practice consistently and give your best effort, then it's going to show up in a ball game. There is a balance there. I think you have to, again, create some adversity that has to be overcome at the practice field. Yet at the same time, we have limited numbers, limited opportunities to create that. I go back to my era as a player, my era early on in coaching, I don't think we could create now what we created then, you understand what I'm saying. That may be generationally problematic right now. If you understand what I'm talking about. Life is hard and I really believe I'm doing a disservice to them if I don't create more adversity because you know what, life later is going to be harder than Duke football or
David Cutcliffe. So yeah, we've got to find a way to turn up the heat a little bit. That way, you know what they're capable of doing."
(Ref.: On the inconsistency of Georgia Tech and if that makes it harder to scout them)
"No, not really. We know we have to be our best. One thing you know is they have talent. A lot of speed. A lot of gifted athletes. So, you prepare for that. You can't ever control what somebody's mentality is going into a game other than your own. That's where we have to put our focus."
(Ref.: On studying the film and which games the coaching staff gets the most information from)
"Well, you take it all in. You're doing cut-ups, you're looking at games. We look at games as they happen. Then we cut up, you know, different formations that our defense is looking at. You look at our formations and what they've done against other opponents across the board. You know, football is going to be, to some degree, systematic regardless of an opponent. That's where you get the red eyes from. There's a lot to look at. As the season progresses, sometimes one of the worst enemies you have is watching too much. Offensively when I was younger, I used to call it blocking ghost. You're thinking for them. You have to be careful not to anticipate too many things and then be so systematically sound yourself and focused on your own team that regardless of how somebody lines up or what they do, that you're in a good position to win."
(Ref.: On Georgia Tech quarterback Jeff Sims)
"Well, he was their starting quarterback a year ago. He's been hurt and beat up a little bit. He's just a heck of a football player. I mean, there's no counter to it. You got to play. They don't change what they're doing with him or the other quarterback, so you just prepare yourself and play."
(Ref.: On the defense's play and progression throughout the season)
"Yeah, you look at all of it. One of the first things when I went in yesterday to the defense for the first time after I had graded the film, I told them very quickly we got better. And we did. We were better at a lot of techniques and a lot of little things that helped us. I think it was 56 or 57 percent of their plays were three yards or less. That's good production. They're going to make plays when they're a good team, but you had a 75-yard score and whatever the other one was, two big, long scores. Then the offense gave up a score. So, you learn from that. Those seven plays teach us a lot, but those other 50 plays teach you a lot. I think we've worked really hard at practice. I think we've had a good plan, good versus good to get both sides of the ball physically better at the front, and it all starts there and we're going to continue that. Yeah, we rushed the passer better. We've got to be technique wise, a bit better in the back end and avoid giving up explosive throws. We have to continue to work at tackling better. This team, Georgia Tech, is very difficult to tackle - the quarterback, the running back and then receivers as well. You have to be intentional about that every week. We're going to have to see improvement in our defense to be able to minimize the damage because we're going to play good teams every week. Just look at the list. It's challenging. But this week, thank goodness we're only having to play one team and we're going to focus on them."
(Ref.: On if the young defensive line has progressed and matured)
"Yeah, I think not across the board, but yeah, many of them without question. I want to see more earn playing time. We've got some ability at those positions and I'm talking about people maybe you hadn't even seen yet. That's got to be an emphasis. That was a big part of our staff meeting today, how many folks can we get ready to play? Then we own it as a staff, but then they have to own it. If you don't play, it's not because we don't like you. It's because you haven't earned on the practice tape. I look at defense, offense and kicking, and if they're not ready to play, they're not going to play. If they're ready to play, we're going to get them in the game to some degree. That's an area where I think we can grow people is in that defensive front."
(Ref.: On facing another strong dual-threat quarterback)
"Early we really struggled with it. We've gotten a little bit better. I think you struggle against any team that has a quarterback that can really run the ball and throw it. That's where the dilemma comes in, because a plus one run gives them a better number. There's a hat for a hat in the blocking when the guy that's running the ball is the quarterback and you're now using the back as a blocker. So, a lot of people are having a lot of success with plus one runs, including us at times. You got to defeat blocks better. When everything is even in matched up and we try to gap things out and build a fence, people still got to get off blocks. You've got to win those points of emphasis or defeating a block, that's the best way to defend a good running quarterback."
(Ref.: On how much different it is to pass rush a mobile quarterback)
"Yeah, you can't rush frightened. You have to believe in rush lanes. You have to go to the proper shoulder. You have to have an element of contain. You would prefer most of the time, not all the time that a quarterback is up in the pocket because you got somebody that can defeat a block in there and get them and they get outside the pocket. We all know how fast that young man from Kansas was and we let him get outside the pocket. We minimized the damage in that game, but you have to be very aware of containment with those guys. I like quarterbacks often that move up in the pocket from my perspective, because I think you're buying time and you can throw it or you can find vertical lanes. You are all talking about things that keep me up at night and how to contain a really good athlete at quarterback is one of them."
(Ref.: On what Gunnar Holmberg learned from a tough game on Saturday)
"I think he realizes we left opportunities on the field. We're a read and react offense. We ran the ball, particularly early, well enough. You have to respond to their response. We didn't do that well enough. They decided they were going to do everything they could to stop the run. You have to respond to a response. You have to read all that on the run. They're very gifted and quick, and they got a couple of folks up front that are really hard to deal with. Your time is minimal. We've got to separate in coverage better than we did. We got stuck some. I have to help that, just various different releases and things that you need. That's a huge part of the whole concept thing. They're very aggressive natured defensively, North Carolina, I'm speaking of. Well, guess what? We got the same animal again this week that moves well and runs well and has a lot of athletes on the field. It's a test, but we have to be up for the test. We've had a lot of serious good discussions with the staff starting yesterday. Good commentary with the players. Again, it's just all of us owning it. What else can you do? It goes first to me. But my owning it means it may not be a lot of pleasant things always going on around me sometimes. So that's just the way of life."
(Ref.: On the difference between Mataeo Durant's performance in the first half versus the second half)
"A little bit of adjustment. Like I said when asked about Gunnar, we have to respond to their response. We're built for it. We've got to do a better job of doing that. When Mataeo is getting hit off the backside by a free hat and things like that, that slows you down. When we got a hat for a hat, we were really successful against them. That's a big part of it, always. Then we got to have more and more players. I think
Jordan Waters has done well, but I think there's a factor of fatigue that occurs with a running back. You get hit that much and you're running that much. To be real honest with you, that was hotter than any of our games early this year because it was hot on artificial turf. We need more people ready to help and contribute and play."
Florida State Head Coach Mike Norvell
Press Conference Videos
Georgia Tech Head Coach Geoff Collins
Press Conference Videos
Louisville Head Coach Scott Satterfield
Press Conference Video
Coach Satterfield Opening Statement
Good afternoon, to recap last week, number one, it was good college football game. It was a good environment down at Wake Forest and we understood that we were going in there to play a good football team; a veteran team, a team that has been playing at a high level this year. They were very balanced in all aspects, but I thought that our guys went in and played hard. They continued to put good things on film there; we got down 10 in the fourth quarter, and it would have been easy to fold the tent and pack it up, but we didn't. We battled back, got back into the game, and it was unfortunate there at the very end. We did not get off the field in the last two drives, looking at third downs, Wake had four third downs and converted on all four, then kicked the field goal at the end to win it. It hurt to lose that type of game. We have to bounce back and we have a great opponent this weekend so we're looking forward to playing Virginia this weekend. Coach Mendenhall, I have a lot of respect for him, how he runs his program, the kids play hard for his staff. They do things in all three aspects that are unique: offense, defense, and special teams. They really make you think with a lot of different sets. Offensively, their quarterback is playing at a high level. He can throw the football well; he is a very accurate passer with a great catchable ball. They have some guys to throw it to as well; really good wide receivers, a big tight end that is about 6’ 7”, and a little slot receiver that can run all over the place. Their running back came back last week and played well against Miami. They do some good things offensively; they are putting up a lot of big numbers as one of the top passing teams in the country with 400 yards or more per game. Defensively, they have done a lot different things on defense these last few games, against Wake Forest they ran a lot of four-down, but with everyone else it has been a lot of three down technique. They have multiple defensive looks so it will be a big challenge for us. We are looking forward to hosting them this weekend and coming back and trying to get back on track in this ACC race because it is wide open. If you look at it, every team has a loss except for four teams and we just started ACC play. There is a lot of ball left and it is very competitive in this league as we have seen. All these games are going to be tough, you got to fight down to the end and try to win. That is what we told our guys and we got to figure out a way to win it.
Coach Satterfield on responses on officiating
Each week we have an ability to be able to send plays in. For me, to send plays in it is either I got a question on a play, like “What do we need to tell our player in this sense if we got called for something” or a penalty that could have been called. I'll say this, it is tough. It is hard to be an official, I understand that you're not going get them all right. I think the biggest thing that I've always wanted as a coach is consistency in officiating. I think that's all we ever want, if we're going to let them play, then let everyone play, and not pick and choose when you going to call fouls. We can dissect any play and find something wrong, you can find a holding on most plays, but it’s when you call it and sometimes you get called in inopportune times when it when you get a big play, that is most frustrating. I do know it's a tough task for those officials, but when you do not get the common sense ones right then everyone has a problem with that. I think that's some of the things that come into play. Last week, we sent a bunch of plays in and we received some good responses on those, but this week I didn't want to send plays in because I think it speaks for itself. Everybody saw the game and really the biggest controversy is right before half. I think that's probably the biggest one and it was unfortunate. The thing that I did not like about it is the fact that our defense played their butts off in that scenario, held them out of the endzone, and they still get an opportunity to kick a field goal. That is the thing that really aggravated me because of how hard our guys played to be able to keep them out of the endzone. As a coach you, and we have seen this over the years in college football, you get the ball down inside the three, four-yard line, and the time is down to about three or four seconds left on the clock, you got to make a decision, “do I want to run a play?” and if I do run this play then you are willing to risk the fact that you will not get another play. I am pretty sure Coach Clawson thought the same thing if we run this play with four seconds left then we think we are going to score, but if we don't score, then there's probably going to be halftime. I am pretty sure he thought that because that's what I was thought if I was if I'm making that decision to go for it. We've seen that happen in many games over the years. He doesn’t get it and the ball is down on the one-yard line and then the half is over, the clock says zero and we are getting ready to head to the locker rooms, and then we get called back out and they get another play. So, that's unfortunate, because normally you would not have that much time to run another play.
On sending plays to the ACC and block in the back call
“You go back and look at the plays, Isaac (Martin) was outside of the box when he started that play, had he been inside the box, it's not even an issue, but he was outside of the box, when he comes in and blocks into the box, but on that play if you go back and watch it, his hands are up the whole time. He gets called for blocking the back, so I don't know, I didn't. I don't know the interpretation with our rules, but I did know his hands were up the whole time.”
What the team is learning from close games
“Well, I know our guys are obviously fighting to win the game and we've come out on top the last few times, and I just know our guys are going to keep playing. You have to have a ‘this play’ mentality, this is the play we're going to make to win this game no matter what the scenario is, we're going to make the play right here to win this game. It's just like the last game, we just had to make a play somewhere along that last drive. It's unfortunate we didn't but I think our guys continue to play, we’ve got to get better, we’ve got to make more plays so it doesn’t come down to that, but that's the game of football, we're going to have a lot more of those this year, and it's going to be a lot of tight games and we're going to have to deal with it.”
On injuries and status of those injuries heading into Virginia game
“We did lose our best pass rusher the second play of the game Ashton (Gillotte), he hurt his toe and he was out for the rest of the game. We lost Renato (Brown), he played five snaps, our starting right tackle so we’ve got some guys dinged up and that was unfortunate for us to lose those guys because you’re starting to play some guys that haven’t played too many reps and those guys got to step up and make plays and that's kind of where we are, we're at the midpoint of the season and there's a lot of teams that have got some guys dinged up and so we got to continue to develop more depth. Kam (Wilson) is out, he's going to be out for probably six to eight weeks, which is unfortunate because we really thought he was coming on strong, he's in some packages for defense. Renato (Brown) and Ashton (Gillotte) will be day to day, we'll check on those guys, they're coming around, but they're listed right now is day to day and whether they play this week remains to be seen. I feel for certain they will be able to play after that, we’ve got a bye week coming up after that so they will be certainly available the following week, but we'll have to find out this coming week whether they'll be available or not. Shai (Werts) will probably be back this week; he was close last week we put him out in warmups, and I thought he looked pretty good last week and hopefully this week he’ll get a full practice throughout the whole week and be available.”
Keeping the team focused despite tough calls
“Well, we always talk about worry about what you can control. We can't control some of those things that are happening. We can't control if you're going to get hurt or not, you’ve got to go hard, and injuries are just a part of the game. I promise you, everybody that’s playing has got something wrong with them but you're going have to play with that and if it's a significant injury, then you're going to be out sometime. We can't control what gets called and what doesn't get called, we have to get to continue to play the next play and move forward. It is frustrating at times, obviously, we're all human. You know that creeps in, we have to guard against it, because that doesn't do us any good because you get frustrated and you get upset and you can’t play the next play, so we’ve got we just got to continue to fight and do the best we can.”
Malik Cunningham having to exit the game for one play
“I think they said it was an injury, and he had to come out we couldn’t buy him back in there with a timeout. The reason we call timeout to get him back in, but then they came and said that he couldn't come back in and that was a big play, it's 3rd and 3 and to be able to have him back in and plus I was trying to buy him some time because he got hit pretty hard on that play.”
On the play of the wide receivers
“We talked about it last week how we’re going have to count on some more guys. We knew Ahmari (Huggins-Bruce) was going be one of those guys we can move more in the slot to where Braden (Smith) was at, utilize that speed that he has, and we hit him on a reverse as well and he got around the edge for about 12 yard and nice route catch on the touchdown. It's just about picking and choosing when to put him in because he's still learning the offense and he's getting better, and I thought he blocked a lot better in the game. I thought our receivers played well, the absence of Braden (Smith) I thought they played really well. Jordan (Watkins) made some great plays, of course Marshon (Ford) continues to play well, but those guys are going have to step up. Tyler (Harrell) is such a fast player I mean, once he caught his balance like that, it’s a touchdown, they're not going to catch him. He's incredibly fast and it was a great catch too, it was a ball across the middle and the umpire is kind of in the way and the umpire jumps out of the way and he catches it, what a great play and if we find ways to get those guys the ball in space, it’s going to put pressure on the defense because of how fast they are, they're two of our faster guys that we have outside.”
(On what he thinks has been the biggest offensive improvement)
“Saturday, I felt really good about the running game. It opened back up a little bit more. We were able to hand the ball off to (Trevion) Cooley and to (Jalen) Mitchell, and they really help take the pressure off (Malik) Cunningham and running the football, albeit (Malik) Cunningham still threatens the defense with the with his legs. He threw the ball very well Saturday, missed a couple of touchdowns but other than that he played outstanding. Some of those throws he made to Dez (Melton) down the sideline, he made another crossing route to (Jordan) Watkins. I mean the guys are right on their hip, incredible throws. He was very efficient. We want to continue to get the running game going, I think that really helps her offense. When you think about being able to hand the ball to a running back and now you've opened up your play action stuff, we can use to get the ball down the field, but I thought our office played well, we had 500 yards of offense and 34 points. We really, probably left some more points out there that we could have been a 600-yard offense that day and more but that's encouraging. That's what I was telling our team, we're playing pretty well, but we can be so much better, we have to continue to fight to get better and better and it has to happen throughout the week in practice, coming up with a great game plan and then executing that game plan and I think we can continue to get better. (Trevion) Cooley didn't play the week before but he was able to come back and make some big plays for us in the pass game and in the run game.”
(On Louisville transfer Anthony Johnson)
“He's pretty smart too. AJ was a well-liked player here. He wanted an opportunity to play more and kudos to him, he did that. He went in there and earned a starting role at corner. He's played well for them. He's got great length, primarily putting him in the boundary at corner and he's had a good year so far. We know who he is, we know we're just looking at the scheme and figuring out what are they trying to do and how do we attack it, it's not just looking at one player. But he's done well this year and I think that was the reason why he wanted to transfer, maybe try to get some more playing time and he's done that for himself. I know he'll be fired up to come back here after spending some time here in this building and to be able to come play in Cardinal Stadium.”
(On if an injured player has to sit out a play even if a timeout is called)
“I'm not 100% sure on that, but that's what I was told, that you couldn't have them back in. So, we called a timeout and that was the explanation so I'm not 100% sure but apparently that's the rule.”
(On Wake’s ability to convert third downs)
“I don't know if it was a common theme. I think we had 20 third downs, that's a lot. I think we had 10 throughout the day. Obviously, it's going to be hard to be right on every one of those but a couple of them we we're in a coverage where the corners were a little bit too tight into the line of scrimmage and they got behind us on the outside, that happened two or three times, and so that was probably the biggest thing that we have to fix. I give credit to their quarterback, he's a good player. I'm watching him play Virginia right now, he just finds ways to get the ball out. He throws an accurate football. I thought 83 (Tyler Morin) played outstanding, he made some incredible catches. The catch he made on the sideline when they originally ruled him out, that was an incredible play. It was unbelievable. We were in cover two and he fits it on the sideline, he catches it, we hit him, and he barely drags his foot in, sometimes those guys, they win. Another play that was incredible, Jack Fagot is in the backfield sacking the quarterback, he is halfway on the ground and throws into the running back. That was a third down, they got a first down and they scored a touchdown, those are incredible plays, and you just have to give them credit for making those plays. Our guys made some good plays but that's tough. The ones that I specifically think of, is when the corners are too inside and we need to be a little bit further out and be on top of those hitches, but I thought Wake did some good things and made some of those plays.”
(On how he plans to keep filling Monty Montgomery’s role)
“Yeah, K.J. (Cloyd) got dinged on his hand and we're still evaluating that. K.J. had a really good week of practice last week. He's starting to understand what we're doing. He can really run and hit and tackle. We're going to play the guy we think gives us the best chance and so maybe all three guys have to play. We still love (Jaylin) Alderman, we think he's a great player, going to be a great player, very smart, but he's still young and he's still growing and trying to get better. Dorian Jones is the same way, he's a good young player. It's wide open really, but we're going to practice and we're going to put the guy who we think can make plays in the game. This week is a different challenge because these guys throw the football all over the place so now who gives you the best chance in the pass game to stop the pass so that'll be interesting to see how that unfolds this week in our game plan to see who's the best person to put out there for that scenario.”
(On Jack Fagot)
“Jack has played really really well. He's got a great understanding of what we're trying to get done out there at that position because that position is hard for us. You can do a lot of different things. You're dropping him off in coverage, he's really blitzing, he's getting involved in the run game. The thing that makes him so valuable is he's smart. He understands. He can look at the offense and figure out what they're going to be doing and how to attack it. He understands leverage. He plays hard. He's a little undersized, but he makes up for it with all that stuff that I just mentioned. I think he'll continue to get better; he's getting more and more comfortable.”
North Carolina Head Coach Mack Brown
Press Conference Video
Syracuse Head Coach Dino Babers
Press Conference Video
Virginia Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall
Press Conference Video
Q. It's been awhile since you've had a full week to prepare for a game. This week you actually have a couple extra days. What has the additional time allow you to do?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: Rest, recover, heal mentally and physically. It's been, yeah, a taxing season so far, rapid pace going from a Friday to a Thursday. I think everybody on the way home from Miami was just so thankful. It was hard to get the days right.
It felt like the day after Miami was Sunday, but it wasn't, it was Friday. Then it felt like the next day was Sunday, but it wasn't, it was Saturday. Then it felt like Sunday was Monday, but it really wasn't.
Good to be recalibrated. Doesn't mean everything is now magically fixed and healed as far as body parts or anything else, but the rest came at the right time.
Q. Were you able to get a head start over the weekend with players?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: Coaches were able to get a head start. Players-wise we really allowed them to rest and recover. I'm sure they were on their iPads watching game film, all that.
We didn't insert the plan earlier. We didn't do extra meetings with our players. We really allowed Saturday to be a normal Saturday as if we played on a Friday I guess is the best way to say that. Saturday was basically a Monday. We're one day ahead. But the players don't know the plans yet so we're not any farther ahead that way, but the coaches are farther ahead.
Q. You mentioned the North Carolina game exposing some weaknesses. Over the last couple games, have you been pleased with how the defense has addressed some of those problem areas?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: Yeah, we're addressing. I see us just chipping away at it. There's clear progress being made everywhere from that point of reference.
I think it's also clear what teams we're playing, what their identities look like as we get to games five and six. It kind of starts to put things in a little bit more perspective of how glaring are the weaknesses or is that just what we do against anybody. The picture is becoming clearer.
Back to your first question. Yeah, I think we're chipping away at addressing, working on. It's showing yield. We need to add consistency to it, but I see it happening, yes, from not only the Miami game but the Wake Forest game. I saw progress in both.
Q. Josh Hayes, the transfer corner, seemed like he had a pretty good workload for Carolina and Wake. I thought I saw less of him against Miami, could be wrong. Where is he at and what has bringing him along been like?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: Yeah, it's great. We want him to play as much as we can get him to play through his preparation. That was the plan against Miami. He played well while he was in. He gave up one 50/50 ball if you remember kind of down the sideline, really in good position. He's battling to start every week.
Practice really matters for us. He's going head-to-head with Fentrell Cypress. Each week's practice determines who goes out to start the game. That's where he is.
Q. Your secondary, it felt like it took a step back in terms of Carolina in terms of giving up the explosive plays that you talked about in the off-season. Wake Forest, while they moved the ball, they didn't have as many big plays. Are you happy to where you've gotten to in terms of limiting big plays?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: Yeah, we're making real progress in relation to a year ago. It has been targeted. We're not perfect yet. You still see an assignment mistake or two, especially if it's at a critical time. We had one of those in the Miami game where we had an assignment mistake.
We're chipping away at it. You can feel it happening. It's not perfect yet, but I see progress and it's real.
Q. Coming back after that Miami game, how would you describe the mood on the plane and the ride back? Everyone was probably tired. Kind of coming into this week, you talked about how much urgency you've wanted this team to have. Does that drop off after a win or do you want it to keep picking up?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: It doesn't drop off. In terms of describing the mood, gratified I would say. There's nothing in terms of stepping back or reflecting. Just gratification, right? The profession that I'm in, maybe that a lot of people are in, just not quite as visible, man, small, small differences lead to large impact.
A ball bouncing off a post after a hard-fought game is a completely different result than it going through. Our team, man, they held together and they battled, they held together and battled, they encouraged one another, held together and battled.
To have a tangible result on the road, our first win in the Orange Bowl -- not the Orange Bowl, whatever the name of the field is now, sorry about that. Yeah, it's great.
ACC wins on the road are hard to come by. Just lots of things that we were grateful for and anxious to do again. So, yeah, urgency is not affected. If anything, it's enhanced.
Q. The workload for Keytaon (Thompson), he has the cast, how impressed have you been with the determination out there on the field? Nothing seems to stop this guy whether it's a position change or an injury.
BRONCO MENDENHALL: Yeah, Keytaon, he can do anything. He knows he can do anything in a humble way. He's so optimistic and so positive and so passionate. Man, am I lucky that he's at UVA and I'm so lucky to be his coach.
He's just someone that I can't wait to see every day. There's always a smile, there's always something we can do, always just a word of encouragement for anyone in the program. He backs it up with how he plays.
I'm learning a lot by watching just a remarkable young person.
Q. (Keytoan) Thompson seems to be a guy who is not afraid to do the dirty work. A guy who is like that on the defense is Nick Jackson. When you look through some of the plays, one stood out was when he pulled the Miami center which allowed a sack. A lot of times looks like Jackson can get the sack but instead keeps to his assignment which allows other players around him to make those plays. How great is seeing a guy like Jackson develop a game like that?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: I would say it goes beyond that, kind of reflective of what we were talking about with Keytaon (Thompson). It's team first. Maybe all eras, right, we're all self-centered to some level, we think about our own goals, priorities, whatever. Football is a team game. The role that you play on any given assignment is for the team.
Yeah, I think both Nick and Keytaon grasp and understand that really well.
Q. When you look back at film of the second half at the defense, how much of some of the struggles or missed assignments were due more about what Miami's second half adjustments were doing, their up-tempo defense?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: Not much. It was very similar. The biggest difference in the second half, the short field after the interception. Yeah, one assignment mistake in coverage. Otherwise it would have looked a lot like the first half.
What seemed to be big really was small after re-looking at it. Yeah, we had a third down after the turnover, about six inches was the difference of an incomplete and a complete, then we blew a coverage. Other than that it would have been very similar.
Q. The past couple of weeks you keep mentioning about issues coming up defensively at the critical times. Is that just a challenge of simulating those kinds of scenarios in practice or how do you get better at those?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: Yeah, really just what you said. Through emphasis, right? My job is to always be in advance of, and I wish I was perfect at that. I've never predicted for sure how we're going to play or what the opponent has success with or not. I tried as hard as I can in terms of our processes.
After each game, right, the sample size grows and it becomes clearer where we might need attention. In this past game what became clear is we led the game from beginning to end. So playing from in front from beginning to end, then as teams are becoming more desperate to score, then making sure that we're aware of the down and the distance and the situation, where the sticks are.
Just contextual football I think is the answer, right? Those are things we'll have to simulate more in practice as we expose areas that maybe I overestimated where we were or were good in that.
I just watched it, and no we're not. Sometimes the threshold that needs to be met is met in practice. I see it in the game. Oh, no, we're not quite there yet. That would be one of those not quite there yet.
Q. How much does Malik Cunningham remind you of his father? How dangerous do you think he is?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: On a scale of whatever dangerousnesses there are, I would put him at the top of the dangerous scale in terms of how fast, how athletic. He can pull it down and run on any given play. I'm just really impressed with him. I think he's a really good athlete. I think his throwing accuracy and precision has improved. On any given play, he's a threat.
Yeah, doesn't take much to remind me from a year ago where we had a really hard time getting him on the ground or tackling him. He's a really good football player in a scheme that uses him really well.
Q. Brennan was not happy after the game with his performance. He thought the offense overall could have be more productive. After you looked at the tape, what were your thoughts on the way the offense played?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: How refreshing to win, to win that kind of game, to battle, all that, then have your quarterback, the very first thing he's thinking about is how to improve.
Yeah, he was upset about his interception. Came right to me after the game and said, That one's on me. I don't have to say a thing which is so remarkable and so refreshing, that accountability. We played over 50 plays in the first half. Defensively we had a lot of three-and-out, getting the ball back. The points per play, I think he would have expected to be higher. We all would have. Give Miami credit, right? It's not like they're not skilled and don't have good players and good coaches.
With the opportunities in relation to the points, I think that's probably what Brennan was referring to, those that we can better. Especially in the second half when we needed, to we had so many chances. We had chances to separate in that game both offensively and defensively. But our own lack of execution or mistakes, and to Miami's credit, kept them fighting back. We always struggled to pull away and we didn't execute well enough on either side to pull away. Tells you where we are, but also where Miami is, right? It's not just one-sided.
My guess is all of that contextually was what he was talking about.
Q. The jersey selection (of Joe Comer) a couple weeks ago was something on social media. What can you tell us about Joe in terms of how he UVA and what he brings to the program?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: How he got here was one of those -- we know A.J. (Anthony Johnson) was arriving from Louisville. I didn't know early on that Joe (Comer) was coming, as well. He (Joe) was coming as a graduate student and paying for his own grad school. Just unselfish in every way. He works so hard. He's capable. It's just a bright spot.
Those two kids, just A.J. and Joe, they kind of come as a team, like a Super Hero tandem. They travel together. They're just always smiling, they're laughing, elbowing one another. There's some side dialogue happening, giggling. They're just fun to be around.
He sacrificed a lot to be here. He's thankful and grateful to be here. I think that's not only why he reacted so passionately about his jersey, but the team as well. He's one of the favorite players on our team just because of what he gives.
Q. When you have a quarterback that you're opposing like (Malik) Cunningham, it stresses the whole defense, but is there one particular position group that they got to be coached a little differently when a quarterback has that skill set?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: I'd love to say it's just one, but it's really the entire 11 because they're all interrelated. You can't just say the defensive line you have him because there is not a matchup that is in our favor athletically. You can't say linebacker, you have him. In space there's not a matchup that's in our favor or anyone else's.
Secondary-wise they have to know their coverage will be longer and what we call plaster because routes convert and adjust as the quarterback is harder to get on the ground. He's a run threat, he creates on his own, which means there's a great chance he'll still have the ball after you tackle in the open field after you've covered downfield.
It affects everyone which just means the plays extend. You play defense longer when a quarterback is as athletic as Louisville's quarterback.
Q. A week ago some of the players mentioned that they were seeing more of you around the defensive side of the ball and at practice. Was that true or were you just more vocal? If it was true, will you be doing that again this week?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: I'm not sure I was more vocal or more around. Yeah, it could or could not be true, I guess. I just like our team. No, I love our team. I want to help wherever I can in any way that I can.
I move and I adjust and I'm intuitive as to where and how I can possibly make a difference or spread influence. Yeah, that's what I'll continue to do.
Q. I think Brennan (Armstrong) talked a little bit about going into Miami knowing the opportunity to run the ball would be there. Then y'all kind of established that early on. Is it more at this point with the run game just looking for that opportunity to get that going early?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: It is. I really like Mike Hollins and Wayne Taulapapa and Keytaon (Thompson) in the run game, Devin Darington. We've used Ronnie Walker as well. We're capable in the run game. So much of it now is what is the defense doing, what does the run game yards and opportunities look like, and how is the game being managed, really how does it fit.
So all of those things in the Miami game, it just was -- I love seeing our running backs run. They're physical, they're tough, they're always falling forward, fighting for extra yards. It adds a dimension to our offense when people are playing coverage first. That makes them -- holds them accountable to the chains being moved, and that's necessary.
Q. You didn't have an update last Thursday, anything been Jelani Woods or Justin Duenkel, Adeeb Atariwa or De'Vante Cross?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: De'Vante Cross is the only one I have an update on. He was battling personal issues and family issues that are private. He's back with the team. There was nothing disciplinary-wise or violations or anything like that. It was just a personal matter with his family that he was working through, as so many of us have, and needs attention sometimes.
The other three regarding injuries, I don't have an update at this point. I probably won't until Thursday. That seems to be when I have the clearest idea as to when, if and how guys might play.
Q. What have you seen from the changes you've made on the left side of the offensive line, especially now that (Bobby) Haskins is healthy again, shuffling (Ryan) Nelson over to guard?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: I really have liked Ryan Nelson at guard. That seems to be a natural and effective position for him, so I've liked that a lot. Jonathan Leech started to tackle. As I was reviewing film with the team, and I do that where I'm kind of talking about all positions and all things in front of the entire team, that didn't take long on offense where Haskins kept showing up and blocking really well and playing through the whistle, just performing in a way that we knew he could, but has been a little bit hampered by injury.
I really liked what I saw when Haskins and Nelson were in at the same time in those stretches on Saturday or Thursday against Miami. Yeah, that gives us more depth and more flexibility. It will be needed, right? We're just going into game six. That just helps our depth.
Q. Obviously (Bobby) Haskins and (Ryan) Nelson was the left side of the line two years ago. How much does that experience of those two guys playing next to each other help that situation?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: Yeah, it helps tremendously, right? There's chemistry that's formed when you play next to someone. There's communication that's always established. It's much like owe will you and Chris Glaser at center and the right guard spot. Between Glaser and Swoboda.
It doesn't mean that I'm opposed to having five players play the entire game, but rarely do you see an offensive front that can play over 80 plays really, really effectively and really, really aggressively for that amount, at least in relation to my standards.
I would love to see (Joe) Bissinger and (Johnathan) Leech also continue to show up as they are. That gives us really about eight when you look at the different possibilities of players that can rotate through and not suffer anything execution-wise.
Q. Having played two games not on Saturdays, how much of a benefit that is on the back end this week to get the extra few days of rest?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: We'll see. I know for the head coach it feels really good right now on a Monday. I'll find out from the team when we see them practice tomorrow. We're anticipating, right, a healthier and more rested team.
It doesn't always play out like that. Sometimes there's a little bit of a be mental sluggishness because it's not playing Thursday or Friday. We've had a few days off. I've seen both. Usually it ends up being beneficial just for the health part as the week goes on.
Q. I think there's nine ACC quarterbacks that are starters in the NFL Now. Brennan (Armstrong), I don't know that people thought he would be in that realm. Discuss where he is in terms of his development.
BRONCO MENDENHALL: He's absolutely in that realm. He's not kind of on the fringe, he's right in the middle of that realm. I don't know how to endorse him or share what I think about him any more than I have starting from last year to this year. He's really good. He can make every single throw, he's tough, competitive, smart, durable. Anyone that doesn't think that I guess they'll find out the hard way, right? All you have to do is watch him play and the production speaks for itself.
I'm really impressed. He has tons and tons of room to improve as well. But capability is right there in every level. I really think he's a good player.
Q. With a lot of these quarterbacks that are really good, like Brett Favre thought he could hit a shoebox from 55 yards away.
BRONCO MENDENHALL: Probably could.
Q. Brennan (Armstrong) seems really accurate. How much of that is Brennan and how much of that is the cockiness of a quarterback?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: It's both. I wish I could dissect that into the exact percentages, but it's both. Sometimes when you hit shoeboxes from 50, you do it 10 times in a row, you actually become pretty confident. For those of us that can't hit the shoebox from 50 once, we're probably not as confident.
He's done it enough now, and the sample size has become big enough, not perfect, there's still issues he can develop and grow in. This is absolutely not an issue of capability. He can basically hit whatever you put out there moving or stationary as many times as you want and he can do it with people chasing him around.
Q. I know it's not as simple as checking it off the list. Having won at Miami, not that your road windows are behind you, was that an important step? Is there something your team takes from that in terms of being able to win on the road going forward?
BRONCO MENDENHALL: Oh, yeah. There's a lot of things where after the game Jim Daves comes up to me, it always starts with, This is the first time since. I've had a lot of the first time sinces in my short time here at Virginia. This is the first time since. This is the first time since. This is the first time since. The last time we did that was. This was another first time since.
We've really worked hard to become more consistent and better not only at home but on the road. To have a tangible result that reflects progress is always important. As you mentioned, doesn't mean we've arrived, but it was accomplished. That counts. It counts in any way that you can get it. Now we use that and build.
Q. We'll have to look up the last time you won back-to-back ACC road games.
BRONCO MENDENHALL: I usually find out after the game. When I'm walking off the field, Hey, coach, this is the last time since. Whenever that happens we'll talk about it.
Virginia Tech Head Coach Justin Fuente
Press Conference Video
Opening Statement:
"It's good to get everybody back after the bye week, good work for the young kids and a little rest for the older guys. We practiced with everyone on Thursday, the kids had a lift and run Friday morning, then fall break. We were back last night for a really good workout. We're back on our regular week schedule. Obviously big game this week, tremendous challenge. Very talented, well coached, disciplined, tough football team coming in here. You them play you realize there is a reason they've had so much success the last several years. Coach [Brian] Kelly's done a fantastic job. They're sound in their schemes, play with great effort and they have talent as well. Tremendous challenge. I know they're coming off a disappointment. I'm sure we'll just continue to fuel their fire to get back in the win column. The guys are excited and ready to go to work."
On takeaways from the practices with the younger players:
"I think it's more of a long-term investment. Sometimes that long term ends up being short term though. You just never know how the seasons going to play out. The first guy that comes to mind is
Jaylen Jones. A guy that's been dealing with a little bit of an injury, but when he's been healthy has been working with the ones and rotating in. So it's good to get him in there.
Jalen Stroman's another one coming from that freshmen class that are on the verge of playing a lot that had been slowed for one reason or another. It was great to get those guys in there. [Wilfried] Pene's another one that's learning the defensive line, he's been working inside and needed all that work and he took full advantage of it in terms of just showing up to really work and concentrate on his craft."
On Notre Dame's defense under a new defensive coordinator:
"I think they're quite a bit different. I think Marcus Freeman is a fantastic coach with a bright future. They gave up a couple big plays, missed a tackle or two in the first game and then have played really solid defense ever since. The foundation is man coverage, but they mix up their looks and move their front and they do quite a bit. They provide a tremendous challenge for everyone. You start thinking about diversity of looks you're going to get and the talent and the people you're going to try and play against. Quite a bit different, I would say than the last guy that was in there, but the results have been similar, very effective."
On his approach to redshirting:
"It's different than last year, last year was a one-off, unique situation. We'll handle it the same way we handled it two years ago in terms of just having those discussions each and every week. There are a couple guys that we think will contribute on special teams that we know we want to redshirt that we'll try and save those games until later on when we need them in specific spots due to injuries or the natural attrition that happens during the season. It's something we monitor closely every single week like I'm sure all the coaches do. We have a spreadsheet of participation numbers. You have really two classes that have redshirt years so I guess you can say there are more guys that are eligible to redshirt because there's two classes."
Wake Forest Head Coach Dave Clawson
Press Conference Video