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.
Boston College - Tuesdays at noon
Clemson - Tuesdays at 11 a.m.
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
Miami - Mondays at 1 p.m.
North Carolina - Mondays at 11 a.m.
NC State - Mondays at noon
Pitt - Mondays at noon
Virginia Tech - Mondays at 11:45 a.m.
Wake Forest - Tuesdays at 4 p.m.
Boston College Head Coach Jeff Hafley
Press Conference Video
Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney
Press Conference Video
Duke Head Coach David Cutcliffe
Press Conference Video
(Ref.: Opening Statement)
"I'll just start with Pittsburgh. They're as good as advertised. A balanced football team. Their quarterback certainly playing like a first round draft choice. I remember how impressed I was with him when he was young and we didn't play him a year ago and now studying him, he has really developed into a special player. They've got a receiving corps, whether it's wide receivers, tight end, running backs and a good offensive line. Defensively, they don't get talked about near as much, but a really big physical front like they always have and they're playing very effectively. They have been a third down nightmare for quite some time now. So real handful there and a real handful in the kicking game.
"As far as us, like people might imagine, people said, what are you working on? I mean, I don't think it's unfair to say everything. You look at every aspect of the program. You look at what you're calling, how you're doing it, how you're teaching it and who you're doing it with. I've been very impressed with our players being bought in and working hard and staying focused. People that think they're not fighting, that's not accurate. We're not fighting well enough with the technique and the things that they have to have to be successful. That's where a coach comes into play. I have to be responsible to see that those things are happening and you put people in position with great effort to make plays. It's a lot of work. But I'm very appreciative of our players' spirit and attitude yesterday. I don't even know what day it is, to be honest with, so its Monday. Yesterday, our practice was spirited and quick, intense. There were a lot of good things that happened out there, and you just have to keep believing. If you look at everything, if you turn every dial, if you detail every part of your program, if you keep working, then there's an end result that you're looking for that you want. So, nobody's going to quit being intentional or quit working. That's what you have to do. Obviously, it's my job to make sure that we're all working as smart as we possibly can."
(Ref.: On adding redshirt senior cornerback Leonard Johnson as a captain)
"Yeah, I think that's a great question about Leonard, and he's deserving. He had caught my attention just being more verbal and enthusiastic at practice. Even when he had a little time where he was hurt, he was just into every play at practice. When he's practicing, he's in every play, encouraging his teammates. It was on my mind and then I don't have the minds these three young people have, but I'm glad I was thinking something like them. They say great minds think alike, well, I can't match theirs. But the captains came to me and had seen and felt the same thing. It was just a matter of timing. I think coming off the Virginia game, it was a good time to try to infuse even more energy and enthusiasm, which it did. What occurred at Wake Forest was not part of unenthusiastic approach or down. Leonard was the same way yesterday as he was before. In my mind, proving he is that material. It's probably the hardest thing to do, is to be energized and positive when nobody thinks you should. Some people think in defeat you should be hanging your head and acting miserable. Some people can think that if they want to, that is not the way you approach it. That's what a captain and/or a coach is supposed to do. I'm really proud of Leonard. Leonard is from not far from where I'm from. He's got great parents, and they've tried to put Leonard in every position they could to be successful. He's done a tremendous job as a student, as a person and a football player here. So, I'm proud he will go on that board forever as a captain of a Duke football team."
(Ref.: On why the good practices are not translating to game performances)
"Yeah, I think from a player's perspective, because of that energy they're displaying, they really think they're good practices and they are good. But when you're not winning, they have to be better than good. They have to be great. They have to be fundamentally great. There can be no assignment errors. It's not just the energy, you understand what I'm saying. I can't sit down with all of them and watch film. I sit with the coaches and watch film. There are still things we have to correct to do better if we do the details a bit better. If as a coach I put them in better positions, then that energy and those practice habits will become extremely successful. That line sometimes is about that thin. It really is. It goes everything from feet, to pad leverage, to timing, all of those things. As a coach, when something's not in sync – you're the orchestra, right? You could have a guy playing the best he's ever played and with more enthusiasm than he's ever played individually, but if it's not in sync with the rest of the orchestra I bet it sounds pretty bad. I don't know if that's a good example but, I mean, it's just that close and we're not going to back off till we find that sync. That's what it takes to win. I've known that my whole life, not just as a coach, but as a player. There's a fine line and you have to be energized, focused and determined to never back off to get it where you got to get it. If I sound redundant and wound up from before, I am. What else can you do? It's a matter of grind and work, but work smarter, better. When you've got a lot of fires, guess which ones you better put out first? The biggest ones. I'm not going to tell you what the biggest ones are because that's a scouting report for an opponent. But yeah, you bring out two fire extinguishers if you have to."
(Ref.: On if it is still a learning curve for some of the staff coaching new positions)
"Everybody's pointing at the staff. I mean, we're all responsible, but it's all responsible to me. We've got outstanding minds. We've got outstanding football people. We've got incredible character, work ethic, all of those things. The same thing can happen. It's not a matter of not knowing what to do. That goes back into a sync in both staffs. I just got through a meeting with
Kirk Benedict. I mean, that close from being what we want to be in the kicking game, but we're not what we want to be there. I meet with both the defense and the offense. There's a lot of willingness and a lot of ears, and I don't have all the answers, but I have a lot of the things that have to be talked about, work through and done, and that's the process. You go back to those coaches, they're incredibly gifted people. Smart, football knowledge is outstanding. How much they care about the players is phenomenal, which is a big part of coaching on and off the field. People are going to criticize you, right? You get in this business knowing that and I tell them that's expected. I think I said it after the game, when people start throwing bricks at you, all I've ever known is to pick them up and start building a foundation with them. I don't want to waste them. Some of them hit you. They hurt, but you pick it up and you start building. I mean, anybody else got a plan then tell me about it. I don't know what else to do with them. So that's where it is."
(Ref.: On the discussions he has with the defensive staff)
"I don't know exactly what you're asking. I'm not going to go into details about the discussions I have with them. I mean, the obvious is we can't give up the points, the yards, the explosive plays, but it's much more detailed than that."
(Ref.: On the differences between Kenny Pickett, Brennan Armstrong and Sam Hartman)
"Well, different kinds of offenses all the way around. They're all gifted passers. That's about all you're seeing in the ACC these days. They're all really gifted players. He's doing a great job of taking care of the ball because in their offensive system, he owns it. I mean, it's built around him. He was a part of the development of all of this, so he's taking great care of the ball. The thing that makes all of those guys special is great accuracy. People always ask me, what's the first thing you want in the quarterback? Well, if he needs to throw it here, he throws it here. If you need to throw it here, he can throw it here. Accuracy is always number one, but it looks to me like also, he's got all the intangibles and then he can move and run. He's a very athletic young man, so very difficult to defend."
(Ref.: On quarterback Gunnar Holmberg's progression after injuring his hand at Wake Forest)
"Yeah, I mean, he practiced yesterday. He's like a lot of people this time of year, more going on than you want to have gone on. He's just got to push through it. People ask me, what's one of the first things a player learns. We don't scrimmage like we did. I think I brought this up maybe after the game or maybe in an interview. I don't recall, but when you have a guy learning to play.
Dave Harding sitting right here, if you got an offensive lineman all of a sudden first time he ever goes out and plays 80 plays in a game, he's never experienced anything like it. You know what you learn first over a period of time and same with Gunnar, you understand what the difference in pain and injury is. You really do. People use that term forever, but that's real. The more you play the game, because we don't get the scrimmage like we used to scrimmage, you learn how to push through things and do what you have to do to be successful. When a player gets to the point of injury and he can't do the things he has to do to be successful, then the trainers communicate to me and it's our job as coaches to have to sit him until he's better. So, I don't think we're at that point. Obviously, I want Gunnar to be healthy and being able to play at his highest level."
(Ref.: On what is preventing Gunnar from his highest level of play)
"I think it's still in the process of kind of us putting him in the system best for him and then him owning the system, you understand what I'm saying. We were really successful for a while on third downs, but we have to be. It's a combination of timing of mental, of just commanding the entire offense. But it's also my job to make sure that the offense he's in is best suitable for him. Why Tom Brady keep playing at the highest level that he plays now at this age, do you think he's better physically than he's ever been? No, but his experience level helps him make better decisions. Same thing happened when Peyton [Manning] went back after the surgery. I don't know what percentage of himself physically, but it was not near 100 percent and he had the best single season, I think, in the history of the game. Because of experience. I talk to all of them, talk to Gunnar and everybody we've ever had, it's a weekly process. You should get better by the week, but that's as long as I'm putting them into situations that they need to be in to be successful. That's part of coaching and part of evaluating. That's where we are. And that's the beauty of this game is that you can continue to do that and challenge yourself, challenge everybody around you to participate in that. That's not a one person show. That's not a coach show, player show. It's a collective show, to use experience and grow. Finding that magic to get the results that everybody wants."
(Ref.: On Pittsburgh's defensive identity and their elevated offensive play)
"Well, if you know Pat Narduzzi and his defensive mentality, that's not going to be lost. They've had other good offensive teams there, and different ways of defeating people. But you're right in the fact that this is a team that's producing mega numbers in the passing game. But what they're doing is doing it with the people they have available to them. They're using them to the maximum to get that performance. So, hats off to Pat, but they're not ever going to lose their identity defensively, and I don't see them losing it and their mentality of an offensive front. I mean, it is very Steeler-ish. And yeah, I mean, I go back to the days with Coach [Johnny] Majors used to talk to us about his time at Pittsburgh and other coaches that were with them used to talk to me. There was just a mentality of the city, of the fans, of both teams up there. So, it's an interesting phenomenon that they've held on to that and added this twist of high powered pass offense and they run it, too."
(Ref.: On if he feels like he has lost some of his voice within the team)
"No, not at all. I mean, it's an interesting question, meaning the players aren't listening to me. That's the only ears that I care about, to be honest with you. You can ask the players that question, no, I don't feel that there is a disconnect or not listening. There are a lot of issues that are not so obvious to the people that think it's obvious. A lot of work to be done, but I don't feel that."
(Ref.: On if he has thought about his job security for the 2022 season)
"I don't think about job security. How could I do that and do justice to the players that I'm coaching right now? Gary Patterson is a really good friend of mine. I know the story there, but I'm not going there. I'm not upset that you ask the question. That's a normal and natural question to ask. But why would I even consider focusing on that when I have a job to do that is directly related to how well I do my job in relationship to putting those players in position to win?"
(Ref.: On the failed fourth down conversions after watching film)
"Nothing directly. They were all independently a little different. I call the little bootleg and the way they transferred that off, kudos to them. Gunnar came out and did exactly what he should have done. We've had a lot of success with that through the years. The home side tight ends, not even a part of the route. He's igniting a run read and the safety instead of playing a run read absolutely jumped coverage. So, good job there. Do I think we could have executed better in the run game with that circumstance? Absolutely. Again, that's kind of a when you look at it and I was going to go for them, period. One of the things you do is that you have to believe it's a team game. If you're going for it on fourth down, knowing you need touchdowns to win the game and you're going to leave the ball wherever it is you choose, then your defense, and we talk about this as a staff and a team, has to accept the responsibility to get the job done right there then and get the ball back. Don't give up a first down. There's such a balance there and trying to develop what you want as an aggressive game plan. But I met with the entire staff – I do weekly about strategy and everybody in the press box and everybody on the field knew exactly what we were doing. When you're unsuccessful on both ends of that, you don't make it on offense and then you don't get to stop on defense. Absolutely it can hurt you. But I still would try again because I felt like strategically it was the right path to take."
(Ref.: On Duke's struggles and drives stalling in the red zone)
"I think red zone has been a huge factor for us offensively and you have to address it. Again, that goes back to not only what play, what happened on the play, but it's what personnel are we in? What formations are we in? What did we call? Who is in the game? When you get in the red zone, my line of thinking has always been it's you're getting more and more like a backyard. You think people at that point, and you've got to have the right go to people. If you look at any successful offensive football team, they're going to go to the right people in the red zone and you've got to design better around that. That's again my job."
(Ref.: On the decision to go for it on fourth down rather than kicking)
"It's just what you do. It's analytics. It's studying you against them. It's studying the numbers, it's crunching numbers. Most everybody's hiring people to give input to it and then you make decisions from there. I've always been interested in analytics, always been interested in every part of that. A lot of this stuff comes up from being put through a computer that we have, everybody has the ability to do this and these companies that have this software, they can take 1,500 examples of what you should do and what happened in the long term of a game. So, I read all that stuff until my eyes burn. Then I also use my experience. Then realize it can change during a game and it always changes by the even score ahead or behind that's going to change the analytics. It's an interesting thing. I think I've always been that way before it was ever popular, trying to just study the game and results and field position and what you're trying to do to win a game. I've been blessed to be around some great people that were just naturally good at it before the word computer was even used."
(Ref.: On if the poor play is frustrating and how to find the answers)
"Well, you know how I feel about frustrating, because that means you can't do anything about it, it's concerning. Big time. It is, again, a product of not just the physical, it's a product of putting ourselves mentally in a better approach. Putting the study in is done but you got to come up with results. A big part of that is what I just talked about was red zone. A big part of that has been penalties. That's on me. A big part of that has been untimely turnovers. If you just look. Does that bother me? Absolutely. If I had easy answers, I get a lot of easy answers. But if I had easy answers, we would apply those much sooner. But you're not going to quit believing midstream in your players or your coaches, so you go to work. That's the bottom line. A lot of people want to look at it a lot of different ways, but I know how to work and I know how to find results. We've found them before right here at this place when it was tough. So, you just keep believing and you go about your work that way. I would say any business that would be the total approach."
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
Miami Head Coach Manny Diaz
Press Conference Video
North Carolina Head Coach Mack Brown
Press Conference Video
NC State Head Coach Dave Doeren
Press Conference Video
Pitt Head Coach Pat Narduzzi
PRESS CONFERENCE VIDEO
PAT NARDUZZI: Obviously a tough loss to a talented football team. Our kids knew they were talented. I'd say the most underrated 4-4 team, whatever they are right now, in the country.
As I stated before the game, the quarterback was a good player, and he showed that. They lost to Alabama, Michigan State, both who are in the top five or six in the country, I'm assuming. They lost by five points to two ACC teams. We thought we would be in a battle.
There's a lot of good things. Our offense had 17 explosives, which is the most on the year. We got our explosives. Defensively held them to seven points in the second half, which was two great things offensively and defensively.
Special teams-wise, I thought we played one of our better games. Great coverage, great punts. Kirk was good in what we expected to get out of him.
Obviously a lot of things to clean up. Starting slow on defense, obviously disappointed the way they started the game. First 10 plays were touchdowns, 21 points, out of the gate. One was on, I call it, a sudden change because we turn it over on downs on a fourth-and-three. Week before we go for it on a fourth-and-five. We convert. It's a coach getting greedy. Put it in Kenny's hand and let Kenny go make it. We didn't succeed.
They moved down the field. They got us on three explosive plays. Defensively we only gave up five explosives, and our goal was to keep it under five. Give up five, it was too much in that game, period. It was five to 17 explosives. Again, it's stuff that you feel pretty good about it. Just lack of execution really.
We gave up a big run early. In the second series after the sudden change when we turn it over on downs, gave up a deep pass, two 57-yarders. One 57-yarder, we're in cover three. We're not man. Corner sits down, doesn't get deep enough.
Even when you were in high school, cover three, stay deeper than the deepest. We didn't, got hit there. Got hit on a fake reverse where Mallory kind of wheeled away from the reverse. Safety was on it. Then he kind of peeked back and lost him coming out the backdoor.
Again, just execution. You start off good, good, good, aah. Inside zone where we had a guy to make the play, we didn't make the play against Knighton, who is a good football player. Those are obviously some of the highlights and low-lights of that game.
Defensively first 10 plays are the worst plays of the game, at least those three plays I'm talking about of the 10. Shoot, there's one more coverage bust on the touchdown pass to No. 80, the tight end. A routine deal. Sometimes you got guys trying to do too much. I was trying to help over here. Just do your job. We didn't do our job, gave up that one touchdown pass I think after the 57-yarder in cover three. We had two ‘lack of focus,’ ‘lack of execution’ and ‘doing your job’ to cause us those problems.
Combine the turnover on downs with two turnovers on offense, it's a recipe for an issue there. Obviously the last one there, I think you guys asked after the game, I don't want to say miscommunication, but misread. Sometimes that happens. That's part of the game of football.
We’ve got to get off the field in the four minute at the end of the game, get ball back to our offense. It's another one of those where you know you're going to score.
I expect Miami to win the next four, put my money down they'll win the next four games in their conference play.
Questions.
Q. Google searches pull up many articles about tackling being a lost art in football. Is tackling a lost art?
PAT NARDUZZI: Not here at Pitt. Again, we gave up 108 yards. I'm glad you talked about the tackling. I missed that one. We gave up 108 yards of ‘nows’ and bubbles out there. It's an inside drill out there where we lost the physical matchup on Mallory. Give Mallory credit. He was more physical than we were at the linebacker position at the point of attack.
We played that generally pretty good. We didn't have a great plan as coaches to have a change-up to what we were doing because we weren't denting it with our outside linebacker, motioning to trips and throwing bubbles, what we call ‘now’ routes. They beat us up out there. We didn't make plays. We didn't get off the blocks. 108 yards, that's a lot of yards in just a simple bubble.
Obviously we understated the strength of Mallory and didn't do a good job of defending that. Tackling, we've been good tackling all year. We didn't do a good job there. We missed some tackles. Give their athletes -- they got good speed, too.
Just miscalculated because the backer was not as firm as he needs to be, decisive on where he was going to be, putting a dent in it. (Number) 31 is weaving to find out where he's going to fit on that bubble. They don't have a guy. We still got one extra guy to make the tackle. We didn't do a good job of tackling in space. We didn't do a good job of making it clear for him of where to go. He is taking the backdoor, he is coming out the front door. To me, it was at that linebacker spot. Again, a tribute to Mallory.
Q. Does it feel like it’s back to square one defensively, not unlike after the Western Michigan game?
PAT NARDUZZI: No, it's not back to square one. Again, they’ve got a good football team. You could say the second half was back to square one. I think we finished it the way we needed to. Came back and played a really good second half, regardless of what happened in the fourth quarter on a third down dink route to the tight end, there's a fumble. All the discussions, there were safeties and all that. Our defense came out and played a darn good second half. That's how you want to finish it.
If it would have been a first half and the second half the same, maybe we're back to square one. But we’ve got a good football team and I’ve got a lot of trust and faith in our guys. Give them credit. We didn't play as good as we needed to play.
Q. Does the second half show you that this is fixable defensively?
PAT NARDUZZI: There's no question about it. We definitely fixed it again. Hit you in a couple plays. Our guys regathered. Again, give credit to the coaches for getting them together, getting those first three series. One was a sudden change. Maybe I should have sky punted it, made them go 90 yards. Dumb decision on my part. That's what we do as head coaches, make dumb decisions.
Q. Did you submit any plays to the ACC?
PAT NARDUZZI: Yes.
Q. Which ones?
PAT NARDUZZI: I don't remember. There was a few of them.
Q. M.J. Devonshire has not played a lot lately. Is that a matchup issue?
PAT NARDUZZI: Sometimes a matchup issue. Again, he's sitting right there as one of our top three or four corners. A.J. Woods is playing good now. A.J. actually played more snaps than Quez (Marquis Williams). Marquis was one in cover three. Didn't play it great. A.J. is playing good. Just got to keep getting better at that spot.
Q. How is Taysir Mack?
PAT NARDUZZI: Evaluation right now. We'll find out. He wanted to go back in the second half. Doctors did a great job and said, ‘Don't go in.’ Not going to do it. Just trying to protect him.
Q. Is it not real serious?
PAT NARDUZZI: Right now we're still under evaluation so we'll see. We'll see.
Q. What do you see from Duke? They’ve had some tough ones lately, but they are 3-1 at home.
PAT NARDUZZI: Duke is a good football team. Offensively I think they're No. 26 in the country. They're very efficient. Like to run it. They're going to throw their RPOs that they do.
They've hit some explosives. Pound, pound, pound, all of a sudden someone is going 60 yards for a touchdown. They have been explosive on offense. So again, No. 26 offense. On the road, Durham, it's never easy. We've always come down there and won in the last second of the game on something. Defensively they're going to be primarily a four down, play a lot of man coverage, which will probably be pretty good for our offense if they're going to play man all day.
Q. Did anyone in particular have winning grades against Miami after evaluating the film?
PAT NARDUZZI: Okay, winning grades? When you lose, you try to make everybody not winning. I want to say Haba Baldonado played pretty good. The other disappointing thing, just the composure. We talked about composure and points all week. We let them get in our heads. There was a lot of trash talking, I don't know about what. You can just imagine.
I don't know what happens on video games, but I heard a lot of video game talk. I don't know what that means. I didn't get some straight answers about what ticked some of our kids off. When Deslin gets a personal foul, you go something is wrong. About the calmest, smartest guy on our football team.
We didn't compose ourselves. We prepared our guys for it. Disappointing thing is they didn't really listen. We knew it was going to happen.
One thing looking back, you always point at myself, what could I have done to prevent that? Talked about it, but should have had our scout teams talk more crap during the week and cause some fights in practice I guess, but I didn't do that. That's something that will happen next year for sure.
Q. The Pitt Special play – it looked like Lucas Krull could have run it in. Is that an option?
PAT NARDUZZI: It's an option. I can't tell you we practiced that option. You have to be a football player at that point and ‘What's my best option?’ He scores a touchdown if he just takes off running. But an old (baseball) pitcher, I think he was thinking, ‘I'm going to throw a touchdown pass.’ Guys have confidence. A critical play in the game.
I can't tell you in practice he said, ‘That's covered, that's covered, I'm running.’ You can contact the coaching area. We should have practiced it one time, it isn't there, he goes (runs), he scores a touchdown, as athletic as he is.
Just another one of those what can we do better as coaches. Should have practiced that scenario. Can't practice everything. Got limited hours on the field.
Q. Taking it out of Kenny Pickett’s hands on 3rd and 5. Any second thoughts on that?
PAT NARDUZZI: Maybe. I mean, we were putting it in his hands. It was supposed to go to him. Again, Lucas, if he throws it early, might be a completion for a touchdown. I think he was worried about that guy undercutting Kenny and picking it off and going the other way for six. Not easy being a quarterback. It was putting it in Kenny's hand. A play we have confidence in based as how they play.
Q. What keyed the good response after Western Michigan and have you seen indications of that this week?
PAT NARDUZZI: Because we’ve got great kids. Got coachable guys. They learn from their mistakes. We’ve got a lot of football to play. We’ve got four good ACC teams (to play). Anybody can win any given Saturday. Our guys will be ready to play.
Again, sometimes you got to get punched. It's called adversity. Sometimes you’ve got to get punched in the mouth. We got punched. Our guys will swing back. Not worried about that at all.
It's easier than having a four- or five-game winning streak, trying to stay on them. ‘Let's go.’ You can't think you're going to just line up and beat anybody.
Q. What is your understanding of the safety rule? Does the ball have to come fully out of the end zone?
PAT NARDUZZI: Again, it's football. There's a white line on there, about that big. I don't know if it's six inches, four and a half inches, five inches, whatever it is. You’ve got to get past that white line.
Again, the only thing I know is the side judge, or head linesman, whoever is on my side, said he couldn't see it and he called him out, out of the end zone I'm saying, where he gained I guess two inches past that white line. I think the ball was in the other hand.
Coaches coach, players play, and officials officiate. Can't control everything. If it's inconclusive, he calls it a safety. If it's inconclusive, it's a safety. He said he couldn't see. How do you make that decision? I don't know. I'll just try to keep coaching better.
Q. What do you see from Duke offensively?
PAT NARDUZZI: Duke, they're going to be the second fastest team we played this year as far as tempo. They're going to snap it on average of 19 seconds per play. They're going to go fast, which is like Tennessee, not quite as fast as Tennessee. They're snapping it seven, eight, nine seconds. We're going to see the tempo.
They're a good football team. The Durant kid, tailback, No. 21, I think he's got 156 carries. He's their workhorse. Don't have two guys rotating in there. He is the guy. They're going to ride him until he needs a blow and he taps out, someone else will come in.
He does a nice job running the football, reading the zone play, being patient, finding holes. He's a good tailback. We'll have to wire them up in there and be good versus the run as well as trying to stop the RPOs they're going to throw behind you. Their run game is good.
Q. Is that tempo new for David Cutcliffe?
PAT NARDUZZI: A year ago, two years ago, 2019, they were snapping it somewhere between 20 and 22 seconds. They speeded it up three seconds on average. I wouldn't say it's new. I'd say there's more faster snaps than there has been.
They've got a new coordinator, two new coordinators that are taking it over. I'm sure Coach Cutcliffe has his hands in it as well. He is doing a good job tempo-ing it and running the football.
Q. Is it easier too because you run a lot of tempo so your defense has seen it?
PAT NARDUZZI: It is. We see a lot of tempo. Miami ran tempo. Who doesn't run tempo? This seems to be the second fastest tempo. We'll be well-prepared. Some people run tempo to keep you base. We're not going to play base. We're going to do what we do.
Our guys are smart, they can pick it up. We give them quick signals. We're not going to be playing one front and coverage. They're going to have to run fast. They're going to run into some accidents, too. Those are things we count on defensively.
Q. Any players-only meetings as a response, like the Western Michigan game?
PAT NARDUZZI: No, no. Western Michigan was a game (makes air quotes gesture) ‘you expected to win.’ Our guys were upset about it. I think our guys looked at it offensively and defensively and said we missed some plays, we didn't execute, against a good football team.
There was nothing where they felt like they had to reorganize or we're going back to square one at Western Michigan. At a point you could say we were like we had to reevaluate what we're doing, how we're doing it, what happened that day.
But we're not there.
Q. ESPN said Pitt had a chance to make the playoff. How bad did you want to take their phones away?
PAT NARDUZZI: Not worried about it. I don't know how much they pay attention to all that stuff. I don't know. You can't take the phones away. They’ve got to be mature enough to not listen to the noise, the good noise and the bad noise. We're not worried about that. We’ve just got to keep playing.
There's a lot of things that can happen in the last four weeks with the teams that are up there that knock each other off, fall down.
We're not worried about playoffs. We're worried about the next game. We control our own destiny. We’ve got to play Pitt football.
Q. How did Damarri Mathis grade out? He seemed to be around the ball a lot.
PAT NARDUZZI: He was okay. He was okay. Could have been better, like everybody on our football team, with no exception there. Gave a couple of comebacks which I wish he could have played better. One out of the end zone on the safety series, whatever you want to call it. Wish we were better coverage there. It ain't easy. They’ve got good talent.
Q. The timeout after the safety – was that necessary to make them review it?
PAT NARDUZZI: I wasn’t calling a timeout because I thought it was a safety. They were viewing it. I called a timeout right afterwards just to save the clock. I knew they were going to start it on the ready. That's game management. We wanted to use our timeouts to give our offense some time left on the clock to go down and score. But I wasn't going to call it. We may have lost a couple seconds there I think, maybe not. I wasn't prepared to call it after we thought we had a safety.
Q. Have you heard back from the ACC or is it too soon?
PAT NARDUZZI: Too soon. It’s not going to change anything. They're not going to let us play that fourth quarter over again. Doesn't really matter. It's gone. It's gone.
Virginia Tech Head Coach Justin Fuente
Press Conference Video
Opening Statement:
"Like I said after the game, just really proud of our kids. I just think it's a remarkable display of perseverance and togetherness, the way they continue to battle back from disappointment. Three games really came down to the last play in the game. They're a lot of fun to be around, really inspirational quite honestly. We can all learn a lot, myself, our coaching staff and everybody around them, about these kids. I've just been really fantastic. It was fun to get to see them celebrate. We've got a huge challenge this week on a short week coming off a road game going on the road, playing on a Friday against Boston College, incredibly well coached team like you would think from them. Tough physical, really sound on the defensive side of the ball. Zay Flowers on the offensive side of the ball is just special, really incredible wide out. They do a great job getting him getting him the football. Their defense starts with the defensive line, I think. I think there're as well coached a defensive line as I've ever seen, watching technique wise and effort wise, really impressive. Certainly, those guys have talent as well. Offensively, it starts with running the football and then find ways to get the ball to No. four, which I don't blame them. He's a pretty special kid. We did not work out on Sunday, we worked out, but we did not practice. We practiced today. Obviously, we'll practice the week leading up to the game Friday night."
On how the team is feeling after the win:
"They have a little more bounce in their step. I don't think it should change our approach in terms of what we try to correct. It's okay to feel happy and to feel good. It's pretty telling, we were basically in the exact same situation versus Georgia Tech that we were vs. Syracuse with approximately five minutes to go in the game with a two-score lead and kicking off. To see
Jalen Stroman make that tackle, that was huge, and to see us finish the game off was impressive. To see the kids in the weight room, obviously they have more bounce in their step. Looking forward to this opportunity."
On Boston College's quarterback situation:
"I don't know what they're going to do. We've been in this situation before with various opponents. They put [Emmett] Morehead in there I think the third series of the game last week. I thought he played well. They started [Dennis Grosel] and played him quite a bit so I don't know what direction they'll go. I don't know that they change dramatically. They look to push the ball downfield and run the football. I don't know that there's a huge disparity between what their approach is between those two guys. We'll have to be ready for whatever we'll see."
On offensive lineman Parker Clements:
"I am happy, I think the thing that stands out for me with Parker is his competitiveness. He gets angry with himself when he's doesn't do something correctly and works to fix it. He's been a great worker, comes from a great family. Fantastic student and he has a chance to be a really good player. He's still in the developmental stages but was one of those guys that called upon was ready to step up to the challenge."
DEFENSIVE BACK DORIAN STRONG
On executing on defense:
"It starts at practice first. We practice a certain way. Like we make jokes here and there. But when it's time to lock in, we lock in. We make sure we run into the ball. That's a big emphasis. Just making sure we know all of our stuff, all of our adjustments, before we go out on Saturday or Friday."
DEFENSIVE LINEMAN JORDAN WILLIAMS
On Boston College's offensive line:
"They're big guys. They're very strong. Ultimately, their size is really a huge part of who they are up front and they stay on blocks for a long time. For us, it's just going to make us stay disciplined, stay in our gap, and make the play when it comes to our gap."
OFFENSIVE LINEMAN PARKER CLEMENTS
On your improvement in the first eight games:
"I would say just getting comfortable in there. When I got my first couple snaps against Middle Tennessee late in the game, there were definitely jitters going on in there and butterflies but once I got in, it was kind of just like practice and I just kind of calmed down. It has seemed to go like that ever since I've got more playing time. So, it's been it's been good."
RUNNING BACK MALACHI THOMAS
On the impact of the veteran players have had on and off the field:
"They have helped me grow tremendously. They just opened up beautiful holes for me to get through, even the ones I can't see. I just find a way to make my way through. They continue to help me and push me to be better."
OFFENSIVE LINEMAN LECITUS SMITH
On getting a win on the road:
"It feels good to get a W after a while. We lost three straight. It definitely hurt to lose those three back to back to back. But it felt really good to get a W with my guys. Coach Fuente was definitely happy about it. We were happy as a team about it. We understood what we did wrong and we understand what we did right and of course we have to correct those things but it felt really good to get a W and hopefully we can capitalize on that as well."
Wake Forest Head Coach Dave Clawson
Press Conference Video