Virginia Tech head football coach Justin Fuente, selected assistant coaches and selected players are participating with a throng of media members as part of Virginia Tech’s two-hour Media Day on Sunday. Media Day preceded Fan Appreciation Day, a free event at the Tech Indoor Practice Facility that allows fans and kids to mingle with players and coaches and gather autographs.
Below is a collection of informational tidbits that will be added to throughout Media Day:
• A little more than two weeks ago, the USA Today/Amway coaches preseason poll came out and college coaches placed Virginia Tech at No. 22 in that poll. However, one person did not rank the Hokies in the top 25 of that poll – Fuente.
“I just didn’t feel like we were ready for that,” Fuente said, adding that he submitting that vote quite some time ago. “We’ve got to go prove that. I did my best to fill it out with what I knew about everyone in the country, which is pretty limited. I just feel like we need to earn that recognition.”
The other major poll, The Associated Press poll, comes out soon. Fuente has no problems with preseason polls, though cautions against reading too much into them.
“I don’t want to de-value the people who vote for those things,” he said. “I think those things are fine. We haven’t addressed it one time with our team. We won’t address it. The bottom line is nobody’s played a game. Nobody really knows how the season is going to go, or what things are going to transpire, so we don’t put a lot of stock into it. It’s not something we talk about.”
• Fuente and his staff named Josh Jackson the starting quarterback six days ago, and since then, Jackson has worked with the first-team unit, developing cohesion, as the Hokies prepare for the season opener Sept. 3 against West Virginia.
Tech’s coaching staff feels that Jackson has enjoyed great practices since the announcement and shown no signs of apprehension thus far.
“I haven’t seen a dramatic change in Josh,” Fuente said. “We named him the starter because we felt he was ready to do that. He may feel different internally. I haven’t asked him, but I’ve seen a guy that has grown in confidence and mastery of what we’re trying to accomplish. But we saw some of that before we named him the starter, which is obviously is what led us to that conclusion.”
• Defensive coordinator Bud Foster said that he expected Brandon Facyson to be available for the Hokies’ game against the Mountaineers. Facyson suffered an injury over the summer, but is gradually working his way back. The redshirt senior cornerback provides talent and leadership at a position where the Hokies lack depth – or at least lack experienced depth.
“He should be ready for the opener,” Foster said. “He’s been wearing a cast, and that things should come off this week. He’s been doing individual drills, he’s been doing team drills, he’s been doing skel [pass skeleton drills]. The only thing we’ve been holding back is from doing anything with contact.
“He’s doing more. He’s limited in certain things, but he’s doing more. I like where he’s working towards. He’s out there doing as much as he possibly can with his limitations – the restrictions that the doctors have put on him. I’m anxious to get him back to where he can tackle and be physical and those types of things to get his timing back.”
• Tech’s staff feels good about starters Tim Settle and Ricky Walker at the defensive tackle spots, but as most know, the coaches want to see some depth emerge behind them. On Sunday, Foster cited good work being done by Jarrod Hewitt, a redshirt freshman from Florida.
“That still is a question mark,” Foster said of depth at defensive tackle. “I really like where Jarrod Hewitt and how he’s come along. I feel like he’s been one of our most improved guys, particularly at the interior side. Jimmie Taylor has been consistent and very rugged. He’s playing for us right now. We need for a fifth guy to step up for us.”
Foster added that Darius Fullwood possesses the potential to help, but needs to be more physical at the point of attack. He also said that the staff has moved Xavier Burke to defensive tackle, but Burke has been limited by a knee injury.
“I’ve seen progress from the spring, just them being coachable and listening to what Coach Wiles is telling them and them focusing more on what Coach Wiles says to us instead of just what Coach Wiles says to them,” Settle said of the backups. “I’ve seen them grow. I was kind of scared at first, but I’m starting to feel a little more comfortable with how they’re playing now.”
• Many people expect Settle to have a big season after playing well as a backup to Woody Baron, Ricky Walker and Nigel Williams a year ago. Settle got himself into shape last season, and looks great at 6-3, 335 pounds.
Much of the credit for Settle’s development goes to Walker, who really got Settle to buy into Tech’s strength and conditioning program and into doing things the right way to become successful. In fact, Walker joked Sunday about Settle not being able to finish his first conditioning drill when he arrived at Tech.
Settle doesn’t get mad at such statements. In fact, he makes no bones about Walker’s impact on him since he arrived on Tech’s campus.
“Ricky is like my big brother, man,” Settle said. “You always see us around, and you always see us together. We sit next to each other in the meeting room. Everything me and Rick do, it’s the same. He took me under his wing as soon as he got here, and he taught me the ways to be successful here. I think that’s why me and him are going to make a big impact.”
• Much attention has been giving to Tech’s receiver positions, as the Hokies lost both Isaiah Ford and Bucky Hodges, two terrific receivers who decided to forgo their final seasons of eligibility and pursue NFL dreams. Cam Phillips and C.J. Carroll are the only two returning receivers with any experience, and Tech’s staff has been searching for some younger players to emerge.
But Fuente said that playing receiver in Tech’s offense is easier than playing in some other offenses. Then offensive coordinator Brad Cornelsen explained why.
“Just your base calls, where to get lined up, there’s not a whole lot of adjustments with splits,” Cornelsen said. “We have some route adjustments, but not a ton. We want those guys to get good at the details of what they’re doing. We don’t want the assignments to be so overwhelming that they can’t get off of press coverage. We want them to run a good route, get separation and concentrate on the ball.
“Just the way we call the play and what we expect from those guys and our base rules, and we’ll put the challenge on maybe another position and take it off of that position to let those guys … typically that’s a position you can have younger guys come in physically and be ready to help you. That’s just the way we’ve tried to do and just build that system.”
–Jimmy Robertson, VT Athletics
