Developing Depth Still on the Hokies' Agenda as the Second Week of Fall Camp Begins

If Justin Fuente has said it once, he's said it a hundred times now: Virginia Tech is working to develop depth across its roster. Fuente's stance on how far the team needs to progress before it hosts Liberty on September 3 has not wavered. Fuente reminded the media of that following Thursday's practice when asked about what he's learned about Tech since the Hokies have practiced in full pads.

"I don't know if I'm trying to learn them as much as we're just trying to execute better and continue to bring some young guys along," Fuente said. "To me, that's the focus. There's a lot of proven commodities out there. I shouldn't say a lot, there's several proven commodities out there that we want to make sure are ready to play. There's a whole bunch of guys that we've got to get ready to play."

But it wasn't all doom and gloom from the head Hokie. Fuente was very pleased with the effort and the energy level a day removed from the first off day of fall camp.

"They did a good job," Fuente said. "They needed that day, extra day. You're body's not gonna feel perfect after six straight days of practice. That day off will at least make it feel better, and they moved around like that today. I was pleased. We're not, we've got execution, things we've gotta work on and all that kind of stuff, but as far as their energy and enthusiasm for practice, I felt it was pretty good."

An attrition note, former four-star LB Raymond Minor has asked for, and been granted permission, to leave the football program and transfer to a new school. Minor had been working as a backup Whip linebacker.

Justin Fuente

OPENING STATEMENT:

"We got good work in today. It was cool to see Jason Worilds out at practice, former player. We always want to make sure those guys are welcome. We've got several guys making their debut in the NFL tonight, (we) wish them well. We got some good work in today. We're starting to get into a little more situational stuff. We've got two practices tomorrow. We're gonna scrimmage on Saturday. That will give us a little more situational, down and distance, that sort of stuff. Kids are working hard. Slowly making progress."

ON ENERGY LEVEL AFTER A DAY OFF:

"They did a good job. They needed that day, extra day. You're body's not gonna feel perfect after six straight days of practice. That day off will at least make it feel better, and they moved around like that today. I was pleased. We're not, we've got execution, things we've gotta work on and all that kind of stuff, but as far as their energy and enthusiasm for practice, I felt it was pretty good."

ON RAYMON MINOR LEAVING PROGRAM:

"We support him. I want him to be happy and successful. This is a lot of work and he put in a lot of work. Worked really hard. We support him to go and maybe have a better chance to get on the field in a bigger role or whatever it is that he's looking for. We fully support him, wish him the best, and want to help him in any way."

ON IF MINOR WAS WORKING AT WHIP:

"Yes."

ON IF HE KNOWS WHERE HE WILL TRANSFER TO:

"No."

ON WHO IS WORKING AT WHIP:

"We've got Shegog in there and we'll rotate some guys in there. We're playing some nickel. Y'all know how that all is with offenses and personnel groups and that stuff."

ON WHAT HE'S LEARNED NOW THAT TEAM IS IN PADS:

"I don't know if I'm trying to learn them as much as we're just trying to execute better and continue to bring some young guys along. To me, that's the focus. There's a lot of proven commodities out there. I shouldn't say a lot, there's several proven commodities out there that we want to make sure are ready to play. There's a whole bunch of guys that we've got to get ready to play."

ON FINDING NEW WAYS TO GET HODGES AND ROGERS INVOLVED OVER SUMMER BREAK:

"Absolutely. Part of coaching is figuring out what guys are good at and trying to put them in a situation to have success, or to let everybody have success. What their skill set is, what they can and can't do, what they're good at, what they're not good at. When you've got versatile guys that are highly intelligent, it helps. You can do a few more things, move them around. Ask a little bit more of those guys because they can handle it as opposed to, you know, guys who maybe don't pick up things as quick or a little bit newer or haven't played as much."

ON HAVING A TIGHT END LIKE HODGES IN COACHING:

"No. We've had some good ones at TCU, but not one like that, no."

ON FINDING CREATIVE WAYS TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF HODGES:

"Well, to a point. But you've gotta reel yourself in a little bit, too. You've gotta do what you can execute. You've gotta realize that as a coach you spend all day sitting in that office thinking of things to run and those kids are out taking math classes and trying to get dates and all that kind of stuff. They can only handle so much. We can all draw more than we can teach, so you gotta reel yourself in. Brad (Cornelsen) does a good job of that, quite honestly, of keeping it paired down so we can have a chance to execute."

ON OFFSEASON GOALS FOR HODGES:

"Well I just think that for Buck is for him to provide versatility. He's gotta be able to block and run, go play wide receiver. That's a tall task. Getting in the condition at 225245 pounds to run those kinds of sprints and stuff is a challenge that he's taken head on along with trying to maintain your strength levels so you can play at the line of scrimmage. That's challenging enough for anyone and Bucky's done a good job of that."

ON TREMAINE EDMUNDS:

"He's been fantastic. Great worker. Great person. I think he has a really, really bright future."

ON IMPORTANCE OF EDMUNDS WITH DEPTH ISSUES AT LINEBACKER:

"His development and the nuances of playing that spot, it's a little bit more than maybe it used to be; just run and tackle the guy with the ball with what offenses are doing and that stuff. I've seen him take steps forward in that. It's incredibly important. He's a big part of what we are trying to do. As you eluded to our depth is not fantastic in that area, but he's making progress."

Chuck Clark

ON THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING BRANDON FACYSON BACK:

"It adds a lot of dimension to the defensive backfield right now. We got different options to cover different ways, but we just feeling out, seeing who's going to play right now."

ON FEELING BAD FOR AN INJURY TO FACYSON:

"Yeah, you do, you know to a guy who had an outstanding freshmen year. Just to have injuries like that, you just feel for him and they kind of came back to back. So you just stand by his side as a teammate. Can't wait until he gets back on the field."

ON CHANGE OF PLAY FROM FACYSON:

"I wouldn't say that. He's the same player, but he's just trying to get back out there."

ON CHANGE IN CORNERBACK TERMINOLOGY (FIXED LEFT/RIGHT CORNER VERSUS BOUNDARY AND FIELD ASSIGNMENT):

"It helps without having to change, you know, having guys change all around. With the whole up-tempo offenses that teams are doing now, it helps us to not have to flip the whole entire field."

"It helps guys to learn different positions. It adds a lot of flexibility. You can move the secondary, you know, so those guys can do the same on both sides of the field."

ON IF OLD SYSTEM RESTRICTED PLAY:

"No, I wouldn't say so. We've had a lot of guys make All-American, going to the next level."

ON SAFETY AND ROVER POSITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES REMAINING THE SAME:

"Yeah."

ON COMFORT LEVEL OF TERRELL EDMUNDS:

"He looks comfortable right now."

ON COMMUNICATION LEVEL ON THE FIELD WITH EDMUNDS:

"I feel like, right now, it's there. That's the only safety I have to play with at this point. So I mean at this point I feel like on the field, off the field, our communication is great."

ON DEON NEWSOME:

"He looks real good. I didn't know he had it in him."

ON TEACHING NEWSOME:

"I feel like you give him pointers here and there and he goes with it. But, I mean, from the physicality part, you know, or just knowing where to be, the right spot, it comes kind of natural to him. At times, we stay together, so at times I'll tell him something or different things, but the exact details of certain things, he doesn't, sometimes he might not know things but, like I said, from a physicality standpoint and just knowing where to be, he's ahead of the ball."

ON THOUGHTS ABOUT NEWSOME CHANGING SIDES:

"It wasn't that, it was, I guess just seeing the guy flip over his third or fourth year and try to figure out how's he going to be. But he's doing good."

ON HIS THOUGHTS ABOUT THE QUARTERBACKS:

"They are doing good, but those two, who's going to be the guy? I'm not sure."

ON ANY YOUNG GUYS THAT HAVE IMPRESSED HIM:

"I like Reggie Floyd. He's shown a lot of explosiveness. I like him. I feel like he's going to be a hungry guy. When his time comes, I feel like he'll be ready."

Tremaine Edmunds

ON BENEFIT OF HAVING PLAYING TIME LAST YEAR:

"It's definitely beneficial. Just being on a college field getting some of that experience is definitely going to be good for me for this upcoming season, so I'm excited.

ON BEING COACHED BY BUD FOSTER:

"It's great. Anytime you can get coached by a guy like that, you gotta take advantage of it. I've been taking advantage of it ever since I've been here. He's definitely good, he's definitely going to be tough on you because he's pushing you to be the best player you can be. I'm definitely honored for him, just to get the best out of him."

ON MORE ONE-ON-ONE WORK WITH FOSTER:

"Coach Foster, he's always doing his thing. He's going to coach you up to be the best player you can be. He's not going to treat one guy different than the other guy. He treats us all the same. He just wants to get the best out of all of us."

ON RAPPORT WITH ANDREW MOTUAPUAKA:

"Definitely. Andrew, he has a little more experience than me so every now and then he helps me out making sure that I'm in my correct spots and making sure we're on the same page. You want guys like that. Guys with experience that you can look up to that knows what's going to happen in the game and know what coach Foster expects. I'm just honored to play beside Andrew. He's a great guy and I'm just looking forward to the season."

ON THE AMOUNT OF CORRECTION FROM SPRING TO FALL:

"I definitely feel like it's less now. I've been getting my plays down better. Trying to make sure I have my side right so that I won't have to have Andrew stressing about his side and then, I just want to make sure I have my part covered."

ON TIME TO LEARN HIS LAST NAME:

"I just call him, actually I just call him Drew. So I'm not even sure."

ON CONTACT WITH TREY EDMUNDS:

"Things have been going well. He's been busy with camp. I've been busy with camp. We talk after meetings at night time and he says that everything is going well. He's just preparing for a season just like I am."

ON KEEPING UP WITH HIS BROTHER DAILY:

"Oh definitely. He is my brother so I make sure we stay in touch with each other. He's doing well. He calls me and my brother just checking up on us.

ON NOT HAVING TREY AROUND THIS CAMP:

"It's something I had to get used to but you've just got to do what you've got to do sometimes. Like I said, we talked to each other before both of our camps started, wishing each other the best. Just telling each other to go out there and give the best you can and get ready for the start of the season."

ON SPENDING FULL OFFSEASON WITH COACH HILGART:

"Oh Coach Hilgart is definitely doing a great job, him and all his staff. I feel like they're conditioning us well. Our strength is up. Been preparing to go out there and play football this year."

ON WEIGHT:

"236 (pounds)."

ON ON-FIELD PROGRESSION SINCE SPRING:

"I feel like I'm getting my keys down a little bit more. Those are the minor things. You cant play football if you don't know what you're doing. I feel like I've been watching more film, know my assignments more."

ON FOCUSING ON PRACTICE AND NOT GAMES:

"You're always gonna be ready to play football. Always gonna be ready for this season to start. Right now my main focus is getting through camp, not looking past that. I've gotta take each new day one at a time, so right now my main focus is the next day."

ON HAVING A HEAD COACH AS A FATHER:

"Oh it definitely helps me a lot. I can talk to my dad about anything, honestly. He tells me little details, little things that I should do. It could be as simple as hand placement. Definitely take advantage of that."

ON IMPACT OF DEON CLARKE:

"Great impact. A guy with experience like Deon, him being a senior, I asked him a lot of questions. I know he probably got tired of it sometimes but that was just me trying to get my things right and he definitely helped me out with a lot."

ON HAVING BUD FOSTER RETURN:

"I was in the meeting rooms all the time last year so the things start to get repetitive now. I've heard things last year, so this year I was like 'Ok, I understand what he's saying.' Things are starting to click now to me. Definitely helping me out a lot for this upcoming season."

ON LEANING ON TERRELL:

"A lot. Terrell and I, we're on the same side on defense. It's important that we have our communication right. Just talking to each other every night when we go home is making sure each one of know what we're doing. Going over practice. If one of us messed up, we usually let each other know. This is what you're supposed to do and this is the place you're supposed to be. Just helping each other out is always good for both of us."

ON WHICH GAMES PARENTS WILL ATTEND:

"Honestly we haven't even talked about it. I'm pretty sure my family will figure it out."

ON BRISTOL:

"They should be there."

Bucky Hodges

ON HOW CORNELSEN WILL USE HIM:

"I'm very confident that he knows how to use me. Like you said, we have a lot of different type players to utilize. Sam (Rogers), myself, Isaiah (Ford), Cam (Phillips), we got some young tight ends, Travon (McMillian), we got weapons all over so it's like pick your poison."

ON LEARNING PLAYS NOW:

"I'm a lot more comfortable with it. It's different from the last offense, but after a whole spring and also a whole summer, it helped me transition into this new offense. Feeling like it was a smooth transition and I'm learning it better every day."

ON PHYSICAL GOALS FOR THE OFFSEASON:

"I'm gonna have to punt that one."

ON TRANSITION TO NEW OFFENSE:

"Right now I'm in receivers but I still play H-Back a lot. It's just learning it is not as hard as it once was when you first got in it. But after this whole summer, it's definitely a lot smoother."

ON NEW VERBIAGE MAKING IT EASIER:

"Yeah. Definitely. A lot more simple but still you have to actually read your plays, take notes. Our last offense, you would have printouts of plays. This one, you have to draw out your plays. It helps you learn, drawing, writing stuff all helps you memorize."

ON CHALLENGE OF PLAYING AS A RECEIVER AND A TIGHT END:

"It was a challenge this summer. In workouts I run with the receivers and I lift with the tight ends or the linemen. I feel like I can do anything coach asks me to."

"It was tough. It was definitely a tough summer. I think it's definitely going to pay off."

Editor's Note: Transcription mistake, Fuente said Bucky Hodges weight was 245 pounds, not 225.