Everything From Defensive Ends Coach Chris Slade At His Wednesday Media Availability

On Wednesday, defensive ends coach Chris Slade talked to the media. Here is everything he had to say.

On the new faces in the room….

“It's going pretty well. I mean, you know, you were here the other day. You saw it's spring ball. The big thing for us right now is just to get the guys to learn the system, um, learn the defense, and just stay healthy and just try to get better each day. But, you know, so far it's been a good group to coach. Um, so we're back on the grass again today.”

On Nnanna Anyanwu big personality…

“He has a lot of charisma. He has a lot of personality. He's a great kid. Good kid to be around. He likes to have fun, but he's also serious about football as well. So, good combination. You've got to have a couple of those guys in your room to keep it entertaining now that Mitchell's gone.”

On what drew the team to Anyanwu in the portal…

“He's so long. You know, everybody's looking for length. You know, that's a big thing at that position. Guys who have long arms and uh long extremities, and he has a lot of athleticism. Uh, he can run pretty well. He's got some good instincts. He has a knack for football. Uh, he's pretty athletic. He has some attributes that we look for that position. And we saw him on film. Man, the first thing that struck us, again, as I said, was his length, but that was a big initial attraction.”

On the first interaction with Anyanwu..

“It's funny. I was on the phone with him. He was on his way to get his hair braided, and it was the first time I ever talked to him. I've been in Atlanta for so long. So I knew exactly where he was going and where he was, you know, and so I kind of so he and I kind of clicked right away just because of the Atlanta connection. So we automatically had things in common, and he was like, "Coach, I got to get my hair braided. I have to call you back." So I was like, "All right, this guy's going to be fun." And so that was our first that was literally our first interaction. He couldn't talk. He had to call me back. But he's just a big personality. He walks in, and he lights up a room.”

On if he sees anything raw about Anyanwu since he hasn’t partaken in spring practice in a long time…

“Yeah, this goes back even to like Matt drills. We call them wahoo drills, Matt drills. He was just telling me, "Coach, I've we did some stuff like this at UTSA, his previous stop, but nothing to the extent of what you guys do." So, it just isn't about him missing spring football. It was either about him also his conditioning. Um, he just hadn't gone through the same type of program and the same type of things that we do here.

So, for him, everything is an adjustment. It's almost like I wouldn't say it's like getting a high school kid, but just in terms of just getting him to really understand and to know what our expectations are. It's been an adjustment for him, but he's getting it. You know, he's embraced it. I mean, he's not shying away from it. He doesn't make excuses.

He's very coachable. I think he's going to be a great addition for us, but we just got to like a lot of the new guys who come in, you just got to coach them up, you know, on and off the field, how we just do things here at UVA.”

On if he feels like Virginia has recreated the different looks they can throw an offense with the players they have…

“Last year, you know, we had Mitchell, who had been at Ohio State, who obviously played a lot of big games. You had Ricker, who came from Tennessee Tech, who was on the, you know, the smaller size of stature. They were two completely different types of players. But I think this year we're longer. Um, not necessarily bigger cuz you know I thought Cazeem was you know heavy, and Mitchell and those guys were heavier guys, but I think this year the team is going to be longer at that position. We're excited about the challenge to kind of reinvent the wheel a little bit with just the guys that are new. But these guys come with a lot of snaps. Ezekiel Larry who we hadn't talked about, is coming from Yale, who came up and visited us this past week. He's played a ton of football. Um, Nnanna played a lot of football. Fobbs-White played a lot at Tulane and at Baylor, now here. So the guys have played ball. We got Devin Baxter, who hadn't really talked about much. We really got him as a freshman. So we got him for the next four years. You know, I recruited the heck out of that kid coming out of high school. I mean, so I'm glad that, you know, it took a couple of years for us to get him here, but he's here, and he's gonna be a huge kid. So we got some length in that room. And you got Fisher and you know, Koudelka. I mean, if nothing else, we look like a basketball team. If we can't rush the quarterback, we look like a basketball team at least.”

On Matthew Fobbs-White…

“He has very good instincts. He has a nose for the football. He has a very good change of direction. He's probably not your prototypical like, "Hey man, this guy's big. Let's, you know, not like when we saw Fisher was like, "Wow, look at his size. Fobbs plays with a lot of power. You know, when I'm looking at a guy to rush the passer, the first thing I'm looking at if if he plays with power, regardless of his size, usually a lot of big guys who don't play with power and he demonstrates a lot of power and explosion, kind of like Ricker when we watched him on film uh two years ago and and we saw that early with Fobbss and he's serious. He's all about ball. Um and he's smart. He catches on quick. You can tell him something once; he's very coachable. He has some experience. So, we're not talking a complete foreign language to him. He understands football pretty well.”

On the freedom of the scheme and system for pass rushers…

“Well, I thought last year, Coach Downing and I, you know, we kind of made a pact together that, hey, man, we're going to get after these quarterbacks, and we were

kind of like the D-line was something that Coach Elliott always kind of puts a lot of pressure on. I know, Coach Downing and I, we invited um we don't run away from it. So, we took personal challenges to make sure our defensive line was getting after the quarterback, and they played at a pretty good level. I thought those guys produced and so I thought the guys coming in, they got a chance to see you know players be productive in this scheme across the board. Two years ago, I think we were in the bottom dwellers in the sacks in the ACC, and this year we were completely like in the top three or four. So it was last year, excuse me. So it was a big deal for us, and I thought you know it's more attractive when you got proof that you know your guys are being productive in the system, guys want to come and play for you.”

On the next step for Fisher Camac…

“I think he has a shot of being really good. He hasn't even reached the ceiling yet. That's the thing about him, the big thing for Fisher, he's got on paper he's exactly what the NFL scouts want. He's 6’6 6’7 about 265. Like I said, he has the look. He's just got a shot of being really good. I think if he's just, he has a few things like they all do to work on, but if we can just get him to play with more aggression, I think that's the big thing right now and use his length and play with confidence. I mean, it's in there. We're just trying to pull it out. Once we can pull that out of him and just get him going and playing, probably playing a little more power, a little more aggression, a little more anger. This is the D-line. I think he has a shot of being in conversation for an all-conference player, in my opinion.”

On Matthew Fobbs-White's approach and his personality, taking a business-like approach to the portal…

“Nowadays, you know, so many guys are just abusing the whole entire system. It's more of a show and a spectacle as opposed to finding the right place, finding the right fit, getting in the right system, getting in the right school, the right organization. And that's what he's all about. He's been all business since day one. even when he came up on his visit, he was just like, you know, let's get to work. This is the place I want to be. And we're able to work it out, man. So, we're very fortunate to have him. I'm excited to to coach all those guys and the returning guys we have. So, you know, Jewett Hayes is coming along and then Gabe Sneed, who's a walk-on, has shown a lot of progress. So, that whole entire group is um is going to be fun to work with.”

On where Jewett Hayes is in his development…

“Just continually get better each day. To be honest with you, the last three or four days, well, the last couple of days of practice, I he's looked pretty good. I mean, he's dropping in coverage with confidence. I mean, he probably looks as good as anybody out there and just from an athletic standpoint, he's going to score off the charts. Um, but he's getting better. Evan Ward, who was a first-year last year, I mean, he looks like a totally different kid now. You're not a rookie anymore. It's time to get going, but those guys are all making improvements.”

On the benefit of his guys goes against McKale Boley and Monroe Mills every day…

“Well, you know, you want to play against the best every day you want to practice against the best players. I know from my own experience, you know, being there for three years and practicing against Ray Roberts every day made me a whole lot better. I don't know if he'd say the same, but it made me a whole lot better. When you go against the best players in practice every day, when you get to the games, man, you've seen the best, you know, the best, and it helps you just become a better player and helps them, and more importantly for me, you learn how to compete, you know.

You're going to win some, you're going to lose some, but the competition part of it is the most important thing. That's the name of the game, competition and competing. I think that's what helps.