Everything From Tony Elliott After Virginia's Fourth Spring Practice

Spring practice rolled on in Charlottesville today and the Cavaliers began their second week of work.

After practice today, Cavaliers head coach Tony Elliott spoke with the media for the second time this spring and here is everything that he had to say:

1. On losing Mitchell Melton, Cazeem Moore, and Daniel Rickert...

"It was the production is really the trait we were looking for, first and foremost. Encouraged that we had Fish (Fisher Camac) coming back and enjoy developing and some other young promising guys. The biggest thing was just to try and find guys that have been productive. And then look at the measurables, try to make sure we match some of the link that we had. The ability to run, the ability to be physical against the run, and then in that same guy be able to find guys that can go get the passer. And so I think we got a good little mix in this class.

We still got one coming (Ezekiel Larry) that won't be here until the summer. It's still just day four and second in shoulder pads and so we're still teaching all of these guys how we practice But this week's going to be a great opportunity to evaluate these guys. Furthermore because we get to do some live stuff on Wednesday, and then we'll do some live stuff on Saturday."

2. On Matthew Fobbs-White...

": First thing is that he's a football player. I mean, he loves ball. You could tell he's a very focused young man. eager to get better and to be coached and to learn. I think he was looking for just a situation to where he could get back to being himself. And I think the bandit position that we have allows him to be able to do some of that from a two-point stance. And so you saw the productivity, but then when you met him in person, you saw just the intangibles that he brings.

A really, really good young man, and he's a football player that loves ball.

Yeah, he's, like I said, he's very focused, very business-like, no nonsense. It was yes or no, sir. There wasn't a whole lot of small talk with him. And you've seen that as well. I mean, he's very intentional. He comes out to practice, eager to learn.

He's a guy that wants to get it right. And so you see those traits carry over to the practice field, which I anticipated going to serve him well as he continues to develop in this program"

3. On Nnanna Anyanwu...

Being transparent, the first thing was his personality, man. You just love his personality. He lights up a room. And I just remember in my one-on-one meeting with him and his family, you could tell that there's some depth and some substance to him to go along with his ability to light up any room that he's in.

And then you look at his frame, those frames are very, very hard to find. That 6 '5", 240-to-250-pound guy, that can run. And so those were the things that drew me to him. And then so far, since he's been here, he's just been fun to get to know. And again, he's another one that's eager to learn, wants to be good, and he seems like he's a really, really good team guy."

4. On Fisher Camac...

"Right. I think last year it was a function of the weight room of really getting his body to where it needs to be to go against the tackles in this league. And I think he's close to being there from day one from a strength standpoint. Now it's the ability to improve his pass rush arsenal because you saw where he did really good things against the run game. Then once he got settled he was able to affect the passer a little bit more and get to the quarterback. I think now it's just the evolution of a couple of different pass rush moves to give him the ability to be you know less predictable so that he can be more effective. The one thing that he has that you can't coach is he's got length. And now he's got the, I think, the strength and the power to go with it.

And then if he continues to develop the change of direction, I think he'll be a guy that could be a total package kind of guy."

5. On if he wants a workhorse to emerge at running back...

": I think selfishly you want to have several guys because I know there was several games and weeks where you like you're crossing your fingers like man, we're one turned ankle away from being very, very thin at the position. You want to have very functional, quality depth there that's competitive and they'll determine if it becomes that I think when we went into the season like we didn't fully know what we had in J’Mari if we're if we're being transparent and he determined that he was going to become the workhorse just with his productivity and he separated. So if one of them separates, then we'll go in that direction. If it turns into a committee type of deal, we'll go in that direction.

But I do like the competition and the depth that we have at that position right now"

6. On the newcomers in the running back room...

"Yeah, so Peyton (Lewis) is what I thought. I mean, he's a big body that can run, natural runner, so he's got good eye-foot coordination. His eyes talk to his feet very, very well. He's got to work on catching the ball out of the backfield. Seems like he learns very well, so picks up concepts pretty quickly.

And again, today's just the second day in pads, and it's been very controlled. So those guys don't get a fair eval (evaluation) until you turn them loose live. But he's been what I thought. Dynamic and he was a guy that was a combo guy right so he could play wideout, running back wasn't sure like where his real home was but he looks like he's at home as a running back.

(Jekail) Middlebrook is a smooth, he's a smooth guy. Things look pretty effortless to him. He's still learning some of the concepts that we run. He's got a great personality, great fit, eager to learn, learns ball very, very quickly. So those are the things that stand out right now. We'll watch the film a little bit later so I can really dive into the inside run periods that we had and some of the team stuff.

But I'm excited to see him turn loose a little bit on Wednesday and then again more so on Saturday/"

7. On the young wide receivers...

"Unfortunately, two of the new guys (Da’Shawn Martin & Tyson Davis) are battling hamstrings already, so haven't had a chance to really see them. I think the first day, you're like, okay, we got some guys that got a little bit of juice to them. But then they went down, so they should be back later this week. So we'll get them back and see what they got.

Rico (Flores Jr.) has been, as advertised and maybe a little bit more, obviously was very productive at Notre Dame his first year and then made several plays at UCLA last year. But I think he's a guy that has more versatility than I thought. I think he can play multiple positions for us.

I think that (Da’Shawn) was doing well until the hamstring, same thing with Tyson (Davis). But again, just didn't get to see a ton after the first day. And then who am I missing? Quon (Jacquon Gibson) has been steady so far. A lot of learning for these for these guys coming into this system. So I anticipate that as we get into the latter part of this week. Things will start slowing down for those guys and you'll be able to see their true playmaking ability. Some of it is just trying to figure out how to get to get lined up all the different motions. And then when you have guys go down, then you start now moving guys around before you want to ideally you want to get them settled at a spot get them comfortable. And then the latter part of spring, you start moving them around to see what flexibility they have from a position standpoint.

But because of the injuries early on, we've had to move some guys around."

8. On WR Dillon Newton-Short...

"Before I talk about Dylan, Zay (Isaiah Robinson), and, JoJo (Josiah Persinger), the two elder statesmen, TyLyric (Coleman) and Kam (Courtney), those are the guys that I have high, high expectations for, because they've been in the system for a while. TyLyric’s been here now going on his fourth year. So they should know what to do, should have position flexibility, and really want to see them seize the opportunity in the moment. I believe it's their time. Now, they got to go earn it. So they gotta go be productive on and off the field, in the meeting room, per se, off the field.  

Then with Dylan, in particular, just want to see him continue to increase play speed. He made some plays for us last year, did a really good job, but he also was kind of hampered with the ankle, had some hamstring stuff. So I want to see him stay healthy, just continue to increase the play speed, because he's got all the ball skills that you could want. He's a guy that loves to play football. Now I just want to see him play fast all of the time, from that standpoint.

Zay Rob (Isaiah Robinson), I want to see him pick up where he left off. Thought he was making tremendous, tremendous strides, and the same thing, just the play speed, and the ability to function on his own.

And then JoJo (Josiah Persinger), I think his biggest thing is not trying to do everything too fast and just letting the game, come to him. And I think with reps, this spring, the game will start to slow down for him, and then I think he'll be able to just really let his natural ability take over.  

And for those young guys, catching the ball, right, is the easy part. Getting to where you're supposed to be with enough window for the quarterback to throw it there is the hard part. And that's what they're all learning."

9. On if he has a feel for the identity of this team yet...

"A little bit. I think it's a different. It's a different deal than last year in that we had so many returning guys that had been here for so long that you kind of knew what their identity was. In reference, I'm talking about James Jackson, Antonio Clary, Jah Carter, like you knew who those guys were.

We got returning guys, but We're still learning them a little bit, too, right? So now you're figuring out Drake Metcalf, and you know who (McKale) Boley is, but Makilan (Thomas) is a guy that's returning, but you're still figuring him out. Monroe (Mills) and those are the guys that are in the prominent leadership positions. Then Jason Hammond was kind of trying to figure him out a little bit as a leader. You know who he is as a young man. You know who he is as a player. Now, who's he going to be as a leader?

Who's (Anthony) Britton going to be as a leader? I think going in the last season, you had a good idea from the guys you perceive to be leaders. You knew what their identity is. This team's a little bit different. So I can't say that we've gotten to that point yet, because I'm still teaching them. all how to practice.

Then you go out there and (Noah) Josey’s out, and then Kam Robinson's out, and Maddox Marcellus is out, and Landon Danley's out, and Sparky's (Daniel Sparks) out. So a lot of those guys that we have a good idea, they're out too, right? So they're not practicing, which creates opportunity for other guys to step up, which is going to be positive for us down the stretch.

But right now, I think it's more sooOn the coaches to do the leading whereas last year we had more of the guys in the locker room to do the leading. That helped us I think establish Identity probably a little bit quicker. So it's just a different process with this group."

10. On what they wanted to emphasize this spring...

"Right, so start defensively, just tackling. And too many missed tackles on defense. And then there's going to be other things and certain concepts that we're working on like in man coverage, certain techniques, same thing with some of our zone stuff. Pad level, hand placement are all things defensively. We got to continue to improve upon our run fits and then offensively, same thing, pad level, hand placement, eye discipline, those are all things we got to improve. Catching the ball, we got to improve on. We had way too many drops last year. Ball security, right?

So we got to continue to improve protecting the football offensively because if we would have protected the ball better we could have been one of the top turnover margin teams in the country because defense got a ton of them for us this this past season and we want to continue to emphasize that defensively right and how positive that was for us.

I think that a third down defense. I mean third down offense in the red zone is a big thing for us. Touchdowns in the red zon is a big thing for us to continue to improve upon. And then also try to maintain the level of production that we had on both sides on third down.

So that's an area where we want to, even though we were good there, we want to continue to be good there. So we got to make sure that we continue to put an emphasis on that."

11. On Makilan Thomas...

"He can move and he's a strong, powerful young man. So those are the things that just jump out at you, right? Because we only got to see him for a short time last year, but now you're like, okay, man, this guy moves very, very, very well, very strong. So those are the things that initially jump out.

And then the things that you notice that you didn't know about him as much because he was injured is his car is up here late at night. He's in here watching film on his own. So he's putting in the work. You're starting to see, hear him a little bit from a leadership standpoint.

But the biggest thing that jumps out is just the athleticism that he has at the position."

12. On the young offensive linemen...

"Yeah, you're seeing from Jon Adair that, man, he's embracing that he's not a freshman anymore. So he's starting to carry himself with the confidence of a veteran guy. And that's translating into production, you know, out in practice. And same thing with Ben York.

Ben York's another guy that both of those guys played for us last year. And so what you're seeing is that confidence is carrying over and continuing to grow. So that's been positive.

The two young pups (Dylan Biehl & Mikey Gildea), I mean, they're swimming. They're just trying to figure out which way to go in practice because it's only day four. Grayson Reid, we didn't get to see him much in game action, but you're starting to see the confidence that we saw out of him coming out of high school.

So it's been good to see him seeing some position flexibility with Grayson. And we haven't done a ton of moving Ben and Jon yet, but through the course of spring we plan on getting both of those guys work on the right and the left side so that we have some flexibility with those guys.

And I tell you, the guy that's caught my attention probably the most of all of the younger guys has been Grant Ellinger. Watching him, he's moving a whole lot better, playing and communicating with a ton more confidence. Even saw him in there with the first group today, which is a testament to the first three practices. You just don't get an opportunity to rep with you.

You got to earn that. And he earned an opportunity to run out there and take some reps. So that's been positive. And so we get all of those young guys to add to the depth that we have with our older guys. Then I think we're going to be where we've wanted to be as a program, where you guys 10 to 12, offensive linemen that you feel really good about the competitive depth."

13. On the Chandler Morris situation...

"We'll make a determination once we find out what's going on there. I think those guys knew that this was a possibility coming in the door. But really the focus has been on the guys that are here right now. And I think Chandler respects that, him and his dad understand that all parties got to kind of got investment in all different areas, so to speak.

So we'll see how that goes with him next week. And just kinda, I'm trying not to, it's a difficult situation. And so I'm just trying to be present where my feet are. And then when the situation arises, then we'll know which direction to go once we get there."