Everything From Tony Elliott Ahead of Virginia's Spring Game

Spring football is winding down and tomorrow, Virginia is going to have its annual spring game. It is a new look UVA squad and they are hoping to build upon the success of last year's 11 win team. Tomorrow is the first chance we will get to see this team in action, even if it is just in a spring game setting.

Before tomorrow's game, head coach Tony Elliott met with the media and here is everything he had to say:

Opening Statement...

"Yeah, excited, man. It's been a good spring, excited for Saturday. I'm looking forward to splitting the teams up and getting after it. A little bit different format than years past. In years past, I would evenly split the teams. But a couple different circumstances this spring with us not having the ability to practice in Scott Stadium as much as we normally do in the spring.

We missed a couple opportunities there. So what I want to do is keep it more like a scrimmage in terms of the continuity of the team. So the way we split the teams is, the offense will be in white, the defense will be in blue, and still have head coaches for each side to help the flow of the game. For the defense, it'll be Mike Adams. For the offense, it'll be Taylor Lamb. Now, we will try to make it flow as much like a game, even though we got them split up offense and defense.

So our special teams, we won't do full speed. We'll just have the kicker and the return guys on punt and kickoff. We will kick our extra points live, because we need some work there. And after the coin toss, we're going whoever wins the coin toss will have a kickoff, and then we'll spot the ball on the 25 or the 35, depending upon if the kickers hit the kick point that they're supposed to kick the ball to. So put a little pressure on them, even though they don't have coverage units, and then we're going to roll the ball. acting first team offense versus acting first team defense.

And it's going to be live, and the first half is going to be 15 minutes like a regular game. And then if we force a punt, then we'll run the specialists out there, and we'll punt the ball. And then the acting second team offense will go out versus the second team defense. And we'll do that for the first half, and then the start of the third quarter, all of our third team guys will get to play a couple series. And then after the first five minutes of the third quarter, it'll be a running clock throughout the duration. So we're trying to simulate a game as much as possible.

But also, we need to see a couple more things with how guys operate together from a continuity standpoint. over in the stadium, because we didn't get to do two of our scrimmages in the stadium. So that would be the format. And then we got a different scoring system, since it's offense versus defense. It's your standard offensive points, six points for a touchdown, one for an extra point, three for a field goal. However, defensively, you're going If defense gets a turnover, it's six points for the defense.

If they force a punt, it's one point. If they have a three and out, it's three points. And then if they get a turnover, it's also six points for them. So we're still going to make it very competitive. But it's just a little bit different format than what we've done in years past."

1. On if QB's are live...

"No, no. QBs won't be live. So they'll be in a different color jersey. But you'll see them all."

2. On if he has an idea of the identity of this team...

"You definitely don't have the questions in the secondary like you did last year. We still got, again, we only get three opportunities to go live. And so I still want to see a couple of position groups this Saturday and how they respond. But for the most part, you feel like you have a better idea of what you got to work with as you get ready to prepare for the summer as opposed to that uncertainty of knowing that you got to bring in six guys on the back end."

3. On who is available...

"So all the long -term guys that were out for spring, none of those guys are back. I think the only real question mark that we have is Darion Henry Young, just with an ankle. He got banged up a little bit, doesn't look like it's too severe, but I don't know if he's had enough time off where he can go full speed.

And then Drake (Metcalf) possibly he's got a little swelling in the knee But he could be back and those are really the two that are that are that are banged up everybody else's has been able to return. And all the soft tissue guys right now, they're all back. So we made it through today's practice, knock on wood with nothing major. We do know that that Dallas (Brannon) has to have surgery post spring for a wrist very similar to Omillio (Agard) who obviously won't be back. He's one that got banged up had surgery But other than that most everybody's going to be going to be available and ready to go."

4. On the young offensive linemen...

"I think what you saw is you saw Ben York and Jon Adair take the step that we needed to see based off of where they were in their progression. So really, really pleased with the spring that those two have had.

And then I saw the progress that I needed to see from Grayson (Reid) to say, OK, he's on track now. He's still a little bit further behind because he redshirted all last year. and didn't play much. And then I thought the biggest kind of surprise and improvement was the leap that Grant Ellinger made. So of those four guys, young guys, and then (Alex) Payne. I think we know talent -wise what we got. It's just he's only had 14 practices and moving all the way across the country, so he's still figuring it out.

But you saw definitely he got validation of the athleticism. And I think every day that goes by, he's going to become more and more confident.

And then also, too, I thought Cole Surber had a really, really good spring, which an older guy, you don't know how much more they have before they hit their ceiling, but I thought he found a way to really improve, and he's played the best football that he has so far this spring.

So encouraged with him, Ben York and John Adair, and then hoping that with another 25 practices, Grant (Ellinger) and Grayson (Reid) will be further along, along with Alex Payne."

5. On Josiah Persinger...

"Yeah, he can run. He's fast, probably the fastest guy we got on the team. He's a physical guy for his size and his position. Starting to see just the confidence in his body language, the more reps that he gets, the better understanding that he has, and therefore you can hear him a little bit more. Still just experience, he's going to be out there on an island, and they got to have a short memory. And you're going against a highly talented guy, so there's going to be some competitive plays that are made. The supreme confidence, and not only going to come through experience, but he's got all the tools that we need. Just the biggest thing is repetition, and then the complexity of what we do schematically, like the spring is about what we do, and then also trying to maybe tweak and experiment with some things, which is challenging for a younger guy, because just when they feel like they're getting the hang of it, man, you introduce something new that they may not have done before, and then they got to manage all of that.

Overall, very pleased with where he is in his progression."

6. On TyLyric Coleman...

"So TyLyric, and I've said this, I think he's probably the most talented of the of the guys in the group just doesn't have a ton of experience for just different reasons throughout his career and now's his time and so started to see him operate with more confidence and want to. Saw him make some plays and I think now you're seeing him do more than just a routine play. He can create the explosive play but he's got to be consistent, you know day in and day out there's probably not a guy in the program that gets challenged more by me than he does. I'm constantly challenging him because I think he's got a ton of upside and we haven't seen it. But now's the time.

He's also kind of up against that clock. And so he doesn't have a whole lot of time to not fully invest. And I think we're seeing a higher level of investment, which is producing better results on the field. And he's going to be a guy that we need. We're going to need his playmaking ability. We're going to need his speed and his quickness and athleticism at the position."

7. On developing the quarterbacks...

"Cole, he's right there in the mix with those guys. A little bit tougher for Jae’Oyn (Williams) and Eli (Hamrick), just because they're, and Boone (Lourd), because if you got six of them, it's hard to rep six of them. But I thought we did a really good job with all those guys of distributing the reps, giving them legitimate opportunity to compete for the job as we've gone through the first 14 practices. And then Saturday will be big, and then really between now and the time that we all get back together in August will be really, really critical for those kids. But I thought the staff did a really good job of giving each one of them an opportunity to run with different position groups.

And I mean, with different groups of offense. And I think it's important too, to see how they respond when maybe they're not out there with the first unit. And that's something that we're looking at and we're evaluating. Because again, a quarterback, man, you got to have competitive stamina, mental toughness, and really It's not always going to be pretty in front of you. You got to be able to go out there and function with different groups of offensive linemen, different groups of backs, different groups of receivers and tight ends."

8. On developing quarterbacks in the NIL/Transfer Portal Era...

"I believe it is. I think it just needs to be a point of emphasis in the way that you operate your program. It's every position, right? So it's fair to say that you've got to develop every position. And the quarterbacks aren't the only ones that are moving, right? So everybody can essentially be a free agent every year.

So you could lose guys. I think what we have to be careful of at the collegiate level is we can't get away from the mindset of this being a developmental age or window in their football journey. Because if we're getting guys out of high school, or even just because a guy moves in doesn't mean he's moving in with a ton of experience, right? So he may not have been able to play as much as he wanted to somewhere else and now he's transitioning somewhere else. I think you got to take the approach.

The biggest thing that I tried to convey to the guys from a developmental standpoint is development. The responsibility of development rests with the player. Right. And then you're looking for two things. You're looking for a source of knowledge, which typically is your position coach, and then you're looking for an opportunity. So I think if you if you have coaches that have the expertise, they have the right perspective, the right mindset, and you structure your program to create the opportunities, I think you can develop guys.

Now, there has to be patience. Right, not every guy is going to develop on the same time frame So it's just a combination of things, but absolutely I think this is this is the developmental stage in their career. They're not they're not pros yet, right and even in the NFL you're seeing that you know you got to invest in a quarterback. And if he doesn't have opportunity, then it's challenging. And that's where probably the toughest part of the development is, is finding the opportunities on game day for those guys to be able to go out and play."

9. On Daniel Sparks...

"So Sparks, I'd love to see him get back to that that all conference level at which I know he can perform at as a punter. And then I also want to see him accept the challenge of being a long distance field goal guy because he's got the leg. There's no question. It's really just can he can he in the amount of time that he has developed the accuracy to put it between the uprights.

I was out of practice with some guests and they were asking me about and I said from about 55 he can still hit it to the top of the to the goalpost. I just don't know if it's going between them yet. So he's got plenty of leg for that. But in order for us to help him there, we're going to have to take the kickoff responsibilities and hopefully, you know (Elijah) Slibeck will be able to fulfill that role and you got (Will) Bettridge on your short area, you know highly accurate, you know from his field goal range and then outside of that is where I want Sparky (Daniel Sparks) to be expand his role. But if it takes away from his ability to be an all -conference punter, then we'll focus on that. You're near the end of spring now."

10. On the wide receiver group...

"Yeah, the receiver group's been interesting because it's always this way spring on every campus around the country. Those guys, they're up and down from just an availability standpoint. So early on in the spring, we had a couple guys that we were counting on that had a hamstring here and there that missed a couple of practices. But now we're back, I think healthy, full speed, got the whole group going.

Really excited about what the transfers brought in. I think Rico (Flores Jr.) is very, very steady, and he's probably going to be a lot like JT (Jayden Thomas) in that he can play all three positions and give us really, really good production at each of those positions. Dede, Deshawn Martin, we call him Dede. He's dynamic, so I think he's got an opportunity. And then Jacquon (Gibson) has been probably the most steady and consistent of those guys. So I think with the three additions, you got some really good raw material to work with.

Now we just got to figure out now that we've really had 14 practice to evaluate which one of the spots do they really do they really fit in and you know TyLyric (Coleman) we talked about when we're going to have to he's going to have to continue to train in the direction he's going. Kam Courtney. Being the elder statesman from an experience standpoint, I thought he had a good spring, saw improvement there. I think he's probably the most ready to be that consistent playmaker for us, has the most experience, the best understanding of the system just because he's been here and he's played the most. I need the two young pups to continue to just progress and Dillon (Newton-Short) and Zay, Zay Robinson.

So those two, and they've made strides. Josiah's (Persinger) another one that's been working really, really hard and been consistent, and I think that was the biggest thing with Josiah, is just, hey, let's work on the consistency, and once we get the consistency where it needs to be, then I think the playmaking ability, and he made a couple plays out there today that you can see that because he's focusing on the consistency. Now you're starting to see some of the big plays come out of him. Dylan Cope has been a really, really pleasant surprise so quickly, right? I mean, when you get those mid-year freshmen or first-year receivers here, like, man, they're swimming.

But you see him, he can really run, and it doesn't look like the intensity or the level of competition intimidate him. He was ready to jump right in. We got what we need. We just we were still kind of figuring that that that group out and nobody's really separated yet and rightfully so. It's in our system with the way we asked them to block in the run game the complexity of that and then just the things we do from a from a route tree standpoint and the conversions and It takes a little while so these next I what I call 16 practices of skills and drills are going to be big for those guys. And then."

11. On the guys to watch in the slot position...

"So when you look at it, right now Kam Courtney, because he's played there. Josiah (Persinger) has been in the slot for us. Jacquon (Gibson) was there for most of the spring.

There's even talk about giving Dede (Da’Shawn Martin) a shot inside now that we see kind of what his skill set is. Those are probably the four candidates for that position right there. And then they'll also have to play the Z and possibly the X for us. And so that's where we'll start and I think we got enough competition there for somebody to be able to emerge."

12. On the runnning back room...

"You do. And typically in the spring, you get to see that probably a little quicker than the wideouts because the run game comes together a little bit quicker. And with the experience that we have up front, it's a little bit more conducive for those guys to be able to show their skill set as opposed to when you're in a quarterback battle. With new wide receivers, it's a little bit different. So definitely feel like I got to see what we have.

I'm excited about what we have. Still not a big enough sample size yet for anybody to separate. But I think we're a deeper running back room with more versatility than what we've had in the past. And we don't have X (Xavier) Brown out there yet. So X will be coming back into that mix. And I think you got a combination of some size and some power.

You got some speed, some elusiveness. And I think even with the guys that may not be power guys, they run down behind their pads. And so I feel really good about the collective group. And we'll see if somebody wants to kind of separate like J’Mari (Taylor) did last year. But overall, I think it's a deeper, more competitive group, probably the deepest and most competitive group that we've had since we've been here as a staff."

13. On Jakail Middlebrook...

" have. If there was one that I had to say that I saw take the step would have been him, right? Again, you don't know. You don't know much about him until they get here.

And you kind of saw a little bit of a slashing style on tape. But what he showed me is that he can play in every situation. He can be in every down back. He'll get down behind his pads. He's tough for his size. He falls forward, he understands football. Really good demeanor. He's consistent every day. He's the same dude every single day, right?

And I thought Noah (Vaughn) would be the guy. Vaughn was turning in that direction, and then we had a little bit of a setback with the knee that didn't put him out, but it hampered him a little bit.

So I thought those two guys probably showed me the most of that group, but I also like what I saw out of Peyton (Lewis), right? And I think as Peyton takes more reps, he's probably Well, I'm not going to say probably. He is the complete package in the room, right? When you look at his size, his speed. And what impressed me about him was his feet and vision for a bigger guy. I mean, he's a big back. A bigger guy. And we all know he's got documented straight line speed. But what I didn't know was his eye-feet coordination, the ability to find the creases. And he showed me that. Now, we've just got to get him back. continue to help him build his confidence, not that he lacks confidence, it's just, it's new, right?

This is a whole new system. And so he's learning every single day and the way we ask him to pick up and pass protection, you know, it's a little bit different than maybe where he came from. Just with the spring game, what are just some of the things you're looking forward to seeing from the guys? on Saturday out there? Yeah, I want to see him. What's their demeanor in a in the stadium when you got like game simulation?

Because again, we don't get many opportunities to see that before it's for real. So I want to evaluate what's there like, Are the lights going to be too bright, or do they feel right at home? I think I know that about some guys, but there's a lot of guys I've never been in that situation. So that's what I'm looking for. I want to see competition. I'd love to see a great turnout from a fan standpoint to help us create that atmosphere.

I want to see guys having fun. I want to see how guys respond to the intensity of game-type coaching. And how do we function together? How do we communicate? All those little things that are hard to recreate on the practice field because of the pace at which we practice. When you go in the stadium, now you can add in these other circumstances and I want to see how they respond."

14. Jason Hammond...

"Just from an overall maturity standpoint, I couldn't be more proud of Jason and just the maturity that I've seen over his time here, which is now manifested in leadership and him having confidence in his voice because he knows it's backed up by the work. He was down a little bit, so he was out a couple of practices, so he missed some sometimes, so he's just getting back.

And we got a very, very healthy rotation in there, and so maybe not as many opportunities to see that. But I anticipate that it's going to continue to progress and pick up from where it was last year, because now what we've been able to add to the equation with him is the leadership and the growth and the maturity."

15. On finding a replacement for Tyler Jones...

"My man, TJ, hate to see him go, but super, super happy for he and his family and the opportunity that it's one opportunity you can't turn down and really a testament to the work that he put in and then also the work of the folks in the program because that's what happens when you have success, then people want to kind of see what you're doing and potentially see can they take some of your folks from you. So I know Carla (Williams) will work on the side of the things that he did from an administration standpoint.

Got a couple of ideas and potential directions that we can go in-house to pick up on the GM piece of it. It's not solidified yet. We got a little bit of time. He'll still be here through the end of May. So we got a little bit of time to onboard and then have a transition plan. Really enjoyed working with him.

He was an outstanding partner to the program. The success that we had last year wouldn't have been possible without the contributions that he made. So, super, super excited for him to have an opportunity to make a decision. And that's really all we want, you know, is we work really, really hard to put ourselves in position to have a decision to make. And when he's a very thoughtful, very meticulous, detailed individual. So I know that, you know, it had to be the right situation for him to, because he wasn't looking for it. The opportunity came looking for him. So I hate to see him go, but at the same time, that's really what we want as a program is an opportunity for people to be rewarded with bigger opportunities and more responsibility because of the success that they have where their feet are."

16. On the front office structure...

"Well, we do. And I think one of the great things that Tyler (Jones) did was he was a big part of that. But at the same time, he invested for it to last and not just to be a shot in the pan. So we know that, yes, he is leaving. But we also know we got a great partner and all the information. That he has he's going to share and with the next person from a GM standpoint and also from a from a sport admin standpoint to help us keep going."

17. On increased leadership roles on the team...

"Definitely. Definitely seeing more guys become more comfortable with the voice, their voice as a leader. And so you're starting to hear them more. I think overall, from an identity standpoint, it's a very workmanlike group. Practices have been a lot of fun to go to I think back to last year I'm not going to you know say a name But I know there were some very testy days on the practice field between me and this particular Individual just trying to get them accustomed to our culture how we do things and didn't have you know any of that It never felt like had to pull anybody to do anything. Guys have just showed up and worked and taking advantage of each day that we've been out there so from an identity standpoint, I like that about this this team. They don't mind working. They seem like they get along really, really, really well.

The biggest difference is last year we had some very vocal leaders, and rightfully so. You got (Antonio) Clary, who was about like Sparky (Daniel Sparks) and played here for 10 years, so of course he's going to speak up. James Jackson's been here for a long time. Jah (Jahmeer Carter) wasn't vocal, but Jah had been here for a long time. Now what you have is you got (McKale) Boley. Boley's been here for going on his fourth year, but you know Boley never had a talk before.

You always had James (Jackson), you always had (Noah) Josey, you always had these other guys. You didn't have to say anything. Now, he's finding his voice. But to see Boley now, I'm just like, wow. To see how mature he is now relative to, man, I don't know. My hair, I'm missing hair right here because of Boley when he was a freshman, right?

Trying to get Boley to believe in himself, to be confident, to be consistent, to have the right demeanor. And now he sets the tempo. But he's not going to be as loud as Clary. He's not going to be as loud as Sage Ennis. But when he speaks, everybody's going to stop and listen. like they did with those guys.

So from an identity standpoint, I don't know if the leadership will be as loud and in your face as maybe Chandler (Morris) and Sage (Ennis) and those guys, but it will be, I believe it'll be just as strong, just maybe be manifested a little bit different. So that's what I didn't know. Like, I didn't know if guys like Boley and them were really going to embrace the leadership role, and so far I've seen that."

18. On Eli Holstein...

"He's got a laid back demeanor around the building, but when he gets out on the practice field, you can see that he's got some fire to him. He's got a poise about him that you can tell that he's got experience as a starter. Him and Beau (Pribula) are both trying to figure out the system, and each one has their own style, but they're both trying to lead the best that they can. He's got a nickname, which is good.

So he's already got a nickname from his teammates, which tells you that he's fitting in, fitting in well. So it's been pleasant to be around those guys. You never know how those guys are going to come in, but he's come in very humble, right? Goes to work, loves the weight room. He loves the weight room, and I think that goes a long way with his teammates when your quarterback loves the weight room. So he's been fun to be around.

He's got a little bit of a personality too, so you can joke with him a little bit. Can make all the throws. He's more of a pocket guy, but I did see some instances where he pulled it down and took off, and he can move for a big guy."

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