Tony Muskett, Chico Bennett, and Perris Jones Speak at ACC Football Kickoff
Virginia football's delegation of senior quarterback Tony Muskett, graduate defensive end Chico Bennett, and fifth year running back Perris Jones answered questions from the media at the 2023 ACC Football Kickoff event in Charlotte on Thursday. Muskett, Bennett, and Jones spoke on a variety of topics related to the upcoming UVA football season.
Read a full transcript of everything Tony Muskett, Chico Bennett, and Perris Jones said at the ACC Football Kickoff below:
Q. Is there any pressure coming into Virginia from Monmouth to perform at the pace that Virginia needs you to perform at since they're expecting so much from you from an offensive standpoint?
TONY MUSKETT: To be honest with you, I think there's pressure any time you play. I went to Monmouth. I was fortunate to start there for tree three straight years as a true freshman and then sophomore and junior year. Any time you are playing college football, you go out and try to win.
I don't let external factors dictate how I handle my business. Every time I approach a game, I approach it the same way, whether it's a championship game or you are playing the worst team in the division.
Every game is as important as the next. When you have that mentality, it doesn't matter if you are playing in front of 3,000 people or 75,000 people. I go out there. I put internal pressure on myself, and I try to perform my best every single time I take the field.
Q. You heard Coach say the previous staff had their way of doing offense. How would you describe this coaching staff's offensive philosophy? What is the vision big-picture for Virginia offense?
TONY MUSKETT: Score a lot of points. No, I love it. I love Coach E's system. It's very similar to what I ran back at Monmouth. More pro style. We want to establish the run game. We want to give our guys open looks at the ball.
I'm very comfortable with it. I'm coming in, like Coach E was saying, they didn't necessarily run the same system, so there is a bit of growing pains with that, but now the guys coming back, it's their year two in it, so they're more comfortable with it. I've had exposure to it. This is my fourth straight year now.
So certain little things, whether it's getting out of a play fake and throwing that dig route on time or just knowing where the back is supposed to be on his check-down route and little things that I've had the exposure to and had the opportunity to work through for years now. It's translating to that to the new terminology and then implement it in the system. I'm very comfortable with it, and I think we're going to be successful this year.
Q. Has there been in anything in terms of the adjustment from going from Monmouth to Virginia? I know football is football is football, but is there anything that in making this adjustment has surprised you a little bit about Virginia or about ACC football as a whole so far?
TONY MUSKETT: I think how committed the guys on the team are, and that's not to say people on Monmouth weren't, but I just think this group in particular that we have in the locker room right now, it's a lot of highly-committed guys.
I played a lot of football. I've been around a lot of football teams, but I'll tell you what, no matter what time of the day I go into the locker room, someone is going to be in there getting work in. Whether it's Perris getting extra routes, Chico getting extra lifting in, James Jackson, he is always in there doing something.
It's just there's a ton of guys in the program right now that love football and love Virginia football. So I think when you are surrounded by a group like that, and you have those guys in the program that winning is the most important thing and getting better every single day is their number one task, that's when you start to see results and when the program starts to take a shift, major step forward.
Q. Just what you saw when you went into the transfer portal, Tony, what was it about Virginia that caught you initially, and has that kind of held true now that you're on campus, whatever you originally saw, did you see it kind of come to fruition?
TONY MUSKETT: The biggest thing was I entered the portal, and portal recruitment is crazy. You set up your official visits. I was still 50/50 when I came to visit here. I don't know if Coach E knows this or not, but I remember we were in our little breakout room, and it was most of the recruits, the transfers and their parents.
He was just completely honest. He told us how he leads his life as a man of Christ. How he leads his family in that way and how he leads this program in that way. How he is set in his morals. He doesn't waver in that.
What matters to him matters to the program. When I heard that, I mean, it wasn't much more convincing to do. He is the type of man that I want to play for and that I want to make proud. He stood by his word. From the first day I stepped on grounds until now, he has led his life that way, and he has led the program that way. I've been nothing but blessed to be here and blessed to play for him.
Q. What's your excitement level to come back so close to home, to be able to play and growing up in Springfield were you a UVA fan, and how much did you follow the program?
TONY MUSKETT: I can't wait. My older brother played football at Virginia Tech. I never liked my older brother. Just kidding.
I've been a UVA fan for some time now. Coming back home having my whole family right up in Northern Virginia, having all my high school friends, friends I made along the way telling me they're going to be able to come to games and watch me play live, that's all you can ask for.
Especially at a university like Virginia. It's high academic. They do things the right way in my opinion. Then playing ACC football, one of the best conferences in the country. I can't wait to get out there on September 2nd and just show the world what we're about.
Q. You had seven sacks last year, the most by a UVA player since 2019. What makes you such an effective pass rusher?
CHICO BENNETT: Man, it's a testament to Coach Rud and his philosophy for the defense. I think that the biggest thing he wanted to make sure for us as a unit was to just play fast, so he did a good job by just simplifying the defense as a whole and allowing us to just play fast, play reckless and violent. But all in the confines of the game and rules. He has done a good job of that.
Q. Chico, you had the opportunity to decide to come back. What was it about Virginia that made you feel like you had to suit up one more time and ride with your brothers again?
CHICO BENNETT: I certainly would say the tragedy of what happened was definitely a big deciding factor because it would have been easy to just leave, but for me it was just leak -- it was a no-brainer to come back, man.
One, something like that, nobody should have to go through, but of course, we did. I think it was opportunity to build off that and take it as Coach Elliott likes to say, turn tragedy into triumph.
We truly embodied that just as a team and just in our individual lives, especially as we grieve alone and we grieve together as a unit, man, I think it definitely -- it's definitely important for me to come back.
Q. Getting back into your pass rushing bag a little bit here, your spin move on tape is a work of art almost every time I see it. How is it that you know or have that feel of when to keep working around the edge versus when you are being overset, and you need to counter back versus even moments where you get a jump set, and you spin right off the line at times? How do you feel that? How does that gauge come about for you?
CHICO BENNETT: Just, as you say, it's more so of a feeling. As my position coach, Coach Slade says, when you are going, don't try to overthink it. Don't be a robot. When you get comfortable, one, you get comfortable with the plays. You're able to rush freely obviously, but of course, within the confines of the defense.
Again, yeah, it's just a feel for it. Everything will come natural, especially when you don't have to think. You can just play free. It allows for moments like that.
Q. What needs as a returner do you feel this team still needs to address for this season and beyond?
CHICO BENNETT: The needs? I certainly would say, as Coach Elliott says, complementary football. I think last year we left some things on the table that we shouldn't have.
It's frustrating in the moment, but now looking back we understand that, hey, it wasn't something that the opposing team did anything spectacular, but it's more so on us.
I thinking with that we go back, look at the film. It's like we understand. So now I don't have any doubt in my mind that coming up that, of course, the game isn't perfect. We're going to make mistakes, and that's going to happen. That's just how life is in general. Where the defense lacks, the offense will come in and pick up the slack and vice versa, so yeah.
Q. Having lived in Fairfax and Ashburn and played football there for a couple of years, what are your impressions of the talent level in Northern Virginia, and how much pride do you and other guys on the team take in representing that region, especially at UVA?
CHICO BENNETT: It's a nice area. Certainly it's a nice area for sure. But I think guys take pride in that, especially where they come from, so from all backgrounds. Northern Virginia, you know, obviously being at UVA, guys like to put that on their chest and wear it proud, so certainly.
Q. You heard Tony Muskett's answer, but I'll ask you the same. What is the vision of the Virginia offense? What do you guys big-picture aim to be?
PERRIS JONES: Man, we aim to be special, man, electric. Our goal is to go out there and score every time we touch the field. We left a lot on the grass last year, and we're trying to make up for those mistakes, and I think the buy-in from the young guys and even with the older guys has been a lot better than it was. I think as a result, we're operating at a more efficient level.
Q. I'm wondering what kind of impact has having a marquee nonconference game to open up the season against Tennessee had on the offseason, had on the summer, if at all?
PERRIS JONES: It's definitely had an impact. I mean, growing up as a kid, that's something that you look forward to. You know, playing some of the best talent that the game has to offer on some of the biggest stages that it has to offer.
So it's one of those things where if you don't get excited about that, you're in the wrong sport. But it's also one of those things where you don't want to put too much emphasis on it. You don't want guys to just focus on that game specifically.
We have a lot of other games to play, but we're just trying to make sure every time we touch the field we put our best foot forward, and that's the first opportunity we get to do that, so that's what we're focused on.
Q. You had the opportunity as well to come back, and you heard what Chico had to say about it being different at Virginia and obviously wanting to come back. You don't have to come back, which is what Coach said as well. Why did you choose to do it, and why did you choose to just be a part of this family and navigate through this together on the field as well as off the field?
PERRIS JONES: Right. Same reasons as Chico had really, but even deeper than that. Coach Elliott and his staff were the first to actually believe in me and give me a chance in my abilities.
I feel like I left a lot out there. I didn't put my best foot forward, and I was always raised to do so by my parents. I have a lot more to give. You know, a lot more to give my teammates, a lot more to give my coaches, and a lot more to give this program.
That's what I aim to do with this last year. That was a big factor in coming back on top of obviously the tragedy and everything that transpired. I have a debt to pay to those guys, and I plan to pay it.
Q. In terms of the three wins that you all had last year, in two of those you averaged more than five yards per carry in those games. You're the leading returning rusher. You were the second leading rusher on the team outside of Brennan Armstrong last year, and obviously Tony Muskett comes with a different skill set. Are you expecting to take on a bigger role in terms of running the ball more and carrying more of a load in terms of offensive production based on the fact that there has been a direct correlation between your success and the team's success to some extent?
PERRIS JONES: I don't look at it like that, to be completely honest with you. I think all of our backs are talented. Whoever is in the arena, I have full confidence that they'll do what they need to do.
I'm just looking forward to being all that I can be, honestly. Whatever my team needs me to do, I plan on doing it to the best of my ability in the capacity that I'm in and helping our team get a win. As long as I'm doing that, I don't really mind if I'm leading in the stat sheet or not.
THE MODERATOR: From the podium, let's respin that question a little bit. In those first four years at Virginia, you carried the ball three total times. Three. What was it about your with internal fortitude, your vision, your goal to stick with it to find that next opportunity?
PERRIS JONES: It was definitely challenging. I would be lying if I said it wasn't. There was sometimes where I felt like I wasn't in the right sport, like it wasn't for me, but I'm thankful for my teammates, my family. My mom and dad were a big part of that just keeping me true to myself. I've always been a hard-working kid, and I'm thankful that my hard work was saw by Coach Elliott and his staff, and they gave me a chance, thankfully.
It was definitely challenging. I knew that I had to stay true to who I was and the core of who I was, which is a hard-working kid, and I knew it would pay off at some point.
THE MODERATOR: We want you to recreate a smile. Recreate the smile that you had when you went from being a walk-on to a scholarship player.
PERRIS JONES: Man, honestly I didn't really smile too much. I just getting beat up (laughing) because people were jumping on me and stuff. Yeah, something like this, I guess.
THE MODERATOR: One last question for you. You're Mike Hollins' roommate, and you've been watching his recovery since the tragedy last November. Tell us about the guy that you like to call Iron Mike.
PERRIS JONES: Man, the name speaks for itself. I have the privilege of living with Mike as well as working out with him day in and day out. He is a superhero. That's the best way that I can describe it. Experiencing what he experienced and carrying himself with as much grace and perseverance as he does is inspirational to see day in and day out. His spirit is truly unbroken, and he embodies that every day. The passion he has for his teammates and for the coaches and for the program, I mean, it's second to none.
The guy is amazing. I love him. I tell him every morning that I'm grateful for him because he inspires me. When you see somebody go through something like that and still get up in the morning and find a way to put one foot in front of the other, it really lets you know that things aren't as bad in your life as you think they are.
I'm grateful for him, and I love him to death. That's really my brother. I couldn't be more proud of who he is and who he is becoming.
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