Everything From Virginia Tech DC Brent Pry After March 31's Practice

Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Brent Pry spoke to the media after practice on Tuesday, March 31. Here's the entirety of what Pry had to say:

On how practice went:

"Pretty good, practice number [seven]. I think there were 120 snaps. There were good elements, and there were elements that we gotta do a better job with. I think the offense is making us defend a lot right now. The install's coming on these guys pretty heavy defensively. And so right now, it's big learning. They've got to do the extra; we've got to be great coaches to keep up to speed.

Q: Was there anybody that stood out to you during the scrimmage?

"Yeah, I think Kenny Woseley has stood out at nickel and at corner. I think Aycen Stevens stood out, did a really nice job. You notice Aycen in each and every practice, his physicality. He's making plays beyond the line of scrimmage. And then Kenny, whether he's at nickel, at corner, all the different things that he can do, he shows up every practice, as well."

On how different the defensive scheme is under Pry than at Penn State or Virginia Tech:

"Yeah, there's probably three or four key elements that are in addition to who we've been. And there's some things that you know that used to be kind of periphery, things for us that I don't know that we'll get to. We're going to be probably 60 to 70% of who we were there. There's some things we did under Coach [Chris] Marve that I liked, that we took; there's some things that they were doing at Penn State, whether it was Manny [Diaz] or Tom [Allen], that I liked. So, a little bit of the nuts and bolts with things, of course, are going to be, you know, who we've been in this package, but there's some layers to it that I think will help us be better."

On if the STAR position is back:

"Yeah, it's a sam, and then there's a big nickel, there's a nickel. We're still working through all that. Kaleb Spencer is a guy that can do a lot for us. Can play multiple positions. He's that guy. He's got some hybrid safety qualities about him. He's got a DB background. He played linebacker last year. Was very raw, not with many fundamentals. So, he's improving all the time too."

On Keon Wylie:

"Yeah, I really liked his film from Penn State. He was a guy, at times, that played really fast. You could see his athleticism, his agility, his rush ability, but then his mind would tie up his feet, and he'd kind of feel his way. I think he's getting more comfortable. He's certainly a guy that can help us."

On the defensive ends:

"I'm gonna tell you it's probably the most competitive group we have right now. We've got six guys that we feel like are vying to be starters, and then you figure out who the next group is. We may play with five. I don't know that we generally play with six ends, but we'll play with five. But we got a healthy competition going right there."

On Javion Hilson:

"Yeah, he's got great quickness. He's a natural pass rusher. He's still very raw in a lot of ways as a defensive end to play every down."

On what role Curtis Jones is playing for Virginia Tech:

"Curtis Jones is playing that outside linebacker role. Yeah, he's that guy that he's going to blitz often enough. Curtis doesn't have much background playing true linebacker. He was more of an apex or rush player from the line of scrimmage, so there's a learning curve going on for him right now, learning those key reads and fits from playing in the box."

On cornerback depth:

"Yeah, I'm very pleased with Jaquez White right now. He's everything that we hoped he'd be. He's physical, he's quick, he's experienced. He plays with a lot of confidence. I think Joshua Clarke is coming. If you remember last year, prior to the injury, I believe Josh would have started for us. And so, he's getting back to form. I think Thomas Williams is a guy that's obviously gained a lot of experience last year. Kenny's bringing a bunch to the position. Cam Chadwick has probably given us a little more than we thought when we took him through the portal. Little bit better player than maybe we thought he was. And then we got a young guy, [Amauri] Polydor, that shows up every practice. Now, he's making some plays that we want to pull our hair out, but then he's making some plays that we're jumping up and down about, because he gets to the football, gets around the ball."

On if Pry is seeing the dividends of last year's freshmen having being forced into early action:

"I think in places, we are. But again, the structure is pretty different. So, they're starting from ground zero a little bit again, which, it's just part of it. But there's no substitute for experience, and [for] those guys, that was very valuable. Is Gabe an inside guy or a star type? Gabe is playing both right now. He's making slow progress, but he shows the ability to learn multiple [positions]. He's a box guy, he's an apex guy. He's got good range, good speed, and he learns well. He's got a chance to help us this fall."

On Quentin Reddish:

"Everything I've seen at this point, I'm very happy with. Right now, I'd rank him No. 1 at the safety position."

On Isaiah Brown-Murray:

"Yeah, he's probably maybe the most mature guy on the defense. He doesn't get rattled. He can play corner, he can play nickel. I really believe he could go play safety. He's a smart football player. He's very crafty. Can make plays, maybe not the most just highly skilled. Good skill set. But when you couple that with his instincts and experience and savviness, got you a good player right."

On what stands out about facing against Virginia Tech's quarterbacks:

"Yeah, I love these guys. I think we got a great competition. I think we got some arms right now and some accuracy. They're making some throws in certain coverages where you know where the hole is, and you're saying they can't take advantage of it. And they can take advantage of it. These quarterbacks can make all the throws."

On defensive tackle:

"Yeah, I would say this. We're probably not as far along as we are at end. There's candidates there, there's size, there's strength. We're just not getting as much production right now out of those guys as we are, as the group of ends., I'd love to see all of those tackles challenging Kemari [Copeland]; we've just got some guys here and there.:

On the transition to defensive coordinator:

"Obviously, working with Coach [James Franklin] is it's kind of seamless, almost, to be honest. It's amazing how you fall right back into it, and it feels so familiar. But also, the job is totally different, and you know the task every day. We stay incredibly busy. We stay on point. There's so much to get done, from installation, from recruiting, from film evaluation, that just before you know it, you're in the office at 6 a.m. at your desk, and before you know it, it's seven o'clock at night. Where did the day go? But so, it's been really good. Yeah, it hasn't felt awkward, hasn't felt new. Felt like kind of that's what I've been doing all along."

On Mathieu Lamah and Terry Wiggins:

"Raw, young, green, getting yelled at a lot."