Everything From Virginia Tech's Kemari Copeland At 2026 ACC Kickoff

Virginia Tech defensive tackle Kemari Copeland spoke to the media at the ACC Kickoff at the Hilton Charlotte Uptown on Thursday, July 16. Here is the entirety of what Copeland had to say:

On what head coach James Franklin challenged this team to improve at the most:

"He's challenged us on the details. Every day he's harping on the details, winter workouts, touching cones, spring ball. He's been harping us on details. That's how you win games. If we all lock in and do details in the game, that's how you win games. That's how you lose games, too. He's been harping on us on that."

Q: It's not often you get your former head coach back on the team the next year, now being a defensive coordinator. Can you talk about your relationship with Coach [Brent] Pry?

"Yeah, so my relationship with Coach Pry is really good. He was actually ... the only head coach to come see me at JUCO. Our relationship is really good. When he left, it kind of hurt. When I seen that he was coming back, it was huge. I had a chance to go to the NFL. He was actually a huge reason I came back. He's had top 10, top five defenses when he was a defensive coordinator. I know that we'll be really good this year."

On what's stood out about the team's transfers:

"Yeah, we got a lot of good transfers. Samuel Okunlola came from Colorado. He's a dog. Really good pass-rusher. Mylachi Williams came from Penn State. He's a dog, really good pass-rusher as well. Randy Adirika came from Penn State. Really good pass-rusher. Really good in the run. We got a lot of people, a lot of good additions that will help us out this year."

On the pitch Franklin made that convinced Copeland to stay rather than testing the NFL Draft waters:

"Yeah, it was a couple things. One thing was, like, I could come back and raise my draft stock potentially. I could have fell to fifth, sixth round. I could have come back and try to raise it. Also, my weight. Coach Franklin has been harping on me to gain weight. I was 280. I've gotten up to 300. The most I weighed is 305. Things of that nature.

I think there were a lot of things last year I left on the table, whether that be my pass-rush. There were some games I was running down the middle of a guy, not working a move. I felt like there were a lot of things I left on the table. Last year we ran more of a three-down defense. This year, a four-down. Things of that nature. I think I can show a lot more to the scouts."

Q. And graduate?

"And graduate, too. That was the main thing. That was an important thing."

On the transition periods (coach, AD, soon-to-be new president) on whether the confidence indicates that Virginia Tech is back:

"Yeah, Coach has been harping on us all year, you seen the Virginia Tech team last year -- the Virginia Tech team there was before. We want to get back to that old Virginia Tech defense. We want to get back to the old Virginia Tech. We're going to work as hard as we can.

Coach Franklin's harping on us on stacking days. What can I do tomorrow to watch film, lift weights as hard as I can, be intentional about that? We've been focused on stacking days. If we look forward to UVA, whatever, winning championships, that doesn't matter. We're trying to focus on stacking days, doing what we can to be the best team possible. We've been focusing on the next play, the next day."

On Copeland growin gup in a military/sports family and how that background has helped Copeland in the classroom/on the field:

"Helped me out a lot. I know my pop's watching this. My dad has been in the military for I believe it was 27 years. They've always harping on us to work hard. Anything you ever want, my dad worked real hard to put us in the position we are now.

I remember days when I was eight, nine years old, he had us running in Mount Trashmore, doing a lot of stuff on the track. I didn't understand then. I understand now, anything you want, you have to work for it. It's paying dividends now. Shout-out to you, boss."

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