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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 13, 2017

Justin Fuente

Greensboro, North Carolina

JUSTIN FUENTE: It was great to be back in Lane Stadium last week for our home opener. We've shifted our attention to East Carolina. We've got to go on the road for our first true road game this week to play a very talented East Carolina team.

Q. I'm curious with their switch at defensive coordinator, how does that affect your preparation?
JUSTIN FUENTE: Well, it certainly leaves some room for pondering what those changes may be, but we try not to chase ghosts. We'll prepare for what we've seen from them for the past year and two games and then have some good conversations going into the game about what we may or may not see to make sure we've kind of talked those scenarios through and get ready to play.

Q. Do you know much about Coach Prunty? I know he was at Cincinnati before.
JUSTIN FUENTE: That's about it. I really don't know much about him. He was at Cincinnati, as, if I'm not mistaken, the co-defensive coordinator when we were at Memphis, the last two years we were at Memphis, but no, I don't have a long history with him by any means.

Q. I imagine you've gone back and looked at the 2015 tape of Thomas Sirk's performance in Lane Stadium. What was your impression of that?
JUSTIN FUENTE: Very efficient football player. You know, he's certainly got talent, can throw and move around. My impressions of him, not just back then but so far this year, is that he's gaining confidence in what they're doing. They've been behind the 8-ball, or they were last week a little bit offensively, but a guy that can hurt you both ways. I mean, he's got some mobility about him and throws the ball really well.

Q. Schematically I would imagine that they're pretty similar to Duke two years ago, given Scottie's past?
JUSTIN FUENTE: Yeah, I would say there's some similarities. You know, obviously you tweak things, and I know Scottie has, just based on his personnel and what they've got there versus what they had at Duke a couple years ago, but there's some similarities there.

Q. You've mentioned before you like the road games; what is it about a road game that you really like, and is it something that you embrace?
JUSTIN FUENTE: It is. And don't get me wrong, I enjoy playing right here in Lane Stadium, but there's just something personal about traveling on the road. You know, you get a chance to kind of get away a little bit. You leave some people behind. There are some players that don't make the travel squad, they don't get to go to the game. You kind of take only what you need in order to get the job done, and then there's something pretty personal about going into somebody else's stadium and playing on their campus that I think is neat and unique about college football and playing on the road.

Q. To follow up on that, early on at Memphis, you guys struggled a little bit on the road; is that something you've figured out through your head coaching career or is it something that's just clicked recently?
JUSTIN FUENTE: Well, we struggled on the road -- to be fair, my first couple years we struggled on the road and at home. The first couple years were kind of building, so there wasn't a big difference between being at home and being on the road. But you know, it's something that we like to talk about, especially when you do it for the first time. We'll have some young guys that -- some young guys that'll be playing in their first true road game, and I think that's a neat, fun experience, and it's something that gives us something to prepare for.

Q. You obviously had success against East Carolina last year, but you haven't been to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium since you were at Memphis and rebuilding that program. Coach Foster described Greenville as a hornet's nest, so to speak, and really describes this as a dangerous game despite ECU's start. How do you see that environment?
JUSTIN FUENTE: I agree 100 percent. We're going to go play against some really talented athletes. East Carolina has had good players for a long time, and they have a fantastic environment down there. In my brief -- my time at Memphis, we only went there once. It was early in our time there, but they have a great atmosphere there. For that league, the American Conference, it's at or near the top in terms of just the atmosphere. So absolutely, I mean, this is a team that's got their backs up against the wall and has talented players, and they're trying to get it figured out. It's absolutely going to take all we've got.

Q. Phil Patterson, I understand he may have had surgery yesterday, and might you get him back this season or no?
JUSTIN FUENTE: We're very optimistic to have him back, yes.

Q. With Beckett, I know you don't want to get into specifics, but might he have a chance to get back on the team, or is that a permanent thing more or less?
JUSTIN FUENTE: Well, I just won't go down that road right now. I'm sorry, and I respect the fact that you guys gotta ask. But the statement -- as soon as we found out what was going on, we acted immediately, and then in turn issued a statement, and that's kind of where we're at.

Q. I wanted to ask you about Barry Odom, your former coordinator. He made a staff change this week and he's kind of taken on more roles, more duties and multitasking a little bit. Knowing Barry as well as you do, how do you think he'll handle this challenge?
JUSTIN FUENTE: Well, what exactly is he doing? Just kind of catch me up real quick and I'll be happy to tell you.

Q. Well, he's calling plays on defense still and now he's going to be the linebackers coach, also, and take on that job, as well.
JUSTIN FUENTE: Sure. Well, I don't know anything about what's going on over there. I haven't talked to Barry since before the season. But the thing I will say is he's very, very capable of handling many duties. I mean, it was very easy to see when he was an assistant for me that he had a very bright future, and you could really load his plate down, and I know he's handling being a head coach at Missouri and working with the defense and a position group. But he'll find a way to get it done. He's got people on that staff that I know that he trusts, and he'll find a way to get it figured out.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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