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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 1, 2017

Steve Addazio

Greensboro, North Carolina

STEVE ADDAZIO: Excited to come off a big win and have a bye week. We've played nine games in a row and our team needs an opportunity to focus on academics and get our team a little bit more healthy and rested. So I think it came at the right time, and we're looking forward to that.

Obviously we're a week away, but we open back up at home against NC State who is one heck of a football team. So we have a huge challenge ahead of us. We are going to use the bye week to handle the academic end, the rest end but also hit some fundamentals and get a jump start on our game planning against NC State.

With that, I'm happy to answer any questions.

Q. How would you compare the Lamar Jackson you faced last year to the one that you faced this year?
STEVE ADDAZIO: Oh, I mean, he's every bit the same guy. In our game, he was single-handedly bringing his team back to win that game. It was like -- I felt like at times the whole team was rallying to try to counterbalance Lamar Jackson. The guy is a sensational athlete. He throws it really well. He runs it really well. I think their coaching staff does a phenomenal job of putting him in position to let his talents dominate a game.

Q. In the interest of fairness, should the ACC schedule makers make sure that the teams that play on a Thursday or Friday night both have a bye week before that game so it's an even playing field?
STEVE ADDAZIO: You know, I've got so much to worry about; I would say that I think it's very, very difficult if you -- especially if you travel away, fly back, and have to turn around in a very short week and play a game. I think that's less than ideal.

But I also know that everybody's got the best interests of everything at hand. It's not just one piece to that question. There's a lot that goes into that stuff, and we're all trying to, you know, promote and play our game at a high level and try to take care of everybody and sometimes it's hard for it to be just perfect.

But in a perfect world, you'd like not to be on a short week like that. But I don't know that that's avoidable, and I don't wrestle with all the problems that surround that.

So it's hard for me to sit here and be critical of something when I don't know all the constraints. But in a perfect world, you'd like to not be on a real short week because it's hard enough.

Q. When you talk about recruiting, I know every win is a big win, but when you put the Florida State win up there, how much is that going to help you recruiting?
STEVE ADDAZIO: I think winning helps you recruit. I think direction of your program helps you recruit. Marquee wins help you recruit. I think they all are big factors.

I think the most significant factor is confidence within our team, and I think the ability for people to see the future and the direction of where we are, our players; and that's exciting, and I think that excitement brings energy and those two things together give you a great recipe to recruit well.

Q. After you guys lost to Virginia Tech, you said it would come together and it would be beautiful and now you've reeled off these three straight wins with point totals that have not been seen at Boston College in many years. How have you been able to do that? How were you so confident that when it did come together, it would look as beautiful as it has the last three weeks?
STEVE ADDAZIO: You know, our players are coaches. We watch the film. I use this all the time. The Virginia Tech game, for example: We open up with the first drive, go right down the field, we throw a pass touchdown ball, we drop the ball in the end zone. And then on the next drive, next, or the one after that, we drop the ball on the one.

But you could see that it's right -- it was right there. It's been that way throughout the season, and we've played an unbelievably tough schedule against some really elite times and all the while, there's been great opportunity for us on both sides of the ball and special teams to make some really good plays.

And the players see that on tape. That, coupled with the fact that, like on offense, at the apex of the offense, the center of the quarterback, the tailback, we have these really talented young players and they are just getting better and more confident each week.

And so you put all of that together, and you know, we just knew that, hey, guys, we've just got to -- we've just got to believe in each other, stick together, and good things are going to happen, and felt real strong about that.

We're really locked together as a program. There's a real love here amongst our players and our coaches and a real respect. I think we all really rallied and had each other's back and had a real firm faith and belief that we are going to stay steady in the boat.

We are down like six, seven starters here but we are going to stay steady in the boat. We have good talent and this thing is going to come together and we are going it start bearing fruit.

As we started bearing fruit, that bred more confidence and I think it became undeniable about the future of our program. People can see it. It's not like me trying to sell it or talk about it. Now it's right there.

Now, are we done with our roller coaster rides? I don't know that. We still have got young players at those positions, but I know what the future is and that's a clear vision now. We're going to have an outstanding football team. We just have to go about: Hey, let's have the best Wednesday today and the best Thursday today and not get locked into all the nonsense. Let's just keep pounding away and really good things will continue to happen.

Q. You had a couple of defensive ends that were very highly regarded coming into the season. You've developed a third guy, Wyatt Ray, who has really stepped in and altered that position. Can you talk about him a little bit and how his progress has been?
STEVE ADDAZIO: I mean, Wyatt, we were sky-high on Wyatt at the beginning of the year, kind of like Zach Allen last year. Harold has been hurt here the last two weeks. Wyatt's stepped up and he's a real athletic guy, a very, very explosive guy and he's playing at a high level.

I think our D-line as a whole is playing really well. Paul Pasqualoni coaches the D-Line and I've never seen a group that -- I mean, what he's done with that group fundamentally: Our ability to get to the quarterback with a four-man rush and our ability to be able to play zone coverage and stop the run with the front seven, and not add an ace; our ability to do those things is phenomenal. And Wyatt is another example of the development of that position and couldn't be more excited about him.

Q. You've also gotten a lot of help from freshman receiver, Kobay White. How has he come along and how has that really been an asset to your passing game?
STEVE ADDAZIO: You know, he's just a dynamic guy who has got tremendous balance and explosiveness and hands. I think as Anthony has gotten more confident and actually now gotten healthier again, and these guys are really growing together, I think we have a lot of different components on offense.

You can't just say, they are just going to run the ball and stop, you know, Hilliman and -- or you can't just say, we can throw it, we can run it. Our tight ends are really, really viable targets, our receivers. We have a lot more balance, and Kobay is one of the receivers that's brought that to the program this year.

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