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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 15, 2017

Mark Richt

Greensboro, North Carolina

COACH RICHT: We got our practice in today. It was raining like mad, and ended up having to cut it a little bit short. Cut out some of the work that we do against our best-on-best, just focused on special teams and scout team work.

But we got it in, which was good, and now we're getting ready to see how it went with the coaching staff and make corrections and get ready for the next day.

Q. To look at where your team is at, obviously you're going to be playing against Clemson in the ACC Championship game, and currently are in the College Football Playoff. Just to speak on how you've only been in Miami for a couple seasons now and just how quickly this turnaround has come and how excited you are about how the team has responded to you?
COACH RICHT: Well, I was excited about these guys from the very beginning. I remember the first team meeting I had with these guys and they were kind of on the edge of their seat. You could tell they were hungry for victory, and I think they for the most part, they all wanted to pay the price for that. There's a price to be paid to begin to win games and do things the right way.

There's a few guys that fell by the wayside that it really wasn't for them, which is fine. But the majority of that room stuck it out, and the good news is good things are happening. So I'm happy for our players and appreciate all their efforts.

Q. I know it's something that's been asked about a lot but just to get your thoughts on the turnover chain and how that builds morale for your team and obviously every guy on the team wants an opportunity to wear it. So just how that can create another special element for the team.
COACH RICHT: One of the things I wanted to do, when I decided to continue coaching after leaving Georgia, was to enjoy it more; to celebrate all the good things had a happen.

You know, sometimes after a game, you're thankful you won and that's about all you can muster, but I'm like, forget being thankful. Let's celebrate. So I wanted to celebrate all the good things along the way and that's really what the turnover chain is about.

It's about celebrating a great play and doing it in a big way, and doing it, quite frankly, in a fun way. We've got guys sprinting off the field on to the sideline to pop their helmet off to be able to get the chain and be able to celebrate with teammates and coaches and fans. I think it's good, clean fun. There's not anybody taunting anybody with it. There's not anybody trying to, you know, put anybody down with it. It's only about building up the guys that are making those plays and doing it the Miami way.

Q. You already clinched the Coastal and have your spot in the ACC Championship game but you still have two games left to close out the season. Does the mindset change at all? Do you have to address the team any differently knowing the spot has been clinched but you still have some games to play?
COACH RICHT: Well, I talked to them after practice today and just said -- hey, I'm not going to sit here and ignore the fact that there's a lot of great things happening here and there's a lot of excitement around us, around the program.

But we are the same team that started this season that was grinding and fighting and trying to find ways to win games. We're the same team and if we forget that, then we are going to find ourselves being in trouble. We're going to be playing an out standing team, a team that historically is giving Miami all of what we can handle. You know, we've got to be prepared for that.

Q. What are your impressions of what Bronco has been able to go in getting Virginia turned around, and what do you see are the biggest differences between last year and this year's team?
COACH RICHT: Well, I know Bronco on a personal level. I've known him for years. I've admired his work while he was at BYU. I knew he was going to be a great hire for Virginia, because I knew he was going to bring solid -- first of all, a solid person, a person of character, a person that was going to be good for young people.

And then also, I knew he was a great fundamental coach. I knew he was going to be teaching -- you know, nothing was going to be done by smoke and mirrors. It was going to be done by hard work and strong fundamentals and good scheme and all that kind of thing. No shortcuts-to-victory-type guy.

And I knew in time, he would do great things, and so, you know, I'm happy for his success.

Q. What do you think are the biggest differences in your film study between last year and this year's team?
COACH RICHT: To be honest with you, I haven't even looked at last year's tape. I forgot what it looked like.

I'm just watching what they do. They are looking at the scheme of it and personnel of it and that's really all we're focusing on right now.

Q. How do you assess the performance of Tyree at right tackle this year?
COACH RICHT: Tyree has done very well, very steady performer. Has just been -- just very solid in his grades every game. He's not been an up-and-down guy. He's been a guy that's been really steady.

I wouldn't say he is, you know, the most dominating player in college football, but he's had his share of knocking people off the ball and pass protecting really good ends, and you know, I'm proud of him. Very few missed assignments. Very few hurries or sacks by him. Just a great season, really.

Q. Hard question for you to answer but he's one of a handful of guys that you have on your roster from IMG Academy in Bradenton. Do you notice a difference with those guys are they more developed because of what testify go through there?
COACH RICHT: Well, I know they have a great program there for sure. I don't think it hurt him by any means. I think that those guys go to IMG, and they start competing with guys that are just closer to them in skill-set and that's a big thing and then being away from home is a big thing.

You know, just playing a certain schedule that's a little bit different than a normal high school, I think all those things help prepare those guys.

Q. You alluded to your relationship with Bronco earlier. I was curious, does it speak to that relationship that you and he discussed the new UVA athletic director earlier in the year?
COACH RICHT: Well, I've known Carla a long time, and I think she's awesome. I think she's a great hire for Virginia's university and athletic program. I think she's going to do great things. She's a person of integrity and somebody who really gets it, gets the athletic part of being in a wonderful academic institution. She understands the balance of that. She understands what it's like to be a coach. She understands what it's like to be a student athlete and she knows what it's like to be an outstanding administrator.

She's ready for it, and I just let Bronco know that him and her are going to get along great because they are very similar in how they want to go about their business and that's with full character and just doing things the right way.

Q. Wanted to about you about DeeJay Dallas. He was recruited as a quarterback in high school and was recruited as a wide receiver. Wanted to ask you, what did you see in DeeJay that made you confident he could make the move to running back and how has he progressed since he made the switch?
COACH RICHT: Well, his high school film, you can see he had great running ability. Obviously he played quarterback and threw the ball well, but he did run the ball a lot at the quarterback position. So you could see those skills and instincts as a runner.

But you know, we really feel like he could be a heck of a receiver, and he was really trying to drop weight to get his quickness at the optimum level to be a wide receiver and to be able to run route after route after route and get the stamina up. So he was kind of getting his weight -- he was probably trying to lose about ten pounds.

And then, you know, so we thought he had the running skills and ball skills to be a good running back, and so he was really the only option we had to make a change midseason. We thought about changing him back in the spring, back in the summer, when we lost a couple running backs, Gus Edwards and Joe Yerby (ph).

We thought about moving him to running back back then, but we just thought maybe we could get through the season and be healthy it. Didn't work out that way. So now all of a sudden midseason he's learning how to play tailback, which is hard to do and he's done a great job. If he has another off-season to get his body right for it, I think he'll do even better.

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