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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 22, 2010

Mike London

THE MODERATOR: We're now joined by Virginia head coach, Mike London. Coach, opening statement and then questions.
COACH LONDON: Yes, good morning, everybody. Looking forward to actually playing a game after having a week off. Just trying to take care of some things. But, you know, the USC game is over, and now the focus has been on improving and getting better in terms of our execution.
So we have a very storied tradition program coming in here in VMI, and a coach I respect greatly. We're looking forward to a home game stretch here for the next couple weeks to try to get us back on the right track.

Q. Other than one game in the 2008 season, Anthony Mihota and never really played for Virginia before this year. He obviously stepped into a pretty important position. How would you assess his play through two games?
COACH LONDON: Like I said for our whole team and the whole process, Anthony's a work in process also. He's handled things well right now. The center is a guy that's got to make the line calls, identify the mic linebacker and different things. So he's thrust into a position where he's got to be the guy.
Like I say, he's a work in progress. I think with only two games having been played and we're going to get in the meat of our conference schedule that if you ask me the question mid season or toward the end of the season, I can give you a better assessment. But right now the willingness and the capability is there.

Q. LaRoy Reynolds is leading the team in tackles after two games. I think he's got 15 tackles. I would say a guy making a move from safety to linebacker almost looks like a natural at linebacker. Do you think he's ahead of schedule in making that transition?
COACH LONDON: Well, I tell you what we do see. We see just an ability to get downhill, and weave in and out between blockers and finding a hole and LaRoy's very physical. He's very emotional, and he plays that way.
Coach Brown and Coach Reid are doing a nice job teaching him how to be a linebacker. It's his second game being a linebacker after being a safety.
But I think he's got a chance to be really special. But like most of our team, guys, young players that are playing, it's accumulated an amount of reps throughout the season and practice that we'll really get good at being a linebacker. So far he's doing a nice job.

Q. I wanted to get an update on Rodney and Ras-I. I know you said you would have a better idea after practice?
COACH LONDON: Both of them practiced and looked pretty good. We've got another padded practice, full practice today, and we'll do some more things with them. We'll try to extend them a little bit more. You just kind of get a better feel.
Both are moving around pretty good, so we just have guarded optimism with both of them. So we'll see here pretty soon about full-fledged incorporating them into the game plan. But right now they're out there running and doing everything everybody else is doing.

Q. I was wondering, you mentioned last week that you were going to focus on the kicking game among other things in practice during the off week. How has that been going?
COACH LONDON: You know, it's gone -- it's been very productive. You try to deliver situations where nothing can create a situation where a kicker has to kick in a stadium with people screaming and yelling, and things that are on the line there for them.
But we'll try to do as much as we can with the conditioning part of it, making them go out and kick. Getting the players around them, and jumping up-and-down and kicking for sprints if they miss. You try to self induce some things to get these guys, to get the operation, holder, kicker and everybody to get them all on the same page.
And this practice this past week, the guys responded and responded well. I know Robert's just itching to get back in there and kick some field goals. He's 6 for 6 on extra points. You look at the field goals and you can say one thing or the other, but everyone contributed to the lack of success on that.
But I think Robert now in working with the holder and Danny Aiken, a veteran snapper, I think they'll be back on track.

Q. Wondered if I could get your thoughts on the conference's performance in non-conference games? What you think is going on and why it's been so difficult for ACC teams to get a victory in those games?
COACH LONDON: Well you look early on who a lot of the conference teams are playing, Oklahoma, and Boise State, and different schools. It's difficult schedules with tough teams early on.
Stanford, all those teams have done a nice job. But I just think that on every Saturday, regardless of who the opponent is that you have to play, I think our conference has good teams. And over the long run when you start to look at the season and how it plays out and who is playing who, I think you'll get a better indication of how the conference is doing.
But, you're right. You look at the beginning of it and you see it's not -- you look on the ledger of wins and losses, and it wasn't as impressive. But I think over the long run when you start looking at conference play and as a team starting to get better, that the ACC will be viewed more positive than it's been viewed presently.

Q. You have a 1AA or championship team coming into your stadium and you look across the country and you see these teams knocking off the Bowl or the 1A teams. You just saw JMU go down and take a bite out of Virginia Tech. You've had a lull here and some down time. Are you worried about your guys being focused? Is how do you make sure that they're taking this one seriously?
COACH LONDON: Well, I'm not worried about this team taking VMI seriously. Because this team hasn't done anything yet. We're still trying to find out who we are, and every game to us is a must-win game. Every game to us is a game that you have to improve on. So we're in the process of trying to build that type of attitude where you expect winning to occur on a weekly basis.
There is no let down in preparation or who we're playing. We're playing to try to play to a certain standard we expect. Not having turnovers, converting on third downs and limiting the penalties and things like that. So that is kind of our whole thought process, regardless of who the opponent is.
If we can continue to try to take care of those things that I mentioned, we'll have a chance to win games. That's what we want to do is get in the mindset of winning games by taking care of those things.

Q. Do you have a theory as to why more and more 1AA teams are -- and you were a former 1AA coach that gave a lot of 1A teams fits. Do you have a theory as to why we're seeing more and more of what would be considered "an upset"?
COACH LONDON: Well, you can look at it all ways. If I was playing Dr. Phil or somebody like that. Sometimes from the recruiting standpoint there are some 1AA teams that have some good players that could have played and perhaps started on some 1A teams.
If you get those players that those skill position players that are good, the quarterback or receiver or running back or a guy that can rush the passer or a DB that can play, you know, they can run. Your skill guys are players that can run. Everybody has a clock on you.
There are some 1AA player that's run sub-4.5s. I think the mindset is we're going in there to play to win. Whatever happens, people don't think we're going to win anyway.
But the mindset for these guys going in there is we've got nothing to lose. We're going to play light's out, and we'll do whatever it takes, fakes, this, that, we're going to go for it. And I think sometimes the BCS schools can have a little lapse about that because they look at those schools like that.
So I have had the benefit of being on both sides of it, and knowing that you can't get to if you're a BCS school, you can't look down your nose. Because on any Saturday, it's been proven year in and year out now, particularly this season, that you've got to play every game.

Q. You mentioned earlier that you still haven't really come to a decision on who your number two quarterback will be. Will the fact that Ross does not have a red shirt year at his disposal and the other candidates do, would that have any kind of bearing on who would go in the game first?
COACH LONDON: It's factors into the equation, but it's not the only determining factor. The thing for us is if Mark went down, the next guy that goes in is the next best quarterback. So that's one of the factors.
But being able to move the team and operate the offense is as important. So whether it's Ross or Rocco or, you know, Michael Strauss, whoever it may be, that's going to be the main criteria is to be able to is to be able to finish or win the game for us or run the offense and make sure it's run efficiently.
Like I said, today's another padded practice, we do a lot of blitz or pick-ups and different things like that. So we'll see the level of improvement that those other three candidates have made.

Q. If the game's on the line one way or another, if the game was not on the line, would you be more inclined to use Ross?
COACH LONDON: Again, it depends. When you look at it from if you use the criteria for the question that you just asked, then you would use it that way because who has a year of eligibility, who doesn't? But as I said, sometimes you look for long-term things.
People talk about our holders and things, you know, quarterbacks are typically some of the best holders on your squad. So you'd have to take into account some things about who is the best holder of those quarterbacks, who can run the offense efficiently?
So there are a lot of variables that we particularly right now have to take into account. As I said before, the moment to make that decision is drawing very close here.

End of FastScripts

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