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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEDIA CONFERENCE

April 21, 2011

Frank Beamer

COACH BEAMER: I think we've had a good spring practice, look forward to the game Saturday. I think it'll be the first time it'll be just a true game situation. You try to manufacture all these different situations as you go through spring practice, but this is the one you get out there and play a game, and with a lot of people in the stands, we expect a big crowd. You know, I think sometimes you find out about kids. Sometimes they respond differently in a game situation even than they might in just a practice. So we look forward to that, and we'll have two evenly divided teams, limit defenses and offenses a little bit, but get out there and let them play.

Q. The weight room numbers and the scrimmage numbers would indicate that James Gayle has had quite the off-season and spring. What does your coaching eye tell you about how he's progressed?
COACH BEAMER: Yeah, I think James Gayle has really taken another step. He plays fast. Of course his strength is better, and like you say, his weight room numbers are better, but he's taking that to the football field, too, and using it. That's what you want. He's a guy you notice out there, great effort, great motor. I think he's a guy that's a key guy for us here next year.

Q. I know David Wilson has been kind of divided with track for part of the spring practice, but from what you have been able to see of him how has he looked and adjusting to his new role and what's caught your eye about him?
COACH BEAMER: Yeah, I think he's better than ever. He had only about eight plays in our last scrimmage, not the one last night but the one before that. But it was eight plays you noticed. He had like 67 yards I think it was after contact, after people -- he broke tackles, ran for that many more yards. You know, he's fast, he runs strong, he's running through people right now, and really, I think, had a good spring practice.
We like the fact that he's out running track. As a matter of fact, I think he leaves today for the ACC Track Championship. It's something that he enjoys and is something that can help a track team, and then I think when you have success competing, that's a good thing. We like what we've seen here from a football standpoint this spring.

Q. I noticed Mike O'Cain is going to be doing your play calling for you this year. Is this a signal of any type of shift in offensive philosophy, or will you still be doing pretty much the same kinds of things that you've done in the past?
COACH BEAMER: No, it's pretty much the same thing. I think you've got a taller quarterback that is not quite as nifty as Tyrod, but when he gets running he can run. So I think some of the things that he does best, that's what you emphasize in your offense. But basically from the standpoint of quarterback -- Mike is in those quarterback meetings and talking with him, I think you find out more what they like and so forth, and that's one part of it.
And then we've got Bryan Stinespring back in the Tidewater area recruiting where he's been very good along with Curt Newsome. There's times on Fridays he's going to need to be down there and not be at the hotel with us, and that's where he would get with the quarterbacks and go over things and so forth.
So we just thought from an operations standpoint all the way around, it was a move that we made.

Q. With having to replace a couple good running backs, might you throw the ball more?
COACH BEAMER: Well, I think we feel like we've got some good backs. We talked about David Wilson and Josh Oglesby has had a very good spring; and Tony Gregory hasn't played this spring. He's recovering from a knee operation, but he's a fast guy for us.
You know, I think we've always been a team that liked to be able to throw it, we like to be able to run it, and let kind of the defense dictate what we're trying to do. But I think if you're going to have a good football team, you need some balance there in your running and passing and let one play off the other.

Q. When you guys came into the league several years ago, it facilitated the league breaking into divisions, and I was hoping you could maybe think back to what you thought of the division breakdowns back then and what your expectations were, and now looking back have the divisions been pretty fairly balanced, and kind of what your take was on that?
COACH BEAMER: Well, I didn't pay a lot of attention to the divisions. We were just so happy to be in the ACC, we didn't care where we were. And then since then, it's just been such a great league for us, how it's run, the location of the schools in relation to us. You know, it's just been a great thing for Virginia Tech.
Yeah, I think overall it's been pretty well balanced. You know, my take on the ACC is I think everyone is getting better. I think there's two or three really strong teams in each division, but as I look at it, everyone is getting better. You know, I think good coaching and good players, and I think the ACC continues to improve as a conference.

Q. The ACC was really kind of the first conference to break up non-geographically, and now we've seen the Big Ten do it. Does geography, not having geography, does that take anything away?
COACH BEAMER: No, you know, I think there's teams that you want to play each year and then you've got a team over on the other side that you play every year, and I think that was what was taken into consideration as far as those teams that you need to play every year, Virginia being one for us. You know, I think that kind of overrides the other part.

Q. You didn't get away from Miami, though.
COACH BEAMER: No, no, I couldn't escape that one. That's right.

Q. Do you have a leader in the quarterback competition, or will Saturday's game go a long way in determining that? How have these guys looked?
COACH BEAMER: No, Logan Thomas is our guy. He's had a great spring. He's done everything that you'd want him to do, I think, to really become an excellent quarterback. I think he's really made good decisions, throwing the ball exceptionally well. We've had probably more offensive production this spring than most springs we've been through.
And a little bit of that is we're lean on a couple positions on defense. That's the thing about it as a head coach; you always have a hard time being happy in the spring because if the offense is moving the ball, you worry about the defense, and if the defense is stopping them you worry about your offense.
I think Logan Thomas is the guy. The guy that's really come along, though, is Mark Leal. I've really been impressed with him in the last couple of scrimmages. Last night we did some scrimmage work. He's calm, he's got a good arm, he's made some people miss and kept the play alive a couple times. I look forward to seeing him in the game. And then Ju-Ju Clayton has been a steady guy for us. So those are the three guys right now that will line up at quarterback.
Ricardo young got hurt early, and we were really looking forward to seeing him here in the spring, but unfortunately he's not been able to -- I think since the first scrimmage we've had, he's not been able to play.

Q. Since nobody can really duplicate the kinds of things that Tyrod did because he was so great at just making things happen when things weren't there, will you look any different on offense? What are Logan's strengths, and what will we see from him?
COACH BEAMER: Well, I think we look a lot the same. I think Logan's height gives you an advantage on the screen plays and delays and those type of things. He can see the field very well, is throwing the ball down the field very well. You know, I think certainly height is an advantage for a quarterback.
But Tyrod, he's a hard guy to replace, all the records he's got here and the winningest quarterback we've ever had, and such a good leader and good person. He's a hard guy to replace. But I'll tell you, Logan has a lot of the same qualities. He's a good person, a good leader, just exactly right temperament I think to be a quarterback, very smart like Tyrod was. We look forward to seeing -- I think Logan has got a great future, also.

Q. I wanted to -- you mentioned Tyrod, and I understand this weekend a lot of the former players are coming back down for the spring game, Tyrod, Michael Vick, DeAngelo Hall just to name a few. What does that mean to you to have your former players making the trip back to support the team and watch the game, not to mention the fact you're going to have what I understand is a bunch of recruits down there, as well?
COACH BEAMER: Yeah, there's no question. That's one thing I take great pride in is that these guys have gone on and got such great futures and great -- you know, playing in the NFL and so forth want to come back and really have pride in coming back to Virginia Tech. You know, we look forward to having them all back, and it's getting to be a really good list, some names you just mentioned plus there's a lot of others that certainly these recruits know their name, too. So that's a good thing. So it's a win situation all the way around.

Q. And I also wanted to ask you about Shane and Cornell. How has that adjustment been going both with them and also their players this spring, just the new additions?
COACH BEAMER: I think it's going well. We were fortunate. You know, two guys that I was coaching last year I've been able to keep them around, and they're certainly -- Billy Hite and Jim Cavanaugh are two guys that are very important to Virginia Tech. They meant a lot to Virginia Tech, and they'll mean a lot to Virginia Tech in the future, so you keep their experience, and I rely heavily on both of them for advice and making decisions. I rely heavily on both of them. So you're able to keep them around, plus you're able to get two, I think, really good people to come in here.
Shane, you know, has been in the SEC at three different schools and one ACC school and been a recruiting coordinator and special teams coordinator and has coached both offense and defense, so I think he brings some ideas and some experience there. And I think from a recruiting standpoint he brought some ideas there.
And then Cornell has been up in the Canadian league coaching and was a great player here. They both, I think, are a great addition. I think our organization is better than ever, simply because I was able to keep two valuable guys and then add two valuable guys. I think our organization is better than ever.

Q. I wanted to follow up real quick about Ju-Ju and Mark. Is there competition there now for the No. 2 spot that will probably stretch into the summer?
COACH BEAMER: Oh, yeah, oh, yeah, there's always competition. And then, you know, those two guys, we want them to challenge Logan, too. I think competition at a position is -- everyone gets better, so that's the way we want it.

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