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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 26, 2011

Mike London

MIKE LONDON: We have an opportunity to -- we'll be leaving Charlottesville here in a little bit to fly down to Miami and play in a great venue, and we also have an opportunity to play in a nationally televised game. The players are excited about this. It's a short week, but nonetheless it's a week after a disappointing loss that you get right back into the thick of things. So we're excited about going down there and playing against a very good Miami Hurricane team.

Q. With the decision this week to limit David's role a little bit moving forward, in the event of an injury or ineffectiveness from Mike Rocco, who would be the quarterback who would fill in and take over for you guys?
MIKE LONDON: Well, I think the plan is in the event that Michael doesn't play well, that David and the opportunities that he's been afforded here during the course of the season, and the reason why he was playing, to provide some backup opportunity, I think will be afforded that, as well as perhaps Ross Metheny.
But Michael Rocco is the starting quarterback. Like any quarterback that plays, the backup has to be ready to go in at a moment's notice. And I think with the opportunities that were afforded David during the course of the year, that the natural progression would be if something happened to Michael that David would be next, and that would mean that Ross now is the next guy to go in in situations where one and two quarterbacks have gone down. The preparation of both of them will be important should anything, and hopefully not, happen to Michael.

Q. I guess Steve's question has caused me to change what I was going to ask you, but at any point Saturday or since Saturday have you given more of a look to Ross Metheny or given more thought to taking a look at him?
MIKE LONDON: I think part of the practicing and part of the new plan in terms of Michael being the starter and thinking more plays for David, that Ross has always -- he's been a young man who's prided himself in being prepared with the game plan. He signals the calls in, so he's very much in tune with what's going on. He's observed what's going on from the sidelines. Ross is not excluded from any opportunity that might present itself.
I mean, who knows how the situation will occur in the game, but I could just say that his preparation and his being a team player and being a guy that wants what's best for the team has shown itself, and if a situation creates itself -- we always talk about ifs, but he's not precluded from going in the game and taking snaps.

Q. Let me follow up with an unrelated question: What do you make of the way Al Golden has dealt with the distractions this season and kept the team playing at what appears to be a pretty high level?
MIKE LONDON: I think Al has done a great job of rallying the troops. Sometimes however they started out and how the publicity and the negativity that was surrounding the program was able to keep the guys focused on really what matters, and it's the players that were inside the program, the players that had to go out on the field and perform and you deal with the adversity as a football team, as a coach. But you also keep your guys that are involved in the program, keep their heads above water, and you talk about the things that can and will occur if everyone stays together.
So I think Al has done a good job as far as the adversity part of it and the players handling it, because in the end, the guys that are in those meeting rooms and practice fields, that's what matters. I think he's been consistent with that message, and I think they've bought into the message, and they see coming out of the storm or on the other end that they're affording themselves opportunities because they're playing well.

Q. You're eight weeks into the season and still having to answer questions about Rocco and Watford and even Metheny. Is it just a matter of that you just haven't had a quarterback really seize control of this, or is there anything when you look back at it that you say to yourself maybe we should have gone one direction or another earlier?
MIKE LONDON: Well, the way I look at it is we have a true sophomore that's starting at quarterback that played in some games last year and a true backup freshman. The reality of it is would you like a guy that's a fifth-year guy or a senior or whatever it is? Sure, you would. But the reality of it is we don't at this point. The only way you address that is through recruiting and separating guys as they go on. So you do what you have -- you do the best you can with what you have and the evaluations that your coaching staff makes, and you live with it.
So again, if I had to do it all over again, we would -- answering the question about the quarterback situation, developing the quarterbacks that we thought gave us the best opportunity, and coming out of going into the fall and the first game, it was Michael Rocco and David Watford.
I don't know how many other times you can answer the question, that if you look at where we are from a maturation standpoint and then you look where we are from guys that have now played in games, Michael is now seven games, sophomore, true quarterback, is playing, has an opportunity to say, okay, here you go, you have it, you take it. And then David Watford, true freshman; Ross Metheny, red shirt sophomore.
Instead of getting hung up on the who and the what, I mean, we understand that where we are right now as far as quarterbacks in the program, we've just got to develop them and do the best we can and put the best players out there that can give us a chance to win. That's all we're trying to do. I know it's frustrating sometimes not only for the players, but people who think you should do this and do that. But you know what, you've got to make decisions that are best for the team at the time the decisions need to be made.
And so we are here now, going into the Miami game with Michael being the starter, with David having a limited role with plays more than series, and a young man like Ross Metheny that has been doing everything. He's been competitive and staying on top of the game plan, doing everything he can do.
I don't know how many times I can answer it. But we -- the situation is where we are now. What you said at the very beginning about moving forward, that's huge. It's big, about moving forward now with the remaining games that we have on the schedule, and try to put together a plan, not just for the offense but defensively and with special teams to help us win games. So thanks for the question.

Q. On Monday two of the defensive players that you had said you thought played pretty well this season were Steve Greer and LaRoy Reynolds. Just curious what have been some of the particular things that they've done that have stood out to you? And have you noticed any particular areas of growth with them respectively that has led to them having the seasons they've had for you so far?
MIKE LONDON: Well, I think with Steve Greer, he played in a different system but was still very productive. You know, he played in a 3-4 system. He had some accolades as a true freshman. His football IQ is very smart. Then we come in and change the system, his football IQ didn't change. The position somewhat changed a little bit; now you're asking for a guy to go sideline to sideline, but what Steve does and what he worked on was just -- when you talk about like formations and reading splits and looking at the keys and calling the plays and calling the defenses, he does that. He's tremendous in doing that, film study and all that. I think that's raised his level of confidence, so it reflects how he plays.
With LaRoy, I think he was a safety, I think 197 pounds, taking on fullbacks and pulling guards. This year he's 200-something plus, he's strong, he was already explosive, and when you have an opportunity to play physical and you're a linebacker, then you continue to play like that.
You point out two guys that have been a catalyst for the defensive resurgence, and the good thing about it, they still have seasons of eligibility left. But both of them are playing well for sure.

Q. Have you lost anything in your preparation with the short week and the travel? How do you condense all that down? And are there some things you have to scratch?
MIKE LONDON: You know what, I don't think you scratch anything. What you have to do is, coming right off of the game on Saturday is that some p.m. preparation after the game, even though it's a tough loss, you have to do some things from a film breakdown standpoint. Our GA stayed up pretty late at night trying to get the film and make that available. So on that Sunday, as I've said before, for us Mondays have been the traditional day off, NCAA mandated day off, and school opportunities. But because of the quick turnaround, a Sunday for us kind of mimicked a Tuesday, a Sunday and a Tuesday where you're actually doing game planning. And then we practice on Monday because of the short week, and a Monday was like a Wednesday practice where you did some things, goal line, maybe short yardage, red zone. And then yesterday's practice was like a Thursday practice.
So you do have to condense all those things to try to get it done, and you hope for the best in terms of the preparation. But at the point of game 8 in the season, a lot of it is carry over, a lot of it is consistency that's already been done and talked about, the change from game plan to game plan and the players have been able to adapt to that. It is short, but at the same time it's something that's doable and you have to do it, because we're playing tomorrow night.

Q. Also, in my opinion, it looks like Miami has really hit its stride, Jacory Harris, the tailback, they've got weapons on the perimeter, offensive line is huge. Are you seeing what I'm seeing there with this offense?
MIKE LONDON: I'm seeing a team that's playing -- someone asked before -- with confidence and sort of the storm that's over the program, it may still be there, but you couldn't tell you it the way that Al, Coach Golden, has rallied the troops, and the guys are playing hard down there.
It's an opportunity for them to keep on playing well, but it's also a challenge and an opportunity for us to go down there and play well.
Hopefully it's two teams that -- one team appears hungry, that's for sure, after the letdown of a game this past Saturday and after an opportunity the previous Saturday. So we're excited about going down there and playing at that venue and being a Thursday night game.

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