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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 16, 2011

Mike London

MIKE FINN: We're joined by Coach Mike London of Virginia. We'll ask for a brief opening statement and then go to questions.
Coach.
COACH LONDON: It's been an exciting week to get ready and prepare for a really, really good Florida State team. Playing well the last several games. Being on the road. The recognition of their seniors. I know the atmosphere is going to be fantastic with a national audience. Couldn't ask for more. Look forward to the challenge. Look for having a good game.
MIKE FINN: Questions for Coach London.

Q. To try to motivate your players for this game, how much do you discuss the fact that you're still in the ACC championship race?
COACH LONDON: Sometimes you don't like to hear this, but we still have the 'one game at a time' mentality. This game is the most important game for us to lend any talk to what happens two, three weeks later.
We don't talk about that. We talk about the options that are presented to us right now. That's a Florida State team, I mean, they're truly outstanding in the last four or five games we've seen them play. At their place they have a lot of things going on themselves. We just have to worry about taking care of ourselves and what we do in order to execute because defensively they're outstanding, offensively they have so many play-makers, and even in the kicking game they're dynamic.
We don't think ahead of anything that's out there. We just have to think what's clear and present right now, and that's FSU.

Q. I notice Chase Minnifield had another huge play last Saturday. Talk about what he does, what makes him such an exceptional defensive back.
COACH LONDON: Part of it, a lot of people wish to have, the bloodlines in his father Frank was obviously an NFL corner in the league. What you see some of the attributes that I think Frank has passed on to Chase is his zeal for being prepared.
If you were to come out and watch us practice, you come out 20, 30 minutes before practice, Chase will be out on the field running, getting loosened up, riding the bike. He carries a notebook around with him and takes extensive notes about the receivers, about the quarterback, about down-and-distance situations.
He's already graduated. He spends time learning and preparing for football. So it's no wonder he has the physical skills, too. He has man-cover ability, speed, athleticism. Probably the biggest thing is desire and want to.
When you add all those things up, it makes for a pretty dynamic player that has those attributes, and being blessed with the talents that his father also passed down to him.

Q. Sometimes when a guy establishes a great reputation as a cover corner, people don't test or attack him. Has that been the case with Chase?
COACH LONDON: No, they threw one on him. All corners, particularly when you play kind of a bump, in your face, man-to-man coverage, a lot of times some offenses, it's a signal or kind of a read to throw a fade route.
But when you do stuff like that, what you have is an extreme amount of confidence in your ability. I've never seen a corner that hasn't gotten thrown over or passes haven't gotten caught on. You have to have a short memory as a corner, then go back to doing what you do.
That's part of what makes Chase so good. You may get one on him or over him, but he'll be right back there again in your face trying to play whoever the other team's best receivers are.
That's a great attribute to have for a corner.

Q. E.J. Manuel, we just heard Coach Fisher talk glowingly about him. What are your comments on him?
COACH LONDON: I didn't hear Coach Fisher, but I probably would echo whatever he said. E.J., I knew of him or know him. From Bayside High School down in the Tidewater area. Outstanding young man. Has learned how to be a quarterback. Everybody talks about the development of quarterbacks, things like that. Jacory Harris had another season to be a quarterback. E.J. Manuel has another season to be a quarterback. He's taken that and all the things that come with it, taken the reins and really developed himself along with the kind of coaching he's getting.
There's no doubt about his physical skills, but also what you see on tape is you see him making good decisions, you see the ball being placed where it needs to be placed, you see some athleticism because he will run the ball also. He threatens you with his arm and his legs. You can see clearly that his mind, the mindset of a quarterback, is something that's really taken off for him.

Q. Earlier in the year I guess the word is 'clean,' didn't seem like you were playing clean football. It's like somebody turned a switch, no turnovers, everybody executing. Was it youth? What happened? Why do you look like a different team in November than you did earlier?
COACH LONDON: Well, I think what every coach hopes for is as the season goes on, whatever the players are playing, it's noted we're playing a lot of young freshmen, redshirt freshmen, but if you can develop them as the season goes on and they become more game mature, I think that's probably the biggest thing. Birthdays come once every year, but game mature comes when you play in each game, you've been in a situation that you don't want to repeat.
You put young players or guys in positions where you see the things that can cause you to win or cause you to lose. So as you become game mature, you go in and you win some close games, you see the difference. You go on the road and win against some tough teams, you see the difference. There's a maturity that comes with that also.
As everyone can probably attest to, when you have a chance to win, it breeds an attitude of believing that you can win. That's part of the execution of things. Strangely enough, even if good things or bad things happen, the belief that no matter what the score is, what quarter it's in, you still have a chance to win the game.
I think there's three games I keep talking to the players about, literally you won three games on the last play of the game. You played well in some other areas. You just got to keep that mindset.
We try to focus on the positive when you do those things, that you have a chance. Again, I appreciate the comment because I do see it as kind of a game maturity as guys have gone on.
Michael Rocco, game maturity. From each game he learns from the next. I could go down the line with different players that are playing.
They have the skill, they've always had the skill, but it's the technique of doing what they need to do to be successful. You only learn that when you're out there. You get blocked, knocked down, but you only learn it when you get back up and do it right. The next time it happens again you're successful.
That's what we're hoping for because we're going to have to with this Florida State team because they are excellent in all phases and we have to play our best football. But it's something that is doable by these guys as they continue to grow and gain some confidence.
MIKE FINN: Coach, just wanted to thank you for being with us. Good luck this weekend.
COACH LONDON: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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