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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEDIA DAYSJuly 20, 2014Willie ByrneLuther MaddyGREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA Q. It's been a long time since Tech went into a season not knowing who its quarterback is going to be. How unsettling is that for you coming into a new season? WILLIE BYRNE: I wouldn't say it's unsettling. I'd say it's more exciting. This summer has been like any other, just because like you said, there's always been a constant at quarterback between when I first got here, Tyrod and then Logan, so we've known who to work with, and naturally you work with the starter more than you work with the backups. But this year we've had to work with everyone, from the oldest guy down to the freshman that just got on campus, and you've got to treat them all the same and you've got to learn all their tendencies and what they want to do. So it's been fun. It's going to continue to be fun, and I think this competition between them is only going to bring out the best in not only the starter but the backup and the second backup and so on and so forth. Q. Could you just go back to your early years at Virginia Tech coming in as a walk‑on and now being a really go‑to guy on the offense and how you've developed and now this year the role you're going to have in the offense being a veteran? WILLIE BYRNE: Well, I think I came in honestly as a walk‑on overconfident thinking that I would not have to earn my stripes quickly and get a scholarship and everything right away, but you get there and you learn that everyone is good, and there's a reason why some guys were put in front of me, because they have some tangible talents that I might not have, size and things like that. But I've always had confidence in myself. The thing that really changed for me was I took a lot of pressure off myself right before last year, and when I did that and just had fun and just treated it like high school football and like I've been growing up having fun playing football and smiling a lot during practice, that's when I started really making a lot of plays on a consistent level, and it's been a lot of fun getting some exposure as being a good player and making some plays and everything. But I'm ready to take that next step to become a great player, especially for our team to go from a good team to a great team. Q. You talked about the challenge of the quarterbacks that are vying for that starting role. How has it challenged you as you've grown up in this team and kind of, like you said, you knew who your quarterback was going to be and now you don't necessarily know that? WILLIE BYRNE: Well, for me personally like I was saying, taking a good step to a great step in terms of me personally, it's not only what I want to do, but now because of this new quarterback change, it's necessary. It's absolutely necessary. Last year I made some good plays, but I want to make every single play, all the really tough catches, I can't think of them as like, oh, man, I really wish I made that. That would have been a really nice catch. It's got to be I have to make that really nice catch, because whoever the quarterback is, it turns out to be, it's going to be their first year starting at Virginia Tech, so they're going to have some hiccups like everyone does their first year, and we have to‑‑ I have to bail them out of some mistakes that they make, and the same with the offensive line and the running backs and everything like that. Me personally, that's the way I see this quarterback competition, my role, to help get the new quarterback accustomed, I guess. Q. You talked about going from good to great, 21 straight years in a bowl game but it's been a few years since it was a big bowl game. Are you guys feeling that drought, the program? WILLIE BYRNE: Yeah, we definitely‑‑ it's not to our standard.  When you first came to Virginia Tech, all I knew, the year that I red shirted, we won the ACC Championship, went to the Orange Bowl. The second year we lost in the ACC Championship, still got there, only lost to Clemson going into the Sugar Bowl, and we got to the Sugar Bowl. All I knew when I was younger was BCS bowls and big‑time stages. So it's definitely‑‑ I definitely don't like being in this‑‑ we've had just good seasons. We need great seasons. The 10‑win season streak thing that we had going was great, and it was a nice stat, but I never was a big fan of that being the standard of our success because I don't really think about number of wins. I'm thinking about it's ACC Championship or bust, and I think our whole team has that sense of urgency throughout these summer workouts and everything. If one guy takes a play off or anything like that, he's getting yelled at, and it's an urgent yell. It's not a desperate yell, but it's an urgent we don't have time for this, we've got to get rolling because we've got to get back to where we were. If that's the mentality, all 70 guys are going to have, then we're going to do some good things. Q. Last year in an effort to end that big bowl drought, Coach Beamer changed offenses. You're in the second year of Coach Loeffler's offense. What should we look for? WILLIE BYRNE: Well, we have to have balance in order to get back to the great seasons we were talking about. Another year is going to do wonders, I think. Last year the first spring right after the coaches came in, I always say you can't even really call it a spring because it was literally just football or playbook 101. It was learning how to huddle up and where to line up. Now this spring we hit the ground running. We knew exactly where to line up and we knew what to do, so then we were able to look out in front of us and see what the defenders were doing, what kind of look, kind of coverage we were getting, and that allows you to really fine‑tune your craft and everything like that. This year you need to look for we're going to balance the ball. We're going to run and throw, and the running has to improve not only through O‑line and running backs and quarterbacks carrying out everything, and receivers, we've got to do our part by making more plays in the passing game and then also perimeter blocking. Q. Trey Edmunds broke his leg in the last game last season. He's been working to get back. What do you know about Trey and how critical is his success to the offense's success this coming year? WILLIE BYRNE: Well, we really want him back. I think he has done a great job‑‑ it's conspicuously shown that he wants to get back. He's done everything and more that he has to do in terms of rehab and training and stuff like that, and I think he just‑‑ I'm not sure if this is the official word, but I think he just got cleared, or he's working full speed again. We're thrilled to have him back. We have some good depth at running backs, so for him to spearhead that group and kind of lead the way, it's going to be good because he deserves it and he's a good player. LUTHER MADDY       Q. As we get camp started in August, what's the number one goal? LUTHER MADDY: My number one goal is to get the young guys, get their feet going fast. We lost a lot of experience in the front seven, so we just want the young guys to get comfortable with offenses, watching film, comfortable with blocking schemes and stuff like that. Q. I asked Willie about kind of the drought in between big‑time bowl games for this program. Is Coach Beamer talking to you guys about that at all? Is that something that's brought up and emphasized that we don't want to be good anymore, we want to be great again? LUTHER MADDY: In my opinion any bowl game is a good bowl game. I really appreciate those guys that put those things together. Yes, I think we need to get back to going to the BCS bowl games. Sugar Bowl my freshman year, Orange Bowl the year before that, so we need to get back to the 10‑win seasons, the Beamer Ball that we're used to playing. Q. You talked about some losses on the front seven. As far as you being a leader as a senior, first part of the question, and the second part being some of those guys that you really think are going to step up this year with those losses that came? LUTHER MADDY: You said who do I think will step up? Q. Who will step up and how do you look at yourself as a leader? LUTHER MADDY: I've been kind of a second‑tier guy the past three years because we had so many older guys in front of me, but now that I came back my senior year, it's definitely my time to step up and be the leader. I've taken that role. I think I've been doing a pretty good job, trying to lead by example, getting all my reps during workouts and doing things right to those guys can follow me. I think the person who is going to step up and break through this year is Dadi Nicolas. He's very athletic, 4.4‑type 40‑plus in spurts. He's really athletic. He's cause havoc for a lot of offenses this year. Q. The past couple seasons there's been such a disparity between the offensive production and what you guys have been able to do on defense. Do you think that gap is getting any closer, and as a defense, does that put any more pressure on you guys to kind of overcome what the offense hasn't been able to do? LUTHER MADDY: I'm not going to say I think the defense is perfect. Guys are still scoring points on us. We're not leaving the game with zero points on the scoreboard, so we can definitely improve in our game, also. But I think the offense, the spring workouts and summer preparation and spring ball, they've been taking big strides, and I think we're going to have a really great year this year. Q. Last season ended on a sour note for you guys, a lopsided loss to UCLA. Is that a game you keep in the back of your mind for motivation, or do you just flush it and move on? LUTHER MADDY: I mean, it's definitely motivation. It's the last game that we played during the regular season. I think on both sides of the ball we didn't play a very good game, we weren't very focused, we didn't prepare good enough for that game, so I think me being a leader, I think about that game in my preparation and try not to let it happen again and try to prepare our guys better for games this year, being more mentally focused. Q. Last season you started out the season with Alabama. This year you're coming in, you start with William & Mary, but the week after you go to The Horseshoe and play Ohio State. Talk about the significance of playing these big games to start out the season? LUTHER MADDY: First of all, like you said, we play William & Mary first so we've got to take them into consideration, get that win with William & Mary, then we'll start worrying about Ohio State. I think Ohio State, playing a big‑name team out of conference gets us more respect, gives us more respect for the ACC, so to improve our record when playing those big‑time teams, getting winning records against them. Q. You've had the chance in your four years to be part of an incredible program through notoriety, through the head coach. What have you learned? What have you seen? What will you take away after this year? LUTHER MADDY: Out of Virginia Tech? Q. Yeah. LUTHER MADDY: Like I was telling a couple guys earlier, when it comes to Coach Beamer and Coach Foster and a couple assistant coaches, they don't just teach us football, they teach us how to be better men, to be better men, better husbands, to live life properly, to be successful. They teach us that. I am really blessed and grateful that I took the scholarship to Virginia Tech. I appreciate those coaches. These past three years I think I've definitely become a better man. I still have another year left, and I'll just keep taking strides. Q. You talked about defensive losses, but Virginia Tech has always had major defensive losses. It's a who's who of college football over the last 20 years. What is it about Coach Foster that he's able to rebuild a defense with whomever is there, and I want to ask about his secondary philosophy in particular because Virginia Tech has had a as good a secondary the last couple years as anybody and perhaps will again this year? LUTHER MADDY: Yeah, like you said, Coach Foster is a great coach, but a lot of people forget about his assistant coaches, Coach Gray and Coach Wiles and Coach Brown, those guys do a very good job. You've got to give them consideration for our success on defense. Without them I don't think we'd be as successful. Those guys do a really great job, and Assistant Coach Foster, helping them game plan, coaching us the right way. So I'm really grateful Coach Wiles and Coach Gray. Coach Gray has a great secondary year in and year out. You have to look at the assistant coaches and see what they do, and they're doing a very good job at what they do, also. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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