Tech Talk Live Notes: Brent Pry, Dax Hollifield and Silas Dzansi

On Thursday night, Virginia Tech football head coach Brent Pry, Dax Hollifield, and Silas Dzansi joined Zach Mackey and Mike Burnop on Tech Talk Live at McClain’s at First & Main. They discussed the recruiting, the recent game against Miami, senior year, and other topics.

This season, Tech Talk Live will air on Thursdays at 7 p.m. ET across the Virginia Tech Sports Network.

Brent Pry

You guys have a lot of seniors here tonight:

We have about 20 of them or so. I see Connor [Blumrick] coming in, and some other guys, Jason Brown. These guys have meant so much to what we’re doing, bought in and committed. When you get a new staff, especially the way everything unfolded, and coach fired in the middle of the season and then you get a new guy. For a lot of these guys, that’s a tough deal. My hat’s off to all of them, they’ve been invested and working their butts off. The season hasn’t gone the way we all hoped, and they’re still out there cranking it out and really behind this. We couldn’t be doing what we do without them and having a chance every week to win.

What has the week been like so far? Scrimmages, self-scouting?

Practices have been kind of three-part, we’re doing some good-on-good stuff to keep the guys honed up and working against each other, not near as much as we normally would, and we’re also doing our North Carolina State preparation. We’ve got a couple of periods each practice for that. Lastly, we’ve got our developmental work. We have our guys who don’t play on Saturdays that are redshirting or just not into two-deep yet, those guys are scrimmaging and getting a bunch of work this week. So it’s been a good week that way.

With a Thursday game following the bye week, you don’t get the full effect of the bye week:

It’s not a true bye week, and that’s what I had to explain to the guys. We can’t just take the whole weekend off because they are going to have Saturday off, but when they come back on Sunday, it’s a Tuesday practice because of the Thursday night game, so we’ve had to do a little bit more and couldn’t just back off totally. I think we have a pretty good balance with it.

What can you share about your self-scouting?

You dive into the calls that you’ve made. What’s efficient, what’s not efficient? What’s been good? Let’s put our time into what’s not been good and why. Is it scheme, is it execution errors, is it personnel, is it the way we’re doing something? You identify it and you either throw it out or you believe you can fix it, and you work on that during the week.

Defensively, we looked at all the explosive plays given up and why. Was it a missed tackle, was it an execution error, was it just a nice play by the offense? Where can we be better? It’s definitely a good time to look at what you do, and we didn’t do a wholesale self-scout, there wasn’t time for that. We did about three quarters of one, which was still very beneficial.

Do you get to do that as much during a normal week?

It’s tough. We still generate some reports, but to make any changes that are significant, you need that extra time.

What kind of breakdown did you see from the offense?

Just where we’re not functioning as 11. Particularly in the run game, it’s just one or two missed assignments, not staying on a block long enough, missing the cut, not blocking on the perimeter. It’s not anything that you just go, “Oh my gosh, we’re not doing this well enough all the time.” It’s different things. You just have to keep working in the right direction. There are some ideas, some things that we feel like can help us maximize our strengths, what we do well from a personnel standpoint, and structurally, and so we’re going to emphasize those.

What were the differences between the first and second half against Miami?

I think it’s just about us playing a complete game of complementary ball. Until we do that, it’s hard to win a game. I think Miami has a good football team, they have good personnel, a good coach. But we didn’t play well enough in the first half and a couple areas. If you do that against a decent team, it’s hard to win. I think when we put it together, and we’ve seen that over the last couple of weeks, when we play as a complete team in all three phases, we can be pretty tough to handle. There’s no question in my mind, we can win every game left on the schedule, and I said that to the guys two or three weeks ago. We got to play complementary ball, play together, play to our potential.

Field position was a huge key in that game:

We talked about it on Sunday with the guys. Field position was a factor in the game, and we knew they had a great punter coming into it. Our return game has to be better, point blank. Offensively, we’d either get a seven- or eight-play drive or we’d go three and out. Those three-and-outs are what kills you on field position. We’re talking a lot about that.

What was your takeaway from Tyler Van Dyke’s play at the quarterback spot?

I think he’s got a live arm. They do a nice job with him. I didn’t do a great job in the first half attacking him and getting him uncomfortable. We did a much better job in the second half. That’s the ticket with him looking back on it. You make him uncomfortable, you pressure him, change coverages up, and he has a little tougher time. He’s got some great guys to throw to. They kept throwing over there, throwing at Brion [Murray] and Mansoor [Delane], trying to capitalize on some things and we made a few plays. Second half, things kind of tilted our way. I think that’s an explosive offense. You hold him to three points in the second half, it gives you a chance to win and that’s exactly what happened. Just have to play better the first half.

They had a monster game in the first quarter:

You can’t start the game the way we did. I mean, you turn the ball over, you got an explosive run, and then you get an explosive pass play, and you cough it up. Then you make it too easy. They go down and all of a sudden, it’s 7-0 before you blink. You take that seven off the board and make him earn it, different game.

That fumble was a tough one in the beginning:

The game didn’t start like it needed to. It looked like it was going to go our way – we’re going to start fast, have the momentum and then all of a sudden the ball comes out. They recover. They score quickly. The momentum is gone. We have to be a team that can handle that adversity and capture it back and answer. Because we didn’t play like we were capable in the first half. I really think that initial drive and the way it shook, what happened with the outcome, and a touchdown for Miami, it derailed us for a little bit there.

How do you fix how the team deals with adversity?

It’s a learning process, you have to go through it. To go through what we did and play as poorly as we did in the first half, here we are 20-14 with a chance to win the game. You can come through the adversity and come out the other side and be fine. It’s a mindset. The only way I know is to go through it, coach them through it, and have the leaders on the team, the sideline, ‘Let’s go, we’re okay.’ We’ve given examples, there’s too many teams where they’re down three possessions going into the fourth quarter and they come back and win the game. It’s all over the scoreboard. I think we’re growing in that area. We’re becoming a team that can better handle adversity and that’s going to be key to our success in one of these upcoming games.

What is your schedule like the next couple days with the bye week?

We had three good practices this week. Today was really our Sunday practice as far as preparation for North Carolina State. The guys get to work out tomorrow, regen tomorrow. As a coaching staff, we hit the road recruiting. A bunch of guys left right after practice. Myself and a couple others are leaving at 7am tomorrow. We’ll be out across the state of Virginia and across the footprint and we’ll do that tomorrow, tomorrow night. I have a couple of games I’m going to and then everybody’s got some work on Saturday and then hopefully get home and spend some time with the family by lunch.

Turnovers have made a huge difference:

I show the guys every Sunday, when you win the turnover battle, you have a 90% chance of winning the game. That’s at Virginia Tech since 1993, you have a 90% chance of winning the game. You win the explosive play battle and the turnover battle, it goes up to 94% chance to win the game. We have to do that. Honestly, defensively, we have to get some takeaways. We’re not turning the ball over like crazy, Grant [Wells] has been pretty good with the ball. We had the unfortunate one to start the game, but we have to get our hands on more balls and get our offense back on the field more often.

You mentioned Mansoor Delane, Cam Johnson, what is your takeaway from the younger players?

For Mansoor, the game, it’s not too big for him. He’s very confident, he’s  consistent, he’s level-headed out there. They tried him, they went after him. He’s a guy that keeps proving himself week after week. He can help us.

What do you think about the targeting call on Nasir [Peoples]?

We turned it in. I didn’t really know how to coach him in the moment because it looked like he did everything to avoid. The bottom line is if you hit a defenseless player, and they ruled him defenseless, in the head with any part of your body, it’s a penalty. So even though he turned, he threw his shoulder in there, the guy was ruled or deemed defenseless and the shoulder made contact with the head. So that’s by rule. I’m not sure what to tell Nasir there. That’s a tough one. Coaching that targeting stuff is part of the game now. I think the intent of the rule is to protect the players with the ball. I think Nasir did everything to try and do that.

How about Alan Tisdale? How impactful was he?

There were some things he did well and there were some things that Alan right away after the game said, ‘Man, I didn’t do this very good. I didn’t do that.’ I think he wasn’t happy with the way he blitzed and some other things, but he’s certainly has a chance to bring some consistency to that position. There have been some sparks from [Jaden] Keller, from Keli Lawson, and from [Jayden] McDonald. Alan’s played a lot of ball, I know Dax [Hollifield] felt real comfortable with Alan lining up next to him and helping echo calls and getting guys lined up right. I’m sure that Alan will continue to get better each week.

Jalen Stroman led the team in tackles with 11 vs. Miami. How has his progression been?

He’s a guy I’m very excited about. I consider him a starter. When we go nickel, he’s out there and with what happened to Nasir, we were forced to kind of play Stroman a lot, Chamarri [Conner], and Nyke Johnson had to step up, his role grew a little bit. Stroman is priming himself to have a nice career here at Virginia Tech. I’m excited about it.

Much better job competing for balls in the second half, wasn’t it?

Sure was. We felt like in the first half, we just allowed the catch and then tackled. I don’t think that’s ever the case. You want to train guys and have it be a habit that when that ball is thrown and that guy’s getting ready to make the catch, we’re dogfighting it. We’re trying to get that sucker out no matter what. Then we make the tackle. If it doesn’t come out, that’s just the way that we’re going to do things. We have to make sure we contest every catch.

How much has recruiting changed now that you’re a head coach?

The one thing I like is I get driven around, I don’t have to do the driving. I’ll take that every time, driving James [Franklin] around for 11 years. You’re still out there and you’re talking to coaches. You’re eyeballing players, and if it’s a contact period, you’re talking to them. You’re evaluating guys at practice and in games. A lot of it is similar.

One of the things that caught me off guard this year was in the spring, the head coaches aren’t allowed out, which I wasn’t used to. After 31 years of spring recruiting, I was back in the office, driving everybody crazy. We have to invest in the Commonwealth, we have to invest in our footprint, and we’re doing that by getting out and being there. As a head coach, that’s super important in those coaches.

What was the experience of the recruits at the Miami game?

Very positive. I think the recruiting staff did a fantastic job. Obviously, the environment in Lane Stadium, and that atmosphere in the student section. They love playing in that type of stuff. Our guys love playing in it, these recruits see it, and to me in the ACC, I don’t know if there’s a better environment. There’s certainly not a better entrance, and a chance to go do your thing, perform in front of a great crowd and great atmosphere, it was really good. The feedback was positive. We had a bunch of those recruits stick around after the game. We did some photoshoots and different things, some campus tours, it was a beautiful day in Blacksburg. I think from that standpoint, everything went really well.

The logistics of going back up the tunnel at halftime:

It’s been fine. We made the decision to dress everybody. I just think everybody practices hard whether you’re on scout team or whatever your role is. Everybody wants to run down that tunnel, step out on that field, have family and friends be proud of them. That’s important to me. That locker room [right off the field] wasn’t big enough.

One of the guys on the staff had a good idea, rather than go all the way back to our original locker room, we go into the weight room, they set it up, it’s a good open area, we can split up offensive and defense, and get the guys all the hydration and supplements they need. You don’t have to travel quite as far. The only thing I’m still trying to get done is a couple of golf carts for the offensive line. I saw Silas [Dzansi] coming up at tunnel as I told him, ‘We’re going to get you a golf cart.’

How many schools will you visit tomorrow?

We’ve got seven schools we’re going to get to tomorrow during the day, and then two games tomorrow night. That’s just myself. There’s generally somebody with me and each school and then at each game.

What would you like to see going forward out of the offense?

I think we just need to open things up a little bit. Whether you change tempos, whether you spread things out, whether you motion, whether you give them some funky formations, couple of gadget plays, you just have make it a little bit tougher to defend. I think we can do that. That was where the conversation was this week, [Tyler] Bowen, Brad [Glenn], and Joe [Rudolph] and Stu [Holt], they all had some ideas about what we can do to maximize what we do well, and also make it more challenging on defenses.

When thinking of your own offense, are you thinking to yourself, “How would I defend this?”

Absolutely. It’s what would be problematic for me or this is what’s too easy to defend. This is what they can pin their ears back and defend right now. We have to put a wrinkle in there to make them kind of spread it out a little bit and make them think about the call. As you get different formations and you spread it out some, your call list as a defensive playcaller becomes smaller, you don’t have as many options. We got some good things. Who we are, who we want to be, we can’t lose sight of that, the identity of we want to be offensively. But also, we’ve got to give ourselves the best chance to move the ball and score points.

Would you like to see Grant Wells run the ball more?

He has good wheels, he’s not afraid to run the ball. He can make a guy miss. I think he’s pretty fast. I don’t know what his 40 is, but he gets down the field. I know as a defensive playcaller, when that quarterback can run… we’ll be looking at some of that with NC State right now, what they have to do offensively. You want to maximize that and that’s worth a couple of explosives in the game.

Dax Hollifield

How has it been since the Miami game?

We’re doing well. We’re trying to get the guys that played a lot of snaps to recover well, getting those young guys a lot of more snaps. It’s been fun seeing those young guys compete, really bringing some juice out there, the older guys supporting them. It’s been a great environment out there the past couple of days.

You’ve started 44 games in your time at Virginia Tech:

I’ve been here for a minute. It’s crazy. I look back on it, it flies though. It feels like yesterday I was here for the first time ever. This place is home, I’ve cherished every moment I’ve been here.

Last week, Coach Pry said nobody was as happy as you were that Tisdale was ready to go:

That’s my brother, man. I love that dude. We’ve been through it all. We’ve been through a lot, been here the whole time together. He sort of surprised me. He told me that morning, ‘Hopefully soon I’m coming back’ and I was like, ‘Okay, you’re just telling me stuff, man. You’re not saying it.’ But he was serious. I was very happy for him. It was a tough situation he was in, he handled it very well. He earned a lot of respect from a lot of people from the way he handled himself in that situation.

How do you guys get more takeaways?

You have to think about the ball, honestly. In the NFL nowadays, everybody’s trying to tackle the ball, tackle and punch the ball out at the same time. That’s game-changing plays. Whoever wins the turnover margin usually has a good shot at winning the game like Coach Pry mentioned here, you have a 90% chance of winning the game if you just win the turnover battle. We definitely have to start focusing on that more, just thinking about the ball every time you’re going in around the ball carrier, and that’s definitely a focal point of the coaches this past week.

Is it difficult to suddenly change your mindset after a turnover?

It’s just mentality. The momentum isn’t on our side, but it’s an opportunity to get the momentum back for us. We practice that every Thursday or every Friday, just sudden change in momentum and trying to get that shifted back our way. Football is such a momentum game that whoever has it is going to play the best, and just trying to take whatever they throw at you, whatever opportunity that comes your way, just making the most out of it.

What do you watch for during a play?

First off, you need to look at the formation, because a lot of the play calls run through if its three-by-one or two-by-two or if it’s three-by-one into the boundary, you have to get everybody lined up. I have to set the front right, get the coverage checked. If we’re blitzing, I have to tell everybody where the blitz is coming from. After I’ve done all that, I really try to look into my pre-snap reads and little subtle tendencies. If the tackle is sitting back on his heels, he’s looking outside, I probably know it’s a pass. If they’re all down, really hunched over, I’ll probably know it’s a run. Then you can really just play from there. It’s just a lot of snaps, a lot of just doing it over and over again, you sort of have a feel for it. That’s about my pre-snap routine.

Tyler Van Dyke was good in the first half, but you shut him down in the second:

First half, there are some plays I wish I could get back, not really playing the ball well. Really sitting back on our heels, waiting for somebody else to make a play I would say was our biggest thing. The second half, we came back with a different mentality from the halftime locker room. Especially on the defensive side of the ball, we were just we were fed up with it.

It’s all about us. It’s never about anybody else. If we can trust in our training, trust in what we believe in each and every day, day-in and day-out, that’s going to work and we’ll get to where we want to be. That was proved the second half. We just have to play like that every quarter – first quarter, second quarter, third quarter and fourth, have to do it for the whole game.

As a senior, you’ve got to pry that into the younger guys, right?

100%. Just building the culture. It’s not where it needs to be yet, but it’s getting there slowly but surely. Progress is never a straight line. There’s definitely ups and downs, but when you look at the whole grand scheme of things, we’re definitely trending in the right direction.

Coach Pry talked about how important it was for seniors to buy in right away:

100%, I wanted to make the most of this last year. I knew from the get-go, whatever we have been through last year, this is just an opportunity to get better and to learn from somebody else that sees the game in a little bit different way, especially from people that have had success in other places. Really to get this place back in the direction that it’s supposed to be in, I really wanted to set this place in the right direction for my senior year. Get that culture and get the work ethic and get the way that Virginia Tech plays football back on the right path. That’s my whole message from the whole senior class.

What do you plan to do after your football career?

I don’t know. I’ve been in football my whole life. My dad was football coach growing up, basketball coach. I’ve been around it my entire life, as long as I can remember. I don’t really know yet. I want to play football as long as I can, obviously. After that, you know, Coach Marve gives me all the time, I say I don’t sometimes, but he says, ‘One day, you just give me or Pry a call. Come on back, come on back.’ Maybe one day, but I don’t know yet. I might try to go into development or something like that, real estate, so that’s good luck.

Silas Dzansi

Why was is important that you came back this year?

I felt I wasn’t done at Virginia Tech, I had a lot of fun things I had to prove. I definitely thought coming back would be good for me and for the team.

You started out at Fork Union. How did that shape who you are today?

Fork Union was an experience, but it definitely got me ready. Definitely got me an extra year football and I didn’t play too long in high school, I only played two years in high school, and then Fork Union was just more experience for me to get more football under my belt. Definitely the experience was good for me, got me ready. Playing with stronger and bigger, faster, guys.

On the offensive line group:

I think we’re a pretty solid line. Parker [Clements] and Kaden [Moore] are coming into their own, doing very well on the right side. Johnny Jordan, of course is going to hold it down, Jesse Hanson, he’s been coming along great. He’s been splitting reps with Braelin Moore, who’s been doing a great job. Very proud of both of them. I think everyone’s doing pretty well.

How important is it to know all of the different offensive line positions?

That’s one thing I was very grateful for, for Coach [Vance] Vice. He let me show that I was very versatile. Being able to play and start at four different positions. I do think it’s great to know if someone goes down that I’m flexible enough that I can be switched around.

How has it been having Malachi Thomas and Keshawn King healthy?

It’s been good. Once he came back, it definitely flowed a lot better. It was good to see him getting the endzone again. I thought that was good for our offensive line and our team, really good.

What is it like getting a new head coach for your senior year?

It was really big, Coach Pry came in and embraced us very well with open arms. When I didn’t know if I was coming back, he called me on the phone. I didn’t know this man from a can of paint, I didn’t know him at all. He called me and got me into the office and he sat me down, not really trying to convince me, but just let me know I had options. If I wanted to come back, there was a spot for me. He was going to work with me if I wanted to leave and he was going to work with me if I wanted to come back. I think the seniors have embraced him as well. I think everybody loves him, he’s doing a great job, him and the rest of the staff.

What is the hardest thing to do as an offensive lineman?

Probably just staying on the block when a quarterback scrambles, not really knowing where he’s going to go, if he’s going to try to run up the middle or try to run around your block. Just stay locked onto that defensive lineman and then holding your own.