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inside.hokiesports.com
29
3
Greg Stroman
(6-0, 180, Jr.)
9
Khalil Ladler
(5-11, 183, Fr.)
27
Shawn Payne
(6-3, 192, So.)
28
Curtis Williams
(5-9, 176, r-Jr.)
29
DuWayne Johnson
(6-1, 185, r-Fr.)
31
Brandon Facyson
(6-2, 197, r-Jr.)
35
Erikk Banks
(5-10, 185, r-Jr.)
36
Adonis Alexander
(6-3, 193, So.)
39
Tyrone Thornton
(5-9, 193, r-Fr.)
42
Elisha Boyd
(6-2, 185, r-So.)
AUGUST, 2016
(In numerical order)
VIRGINIA TECH
CORNERBACKS
Tech’s staff moved several cornerbacks to
other positions in the secondary this spring
to solidify those spots. The coaches moved
Terrell Edmunds to rover and kept Der’Woun
Greene at free safety behind Chuck Clark.
Also, Mook Reynolds spent nearly all spring
playing the Hokies’ nickel position, a spot of
ever-growing importance in Tech’s scheme.
The moves left the two cornerback spots
with little in the way of depth. Only Facyson,
Greg Stroman, and Adonis Alexander possess
any true experience. Stroman started six
games last season and finished with 24 tackles
and two interceptions, while Alexander
started eight games and had 55 tackles and
four interceptions.
The cornerback positions not only lacked
experience, but also worked under a new
coach this spring. Torrian Gray, a former
Virginia Tech player and longtime defensive
backs coach, left for the same position at the
University of Florida. Tech head coach Justin
Fuente brought in Brian Mitchell to coach the
cornerbacks and Mitchell brings a different
style thanwhat theHokies’ current cornerbacks
have been accustomed to over the years.
“They’re two different types of people,”
Facyson said of Mitchell and Gray. “We love
Coach Mitchell. We’ve accepted him into this
family. That was never going to be a problem.
It’s been a little bit of a change with some of
the things we’re working on, but you’ve got to
be willing to accept change. We come in with
open arms to that and perfect whatever we
need to perfect.”
Other changes included Fuente’s splitting
of the secondary responsibilities, with
Mitchell coaching just the cornerbacks and
Galen Scott coaching the free safety, rover,
and nickel positions. Gray had coached all
those positions before departing.
Those changes, though, really forced the
players to communicate on the field this
spring. The secondary, as a whole, needs to be
in sync to be successful.
“It is different,” Facyson said. “You’re used
to being in the meeting room with everyone
and being on the same page that way. Now
we’re split up. We have to be on the same page
still, but without those guys in the room, we’re
working exclusively on things for cornerbacks.
We look at what we need to do and what we
need to fix and what we need to keep doing to
get better.
“I feel like it was a good move. It’s really
different, but I feel like it will benefit us.”
Tech’s staff hopes for more consistent
play out of the cornerback position than
what it received a year ago. Much of that
inconsistency came about because of the knee
injury suffered by Kendall Fuller, the Hokies’
All-American who missed much of the season.
Fuller’s injury forced the staff to juggle guys at
different spots.
Fuller decided to forgo his final year at
Tech and make himself available for the NFL
Draft. The Washington Redskins drafted
Fuller in the third round. His departure makes
it paramount that Facyson stays healthy.
He figures to be assuming most of Fuller’s
boundary cornerback responsibilities.
“I would say every year that we need to
progress and we definitely can get better,”
Facyson said of the secondary. “We had some
things go down with injuries and everything
like that and it mixed things up a little bit.
We don’t want to settle. We want to get better
every year and I know we can play better than
we played last year.”