Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 11 No. 5 | May 2019

inside.hokiesports.com 33 Given the youth at his position and the struggles on Virginia Tech’s defense, Brian Mitchell easily could be forgiven if he felt that the 2018 football season marked the longest of his 24-year coaching career. On the contrary, though, according to Tech’s cornerbacks coach. “Probably the most fun I’ve had coaching in a long time,” Mitchell said. Starting cornerbacks Caleb Farley and Bryce Watts, along with top reserve, Jovonn Quillen, took their lumps at times in 2018. Sometimes, they gave up big plays in the passing game, while at other times, they missed tackles trying to stop the run. But that was to be expected of first-time starters. Farley, a redshirt freshman last fall, never had played cornerback before, while Watts, a sophomore, saw little action as a true freshman in 2017. Most of Quillen’s reps before last season came on special teams. “It’s a process,” Mitchell admitted. “I don’t look at it any other way other than game by game. How can we get better each and every day? That’s the approach I took last fall—can we get better today? I think it’s paying dividends now. “In this sport, the learning curve is getting out there and processing information, reading splits, getting in an environment that’s going to allow you to get those reps. Game-time reps are game-time reps, and when you’ve got guys that have never played the game at a Division I level and their first game is at Florida State … there’s going to be a learning curve, and there is some understanding there.” All of them, however—a group that includes not only the aforementioned trio, but also Armani Chatman and Jermaine Waller—enjoyed success during spring practices, thus creating optimism heading into summer workouts and ultimately August practices. For starters, all of them are bigger and stronger. All of them weighed more than 180 pounds at the conclusion of spring and increased their lifting numbers during the winter’s offseason strength and conditioning program. If 180 pounds seems light—and for sure, depending on one’s perspective, that is—then fans should consider this. Watts, who started 12 games, played much of last season at 170- 175 pounds. Size and strength is paramount at every position, not just on the lines. Thus, a stronger cornerback crew played much more consistently this spring—certainly better than last fall. “It’s frustrating that you don’t get the results,” Mitchell said of his group’s performance last fall. “But you can see guys getting over the hump a little bit. Now, it’s paying dividends … Now, I’m not worried as much about coaching scheme as teaching the fundamentals and technique. Each one, individually, is getting specific attention to what they need. When you jump into it as a whole, you don’t get to spend as much one-on- one time with those guys during the season.” A point of emphasis this spring for all of Tech’s defensive backs was tackling. The defensive backs gave up too many big plays last fall because of missed tackles– in fact, Tech’s staff counted nearly 30 explosive plays that came about as a result of missed tackles in the secondary (both cornerbacks and safeties). So, the group dedicated a period of pretty much every practice toward tackling. They didn’t tackle dummies, though. They tackled Tech’s running backs and receivers, so Watts, Farley and the rest of the cornerbacks got better by taking on the likes of 220-pound Jalen Holston, 220-pound Damon Hazelton, 215-pound Caleb Steward and 200-pound Phil Patterson. “That’s one of the one areas that I wanted to focus in on,” Mitchell said of tackling. “Not only just the football IQ or the eye progression, [but] we needed to be a more physical unit … Every day we’ve had a practice, we’ve focused in on tackling. That’s one of the things that we’re going to get better at. If we only improve one percent, we’re going to be better.” A key to Tech’s success this fall hinges on the play of this group, and certainly, the potential is there. Watts ranks as one of the fastest players on the team, and Farley, at 6-2, 202, possesses the size and speed to play at the professional level. Farley, in particular, may be the key. Tech’s staffwantshimtodevelopintoashutdowncorner in the mold of former greats, like DeAngelo Hall, Brandon Flowers and Macho Harris. “His football IQ is growing,” Mitchell said of Farley. “He’s still very inquisitive. He still has a lot of questions, but he’s asking the right questions, and that’s a good thing. But just getting those game reps under their belt, seeing it and processing it … now, the game is starting to slow down for [all of] them instead of them just going out and reacting. Now, they can be a little more proactive and play.” Mitchell likes the overall depth of the group. Quillen is a steady player, essentially a starter, and both Waller and Chatman showed an ability to make plays. Both of them provide the length that defensive backs coaches covet, with Waller standing 6-1 and Chatman 5-11. In addition, Mitchell expects to get Jeremy Webb back in the fall. Webb, a junior college transfer, missed last season with a torn Achilles and then tore the other Achilles in mid-December, but he continues to rehab, and Mitchell loves his leadership in the meeting room. He feels confident in Webb’s progress and motivation to get back. “There’s going to be a time when we see a long 6-foot-3, 6-4 guy that’s athletic and is going to help us win football games,” he said. Overall, in today’s world of college football, which features spread offenses and lots of passing, a team needs quality defensive back play, especially at the cornerback positions. Tech’s group showed that it possesses a lot of potential. Hopefully, that potential results in consistent play this fall. 2 Jeremy Webb (6-4, 202, r-Jr.) 3 Caleb Farley (6-2, 202, r-So.) 5 Bryce Watts (6-0, 177, Jr.) 12 Nasir Thompson (5-10, 177, r-Fr.) 16 Hunter Green (6-1, 182, r-Fr.) 26 Jovonn Quillen (6-0, 187, Sr.) 27 Armani Chatman (5-11, 183, r-Fr.) 28 Jermaine Waller (6-1, 182, So.) 32 Ny’Quee Hawkins (6-0, 187, Fr.) Cornerbacks JERMAINE WALLER