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

inside.hokiesports.com 35 Proud Supporter of Virginia Tech Athletics 99 Bradley Drive Christiansburg NRV Mall 540-381-8100 www.holidayinn.com/cburgnorth Full Service Restaurant Bar & Grill Game Day Catering, Dine in or Room Service Looking for a “HOKIE HOME” away from HOME? (mostly on special teams), really took to the spot before an injury sidelined him toward the end of spring. He missed the Spring Game—an injury that resulted in Peoples being shifted to nickel. “Chamarri was a very pleasant surprise,” Hamilton said. “When you look at him, he looks more like the guys that were playing nickel when I was here [2002-05] … When we put him out there and saw him do some [pass] skeleton stuff, some one-on-one stuff, some team stuff, he’s a very sharp kid, and he’s competitive—and he can run. He can run much better than I thought he could. “He can run like a Virginia Tech defensive back … We knew he could hit. We knew he was physical. But what we didn’t know was how well he could cover, and he showed that he understands spacing and how to play man-to- man, and he’s coachable.” Hamilton also worked junior college transfer Brion Murray at the nickel spot. Murray, who enrolled in January, worked his way through the transition after playing strictly cornerback at Coffeyville Community College in Kansas. In high school, he played mostly on offense, so he, for sure, is a raw player, but he easily possesses the coverage skills that the position demands. “He looks very confident, very natural, playing in coverage,” Hamilton said. “He’s good at it … What you see is a guy who’s confident in his ability and who understands how to play man-to-man coverage and zone coverage. He understands how to bait quarterbacks. He has a good feel for those things. “The area where he improved the most was his run fitting. He didn’t have a great feel for run fits when we first started, but time and reps helped with that. Now, he needs to gain strength in the weight room. He’s never really been in a weight room before, and if he does that, he’ll become more confident and be a better tackler.” In addition, Khalil Ladler will figure in somewhere. He missed much of spring practice with an injury, but he has played rover and free safety, and he spent much of last season at the nickel position, where he recorded 56 tackles in 13 games (11 starts). He and Peoples give Hamilton flexibility to keep his best grouping on the field at all times. “I’ve already talked to him,” Hamilton said. “If he wins a job, then he wins a job, but if he doesn’t, then his role on this team is going to be similar to Nasir’s where he’s a guy that can play anywhere back there.” Overall, Hamilton felt confident in his players coming out of spring practice. He has some experience in guys like Floyd, Deablo and Ladler, and talented younger players such as Hunter, Peoples, Walker, Conner and Murray. And several of them—Ladler, Conner and Peoples—possess the ability to play multiple positions. In other words, the Hokies now have depth, experience and competition at these spots—something that they lacked a season ago. “We have a bunch of guys that have the ability now to compete andmake every day in practice a moment where you’ve got to go either earn what youwant or keepwhat you earn,” Hamilton said. A season ago, injuries, targeting ejections and such led to Tech’s staff trying to find combinations for success in the back end of the defense. For sure, the situation appears to be in much better shape today. Free Safeties, Rovers and Nickels Free Safeties 17 Divine Deablo (6-3, 220, r-Jr.) 18 Tyree Rodgers (6-1, 187, r-Jr.) 31 Nasir Peoples (6-0, 190, r-Fr.) 36 J.R. Walker (6-0, 205, Fr.) Rovers 7 Devon Hunter (6-0, 225, r-So.) 9 Khalil Ladler (5-11, 192, r-Jr.) 21 Reggie Floyd (6-0, 222, Sr.) 30 Tyler Matheny (6-1, 196, r-Fr.) Nickels 22 Chamarri Conner (6-0, 206, So.) 29 Ishmiel Seisay (5-9, 190, r-Sr.) 37 Brion Murray (5-10, 182, So.)