Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 10 No. 2 | October 2017

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30 Inside Hokie Sports
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Like most players, Teller enjoys games
more than practices. Watch Tech games, and
one often sees him downfield trying to make
a block.
“It’s [practice] not the same as a game,”
Teller said. “You don’t have the same time
to think about each play that you’re about to
run. You don’t have time not only to mentally
prepare, but also physically feel amazing.
“On game day, unless you’re playing
through an injury, you feel great. Your mind is
clear, your head is clear and your whole body
is ready to play. In practice on a Tuesday or
Wednesday or Thursday, it’s hard to get in
that state of mind.”
As he has matured, especially over the past
two seasons, Teller has developed into the
player whom Tech’s staff envisioned when
recruiting him. A beast in the strength and
conditioning program, Teller rates as one of
the strongest guys on the team and weighs
315 pounds. Bud Foster, Tech’s defensive
coordinator, recruited him and started him
out as a defensive lineman, but truthfully, he
fully expected Teller to end up on the other
side of the ball. Injuries and depth issues
hastened that move.
“I truly believe in time it would have
been the move anyway,” Foster said. “He’s
a straight-ahead guy, how good he is to do
certain things. From the defensive side to the
offensive side, I think he’s in the best position
to maximize his assets and strengths. It’s been
a good spot for us and a good spot for him.”
Teller said he naively made the move, fully
expecting to go back to the defensive line.
Veterans of college football, of course, know
that rarely happens. Once the coaches saw
Teller’s potential as an offensive lineman,
they never considered moving him back.
Teller never had a problem with the
move—he just wanted to play. He embraced
it, taking his on-field mentality over to the
offense and making a name for himself as a
lineman. A year ago, he earned honorable
mention All-ACC honors from both the
league’s coaches and the media. But Pro
Football Focus, an outfit that heavily analyzes
individual play, ranked him as a first-team
All-ACC choice in its publication.
“Your effort will take you as far as you
want it to, so if you want to be recognized
or noticed, be seen downfield,” Teller
said. “Don’t be one of those guys always
at the line of scrimmage. Be the guy who
is 10 yards down the field blocking
someone, or making a touchdown
block 40 yards down the field.
“If you want to be noticed as an
offensive lineman, you’ve got to do
extraordinary things. It’s the same
feeling as a defensive lineman
except that you hit the crap out of
someone who doesn’t even look
at you. They’re looking at the
ball. It’s fun.”
Teller should graduate in
December with a degree in
property management. Like most
players, before he pursues a career,
he wants to see how far football takes him. He
plans to take that pursuit seriously, though his
walk with Christ ranks higher on the serious
meter.
As for the rest of life, Teller offers no
promises. There are certainly opportunities
for having fun — and rest assured, he wants to
make the most of them.
Having
FUN AND
SUCCESS Continued frompage 29