Tech head coach Brent Pry, wide receiver Caleb Smith, speaks to the media ahead of Old Dominion.
Football
8/30/2022 5:47:00 PM
Head coach Brent Pr
Opening statement:
“It’s been a long time coming, and it’s hard to believe he’s here, but we’re obviously happy. I’m as excited as anyone to see our team play. Look at what the guys bring to the stadium and the positivity. I know it’s going to be there. Even if we’re in trouble, there’s going to be things we can improve on, but I’m worried: We’ve raced against each other a lot, so it’s good to have an opponent. To get out of the honey and oranges and go against it. We’re really excited about this ballgame. We have to finish this week. I think it’s a tough challenge. Ricky Rahne in advance. I know the crew. These are good football coaches who have prepared this team well for us. On top of that, he knows our defense system. He knows that our structure knows us offensively. There is a lot of familiarity between our two programs. And then obviously, there’s some history there. So it’s a great opening.”
On Lunch Pail and why he decided to bring it back:
“It’s been very important to me over the years. It’s part of the fabric of the position. In my mind, it’s something that started on defense. Its main residence is on the defensive side of the ball, but I want that mentality for us. The whole football team. It’s going to be part of us doing that. It’s going to be the same thing. We’ve worked, not really with the lunch pail, but we’ve taken that reference and what it means in other ways. In my career, on the defensive side of the ball, so it naturally went back.”
Here’s how players react to the challenges the first game brought and how they’re doing:
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out and what the first game is about, especially for new employees. Who are we? How do we really respond to adversity? There’s nothing like the real game environment to answer a lot of these. Questions: Been there, battle-tested, but as one A team, we don’t know as a team, we think we have a good idea. Top of our list with this football team. You’ll see signs of that in this first ball game. I’m excited for that growth, development and what we want for our team. But there will be some weaknesses. There’s going to be some things. We’re still figuring this out exactly, what kind of team we have.
Wide receiver Caleb Smith
What it means to him to be the boss this season:
I said in all the meetings I had with the coaches in the spring and winter that I came into this season with 1 goal. It definitely means a lot.”
Here’s how he watches before games to prepare for them:
“I like to think about the plays we ran during the week as myself and under the lights. You know, setting up our game and making those plays. It’s about going down there and blocking everything and imagining every aspect. The game. Running out of the tunnel, whatever it is, and the energy there. Just get it.
