July 27, 2004
ACC FOOTBALL KICKOFF
July 26, 2004, Greensboro, N.C.
The Atlantic Coast Conference held its annual Football Kickoff July 25-26 in Greensboro, N.C., featuring all 11 league head coaches and two players from each school meeting with the media. The following are some comments from Tech head coach Chan Gailey and Yellow Jackets Nate Curry and James Butler.
GEORGIA TECH HEAD COACH Chan Gailey
[Preseason poll, see below] “I pay so little attention to those things. It’s just somebody’s opinion. That’s why we play the game.”
“We do have higher expectations for Reggie (Ball) this year. He has some talent, which is obvious, but he has some improving to do. He has the opportunity to be a very good quarterback because he has talent, he knows the game and he’s a great competitor. But he has to develop consistency and learn to pay attention to every detail, and that’s when he’ll make the next big jump as a quarterback.
“Reggie is so confident, bordering on cocky, that he was comfortable from the day he walked out there. That’s why he won the job.
“Offensively, we’ve got a chance to be good. We’ve got a good group of receivers, we’ve got a tailback who led the ACC in rushing and a starting quarterback returning. The development of our offensive line and our tight end position will be the question marks for us. People on the outside don’t realize how valuable [tight end] J.P. Foschi was to us last year. Going back and looking that the film, that guy did so many things for us, and he was unbelievable off the field and in the locker room.
[P.J. Daniels] “There’s a guy who came from walk-on status to leading the ACC in rushing. If he can stay healthy and our offensive line and tight positions develop, I expect him to have another great year. If you asked what makes him a good back, you wouldn’t say speed or size, but he has tremendous heart.
[Wide receivers] “We did lose a very good receiver in Freddie (Jonathan) Smith, but Nate Curry is back and Levon Thomas is back, and we have a couple of very talented freshman coming in. And I think the guy who is really going to surprise people this year is Damarius Bilbo. He made the transition physically last year, and now he’s made the transition mentally.
“College football is not like any other sport. Look at our basketball team. They came in fourth in the regular season and third in the ACC Tournament and played for the national championship. In football, every week is a playoff game, and you’d better approach it that way.
“I think South Georgia football is like Indiana basketball. It’s a way of life. There are few distractions. That’s not much else going on besides high school football and high school athletics. There are a lot of people in the state of Georgia who are very passionate about the game of football.
[Impact of Miami & Virginia Tech] “I’m not so sure the adjustment isn’t bigger for them having to play in the ACC week in and week out than it is for the rest of us having to play them. I get excited about the challenge, and I know it’s going to be tough. Miami and Virginia Tech are two good football teams, but we play good teams every week in the ACC.
“The key to our defense will be how well our linebackers play. We’ve got a strong defensive line returning and a strong secondary returning. At linebacker we’ve got new guys at all three spots. Chris Reis is moving from strong safety to the ‘sam’ linebacker and Gerris Wilkinson is moving to the ‘mike’ linebacker position from defensive end. And at ‘will’ it will be a young guy. If they can play well, we’ll have a good defense.
“[Defensive coordinator] Jon Tenuta knows how to put our strengths against the other teams weaknesses, and he knows how to get his guys ready to play.
[Impact of expansion on recruiting] “I know it’s already helped us tremendously. I can go into a home talk about the new television contract and the national exposure. “
[Secondary] “It looks like we’re going to go into the season with three healthy, quality cornerbacks (Houston, Davis, Scott), and you need that in this this league.
“We base everything on speed. Run and hit is our motto. I think coaches realize that fast guys, even if they make mistakes, they can recover and still make plays.
[On Nate Curry] “Nate has overcome so much to get to where he is now. He is an unbelievable worker, and he commands so much respect because of that. He is the ultimate team guy. He wants to go out having a great senior year and he wants to be a leader. He will catch the ball in traffic, and he’s a great route-runner.
Senior Wide Receiver
“Competition is only going to make us better. The ACC was already a great conference, and now it’s even better. I know we’re one of the top conference in the nation. Expansion makes the ACC that much more prominent. Miami and Virginia Tech are great teams. We’re happy to have them, and I’m sure they’re happy to be here. Any time you play against good competition, it gives you a chance to measure yourself against the best.
“I definitely would like to be that go-to guy, but the offense isn’t designed to get the ball to one guy; it’s about getting the ball to the open guy. It’s about Georgia Tech.
[Reggie Ball’s development] “That year of experience is going to allow the coaches to add things to the play book. You don’t learn on film or on the sidelines, you to be on the field, and he got that last year. That year of game experience is going to make him that much better.
Senior Free Safety
[On defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta] “He’s big on fundamentals and making the plays you’re supposed to make. He always gets us prepared. He’s one of the best coaches in the country.”
“I believe our defense can be as good as it was last year. We lost two great linebackers, but we have good players to place them, like Chris Reis and Gerris Wilkinson.”
2004 ACC Preseason PollVoted on by media attending ACC Football Kickoff
1. Florida State (49), 925 2. Miami (36), 913 3. Virginia (2), 697 4. Clemson (1), 664 5. Maryland, 653 6. Virginia Tech, 511 7. NC State, 509 8. Georgia Tech, 365 9. Wake Forest, 273 10. North Carolina, 184 11. Duke, 114
