By Jimmy Robertson
BLACKSBURG – Shortly after arriving to answer questions from the media during last Friday's media availability, Brian Mitchell was asked about the battle for the starting cornerback position opposite of Caleb Farley.
"Well, you're just assuming that Caleb Farley is going to be the guy," Mitchell said.
Then he added, with a small smile, "Well, that's probably a good assumption."
Mitchell, Tech's cornerbacks coach, worked with a young, inexperienced group in 2018, and that group took some lumps last fall. But both Mitchell and the staff hope the experience pays off this season.
Mitchell didn't anoint Farley a starter Friday, but the young man probably headlines the group after starting 12 of 13 games last season as a redshirt freshman. He finished with 36 tackles and two interceptions in his first season, but he also suffered some growing pains, particularly in the area of tackling. He and the rest of the cornerbacks spent a lot of time working on the fundamentals of tackling during spring practice and also here in the early going of preseason practices.
Expectations remain high for the 6-foot-2, 207-pounder heading into this campaign mainly because of his physical attributes. He arguably stands as the most gifted athlete on the roster and maybe the fastest.
It's really just a matter of putting everything together.
"There is a 'want to,' and that want to is how can I raise my football IQ at the corner position?" Mitchell said of Farley. "That entails not just going to the weight room and going out onto the field, but getting into the film room and learning the position. We took a young man that had never played the position before, didn't know our defense, was playing wide receiver, and then all of the sudden, we put him in the limelight at corner. He's a young man that is willing — very willing."
Farley certainly has a jump on a starting position, but Mitchell also likes what he sees from several of his other cornerbacks.
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Jovonn Quillen quietly put together a nice season in 2018. He played in all 13 games and started two of them – including the Military Bowl in which he registered six tackles. He finished with 42 tackles and four pass breakups, and, in fact, Quillen led all of Tech's cornerbacks in tackles, finishing seventh overall on the team.
Quillen is one of just five seniors on the roster, so as someone with 35 career games under his belt, his words and actions carry a lot of weight. Perhaps more importantly, he embraces the role as the elder statesman.
"Helping them out, that's the easy part," Quillen said. "Now when they get on the field, the technique they learn, the stuff they learn in the meeting room, they've got to go put it on the field now. If they mess up, I'm always going to be in their ear, let them know and get them right. As long as they get right and don't make the same mistake over and over again, they're going to be good."
Other cornerbacks in the mix for action this season include sophomore Jermaine Waller, redshirt freshmen Nadir Thompson and Armani Chatman, junior college transfer Jeremy Webb, and freshman Ny'Quee Hawkins, a 6-0, 195-pounder who enrolled in January after recording 125 tackles his senior season at Orange High School in Orange, New Jersey.
Waller gives Mitchell the size that he covets at 6-1, with long arms. He played in 12 games a season ago as a true freshman and finished with seven tackles, but he really came on this spring. He made several big plays over the course of spring practice, and then he made a big hit in the Spring Game, dislodging the ball and saving a touchdown.
"Jermaine Waller is doing a heck of a job during camp," Mitchell said. "[He] had a great spring, and every day, he has come with that lunch pail, and he's working."
Thompson played in three games last season, while Chatman played in two. Both thus ended up taking a redshirt season. Both also give Tech size at the position, with Chatman standing 5-11 and Thompson at 5-10.
"We all, every day, are just trying to get better and compete and make the next person better," Waller said. "It's not like last year. We were all new to it. Now, it's like, we know more, so we can help with the things that Coach Mitchell can't pick up."
Webb remains as the 'X' factor. In the summer of last year, he tore his left Achilles tendon, and just as he was recovering from that injury, he tore his right one in mid-December. He received clearance to practice in late July, but how effective he can be remains an unknown. The 6-4, 205-pounder did play some snaps in the Hokies' scrimmage last week, though the staff plans on gradually easing him into more repetitions.
"There are two parts," Mitchell said. "The first part is that we want to make sure that he has his legs are under him. We don't want to over stress that. That's when Mike Goforth [associate AD of sports medicine], Coach [Justin] Fuente, [Bud] Foster, myself and him have some input. Secondly, he hasn't played football in two years. He has to go and learn the fundamentals and techniques that we use as well as the scheme."
No one questions the group's overall potential. All possess size, speed and long arms – traits conducive to great cornerbacks. Also, another offseason in the strength and conditioning program probably benefitted this group more than any other. Added strength and the year of experience figures to make this group much better this season.
The potential is certainly there with this group. Hopefully, the consistency follows right along.