BLACKSBURG – Speaking to the media for the first time in his new role as interim head coach, J.C. Price held a press conference on Thursday afternoon. Read what he had to say below.
HEAD COACH J.C. PRICE
Opening Statement:
"It's bittersweet in this type of circumstances. On one hand, you have such respect for Coach Fuente and the job he was doing. I've been overwhelmingly humbled by [Virginia Tech Athletic Director] Whit Babcock's belief in me and him appointing me the interim head coach. I just want to do my best for these kids. These kids deserve to go out a winner, the seniors deserve to win. There's a lot to play for. The kids gave really rebounded based on the situation. I think dealing with the last two years, I don't think there's a team that's had to deal with more hardship and overcome more adversity. Obviously, there's a ton about overcoming adversity through the years and through different seasons and these kids are exactly that. They're resilient, they're tough and we're going to do our best to finish this thing out for us. There's still goals that we could reach."
On the statuses of WR Tre Turner and OL Brock Hoffman:
"Brock was at practice today, we'll see how he progresses. Tre is going to make the drive, 23 hours. With what he's got going, he can't fly. It says a lot about him as an individual wanting to do that for his teammates, but also our training staff with two young men that volunteered, jumped at the chance to help us out. We didn't have to convince anyone to drive Tre down. These two guys, they stepped up, they're going to take the time. They're going to drive halfway down, get a hotel and finish up the next day. Tre will be there and he'll be ready to go."
On being the head coach at Virginia Tech:
"I keep pinching myself."
On taking the team to the memorial at Virginia Tech:
"I'll be honest with you, I want to keep that between me and the team. We did do that. It was not something that I would want to even talk about. In fact, I asked them to not tweet about it so I don't know how you found out about it. It was something I felt we needed to do to maintain our why and understand how important this place is and what it means to me and what it means to our team to finish this thing up and go win. Get back to bowls, get back to delivering Virginia Tech to its rightful place in college football. A perennial bowl contender and a team that plays for championships. There are still things out there that we can do and that was just a reminder of what it means to be a Hokie. I'll leave it at that because it was really something that was just meant to stay between us and the team."
On whether he's had any conversations with Coach Frank Beamer or Coach Bud Foster since he's taken on the interim head coach job:
"I've had a lot of conversations with a lot of people. Those two obviously reached out. One of the first offices I went and sat in was Bud's. I've had great advice from guys I've played with, guys I've coached with at past schools, Coach Beamer, Coach Foster, they've all given you great ideas at the same time so you have to try to get through whatever is trying to suggest to you and you have to pick out what you think is best. I have to do what I think is best for this team. I think I am. We're going to change some things as far as how we travel, how we go to the hotel, but at the same time, coaches and players are creatures of habit. The nuts and bolts had to remain the same as far as class schedules, time we practice, how we practice. We're all creatures of habit and that part isn't broken because we're close. That's the heartbreaking part of it. I'm just going to be honest, people tell you congratulations and it feels like I ripped my heart out. I didn't want it under these circumstances. Once again, it's humbling to be the guy that Whit has decided to lead us these last two weeks and I'm just going to be me and do everything I can for these kids."
