The ACC’s football coaches spoke on a teleconference Wednesday, giving reports out of spring practice. The following is a summary for the 14 teams.
- With coach Steve Addazio in his second spring at Boston College, the Eagles developed their depth of knowledge and familiarity with the offense and defense, which will enable greater schematic diversity. Addazio also was encouraged by the promise of the offensive line, which retains three starters off the unit that opened holes for running back Andre Williams' All-American season.
- Clemson has to replace three-time All-ACC selection Tajh Boyd at quarterback and wide receiver Sammy Watkins, likely to be a top-10 draft pick. Cole Stoudt is the starting quarterback out of spring practice, but coach Dabo Swinney called Deshaun Watson "as talented a freshman at any position that I've ever been around." Swinney said that the Tigers "hit a home run" with freshman wide receivers Artavis Scott, Demarre Kitt and Kyrin Priester, all early enrollees.
- Returning to the field after winning the BCS championship in January, Florida State started spring practice slowly, coach Jimbo Fisher said, in part because of not having time to decompress from the championship season. However, he said the biggest development coming out of spring was, "I think just the ability to have hunger again and understand that they have to have the chip on their shoulder and they have to stay aggressive."
- With former Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham running its defense, Louisville will shift to a 3-4, a move that may not be too balky. Coach Bobby Petrino said there are players in place who are a perfect fit to move into the critical outside linebacker spots. Quarterback Will Gardner, the backup to Teddy Bridgewater, has claimed the first-string job out of spring practice.
- N.C. State quarterback Jacoby Brissett, who sat out last season after transferring from Florida, has assumed command of the team. He threw for 365 yards on 24-for-37 passing in the team's spring game. Sitting out his transfer year in 2013, Brissett ran the scout-team offense and developed physically.
“I think he’s in a really good place mentally and spiritually now, and it’s his team the way he wanted it,” coach Dave Doeren said.
- To Syracuse coach Scott Schafer, the Orange linebacking group is one of the team's biggest strengths, despite losing All-ACC linebacker Marquis Spruill. A key returnee is Brookwood High grad Cam Lynch, whose 69 tackles were second on the team. Lynch is one of five Georgia players on the roster, not including two signees.
“I like the leadership and work ethic out of that group,” Lynch said of his linebackers.
- Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson, hired in the offseason, is having to teach a new scheme to an offense that lost its starting quarterback, tailback, No. 1 wide receiver and tight end to graduation. The Demon Deacons had only two scholarship tailbacks in the spring. That creates a possibility of immediate playing time for, among others, signee Tyler Henderson from Collins Hill High. He'll be one of 25 scholarship freshmen on the roster.
- One of the bigger priorities for Duke was to prepare a backup behind starting quarterback Anthony Boone. Last year's backup, Brandon Connette, transferred to Fresno State, which Duke reported was so that he could be near his ill mother. Last season, Connette threw for 13 touchdowns and ran for 14 in a backup role to Anthony Boone, who missed three games with a broken collarbone. The two candidates in spring practice, Thomas Sirk and Parker Boehme, have not played a down of college football.
- After losing three starters and not having much experience with the backups, Georgia Tech's defensive line was a pretty big question mark going into the spring. Coach Paul Johnson said that "I think we have that answered," noting Jabari Hunt-Days' move from linebacker to rush end, defensive tackle Shawn Green staying healthy through the spring and early-enrollee rush end KeShun Freeman's development. He added that the offensive line, which also is replacing three starters, "had a decent spring."
- After presumptive starting quarterback Ryan Williams tore his ACL in spring practice, Kevin Olsen of Miami finished the spring as the first-string quarterback ahead of Gray Crow. Olsen redshirted last season and Crow, a rising sophomore, has thrown eight passes in his career. Miami has two more quarterbacks signed.
“Whoever is at the helm for us on Labor Day night (in the season opener vs. Louisville), we’ll have confidence in, we have to rally around,” coach Al Golden said.
- After a strong finish to last season, the North Carolina defense largely outplayed the Tar Heels offense in the spring. Having seven scholarship seniors on defense compared with one on offense has made a considerable difference in the gap, coach Larry Fedora said.
“We have guys that have been playing in the system for three years on that side of the ball, and they totally understand what we’re trying to do,” he said.
- The task of following former Pittsburgh defensive tackle Aaron Donald, who won several national awards for his play last season, falls to Darryl Render, although he will have help. Render played 13 games last season at defensive tackle and nose tackle and made 25 tackles.
“We have to replace production,” Pitt coach Paul Chryst said. “You can’t replace (Donald).”
- Virginia, which ended the season on a nine-game losing streak, hopes to draw strength from a much larger senior class. Last season's team had four seniors who played a significant amount. The team now has 21 seniors, including All-American safety Anthony Harris, who led the country with eight interceptions.
“That’s significant when you talk about player leadership, experience, guys that have been in college football games, that have been students, that have experienced a lot of things,” coach Mike London said.
- Virginia Tech lost three starters off the defensive line, including All-ACC defensive tackle Derrick Hopkins, but Hokies coach Frank Beamer has been pleased by the replacements. He called end Dadi Nicolas "a big-time player" with "talent that you don't find every day." As a backup last season, Nicolas had four sacks. Virginia Tech is scheduled to play its spring game Saturday.
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