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From Matt DeGregorio ...

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The latest on a lot of top prospects:

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THE MODERATOR: Next up is USC's Lincoln Riley. Coach Riley, welcome to the Big Ten. We'll begin with your opening statement.

LINCOLN RILEY: Thank you. It's an honor to be here today, honor to be welcomed into the Big Ten. Obviously a historic day and year getting ready to come up. Certainly really excited about where this is going.

I know this has been an idea that's been talking about for a long time, been discussed, and now I think we're all glad that it's finally here. Really looking forward to the season, the incredible matchups that are going to take place in the Big Ten Conference. It's an honor to be a part of.

I know our team, our program are all very, very much looking forward to it.

Before I get into our team, I also want to mention I know a couple of my counterparts have said some of the same things regarding this notion, but obviously Mike Leach meant a lot to my career, instrumental in my upbringing.

I know there's been a lot of debate and talk about him belonging in the College Football Hall of Fame, and certainly want to voice my support for that happening here on this stage. That's something that's very important to me. He changed the game and changed a lot of people's lives, mine included, in the process of it.

I know there's technicalities and rules that have to happen, but I totally agree that the Hall of Fame is simply not complete without Mike Leach being in that, and just certainly wanted to be able to represent that here on this stage.

Regarding our football team here at USC, there's a lot of excitement, and I think really this season in some ways for us began in the Holiday Bowl in our win against Louisville where we took a lot of our younger players, a lot of the guys that we've been developing behind the scenes over our first two years in Los Angeles into a game against a really good opponent. Obviously the guys played really well, handled the situation well.

And I feel like there's been a lot of momentum within the program off of that game, some of the moves that we've made, some of the changes that we've implemented over the first two years.

So we certainly have had a great off-season. We've welcomed the addition of D'Anton Lynn along with a new defensive staff that we think makes it one of the preeminent defensive staffs in the country, and certainly can feel that impact on our field and within our program. Certainly that was obviously a big change and a big focus point for us this off-season.

Going into the Big Ten Conference this year, we're certainly looking forward to the new venues, the new challenges, getting a chance to compete against other great players, other great coaches throughout the league. The one thing that I've been steadfast on since the day I got to Los Angeles was our standards will never change there. Our standards at USC are to compete for championships, whether we're in the beginning of this rebuild that we undertook two years ago and throughout our entire time here, which is going to be a long time.

We are certainly looking forward to competing for championships every year, and now it's just Big Ten Championships. So really, really looking forward to the season, looking forward to the matchups, and really a historical first year for USC in the Big Ten Conference.

Q. I wanted to ask you about Zachariah Branch. What are some of the improvements that you've witnessed during the spring ball and what are some of the improvements you would like to see him continue on this season as you all move forward?

LINCOLN RILEY: Zachariah Branch had really an exciting freshman year for us. He's an explosive player. Even when you're used to being on the college football field and really talented players are somewhat the norm, he's a little bit different in the way he moves and also his strength.

He had a great year for us last year, especially as a returner, was one of the most dominant returners in the country, if not the most. We've really challenged him this year to become a bigger part and a more consistent part of our offense. I think that is really going to be part of his evolution.

He had some really good moments for us offensively last year, but he wasn't as impactful as he was on special teams. Certainly I think he's growing as a receiver, as a ball carrier, understanding offenses, understanding route running, understanding defenses, how we're trying to attack people. There's just a maturity and a growth process that we've really pushed him on, and I think he's handled it well.

We've got a really talented young group of receivers there. They got a chance to showcase their skills in the bowl game. Certainly have had a really good spring and look forward to big things this season.

Q. You guys were able to hire D'Anton Lynn in this off-season. What was the hiring process like with Lynn, and what has impressed you so far through about six months of work with D'Anton on your staff?

LINCOLN RILEY: We had some time. Certainly we had six weeks in between our last regular season game and then the Holiday Bowl. So we were able to get a little bit of a head start on that search.

Listen, the number of names that wanted this job was pretty cool. Honestly it was probably a little bit different than what it would have been two years ago when we came to L.A., so I thought that was really revealing, just within our profession, about how this job is viewed.

Honestly, my first call with D'Anton was probably a 30-minute call one night, and I hung up the phone, and I knew deep down in my gut like that's the guy we're going to hire. I just thought he fit what we want to do from a team and a culture standpoint. He obviously authored the biggest turnaround in defensive college football last year, and I got to see a front-row seat at that.

Playing UCLA, obviously, like we do every year, I thought the changes he made there were staggering. I loved his NFL experience, especially some of the trees that he came out of. Then we shared, I think, a lot of very similar beliefs in how great defense should be played and developed, kind of finished each other's sentences in terms of philosophy and how we felt like this would be built.

I think the last thing was a guy that was going to be able to -- we're still on our climb here, and our talent base has gotten better and it's going to continue to get better. But I want coaches that can adapt to what we have on a given year, and I think the best coaches are able to do that. I think D'Anton certainly has an eye and an ability to do that at a high level.

Q. You had 135 missed tackles during the season, only 6 in the bowl game. How much can that be attributed to Lynn coming in? And getting Matt Entz to come in from a program that he was and the success he had, what was the process of getting him to come in and be a part of the defense?

LINCOLN RILEY: D'Anton wasn't even coaching, so hell, if he did that, wait until you see what he does when he's actually coaching.

I think the guys in the bowl game, I think there was just a different mentality around the football team. That's honestly the best way that I can explain it. Those six weeks, it was almost like you had a new team. In a lot of ways, we did. There was just a great mentality going into that game. We tackled well, and I give a lot of credit to our players and the way we prepared and played that night.

It's certainly a great blueprint for us going forward on the mentality that you have to play with. I think just the momentum and really just the togetherness. I think the bowl game was the most together that our football team was all of last year, and I think it showed that night.

Yeah, hiring Matt Entz among others on the defensive staff were certainly just as important as the defensive coordinator hire. Matt was a little bit of an outside-the-box hire, but I've always been a fan of what those guys have done at North Dakota State, the job they've done developing players, consistently playing at a high level, playing very disciplined football.

Then the ability to bring in a guy that's been a coordinator, that's been a head coach, I just felt like it's going to make every part of our program better, not just our defense, not just our linebacker room.

And he's certainly done that. To be able -- for D'Anton to have that guy in the room, for me to be able to grab Coach Entz and talk about things more from a head coaching perspective has been great. He's brought some tremendous ideas in terms of development that we've implemented in our program.

So it would be, I think, foolish of me to bring in a guy like that and not use him and not lean on him. We certainly have done that, and he's been just a tremendous addition to our staff.

(more)

BetOnline.ag has opened first coach fired in college football this season and the list is led by two SEC coaches, Billy Napier and Sam Pittman

These odds are fluid and subject to change. Here’s the direct link to first college coach fired lines: https://www.betonline.ag/sportsbook/futures-and-props/ncaaf-specials/first-coach-fired.

Notre Dame's Grill And Chill this weekend is set to bring several of the Irish's commitments back to campus and a handful of priority targets in the 2026 class

Scoop: https://n.rivals.com/news/notre-dame-s-grill-and-chill-bringing-the-stars-to-south-bend

The Irish host Stanford on Oct. 12.

Tuesday, July 23, 2024​

Charlotte, North Carolina, USA​

Stanford Cardinal​

Coach Troy Taylor​

Press Conference​

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach Taylor.

Q. How excited are you and Stanford to be joining the ACC?

TROY TAYLOR: We're thrilled to be here. Thank you. Unbelievable conference. Some great traditions, great coaches, great area of the country. We're excited about it.

It's also good for us in terms of recruiting. A lot of our roster comes from this side of the country. An opportunity to come out and play here three times a year on this coast. I think it's going to continue to help us in recruiting.

Q. Coming with you guys into the ACC is also the California Bears. That rivalry between you two goes back decades. How is it to maintain that rivalry going into a new conference?

TROY TAYLOR: I think it's really important. One of the things that makes college football great are the rivalries that have went on for a long time. I think it's important with realignment, all these things that happen, the rivalries are something that's really important.

We got a great relationship and rivalry against Cal, right there in the Bay Area. We're excited we were able to come over together.

Q. You have a ton of great young players on this roster. Some here today. What does it mean to the culture of a program having these players stick around in an transfer portal and NIL era?

TROY TAYLOR: Really important. When we first arrived, we had lost 17 players. All but one had graduated. We lost them to the transfer portal. We had a young, inexperienced team for the most part.

We are a much more experienced team this year, much deeper team. Yeah, in this day and age, just having your team stick around is a pretty big deal.

We try to treat our guys the right way. We want them to be here for four years. I think it's one of the appeals of Stanford. If you're smart enough to choose Stanford, I think you're smart enough to stay until you get your degree. That's what I'm counting on, at least.

Q. Coming over to the ACC, you're going to have to come West Coast to East Coast. You go to Syracuse, then to Clemson. What does that week look like? Coming early or...

TROY TAYLOR: Yeah, we will return back so our students can go to class.

We have a pretty good plan. We're going to go out a day early. On a Saturday game, we'll go out on Thursday. Fly in the evening, hopefully get our players acclimated the next day, then we pick up three hours flying back to the West Coast.

Yeah, never done it before, back-to-back trips. There's harder things to do. Our guys do a great job of adjusting. They'll balance the two things of being a student and an athlete. We'll make sure that we do great things in terms of larger plane when we travel, going out a day early.

Q. Regarding player performance, who are some of the standout players on your team this season? What sets them apart?

TROY TAYLOR: Well, these three guys right here are three of the best. I'd say the things that sets them apart is their ability to stay focused, their consistency, how they train, how they treat their teammates, how they lead this team.

One of the things that I love about being at Stanford is the quality of individuals of our student-athletes. I tell them often that they inspire me. They're really the very best that college sports has to offer. These guys are intellectually curious. They want to make the world a better place. They want to be champions on the football field.

Typically in my experience, the better players are always the harder working guys, the mentally tough guys in terms of doing the same small things over and over again, the willingness to sacrifice. Those three gentlemen to my left all do these things.

Q. What does 'accomplish greatness' mean to you?

TROY TAYLOR: Accomplish greatness? I would say greatness is consistently doing the small things over and over again.

Q. Interacting with the players in the breakout room, in addition to yourself, it seems like there's a culture at Stanford in which they hold theirselves to a high regard. Seems like Stanford is doing the right things. Do you feel that way? What are some examples of that?

TROY TAYLOR: Yeah, appreciate the question.

Yeah, I do feel that way. Our graduation rate for football players at Stanford is 97%. When they come to Stanford, they're making a decision to take their future and present, academically, seriously. Our guys go on to do great things. They're competitive in all aspects.

I'm very proud to be the head coach at Stanford and be able to represent the young men that are the very best in collegiate sports where they don't sacrifice being a great player for being a subpar student. They're all great students, people that do great things in the community, and are fierce competitors on the field.

I admire 'em all.

Q. You just completed your first season at Stanford. Now you get ready to embark upon another first season, that being inside the ACC. A bit of a wink and a smile, how do you keep your wits about you with so much professional change occurring?

TROY TAYLOR: Just process. Like I said, doing the small things every day, staying focused on those things.

Where we're playing and who we're playing, all those things are kind of secondary to our process and our preparation, what we do day in and day out. That's how we live.

Obviously you got to travel across the country a couple times, three times to be exact. Our guys will adapt. There's been harder things to overcome. We're just excited, really grateful to be in this conference, to play against great teams. We get to travel to three great venues, Syracuse, Clemson and North Carolina State.

We're very grateful.

Q. For everybody who is not familiar with the program or with Stanford, do you have any pillars of your coaching program or things that you are passionate about that you haven't gotten to speak on, anything you want us to know?

TROY TAYLOR: Yeah, the things that are important to our program, we call it The Way of the Cardinal. It's love, mindful, gratitude and competitive. Love is the foundation of our program. 'Love' in the sense of we enjoy playing football. We love each other. We try to attract individuals, players, that really love football more than they love recruiting and all the other things. They really enjoy playing.

That's kind of how I'm built. I just love football. I love being around it and coaching it. I loved playing it. We want to attract players that love the game, love each other, love competing.

Being mindful is just trying to enjoy what you're doing, being in the moment, which is hard in high-level sports because it so tied to winning and losing. We try to be very cognizant of enjoying each other, enjoying the moment. Win, we move on. Lose, we move on.

Then gratitude is something we talk a lot about. It's the most important factor in your own personal happiness is how grateful you are. Our guys are very grateful. They realize to be at a university like Stanford is an unbelievable opportunity and gift. To be in the ACC, to be here with y'all, it's an important part of who we are. We are not entitled to anything at Stanford. We feel very grateful to have it.

Competitive is the last kind of pillar for us. We compete like it's the most important thing in the world. At the end of the day, win or lose, we move on. We prepare like it's the most important thing but move on quickly.

Those are the things that we built our program on, and these guys represent those things every day.

Q. Your staff has been held together for 2024. I would imagine some of that comfort and planning, that is a relief for you?

TROY TAYLOR: We talk about in the program is continuity, culture and development, right? If you think about a family, families are better off if they're the same people that are there each day, right? Very important that we create an environment our coaches enjoy and they feel valued. We have a great coaching staff. I want them to be there forever.

Same thing with the players. We want continuity with our players. One of the things that drew me to this job at Stanford, I really feel like we are going to be really an outliner in terms of having a roster where it's pretty similar from year to year, that there's not going to be a lot of transition. Stanford is a place, a destination place, that you draw a type of student-athlete to the campus, then they're there for hopefully the entire four years.

Then of course culture I talked about, The Way of the Cardinal.

Development. When you have players there for three or four years, you have to make them better. That's what I've done my whole life is develop players, whether high school or college, whatnot. If you got a culture and you're able to keep those players and they're able to get better every single year as opposed to just taking other people's players, if you're able to develop 'em, make 'em better, I think you have a real shot.

The first of two "Football Never Sleeps" renditions aired Wednesday night at 830 ET, with guest co-host and former Notre Dame offensive lineman Bob Morton joining me. I'll do a recruiting-only version of FNS on Saturday at a time TBA, with longtime recruiting analyst Tom Lemming serving as guest co-host. @Tyler James returns from vacation on Monday.

If you missed us live, you catch the replay anytime on YouTube. We made our fearless 2024 Notre Dame Football predictions, and broke down ND's wide receiver recruiting reboot. AND we answered questions live from viewers. SCADS of questions. In fact, we spent most of the hour doing that, and there were some really good ones.

Football Never Sleeps is sponsored by Legacy Heating & Air.

I hope you'll join us next time with questions or submit some ahead of time. Hit the bell to set a reminder to get notified when we go live.

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Irish host FSU on Nov. 9.

Coach Mike Norvell
Press Conference

MIKE NORVELL: First off, appreciate everybody being here today. So very excited about the kickoff to the 2024 season. It's been a great off-season for our program, from starting back there in January, going through the winter program, spring practice, the summer workouts, then reporting tomorrow. So excited about this team. Excited about the young men that I get to coach.

Our program has won 23 games over the last two years. We have 77 players that were a part of last year's game that are back. We've got a lot of experience and guys that have contributed to helping elevate the program to where it is. Now all of our focus goes into the task at hand.

Our objective this year is to go get better. Coming off what was a 13-0 regular season and championship game was something that was really a special experience for our entire program. It sets the stage and opportunity for us to continue to push and continue to elevate this program to ultimately where it deserves to be. That's among the nation's elite, when you look across the course of college football.

Great guys with me today. They've been a part of that journey. They're tremendous representatives of Florida State football, so many great young men that are back in Tallahassee that have contributed so much work to help build us where we are and ultimately where we're going.

Excited about the days ahead. We have a great opener, kicking off in Dublin, Ireland. Kick off the college football season and doing so against a very talented opponent in Georgia Tech conference opener. Our first two games are conference games. There's a sense of urgency to get off to the best start we possibly can.

Excited about the steps ahead. Looking forward to getting back on the practice field here this week.

THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions.

Q. Last year was such a great defense. Who is the next person, next man up on the defense?

MIKE NORVELL: Really excited about a couple guys that we have here today. Pat Payton, who has been an all-conference performer, former Rookie of the Year in the ACC. All-conference performer this past season. Really expecting him to take another step in his game.

Josh Farmer an all ACC player on the defensive front. You look at all three phases of our defense. A guy like D.J. Lundy who played so many snaps throughout the last four years of his time at Florida State. How he emerges as a leader within the course of this defense.

The guys in the secondary. I think we got two of the best corners in the ACC, guys that are All-American type capabilities in Fentrell Cypress and Azareye'h Thomas. Experienced backfield with length, size, ability.

I think our defense is as deep as it's ever been. Been able to have some guys that have grown throughout their time here. But also coupling that with some newcomers that have come in, whether Marvin Jones, Jr., Sione, Cam Riley that's joined in. You know, Earl Little, different guys that have been able to come in and complement the guys around that you're really fired up about what that group can be.

Q. What is it like to face your old school at home during week three?

MIKE NORVELL: Memphis has a great program, a very talented team. Coming off another 10-win season there. We know it's going to be a great challenge when we get to that third week of the season.

It's definitely going to be a unique dynamic. Coach Silverfield and his staff have continued to push that program forward. Got a special place in my heart for it. But also going to be excited to compete once that opportunity shows up.

Q. You have a mix of experienced veterans and some newcomers on your team. How is cohesiveness been so far?

MIKE NORVELL: I think it's been great. Ultimately that is the challenge in college football. You look at recruiting, the path, the journey with the transfer portal, different avenues for guys to be able to come and join and be a part of a program.

It's still about putting together the most talented team. Building that team is something I thought was really an X factor for us there a year ago, really the last few seasons.

When you see guys with all different journeys and experiences come together, how much they care about each other, the willingness to invest, challenge and encourage each other throughout the circumstances that are going to show up.

I think this team has really embraced that. From when we started back in January with the winter workouts to all the steps leading up until reporting here tomorrow, this team has invested a great deal of time outside of the facility.

I think we have a group of like-minded individuals. They love to work. They're willing to embrace challenge. It's that cohesiveness that has me excited about what this team's potential can be. We just now get to go live it out as we start off with this upcoming season.

Q. It's hard to tell from the podium, you're wearing a tie from the Bobby Bowden Society. What does it mean to be?

MIKE NORVELL: Coach Bowden was such a wonderful example for anybody that's in coaching, college football as a whole, just what he means and meant to Florida State in his time there leading the program.

He's such an icon for us. I was fortunate to be able to get to know him when I first took the job. A little over a year ago we started the Bowden Society, representing his legacy, the gift that he was for FSU.

A year ago I wore this same tie and I'm going to continue to do so understanding the great responsibility that I have. Just so grateful for the position I hold, to represent him in his honor.

Q. I got an opportunity to talk to Kenny Dillingham. He talked about 2021 when he was your OC learning how to win. Could you talk about what you think some of the key factors and differences are of learning how to win.

MIKE NORVELL: For us, you're making sure that there's an ultimate belief and investment in the processes that are necessary. It starts with the work. It always starts with the work.

Everybody will talk about, especially this time of year, wanting to win a championship. Are you willing to do the things necessary? If it's just starting today or tomorrow, you probably missed out on it. It's a 365-day commitment on making that investment, whether it's the on the field, weight room, classroom, every aspect of just being the best you.

Then surrounding yourself with like minded individuals that are going to help push and challenge you. You can't be reactive to just the circumstance. It's got to be true to who you are and what you believe in.

I think we've had a team that has learned how to respond in those situations. We're continuing to work to be better at that as we move forward.

It's definitely a process that we got to go through. You look back to even our second year. We started 0-4 to kick off that season. It was about how we went about the finish. To win five of our last eight, you saw those positive steps that took place. Wasn't perfect, but it was those positive steps and how you ended the season that really gave us a lot of momentum to what we could do and what we could accomplish moving forward.

It's all of those steps have been critical for us on our journey.

THE MODERATOR: What does 'accomplish greatness' mean to you?

MIKE NORVELL: What is greatness? I think that's something everybody has an opinion, everybody has a desire to be great. For me, you're trying to push to be the best you. 'Cause at the end of the day a lot of people from the outside might have a perspective of who is great, who is the greatest. For us, let's control the things that we can control. Let's go out there and be the best that we can be.

If we're willing to show up and do that on a daily basis, willing to work to get better, you look back and greatness will be accomplished.

To accomplish greatness, it's to show up and accomplish being the best that you can be on a daily basis in the things that you love to do, but also in the things maybe you don't always enjoy, that you're still willing to give it all.

THE MODERATOR: Coach, thank you.

First the bad news for Charlie ...

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And now the good. Charlie and I still keep in touch. He's dropped over 125 pounds in the last year and a half. Here's a pic from when he was in town in June for the Golics' charity golf fundraiser. We're going to grab a coffee the next time he's in town. Would like to get him on the podcast to talk about Riley Leonard.

Congrats to Purdue, the first-ever team to be picked 18th in Big Ten history.

1 Ohio St (21 1st place votes)
2 Oregon (6)
3 Penn St
4 Michigan
5 Iowa
6 USC
7 Wisconsin
8 Nebraska
9 Rutgers
10 Washington
11 Maryland
12 Minnesota
13 Illinois
14 Northwestern
15 UCLA
16 Mich St
17 Indiana
18 Purdue

Irish play Georgia Tech in Atlanta on Oct. 19.

Coach Brent Key​

Press Conference​

BRENT KEY: Here we go, all right.

Can't tell you how awesome it is to come up here and be the first person up to kick off the 2024 season. Really signifies the media days the start of college football.

Thanks to Jim Phillips, the job he does for the ACC, working to make football a priority in the league, the tireless days and days he puts on it.

Thanks to president Angel Cabrera and athletic director Jay Batt for working every day to put Georgia Tech in a position to be competitive and giving us the resources needed to be competitive, to go on our quest to be a championship football team, competing at the highest level in all of college football.

Goes without saying the amount of work that they've put in, especially here in the last six months. It's about so many people other than just the ones standing up here today.

The new ACC, we'd like to welcome three new teams. When you have Stanford, Cal, SMU, teams that really expand the geographic footprint of the ACC, make it an even more dynamic league when you look at the landscape, the cities we play, that we're able to travel to.

When they made the expansion, when they were going through to select teams that didn't jeopardize or didn't conflict the integrity that this league has not just on the field of play but also in the classroom, an academic standpoint.

The staff we have at Georgia Tech, the men that we've been able to put together on our staff, they're great teachers, recruiters, a strong footprint in this league and this region of the country from a recruiting standpoint.

More than anything, they're good men. They're good mentors. They're good leaders. They're good teachers and role models for these young men that we have with us.

With that being said, the three guys we have today really encourage you guys to get to know their story and to know those guys. Those three guys, they're outstanding.

They're a sign of what is great in college football. I'm sure so many other schools, the young men they bring with them, are the same thing, the stories they have to tell and share. That's what's great about college football and that's why we love college football.

The final thing I want to say is I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Dr. Homer Rice who passed away recently. Been athletic director at Georgia Tech for many years. Meant so much to so many people all across the board, from being a coach, administrator, 98 years of impact he's had on people, really the fabric of so many programs he's woven into. What we do with our fifth quarter program for life after football is really all part of something he started with the total person concept back many years ago.

To his wife, his family, Coach Rice, you'll be missed.

With those things being said, really like to open it up for questions.

THE MODERATOR: You've been involved with the ACC since enrolling at Georgia Tech back in 1996. 30 years of your lifespan you've been in touch with this league.

BRENT KEY: I'm not that old (smiling).

THE MODERATOR: What does the ACC mean to you?

BRENT KEY: Man... That's an easy one (smiling).

28 years now, 28 years ago. Look, I grew up in Birmingham, Alabama. Growing up, I never realized how much my life would change because of the opportunity to come to play at Georgia Tech, to play in this league.

When you grow up in Birmingham, you only know one thing, that's college football. There's no pro teams, no pro football. College football is the top of the top. That's where my passion for this game really was born, was there.

Being involved in it... What I didn't realize was just how much making that decision to come to Georgia Tech could change my life. It gave me the opportunity to be challenged not only on the football field but challenged academically.

It allowed me to grow as a young person. I came in at 17, leaving home. By the time I left Georgia Tech, the things I'd learned...

You don't really realize those things as much when you're in school or when you just graduate. The lessons I learned, the lessons about discipline. How did I learn about discipline? Because I messed up. I made mistakes. I screwed up. Whether it be making a mistake in my personal life or socially or making a mistake on a converted first down against North Carolina on a Thursday night in 1997 and getting a 15-yard penalty.

Probably kicked us out of field goal range and cost us the game. You learn those lessons. You learn those about toughness, how to become tough, mentally tough. You learn lessons how to figure things out.

Taught me how to lead. Taught me what a leader is. Taught me how to lead this football team. Lot of the lessons I use today are lessons I learned in 25 years ago, 25, 30 years ago.

We all know what the ACC is. People talk about the ACC as an academic league, what it does from the academic standpoint. Georgia Tech, we don't let that be the only thing that defines us. We're not a group that wants to be defined by one thing alone.

At Georgia Tech, we want players that want to come in and have aspirations of being not great football players, but being great in their life after football as well. Being able to be, as we say, a first-round draft pick and a CEO. We want people to have those aspirations.

Georgia Tech, the teams in this league, they allow you to do that. Just look, if you look across the board, difficult this last night, I think it's seven coaches in this league actually graduated from ACC schools. Seven coaches. Seven head coaches graduated from ACC schools. That says a lot there. Being able to be, like we said, not just a first-rounder, but a CEO, a president, a head football coach, to learn the lessons to do those things.

We take pride in that. Those are all things that we've learned, that I've learned over the years, what is important, what makes it important.

Look, I've been through for all those years I've seen everything there is to see about this league, what's great about it, from the transitions and rivalries and the coaches, the former players, what they've done in life.

Our kicker, David Frakes, when I was playing him, he invented the camera on the iPhone. Another friend of mine Robert Withers played at Boston College. He founded Wheels Up. You're talking major corporations that these people are running, companies they founded, as well as all the great football players.

You think back to the legends in coaching, 6just as a player, Coach Bowden. I mean, Coach Brown was a legend back then, and he's still coaching. Just the amount of history that goes along with it.

Look, there's a little bit of a narrative right now about this league. There is. That football is not the same in this league for whatever reason as others. That's up to us as coaches to continue to go out and how we put our football teams together, how we build our football teams, to go out and compete, how we compete each week, week in and week out, what's important to us.

That's my job, right? That's my job as the head coach at Georgia Tech. That's what I know about this league, that's what I know about Georgia Tech and this league, right? That's the priority, is to build this football team with these guys here, to build this team to be able to go out and compete week in, week out, be a championship football team. That's the end goal.

People talk about expectations. The expectation is to win every football game. There is no other thing, okay? That's all part of the history of this league that's gone for so many years. It's up to us to put our stamp on it as coaches and make this what it is.

THE MODERATOR: We'll take a question for coach.

Q. Last season you had an opportunity to open the year in Atlanta against Louisville. This year you've got the kickoff game in Dublin against Florida State. Talk about what those big stages have been like for the program, what that's added.

BRENT KEY: I think the exposure you get is great for these young men, great for these guys to be able to have exposure on the national level, for people to see them.

That's why they changed these rules several years ago in terms of NIL, name, image and likeness, is to create exposure for these students.

As far as one game being bigger than the other, there is no game bigger than one. They're all the same. Every game is important. You only get so many times to play a year. Winning is a hard thing to do.

To look at one game bigger than another, it's not the way we go about things.

Q. Last year you stole the show at ACC media days, you talked about, Don't talk to me about the past, about the future. Are you guys on schedule to where you want to be here and now?

BRENT KEY: Yeah, I mean, you thought about that one for a year, hadn't you (laughter)?

We are. I think where we've improved as a football team throughout this year, you build the culture of your football team January through July. You build your football team in the four weeks in August. It remains to be seen what type of football team we're going to be. I know what type of locker room we have, what type of leaders we have. I'm excited to see where the team is going to be.

We're ready to get to work. The quicker we get down from here, get out and report and get on that field and practice on Wednesday.

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From Fighting Irish Media ...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame hockey program has announced its non-conference opponents for the 2024-25 season, including the team’s first-ever appearance outside North America when they compete at the 2024 Friendship Four in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The home slate features first-time contests with Lindenwood as well as renewed rivalries with Alaska and Long Island University.

The Irish will host the US National Team Development Program for an exhibition contest in Compton Family Ice Arena on October 6 prior to the official start to the 2024-25 season.

The season officially kicks off the following weekend with the team traveling to up state New York to face off against St. Lawrence (Oct. 11) and Clarkson (Oct. 12) before opening the home slate Oct. 18-19 against Alaska.

They close out the opening month of competition Oct. 25-26 when they host Long Island University. The Irish and Sharks have met once previously, a 2021 tilt in which Notre Dame rolled to a 5-2 victory inside CFIA.

Notre Dame then travels across the Atlantic for the Friendship Four where they join Harvard, Merrimack and Boston University in the four-team tournament Nov. 29-30.

The Irish round out their non-conference contests at the end of January when they host Lindenwood, Jan. 24-25. With the Lions now in their third season of NCAA Division I ice hockey, the weekend series will mark the first time the Irish and Lions have met.

Become a Season Ticket Member today and secure the best seats for all Notre Dame home games (including non-conference and every Big Ten opponent) inside the Compton Family Ice Arena. Season Ticket Members will have access to an exclusive presale opportunity to purchase additional single game tickets before those tickets are made available to the public! Buy new season tickets or renew your current tickets at FightingIrish.com/BuyTickets.

Make sure you're on the list to receive Hockey updates, including reminders about on-sale dates and more, directly to your inbox by completing this form.

Game times for all 2024-25 home games will be announced at a later date. More information about our exclusive Season Ticket Member single game presale and public on sale dates for these games will be available by mid-August.

Just curious what’s left at the top of the board for the Offense and Defense for 2025? Go Irish