um, and then coach when you're already there, you can get started. Thank you. All right. So starting with our win over Syracuse thought it was a really good team when I've heard me talk a lot about complementary football this year and maybe the best quarter of it in my career, um, was the second quarter of that game. The offense scoring the special teams touchdown with bam, the interception return for a touchdown. But drake And then the end a half, two minute drive or we stop and get the ball of the minute left and go down and score another touchdown to get 28 points and six minutes was just pretty incredible awesome to have the thomas brothers both score in the game and a special moment that was for them. I thought we played physical, I challenged our team, I thought Syracuse um, coming into our game, you know, up front, they're really good on both sides, best rushing attack in our conference and defensively one of the best pressure teams in our conference with sacks and tackles for loss. We had 19 plays in their backfield, they had six and ours. And I thought that was a huge key to the game. So proud of our guys for, for what they did against the fronts on both sides of the line of scrimmage. You know, it was our third special teams touchdown of the year, which says a lot about how those kids are playing, guys are straining, you know, and overall I just can't emphasize enough how proud I am of this team and our staff for showing the resiliency that we have. There's a lot of teams that quit. And of course of a season when things don't go exactly how they thought they were going to go. Um I've had three difficult, challenging, you know, heartbreaking type losses, you know, one point loss of three point loss and we've responded with really, really good play the following week and that's hard. But these young people today and how many voices are in their ears. I think it just says a lot about the culture of our football team says a lot about the way these guys are the type of kids that we have. Um they have embraced rising up, You know, they've embraced what adversity does it creates opportunities. And I think that says a lot about these young men and the coaches that are leading them, we have a great group here, you know, and they pour out on that field every week and really proud of him for that. So you know, with the game itself offensively, you know, both our backs were over four yards of carry in the run game, Devin Another 300 yard performance without an interception offensively took care of the football, you know, something we really worked hard on obviously the week before we had three turnovers against wake and and lost. So the guys responded were five or five in the red zone and I thought we caught the football well, you know, negatives, we got stopped on 1/4 and two where we had a bust in the blocking assignment. I was disappointed because that was there and we started slow you know we wanted to get off to a better start than we did defensively scoring on defense. It was great to get that you know outside of two long runs. We gave up. I thought we defended their run game well throughout the game. I thought we set edges, we got off blocks, we tackled, we were disruptive, We're 75% on third down And as I mentioned five sacks and 14 TF no negatives. We did give up two explosive runs. One of them we just didn't play it well the other one they caught us in a lightbox and exposed it with the quarterback run and uh you know a good play by them. Bad called by us and you know that happens every now and then you just hope you can get them down and we didn't the special teams uh touchdown run by them with special two guys strained but you know for him to build a bounce off of those guys and then run away from him was pretty impressive run by him. You know they had good return game. I thought we limited them in the return game. They do some good things on special teams at Syracuse you know chris made all his field goals and so now uh moving forward our last home game and uh get to play a rival U. N. C. When you look at them. You know, one of the best scoring offenses in the league, Very balanced 200 plus yards rushing, 250 yards passing per game. Their tailback, the transfer Chandler from Tennessee's over 1000 yards and and uh he's playing well, it definitely has speed back there, you know, I think Sam how man, he's a fierce competitor, he's tough, he's done a great job running the football. He's always throwing it well. But he's been a big threat for them with his feet, Slot receiver, Josh Downs has 90 catches and it's definitely their go to guy, you know, they're big up front on both sides, have a huge offensive line, big defensive line long dbs. And they play a lot of press coverage. So you know, it's great to play them. Um I wish it wasn't a night game on friday, but I'm excited, we're playing them and uh excited about what the game means. You know, it's it's a unique rivalry being as close as we are and all the things that go along with it that you guys are aware of. But more importantly than that to me is it's senior day and uh it's interesting, unique senior day. Now these covid seniors kind of make it a different feel used to be guys that could no longer come back and now it's guys to have the option to come back in some cases. So, um we will have our normal guys that are out of eligibility. We'll also have guys walking that have eligibility that haven't made decisions yet. And so you can read into that however you want. I'm not gonna tell you because I don't know what some of our underclassmen are doing. Some of them are gonna walk and not because they've made decisions because they don't want to miss out on walking if that's the decision they make and I want to be very clear about that. These guys have bought in to waiting until the season's over and trying to finish and play, you know, as undistracted as they can be. And so I think, you know, the NFL doesn't allow us to get the grades back on underclassmen until after they've played their last regular season game, which is this week. So we will submit that information for our underclassmen. We can do up to five of those with the NFL takes about two weeks and then they'll be guys making decisions whether they want to come back or whether they want to leave you guys saw it last year. Tyrone Riley and C. J. Reilly were part of senior day and and they returned to our football team. So this is something that has happened in the past. We'll just have to see how it plays out. It's an interesting draft to, you know, there's 1100 more players in this year's draft than there was and any other draft because of Covid, but these guys returning. And so there is a big decision that some guys have to make. And as always we're gonna gather all the information we can from the NFL, we have a great partnership with them and they'll tell us, you know, what they think guys should do. We'll give that information to the families of our players and to the kids and and let them make great business decisions and do everything we can to support them through that. You know, it means a lot to me to be a part of senior day. I mean, that's one thing and I've said this to you guys in the past as a former player, you know, it was a long time ago. I remember my senior day, you know, I remember everything about it. And so all these guys and as a coach, it's very, very important to me to do everything we can to send them out with the win. And so there's a million reasons to win a football game. You know, rivalry week one of our goals is to be undefeated at home. You know, legacy opportunities and, and being undefeated at home hasn't happened in 35 years. You know, um, Having a chance to win 10 games if we win this being alive for the sec championship game. If wake forest loses, there's a million of them and they're all important reasons. But senior day to me, you know, seeing those guys in the locker room after a game, it's gonna be painful for him either way. And I wanted to be where there's that smile on your face after a win. So excited to play you and see with the starting quarterback in the lineup for us. It's been three years since that happened last two. We've had injuries at that position. So you know, excited for that and and look forward to one heck of a game, you know, sam housing the game for them with Devin leary. You got two fantastic quarterbacks playing on a college football game right there that have done a lot for their schools. Um lastly before I open it up. You know, I know it's thanksgiving week and there's a lot to be thankful for and I just want to really ask our fan base to be special this week. It's a friday night of thanksgiving. I realize what I'm asking. But these young men deserve every seat to be filled and we need you To be our 12th man to be as loud as intense as you can be and be on your feet to honor these seniors and to also make it very difficult on our opponent when you do that. It makes a huge difference. And so again, would love for you all to be a part of this experience, friday night with us against you and see your questions. All right, David, Hey coach, you, you mentioned the players with eligibility that may walk. Do you have an idea of who those are going to be? Yeah, there's a bunch of them. So we've got, I don't know. It's really hard to even figure it all out, to be honest with you. There's so many guys to have a Covid year now, but we have seven guys who don't have eligibility remaining. A mecca chris ingram, Daniel, joseph Dylan Forum, C. J. Reilly, Tyrone Riley and Chandler Zavala. But Chandler's got a waiver that we're working on to get him back for another year. So those are the guys who don't have eligibility remaining. There's several walk on players on our team. Matt all the for levi Dorsey Camden, Woodsboro wrestler, walter Carstens, Alex, gray, Justin, Dunn and danni Blakeman who will go through senior day and will not be back with the football team. They're gonna start life's work. So and then there's guys that are trying to make decisions and haven't made them. That will be walking or not walking and just leave it at that bread if um, on max press conference earlier this morning. He said that he would love to see some kind of a trophy or some kind of uh, an annual thing to be passed back and forth between the winner of your game here with them? Um, sort of like their victory. Bell with Duke, would you like to see something like that and has anything like that been discussed before? No, I think it's a great idea though. You know, I think those trophy games are very meaningful. I've been a part of those in most schools I've coached at, they mean a lot. We have the one trophy here now from our game with Clemson and sits in our lobby. You know, I think that's a great thing for those games to have and be a great conversation for me and Mac and our administration and their administration to put our heads together in the offseason. Try to figure that out. Thanks a lot Jonas because you mentioned the, the battles begin with two great quarterbacks. But obviously, you know, Sam didn't play this last weekend. They said he's supposed to play this weekend, but just in case you're not caught off guard like you worry at florida state, are you preparing for the backup guys we have in Carolina, uh, season this friday. Well, there's not a lot to go off of to prepare for the backups. I mean, it's limited work on film. Sam's taking a lot of the 99% of the workload for three years over there, you know, so we'll definitely look at, you know, the game against Wofford. Um, I anticipate him playing. Yeah, that guy's had a heck of a career. But as always we'll wait till game day to figure out who's really playing and adjust from there. J. B. Hey coach, I appreciate you taking out the time. Um You speak on, you know the importance of this rivalry obviously these two teams you know, definitely will bring it all when it comes to this game every single year. But there's obviously another significance with this one, with you guys still being in contention for the A. C. C. Championship. Can you just speak about the importance of having that element on this game, especially this late in the year, with it already being the rivalry game that Yeah no I think it's you know it makes it even more meaningful and uh Mhm I don't know how much that plays into how we play but you know like I said at the beginning there's a lot of reasons to win this football game. There's a lot of them, you know you can pick out of all the things I listed and you know which one means more to you. So I guess with my players we can list them all and let them pick which one matters the most. You know, but to me it's the seniors like I want to see those guys walk out of here winners and you know being ready to play in charlotte. Absolutely having a chance to win 10 games. Absolutely beaten our rival which we haven't done in two years. Absolutely you know and haven't played well against them you know in two years. So there's a lot of reasons for us to try to win this football game and I know our guys are going to give everything, they have had a great look in their eye yesterday and expect a really good week of practice and preparation James. Yeah, Can you just discuss the job Todd Global is done with your special teams? I think when you hired and you referenced that was one of the reasons you went out and got him. Yeah. You know, um Todd's done a great job, you know, he's very engaging with our players that they've bought in hook line and sinker on how he wants things done, he pushes them hard, he challenges them, he's creative, you know, he's a forward thinker with his schemes, he understands kind of what people do to attack what he does and I think he stays ahead of the curve sometimes with what can happen in a game on different schemes, you know? Um and I think, you know, the fundamentals of special teams sometimes get overlooked. A lot of special teams coaches. I've been around, spend more time scheming, Todd spends a lot of time on fundamentals and I think that shows up with the guys, David, you talked a lot last year about, you know, how is your most difficult seasons as a head coach with everything that you guys went through. How much joy have you found this year and and the journey that you guys have gone through and just sort of, I guess things aren't totally back to normal, but just having some of those things be better and just getting to be closer to this team, well that's a great team too coach. They're, they're, they're awesome guys man. I, I really am lucky to be around them and the staff, we have great chemistry. So it is truly, I don't know if I feel the joy, what's going on? Like it's such a grind at times, you know. Um, but man, that's, you know, when you get around the players and you get on that grass with them, it's, it's a great group of young men saying with the staff, they're easy to work with, they work hard to carry their own weight. Um, and it is a lot better to be out of what we were in last year. You know, worrying about all the things that went into contact tracing each week and three times a week being tested in the lobby and walking in people in Hazmat or you know, the big hazard suits basically swab in your nose And it was crazy year man changing our schedules all the time. So We found a way to win eight games through all that. And I was proud of that. Now We're sitting here with eight with a chance to keep it going and it's because of these young men and their diligence and work ethic and wanting to get better. So looking forward to seeing them here in a few more days, Jonas Because you, you've talked so much the last couple of years. Always about how much senior day means. You've mentioned several times a day, um, in 2019, obviously you guys played Carolina on senior day. You talked about the team that looks after that game. Um, you guys have a good senior day last year get through to take. But how much will Not having that same feeling you guys had in 2019 kind of fuel you. I mean, I know you're gonna coaching differently, but how much would it kind of feel you throughout the week to make sure your guys don't have that same feeling like you had two years ago? Yeah. I mean, every year is a different team. And uh, I've had a lot of meetings with players, this, you know, leading up to this press conference, even just about the week and senior day and leadership and things that we can do. It's pretty resounding where these guys are at with this game and how they want to play and what they know they didn't do against arrival the last two years. So, you know, we need to play better against them and we need to practice better. Need to prepare better and need coach better. All those things. And, and so there's, there's a good demeanor right now at this football team for this game? Todd, Gibson? Yeah. David, you touched on it quickly in your intro. Did you want this to be a day game in respect for high school football? Is that what that was all about coach? Absolutely, man. It's friday night playoffs right now in the state. I mean, the team my son plays for place friday night at the same time we play. So I'm completely against friday night football, you know, until the high school season is over. I just don't think it's right. Doesn't matter what I think when it comes to tv revenue. But that's my opinion. I don't think it's right. Does anybody else have anything uh Jonas? Because you talk about special teams earlier, we've all seen with bam can do like once he actually has the ball in his hands. But how much has he helped that union has just been the threat of being a return man. We have to kick away from him and we have to adjust their kicking as a, you know, an imposing thing. Yeah. You know, if I'm on that unit, I'm plucking really hard man because something great could happen at any moment, You know, and we had it within a team here to, you know, it was an exciting play when the ball got kicked off that too. You didn't know what was going to happen. And Obama's got three touchdowns now in two years doing it. And so we'll see If they're going to kick away or not. I know they're kickers 85% touchback, he's done a nice job putting it in the end zone and but as you know, sometimes the weather dictates how far you can kick a ball and we're on grass that sometimes it's a little slippery, they got turf over there, it's got more grip for their plant foot, you know, he might slip and kick a ball to ban this week on accident. So we'll just have to see how that plays out on game day after Syracuse. I asked bands that were surprised that they kicked you after what you did against Wake Forest. He was like, honestly, yeah, were you surprised? You know, Syracuse actually gave him some opportunities to return last week. You know, it's a tough thing, you know, like we deal with the same thing with our kickoff team and because you know, if you decide to sky kick at the whole game, you're giving up yardage that hurts your defense, right? And then we talked about the squid kicking last week, like sometimes the squid bounces right to the guy now there's no hang time, you know, and the guy gets the ball even quicker. So it's a tough situation kicking away from somebody, you have to have a kicker that can cross kick and kick it deep and not give it away with his alignment and his footwork because if, you know, you're getting across kick, you just move your guy over and so you know, it's not as easy as people out there, think I'll just kick away from them, like, yeah, okay, well give us the ball in the 35 the whole day and see how that goes for your defense, you know, that's not good either, so it's not as easy as people out there, think that are, you know, eating Doritos and screaming at the tv, you know, it's a little bit harder than that, rob what you got. Yeah, I just want to ask what were the plans for thanksgiving and how much do you enjoy spending time with the team? I guess there's sort of a second family to you. Yeah, we're going to bras, a steakhouse. Um as I told the guys, people are gonna walk around on these big skewers of meat and we're going to see if we can break a Guinness book of world records for how much meat we put down as a football team in one night, gonna be an awesome meal, so we'll do that one night and then thursday night we'll be at our team hotel, you know, having a thanksgiving meal together that way, are coaches, wives and kids all be with us at the, the other meal that we have this week and lot to be thankful for man across the board, family wise, staff wise, player wise and you know, I think it's a great week to reach out to the people you love and let them know that