Hokies Set to Open 2017 Spring Practice Tuesday Evening

Three months removed from its first 10-win season since 2011, Virginia Tech opens spring practice Tuesday evening, and the Hokies' lofty goals reflect an abundance of confidence.

"We believe that we're gonna go and win the ACC Championship next year, no doubt about it," said Terrell Edmunds. "Hopefully, we're there again next year, and we don't want to just stop at the ACC Championship, we also want to play on the big stage. Try to get everything, we're trying to win it all. We're not trying to settle for 10 wins again like last year. We're trying to strive and do better."

And while Tech's sights might be set on winning post-season hardware in 2017, Justin Fuente and staff will use the 15 days of spring practice to get a better sense of its two-deep, an early look at 2017 early enrollees, and sort its quarterback competition.

"I said it before, it's my favorite time of the year," said Fuente. "I love spring practice because it's all about teaching and development. There's no game for us to worry about, it's all good versus good and player development."

Position changes are old hat for the Hokies at this time of year, and Tech is looking bolster its depth with some swaps.

Former wide receiver Divine Deablo is now slotted as defensive back.

"I'm anxious to see [his skillset]," said Foster. "Obviously, you saw what he can do on special teams, making plays, throwing his body around. For a big kid, he has tremendous feet and suddenness. He's not a long-strider that takes time to get up to speed. We've got him playing safety right now. I'm anxious to see him, we haven't seen him cover one-on-one yet, we haven't seen him do any of those things, so those are the things that we'll have to evaluate and find out. Who knows, he could be a corner."

In an expected move, former OLB Emmanuel Belmar will play with his hand in the dirt at DE. Both Jimmie Taylor and Darius Fullwood will slide inside from defensive end to tackle. Ballyhooed speedster and early enrollee Caleb Farley who was lauded for his offensive potential on national signing day will work as a defensive back, but Fuente alluded to the freshman potentially repping on both sides of the ball.

"We're excited about who he is and his individual skill set," said Fuente. "Certainly don't want to give him too much, but that's where we're gonna start him out and kinda see how it goes."

The aforementioned Edmunds will move from rover to free safety in an effort to replace Chuck Clark's leadership and production.

"That's such a critical position for us, our free safety spot," Foster said "He's one of our quarterbacks of our defense. That position entails a lot. It's part corner, you gotta be a good tackler, you gotta be a good cover guy, and then a great communicator. What we've done right now, we're penciled Terrell Edmunds in that spot for this spring. I think it's natural for him, a guy that has played corner for us, a guy that's a very good tackler, and a very good finisher. That position, because of our coverage concepts, gets a lot of one-on-one coverage, whether we are in man or whether we are in our zone or quarters concept, more so than our rover position, and he has all that skill set. I think it is a natural position for him, and he's excited about it. And then we got Divine working at that spot. I want to evaluate to see if Divine can fit that spot right there for us and try to bring him along as well. That's a critical position for us. Not that rover's not, but the safety position it just entails a little bit more coverage responsibility than what the rover position does. And I think Terrell is a perfect fit for that spot."

Edmunds is focused on mastering the challenges of the position, especially the communications responsibility, this spring.

"I would say just to make sure my eyes are in the right place at all times, because moving from rover to free safety I have different key reads," Edmunds said. "And then also just being able to help everyone the best way that I can, just make sure that I'm getting all the calls right from coaches, getting all the checks right, because I have to tell everyone what to do now, and that's something new, but I feel like I can do that."