Virginia
2024 ACC Media Days: Everything From Star Virginia Tech Cornerback Dorian Strong
We’re almost a month away from Virginia Tech’s season opener at Vanderbilt. Virginia Tech was one of the teams that addressed the media on Tuesday at the 2024 ACC Media Days ahead of their season. Dorian Strong should have a huge impact on the season, and the reporters and media know that.
Here’s everything that Dorian Strong had to say:
THE MODERATOR: Questions for Dorian.
Q. You were the second FBS cornerback since 2014 with 300-plus coverage snaps. What led to such an improvement in your game coming back from an injury?
DORIAN STRONG: That’s a great question.
Just my rehab process, talking to the coaches once going into spring ball and just making sure that I had a great off-season training-wise, putting more mass onto my body, getting stronger. Just talking to the coaches going into the season. They had a great plan. Just believing in them and believing in myself.
Q. You got to hear your teammates answer this, but what has it been like to have an off-season where everybody is loving on you? How do you tackle those expectations, make sure you live up to them?
DORIAN STRONG: It’s been good hearing everybody come give us great congratulations on our accomplishments last year. At the end of the day we know that we can be better. We know, shoot, we still have work to do going through all four phases this year, winter, spring, summer, now we’re going into fall camp. We still know we have a lot of work to do.
It’s a great thing to get the pats on the back, feels good, boost your ego, gives you confidence. I feel like my job in my corner back room is just trying to push confidence onto the guys, push competitive edge onto them. I feel like I’ve been doing a great job at that.
Regardless of the love or hate, which way it comes from, you take it and you just got to move past it. Can’t let it dwell on you.
Q. You played in all 11 games as a true freshman. That was the COVID season. That must feel like forever ago. What is it that you’ve learned about yourself through all of these experiences in the last four years?
DORIAN STRONG: That’s a great question.
What I learned about myself is how competitive I am. That’s always been in me, always been instilled in me. Just the coaches since they’ve gotten here, Coach Pry, Coach Jones, I’ve just grown into being a man, better football player.
Just from COVID, was a very interesting time. Wouldn’t change it. I loved the experience, the empty stadiums. Felt like high school. I was able to just, like, get my feet under me and calm down, gain my confidence back.
Q. We’re going to have a conversation that a lot of people are not going to understand. I’m from Peachy County, you’re from Peachy County, went to Wise High School. A lot of talent. What was it like growing up in Peachy up there? Talk about some of the talent that a lot of people don’t know about.
DORIAN STRONG: Yeah, man, definitely was an interesting time growing up. I feel like going to Wise, I played JV for two years, a lot of guys play JV, go straight to varsity. I played JV for two years. Broke my thumb my freshman year. My sophomore year I went crazy at receiver. All my life I thought I was going to be an offensive guy. My coach, he sat me down and had a conversation. I think you should be going to quarterback, doing seven-on-seven. I grinded through my high school years. I feel like I was a diamond in the rough type of player. Didn’t get a lot of recognition till my junior year.
Went to a spotlight camp, the O staff at Tech offered me. I feel grateful because I was talking to a lot of Power Five schools. They wasn’t trying to shoot their shot. When Virginia Tech shot their shot, I believe they believed in me, trusted me. Never looked back.
There is a lot of talent in Maryland. You’ve got me and you’ve got my man Mansoor. A lot of hidden talent in Maryland.
Q. You’ve had a lot of success throughout your entire time at Virginia Tech. Is there a personal accomplishment for what could be your final here at VT that you haven’t accomplished yet that you really want to accomplish?
DORIAN STRONG: Yes, I want to pick-six in Lane Stadium. I’ve been fortunate enough to catch a couple of picks in my career. I only thing I got, what, one in Lane Stadium. I felt that roar that first time when I was running. Now just to do that, to catch multiple pick-sixes in Lane Stadium.
CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — West Virginia has plenty of state symbols, be it the black bear as the state animal, the cardinal as the state bird or the rhododendron as the state flower, but did you know that the Mountain State also has its own official gun?
The Hall Flintlock Model 1819 was first manufactured in Harpers Ferry by John H. Hall in 1811 and was adopted by the United States Army in 1819, making it the first breech-loading rifle ever adopted by a country’s military.
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Model 1819 Hall Breechloading Rifle presented by Congress to Gustavous A. Bird for his participation in the Battle of Plattsburgh 9/11/1814 by John C. Bird via the Smithsonian Institution -
Model 1819 Hall Breechloading Rifle presented by Congress to Gustavous A. Bird for his participation in the Battle of Plattsburgh 9/11/1814 by John C. Bird via the Smithsonian Institution
All of this information is listed in Senate Concurrent Resolution 7, which was introduced and passed during the 2013 West Virginia Legislative session, and officially recognizes the Model 1819 as the official firearm of the State of West Virginia.
On top of being created in West Virginia, the resolution also points out that the rifle saw use during the Civil War, an event that directly led to West Virginia’s statehood.
While having an officially recognized state firearm may seem far-fetched, West Virginia is not the only state that has one. As a matter of fact, a fifth of the states in the country have officially designated a state firearm, including West Virginia’s neighbors in Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In this world of college football, with the transfer portal and recruiting battles, bad blood is present more than ever before between head coaches.
That’s not the case between the Virginia Tech head coach and Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, however. In fact, Franklin revealed at ACC Kickoff on Thursday that the two are actually close friends, dating back to their time at the Nike trip that various coaches take over the summer.
“Dabo’s my guy,” Franklin said on Thursday. “We go way back. We’ve been on the Nike trip for a long time. His wife and my wife are friends.”
The long-time Penn State head coach is making the move to the ACC after being fired from the Nittany Lions in October. 12 seasons of being with the program had Franklin hold a 44-21 record against top 10 opponents, an impressive record for a new conference foe of Swinney’s.
But when that trip comes around, there’s a camaraderie between Swinney and Franklin and both of their wives. In fact, the two hang out with each other instead of the other coaches at times. It simply comes to an “edgy” time in college athletics that raises tempers.
“I’m going to be honest, I wouldn’t say we’re necessarily like the type of people that love a lot of other coaches and a lot of other programs,” Franklin said. “It’s hard when you just compete year-round.”
On Swinney’s end, there are a few who could immediately come to mind among Clemson fans. Perhaps the most recent would be Ole Miss coach Pete Golding, who played the most significant role in the tampering of former linebacker Luke Ferrelli.
It’s a select list of coaches who make the good side of the Tigers’ head coach, and Franklin is certainly on that list. On the other hand, Hokies’ head coach has Swinney on his own shortlist.
“Obviously, tremendous respect for what he has built at Clemson and what he’s done at Clemson, and what he’s done for the ACC,” he said.
The two will see that close relationship face off at Memorial Stadium this upcoming season. Clemson will host the Hokies on Oct. 24 in what could be a potential title-eliminator for the ACC Championship.
Of course, the last game that we’ve seen the Tigers play in was against Franklin’s former team in Penn State at the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl. That game ended in a 22-10 contest that saw a foundation of Franklin players end Clemson’s season in disappointment.
Swinney will see many of those players once again in October, including starting quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer, in that contest. The anticipated Hokie starter recorded 260 yards and two passing touchdowns on the Tigers in the Bronx that day.
Although friends become foes, another ACC coach has given Swinney his flowers for what he’s been able to do for the conference. In the upcoming moments, Franklin will look to prepare his team to prove itself on one of the biggest stages in the ACC, while Swinney looks to put his team back at the top of a conference he’s dominated for over 15 years.
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MARTINSVILLE, Va. (WSET) — Extreme drought conditions in parts of Virginia have prompted an emergency drought warning for a wide swath of the region, including Bedford, Campbell, Charlotte, Franklin, Halifax, Henry, Mecklenburg, Patrick, Pittsylvania and Roanoke counties, along with the cities of Danville, Roanoke, Salem and Martinsville.
The governor has warned that if conditions worsen, she will activate mandatory nonessential water-use restrictions.
In Martinsville, city leaders have issued a voluntary water conservation notice and are urging residents and businesses to cut back where they can. The request comes as local businesses that rely heavily on water say the drought is already affecting day-to-day operations.
SEE ALSO: Botetourt County residents adjust daily routines as voluntary water restriction continues
John Hughes, owner of John’s Car Wash, said the dry conditions have hit his business hard in recent weeks. “For the last 3 weeks, it’s been hitting pretty hard. We done three yesterday and haven’t done anything today with the drought and hot weather. Yeah, I’m really concerned about it,” Hughes said.
Restaurants are also feeling the strain. David Kitzmiller, an owner of Be Wiched, said water is essential for routine tasks such as washing dishes and preparing some menu items.
“We use a lot of water for washing dishes and some of our recipes if they limit us in anyway defiently can’t produce and its a scary aspect,” Kitzmiller said.
Kitzmiller added that cutting back is not always realistic for businesses that must meet sanitation needs. “Not really feasible for a business that depends solely relies on water to wash their dishes, so that can’t definitely be an impact there,” he said.
City leaders emphasized that the conservation request is voluntary for now, but they are encouraging everyone to do their part by taking shorter showers, turning off the faucet when it is not in use, washing only full loads of laundry, and limiting outdoor watering whenever possible.
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