There's plenty of change at his primary position group and across the offense. What is VT's offensive coordinator expecting this Spring?

On the return of QB Ryan Willis:

“There is nothing to replace his experience in the same system so it’s valuable. We’re still going to have new guys, and guys that need reps. I like the room, I like where it’s headed. It should be a good spring with three guys rolling through, probably about equal reps to start with, with the ones and the twos. They all have room to grow and need to improve and strengths and weaknesses, so it’s going to be a fun group to coach this spring.”

On Zachariah Hoyt and the depth at center:

“We’ve got a couple of young guys behind him. We’ve got a transfer [Brock Hoffman] coming in that’s played it and will have a chance to find a role in there somewhere, whether it’s at center competing with Hoyt or guard. He’s played both so we feel good about that and the depth. Hoyt will be the one with the most experience coming back that gives us a guy that knows what’s going on and has done it and can continue to get better, too. I like the depth there. We’re still going to be pretty young with those guys with experience at that center position.”

On who those other guys at center may be:

“John Harris has been a guy that’s done a little bit of both. Will Pritchard is a guy that we signed as a center that is going to come in as a center. With Hoffman coming in, he’s played it. Those will be a few off the top of my head who will definitely be in the mix.”

On coaching the running game in the spring and how to get more production from it:

“It’s a lot of different things. Continuing to evolve with our perimeter run game, with our outside run game in general, can give you a chance to force some bigger plays and give you some answers in to blitzes and movement up front. That’s important to us. It’s something we’ve worked on hard this offseason that’s going to be a big emphasis this spring. That has been already for a couple of years. We have to continue to get better with that. All positions play into those big plays and really being good at the run game. As we continue to get more talented and deeper up front, I feel good about where we’re headed and the components that we have around that run game.”

On the tackle position in the spring:

“Tyrell Smith is a guy who will be our leader offensively. He’s a senior that knows what to do at a lot of different positions. He’ll step in there right away on the edge. T.J. Jackson is another guy that’s been here for a few years. It’s time for him to step up too, he’s had a really good offseason. Silas [Dzansi] came on towards the end of the year and is looking really good. We expect a good spring out of him on the edge. Luke Tenuta is one of the young guys that redshirted. We love what we see out of him every day and he’s going to get as many reps as he can handle. Still plenty of guys there to get reps on the edge that are going to need them and are going to have to play for us.”

On the availability of RB Cole Beck in the spring:

“He’ll be with track. Once he’s through with that commitment with track, then he’ll join back up with us. It’s difficult with both, but that’s we wanted, and he wanted and that’s the way it worked out. It may take a little bit more time because of that because you’re not full time in the spring. When we get him back, it’s about getting him to learn the offense and figure out where we can find a role for him.”

On his familiarity with new WRs coach Jafar Williams:

“I coached with him a year [at Illinois State] and I knew he was going to be a big-time coach for a long time. He played the position in division one. He’s coached good players at a couple of different positions. He’s been on a number of different systems and learned from some good guys. It’s about as easy of a transition that you can have. Transitions are always transitions. He has worked with Coach [Holmon] Wiggins also and we’ve all been good friends for a long time. That always helps but there will be a transition -- getting us on the same page, the learning curve with the receivers and those guys getting to know him and how he coaches. I’m excited that we got him. I feel lucky that we got him. I think that transition is going to be as easy as it can be.”