2011 Pre-Spring Preview
Why To Be Excited - ACC
Click for each team's pre-spring
lookback and lookahead
Atlantic
Boston Coll |
Clemson
| Florida
St
|
Maryland
|
NC St
|
Wake Forest
Coastal
Duke |
Georgia
Tech |
Miami
|
North
Carolina |
Virginia
|
Virginia
Tech
2011 ACC Pre-Spring Preview
- ACC Pre-Spring Rankings
-
Why Every Team Should Be Excited
- Why Every Team Should Be Grouchy
- What Every Team Needs To Work On
Atlantic
Boston College
In Montel Harris and
Luke Kuechly, BC boasts cornerstone players on both sides of the ball
who could potentially be the ACC's Offensive and Defensive Players of
the Year, respectively. Plus, after enduring the growing pains of Chase Rettig in his first season out of high school, the quarterback should be better prepared to contribute in 2011.
Clemson
Most of the Tigers’ skill position players were young in 2010 and
are coming back with the potential for the extra year of experience to
translate into more production. RB Andre Ellington has a very high ceiling, and DeAndre Hopkins led the team in receiving as a true freshman.
Florida
State
The Seminoles are coming off their best season in years, capped by an impressive win over South Carolina in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. The defense should be in good shape, especially in a secondary that boasts young stars in cornerbacks Greg Reid and Xavier Rhodes.
With the phenomenal recruiting class Fisher and his staff have brought
in, the influx of talent will make the young team that much deeper.
Maryland
Randy Edsall is a proven winner, guiding Connecticut to improbable heights
and doing some big things with a lot less talent than he has with his
new squad. He has the right formula for success and the young
quarterback to elevate the program, and it doesn't hurt that his first
recruiting class was surprisingly fantastic.
NC State
With its
most wins since 2002, NC State has rare momentum and confidence, which
should bleed into recruiting and the 2011 season. No matter who the
quarterback turns out to be, he’ll have plenty of weapons, including young back Mustafa Greene, who showed flashes
of greatness as a possible key to the offense.
Wake Forest
Wake Forest used a slew of underclassmen last fall and has a nice base
of young talents to build around The program won’t lose much to graduation, making experience and leadership less of a problem down the road.
Now the talent that's in place has to come through and produce.
Coastal
Duke
The 2011 recruiting class was the best in years and will provide instant depth and some serious position battles. This remains a young team with its best days ahead of it, but the expectations will be high right now. The Blue Devils were at their best down the stretch, winning 2-of-5 and challenging Boston College, Georgia Tech, and North Carolina in losses.
Georgia
Tech
That QB Josh Nesbitt missed the last month of the season was bad for 2010 and a blessing for 2011.
Tevin Washington got a head start on his maturation process, playing the last five games and showing signs of being the next dual-threat to run Tech’s option.
He'll be in for a battle for the starting job, but he'll be able to hit
the ground running.
Miami
Al Golden is considered one of the game’s hotter young coaches and an upgrade from the underachieving
Randy Shannon. There are enough returning starters on both sides of the
ball for him to get off to a fast start in his debut, and the
expectations will be sky-high from the start. If he could win at Temple,
he should be able to handle making Miami a bigger ACC player. At least
that's the theory.
North
Carolina
The upshot to all of the suspensions
and all the team's 201 drama is that several young players had to step
into key roles. While the quarterback will be inexperienced, the staff can’t wait to showcase the potential of former blue-chipper Bryn Renner.
There's more next-level talent where the last batch came from.
Virginia
The new staff used a lot of young players who are hoping to play with greater consistency in 2011. The line loses just a single starter to graduation, and true freshman Morgan Moses appears to have star potential at tackle.
Mike London did a whale of a job recruiting with a terrific class of
young talents coming in.
Virginia
Tech
Whoever gets the ball from Frank Beamer will line up behind a front wall that started four juniors in 2010. The D has all-star potential at each level, headed by
Jayron Hosley at cornerback. If everyone can hit a bit more and be more
consistent against the mediocre offenses, watch out.
Click for each team's pre-spring
lookback and lookahead
Atlantic
Boston Coll |
Clemson
| Florida
St
|
Maryland
|
NC St
|
Wake Forest
Coastal
Duke |
Georgia
Tech |
Miami
|
North
Carolina |
Virginia
|
Virginia
Tech
2011 ACC Pre-Spring Preview
-
ACC Pre-Spring Rankings
-
Why Every Team Should Be Excited
- Why Every Team Should Be Grouchy
- What Every Team Needs To Work On