THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 27, 1994 TAG: 9410270611
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long : 139 lines
The mountainside around Virginia Tech's practice field is ablaze in fall colors. At the moment, Phil Elmassian's face almost matches the brightness of the trees, and his language is as colorful as the landscape.
Defensive back Torrian Gray has made a mistake, and instantly it is one he regrets. Elmassian, the Hokies' defensive coordinator and secondary coach, flies into Gray's face to voice displeasure as Gray walks to the sidelines. Gray turns to his right, Elmassian's there. Gray turns left, Elmassian's there. Gray stares straight ahead.
It goes on for several minutes. Later, cornerback William Yarborough gets the same treatment. When Elmassian locks on to a player, he's as easy to shake as a pit bull.
``That's typical of coach,'' Gray calmly says later. ``You get used to it after a while. You don't listen to how he says it, you listen to what he says - he makes a lot of good points.''
The way the Hokies are playing defense this year, opponents hardly make any points at all.
Elmassian is guiding a defense that is among the nation's best in just about every statistical category. The Hokies are third nationally in passing defense, ninth in scoring defense, 11th in total defense and 21st in rushing defense.
A great defense perhaps, but Saturday at Miami (3:30 p.m., WVEC) Tech's will not be the best defense on the field. Defensively, the Hokies are Miami wannabes.
``Eventually we want to be held in the same esteem as Miami,'' defensive tackle J.C. Price says. ``We can't claim that yet because we've only been in the winning business one year and we haven't played a whole year as a great defense.''
It's no coincidence that Virginia Tech got into the winning business at the same time Elmassian arrived at Tech. He overhauled Tech's defense, changed its style and philosophy, moved players around and brought in a new attitude. Tech is 16-4 since.
Defense doesn't get all the credit. Tech's young defense was shaky most of last season. But it deserves the bulk of the credit this season for the Hokies (7-1), who are ranked 13th by The Associated Press, 10th by USA Today-CNN.
``Our defense has been a little bit stronger than maybe even I thought it would be,'' Tech coach Frank Beamer says.
But not good enough for Elmassian. He says the talent level at Miami is ``on Mars'' compared to Tech's.
``I think we're about three or four years away from even coming close to where they're at,'' Elmassian says. ``Anybody who thinks we're one step away is out of their mind.''
Elmassian thought Washington was out of its mind when he visited the Huskies during spring practice in 1991. He was the defensive backs coach at Syracuse at the time and was sent with fellow assistant Kevin Coyle to study Washington's defense.
The two coaches met with a Washington graduate assistant who mapped out the defense for them and then showed them some film.
``I turned to Kevin and said, `Let's go home - I don't know what these people are doing and don't understand it.' ''
Instead, they went to practice the next day, and Elmassian has described it as a transformation akin to seeing the burning bush. The defense was based on speed and maximizing a player's assets. Size was almost immaterial.
Elmassian says he went home thinking, ``If I ever have a chance, I'm going to run this defense.''
Beamer gave him the chance after purging half his staff following a 2-8-1 season in 1992.
Just about every player changed positions as the Hokies put increased emphasis on speed. Defensive backs became outside linebackers, outside linebackers moved to the inside, inside linebackers became defensive ends, defensive ends moved to tackle.
Freshman Tony Morrison from Chesapeake is a prime example. He was a safety at Indian River High. Tech turned him into an outside linebacker. A couple weeks ago, Morrison moved to inside linebacker. The only senior starter on Tech's defense is inside linebacker Ken Brown, and Morrison is being groomed for that spot.
Overall, Tech's defense got quicker and smaller - and better.
``I wasn't sure, but after the last couple years I'm convinced size is definitely overrated,'' Elmassian says.
The Hokies' defense swarms to the ball and puts pressure on quarterbacks both before and after the snap. Often Tech has eight or nine men on the line, and the quarterback has to try to figure out what kind of defense he's looking at.
``You can tell by the look in their eyes and how long it takes them to make a check that at times they're wondering `What do I do now?' '' Gray says.
The stacked line makes it difficult to run, and Tech puts so much pressure on the quarterback (second in the league in sacks with 3.8 per game) that it's also difficult to pass.
Elmassian regards the Hokies as a program comprised of blue-collar players rather than blue chippers. Case in point: sophomore Brandon Semones, a 6-foot, 203-pound outside linebacker.
``Here's a youngster who literally has the talent to be a I-AA player,'' Elmassian says. ``He knows it, and I know it and his mom and daddy know it.''
So does his uncle Frank - as in Frank Beamer.
Semones says it's a challenge to demonstrate he can play at this level, which he has. He's third on the team in both tackles (73) and sacks (4). Elmassian says Semones knows his limitations and uses his assets - intelligence, good change of direction, toughness - to perform.
Semones tries to distance himself from the notion that one of his assets is his mother's brother is the head coach. But it is an unusual situation, he says.
``It was kind of different at first, getting yelled at by a relative,'' Semones says.
The antithesis of Semones is 6-2, 230-pound sophomore defensive end Cornell Brown, who is as blue chip as they come at Tech. Brown, a high school All-American, is the most highly regarded defensive recruit of Beamer's eight seasons in Blacksburg.
Brown leads the Big East in sacks (10 for 76 yards) and is tied for the Hokies' lead in quarterback hurries (27). Brown's 13 career sacks are more than Outland Trophy winner and Hokie career sack leader Bruce Smith had at this point in his career.
``When Monster (Brown) comes to play, you know it because he's out there running around, yelling at everybody,'' defensive tackle Price says. ``That kind of gets us going. He's the key to our defense.''
Brown came to Tech intent on unlocking the program's potential.
``I wanted to do what Terry Kirby and Chris Slade did at Virginia,'' Brown says. ``They kind of put Virginia on the map.
``When I leave here I want Tech to be a top team every year, and I can honestly say I had a major part in changing this whole program around.''
Elmassian says the Hokies owe it to Brown to get more players like Brown, who takes everyone around him to another level.
Elmassian, meanwhile, takes intensity to another level. He is the most animated and vocal of Tech's coaches.
He is just as extreme off the field. Elmassian is at the office by 6 a.m., and usually leaves around 11:30 p.m. Last summer, Beamer noticed whenever he was in the office, Elmassian was, too.
``You are getting away sometime, aren't you?'' Beamer finally asked.
Elmassian spent a week at a lake.
``One week's enough,'' he says. ``I like doing this. It's fun.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
Phil Elmassian speaks his mind - loudly - during Hokies practice.
by CNB