Big Brother Burney & Little Brother Briggs focused on the prize

By Jerry Ratcliffe

With a portion of the college football world collapsing around them, Virginia’s players have remained focus on their mission: preparing for a season that possibly could be halted at any moment.

As the Big 10 and Pac-12 cancelled fall football, postponing to a spring season that may never come, and several FCS leagues following suit, only the ACC, SEC and Big 12 have voiced intentions to keep going.

Why is it no surprise to UVA fans that Bronco Mendenhall’s team has blocked out the distractions and instead adopted a strong mental approach to getting things done?

The Cavaliers’ defensive linemen are a great example of what’s going on in the August training camp, which opened up Monday.

“Camp is camp, man,” said defensive end Richard Burney, who was granted a sixth year of eligibility after suffering a series of injuries during his career. “It’s always gonna be hard. Regardless of what’s going on in the outside world, and obviously we have to acknowledge that, we’re using it to our advantage to bring us closer together.”

Burney’s comments came during a video conference chat with media on Wednesday morning after UVA’s practice. He and sophomore nose tackle Jowon Briggs joined in on the conversation after new defensive line coach Clint Sintim addressed media via the same mode (see related story).

With rumors swirling due to the threats of Covid-19 and whether or not there will be a season, UVA’s players are tunnel-visioned. Credit Mendenhall’s emphasis on staying focused on the task, the challenge, as an advantage for the Wahoos.“Luckily, here at Virginia, Coach Mendenhall makes sure that our culture is unmatched,” said Briggs, a 4-star prospect out of Cincinnati who broke into the lineup as a true freshman. “No slippage, nothing.

“With Covid going around, it’s just a day at a time. Can I make myself better the next day? Can I make myself better today? I’m not really looking forward to weeks from now. I’m really just focused on how I can train right now.”

Briggs said he keeps tunnel vision and that helps him prepare his body every night for the next morning’s practice before working hard in practice, day by day.

“I know I’m in the ACC. I know we’re playing football and I know tomorrow I have practice, so I’m going to act accordingly,” Briggs said.

Burney, who has been an inspiration for Briggs ever since he first stepped foot on Grounds, has been a model for all younger players and their approach to camp. In addition, all the returning players have been anxious not only to get back to football after missing cancelled spring practice, but also eager to reunite relationships with their teammates and football staff.

“You know, being with each other is fun,” Burney said. “We’re out there practicing. It’s hard, it’s hot, it’s hard to breathe, but at the end of the day we’re with each other and we’re getting better.

“The rest of the day when we’re watching film or whether we’re eating, things of that nature, we just relish the fact that we get to be together.”

Briggs said that Burney, who hosted him on his official visit, was one of the reasons that he decided to choose Virginia in his recruitment. He said Burney has been that older brother that always tends to motivate.

“He’s making sure I know what I’m doing,” Briggs said. “He’s definitely been watching over me and I’m very grateful for that.”

While Virginia players remained off campus through the spring/summer, they were diligent in their efforts to stay in condition and to learn more about their jobs. Briggs was so successful in his ethic that it blew away co-defensive coordinator Kelly Poppinga and other members of the defensive coaching staff.

“Wow, Jowon looks great right now,” Poppinga said in late May after observing the lineman on video. “Last season he lost a lot of weight. He got below 290 into the 280s. Man, he’s like 310 right now and he just looks massive.

“We were talking about that during the defensive staff meeting and holy smokes, this guy is looking ginormous.”

Briggs played in 13 of Virginia’s 14 games last season, including seven starting assignments. He was everything advertised coming out of high school. 

“He’s very strong, very cerebral, a very smart kid,” Poppinga said. “That game experience for him last year was very valuable for him going into this season. What it really comes down to is he’s going to have to make a lot more plays. That’s his bottom line … he’s got to make more plays.”

Last season, Briggs made 19 total tackles (tied for 17th on the team), including three tackles for loss and one sack.

No one is more aware of the challenge than Briggs, who acknowledged that on Wednesday.

“Year One, coming in fresh, getting my feet wet, got a little exposure and playing a couple of games, I have reps under my belt,” Briggs said. “It definitely feels a lot better than last year, knowing the defense and having a year behind me in this defense.

“Getting those crucial reps at the nose position just feels a bit more comfortable. There’s a lot of competition during practice, so you know nothing is ever too comfortable here. I’m definitely feeling a lot better than last year.”

Yes, UVA’s players are focused and safe in a bubble that Mendenhall exclaimed is the safest place on the planet. No player has tested positive since the first round of testing in early July.

But what about when the student body returns to UVA from every corner of that planet Mendenhall was talking about? Even the coach seemed skeptical about keeping his team protected when that occurs.

Burney was more confident.

“I don’t think it will be that much more difficult,” said the Chesapeake native, who has missed most of the past two seasons due to severe injuries and medical issues. “It just comes down to how our culture will hold.

“Right now we’re doing all the right things in the bubble in terms of Covid, so that was a challenge in itself when we got here (UVA’s players returned for voluntary workouts on July 5). When the students come back, I just feel like that’s just another challenge that the team’s going to be ready for. Social distancing, masking, things of that nature. I think we’re all prepared for that because we really want to play.”

Burney said that Briggs, Mandy Alonso and he have been showing the ropes to the first-year defensive linemen in their first camp.

“It’s a different time right now, but you know to [the freshmen], that’s their normal,” Burney said. “Honestly, I don’t know if we’ll ever go back to normal after this pandemic. We’re just trying to take it day by day.”

He suffered a blood-clot issue last season that threw a scare into everyone in the program, but that hasn’t been a concern in his comeback after talking to team doctors.

“I did [have concerns] before I came back,” Burney said. “I sat down with [athletic trainer Kelli Pugh and Dr. John MacKnight], and they explained to me that what I had, my condition, is not technically considered an underlying condition for Covid. Once I heard that, I was like, ‘I’m ready to go, ready to come back.’”

Though they’ve only been in official training camp this week, Burney said he’s already noticed a difference from this time last August.

“I noticed a lot more energy versus last year and that just comes with experience, us being together for so long,” Burney said.

Virginia returns eight starters from a really good defense a year ago, plus several other players who gained starting experience due to a rash of injuries to the secondary and linebacking corps.

“Even though we weren’t here in the spring, we were together every day on Zoom (a video conferencing system that allows coaches to communicate with all their players),” Burney said. “I feel like that time away made us miss each other more and miss playing ball together more, so the energy right now is through the roof.”

Virginia is scheduled to open the season on Sept. 11, a Friday, against VMI.

Burney and Briggs can’t wait.