Tony Elliott reacts to winning his head coaching debut

Tony Elliott comments on winning his first game as head coach of the Virginia football program

Transcript

00:00Well, first thing I just want to say is I got to thank Carla Williams,

00:03President Ryan, for giving me this opportunity to be standing before you today.

00:08Having won my first game as a college head coach, I want to thank those players and

00:12the staff, all of the staff, every person that touches this program for

00:18their belief in me and just the hard work that they put in to have these guys ready

00:22to play today, I want to thank the student section, I really challenge them.

00:27Thank them for showing up.

00:29I'm gonna get after the rest of the folks,

00:30because there were a lot of seats in the upper deck that weren't full.

00:33But hopefully they got a glimpse of where we're taking this program and

00:37what we can be, but very, very appreciative and

00:40grateful for the opportunity to be the head coach of the University of Virginia.

00:43And I just want to thank all those who believe in me and

00:46gave me an opportunity to be here today.

00:48So with that, I'll be quiet and let you guys start firing away.

00:51Let's start with JJ.

00:53All right, Coach, again, congratulations on the win.

00:55A couple of things you've been very transparent about.

00:59You took your time in picking the right job.

01:01You had a lot of opportunities, you experienced a lot of success.

01:05So as you come off the field and even the kids giving you the game ball in

01:08the locker room and some of the things that you've experienced,

01:11just personally, what does it mean for you not only to be victorious, but

01:14have come through this experience in this process on the other side of it right now?

01:18Just confirmation.

01:20I think that in this profession, you can be fast and take the wrong job.

01:26But I believe I was patient and the Lord opened up the right door and

01:29I'm in the right place.

01:30And just the confirmation I needed was to see the joy in the locker room

01:35of those guys experiencing victory.

01:38And just pure joy, emotion, and appreciation for

01:42all the hard work that they put in.

01:44And also pregame, I thought the atmosphere was really, really good.

01:48We're gonna continue to improve upon that.

01:49So all the pieces are here that I was looking for to build something special.

01:55And for me, it was just building something special that everybody that's a part of it

01:58can be proud of, not about myself, but about everybody that's involved.