Virginia head coach Tony Elliott speaks at the groundbreaking ceremony for the new UVA football facility.
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00:00 Good afternoon.
00:02 Come on, now, that's a celebration.
00:03 Good afternoon.
00:06 This is a huge, huge day.
00:08 It's a big day.
00:09 And it's a landmark day, actually,
00:11 for the institution, for the athletic department,
00:15 for the football program.
00:16 So we need to have a little bit of excitement and joy.
00:19 But I also want to extend my gratitude to President Ryan.
00:23 Thank you for believing in me through Carla
00:25 to give me this opportunity to be a part of today
00:28 and to be a part of this institution
00:30 and this athletic department.
00:31 To Rector Clement and Vice Rector Hardy,
00:34 as well, and all the members of the Board of Visitors,
00:37 appreciate your support of myself, this football program,
00:42 but more importantly, of Carla, her vision
00:44 for the athletic department and the master plan.
00:47 To Dirk and your staff, thank you so much for all that you
00:50 do.
00:51 We've been hitting the road for the last month and a half.
00:54 We've gotten to know each other very, very well.
00:56 And I tell you what, we have an unbelievable staff
00:58 in VAF that works really, really hard to support
01:01 the athletic department.
01:02 Carla, how about that smile?
01:05 Look at that smile.
01:06 We all know Miss Carla.
01:07 She's always cool, calm, and collective, man.
01:09 But today, you deserve to smile.
01:11 And I know I get a lot of attention,
01:12 but it's not about me today.
01:14 It's about Miss Carla and that vision
01:16 that is starting to become a reality when we put
01:18 some shovels in the dirt today.
01:20 To all the donors and supporters,
01:22 thank you so much for what you do.
01:24 And I just want to take a second.
01:26 All the players, stand up real quick.
01:30 [APPLAUSE]
01:31 And we got some standing in the back.
01:33 They look good, don't they?
01:35 They look really good.
01:36 [APPLAUSE]
01:39 And we're here-- I'll sit on down.
01:41 We're here to celebrate, obviously,
01:42 the groundbreaking for the new facility.
01:45 But this is really what we're supporting.
01:47 This is what it's all about, the development
01:50 of the student-athletes.
01:51 So I'm extremely excited for these players,
01:54 for the former players, for the future Cavaliers
01:57 with the new facility coming online.
01:59 We talk in our program about an equation for excellence.
02:04 We talk about in our program having
02:05 a vision for our players.
02:08 We know what the mission of our program is.
02:10 And we have a formula for excellence, a daily focus.
02:15 And as we're challenging and pushing
02:18 these young men towards leading this to become the model
02:21 program, it's important that we show them
02:23 that we support them fully in everything that they do.
02:26 And this space in the new facility
02:28 is going to give us all the room that we need,
02:30 plus all the resources that we need
02:32 to pour into these young men holistically
02:36 to create the model program in all of college football.
02:39 So in order for us to work towards our equation
02:42 for excellence, there's three components of it.
02:44 It's intentional preparation, intentional preparation.
02:48 Everything that we do in this program
02:51 is about being intentional with the way
02:53 that we prepare, passionate engagement,
02:56 being passionate and engaged in everything that we do.
02:59 Precise effort, precise effort.
03:02 And so the facility, yes, it's going to be state of the art.
03:05 It's going to be very, very nice.
03:07 But at the end of the day, it's providing us
03:09 what we need to demand excellence out of these young
03:11 men so that they can represent you
03:14 and everybody that supports the institution the right way.
03:17 So Ms. Carla, I'm so thankful that you
03:19 chose me to be a part of this.
03:21 I came in on the tail end.
03:22 I know I tried to make some changes,
03:25 but I think they were necessary.
03:26 And I appreciate you accommodating me.
03:28 But again, I'm so happy for you.
03:31 I'm so happy for your team and all the work
03:33 that you put in because it started as a vision and a dream.
03:37 And you went to work.
03:38 You took action.
03:39 And now we're on the cusp of seeing that vision realized.
03:42 So I'm going to stop because I want Nick Jackson to come on up
03:45 and really tell you what it's going to mean to him
03:48 and all the former Cavaliers that
03:49 come through in this new facility.
03:50 Come on up, Nick Jackson.
03:51 [APPLAUSE]