CHARLOTTE — James Smith-Williams made the fashion statement of the day Wednesday on the first day of the ACC’s annual Football Kickoff media even, showing up in a Wolfpack red jacket and bow tie.
“Very stylish,” he bragged about his choice of apparel. “I’m like a big business fashion person.”
The suit took a special trip to Cary to pull off.
“(Fellow Media Day attendee Justin Witt) went to Joseph A. Bank,” he said, “but when I told them I wanted red, they couldn’t do red for me. So we went to a tailor in Cary, Alexander Eton.
“I told them I really wanted a red blazer,” he continued. “We sat down, he actually pulled out a portfolio with different materials. We went through and felt them all. I chose this one—it was also within the budget of course, right that’s a big part.”
The suit featured his name stitched above the interior pocket. “We got it monogrammed,” he said. The shirt has vanilla buttons with red detail around the button holes.
“It’s a neat little deal,” he said.
Smith-Williams will also make a fashion statement on game days this season by wearing the No. 1 jersey that is awarded by coach Dave Doeren to the player that best embodies the team’s spirit and values.
“It’s a massive honor,” Smith-Williams said. “If you look at the guys that came before me, Jaylen Samuels, Steph Louis, were all hard-working guys that were well-respected in the program. I think that’s reflected in the No. 1. I’m excited to be wearing it.”
Draft day nightmare: Wake Forest running back Cade Carney has always dreamed of seeing his image flash across the screen on ESPN during its coverage of the NFL draft.
Just not like it did during this year’s telecast.
The Deacons star, who is one of four returning ACC players to rush for more than 1,000 yards last season, was an unwitting star in a highlight reel showing off the talents of Clemson defensive lineman and first round pick Clelin Ferrell.
He played the role of Washington Generals to Ferrell’s Harlem Globetrotters as the fourth overall pick of the Oakland Raiders brought him down with bone-jarring tackles.
“I tell people I was in the first round of the draft last year,” Carney said. “That was a lowlight for me. I was a play where it showed up here a he last second and I was there on the first round draft tape.It was pretty embarrassing.”
It seeing it live wasn’t bad enough, Carney had to relive the experience countless number of times thanks to he miracle of modern technology.
“People videoed it to me, I got Snapchats,” he said. “Everybody’s watching and it’s like ‘(fourth) pick of the draft’ and it’s clear as day … 36 Carney standing there. But’s all good. It’s part of the game. I’ve played enough snaps where that happens.”
Waking up the echos: Scott Satterfield is a graduate of Appalachian State, but he’s also a native of Hillsborough who grew up in the heart of ACC country watching and dreaming about playing football in the conference. As such, he’s excited about becoming part of the league as Louisville’s new coach.
But simply being a member of the ACC might not be the biggest thrill he’ll experience during his rookie season with the Cardinals. That’s likely to come on Labor Day night, when he leads his new team out of the tunnel for the first time — at historic Notre Dame Stadium.
“It’s pretty cool. It’s awesome. It really is,” Satterfield said. “To be able to play a team like Notre Dame the first game, to be on Monday night, national TV, it’s going to be pretty cool.
“But you’ve got to stay in the moment. You’ve got to do your job. You’ve got to control what you can control, the things we talk to our players all the time about. We’ve got a job to do that night. Obviously one day when you look back, you’re going to say, ‘Man, that was an awesome moment.’ Obviously it’s one that I’ll cherish.
The apple (sauce) of his eye: Most athlete have a favorite food they like to eat before heading out to play a game. Wade Boggs, for instance, ate chicken. Babe Ruth loved his hot dogs. It was reported that gold medal sprinter Usain Bolt consumed 1000 McDonalds McNuggets at the Beijing Olympics.
For Boston College running back A.J. Dillon, he menu item of choice is applesauce. And no just on game days.
He likes it so much, he usually carries some with him when he goes on the road.
“I had two cups of applesauce and one little squeezie,” he said Wednesday. “I’m always prepared.”
The 1,000-yard rusher said his obsession with applesauce began at Thanksgiving dinner when he was in the seventh grade.
“A lot of people like to use cranberry to pu with their turkey and stuffing,” he said. “We only had applesauce. I liked it and I started throwing it on everything. I’ve even put applesauce on my mac and cheese before. Don’t knock it. It’s a lot better than it sounds.”
Dillon’s love for applesauce does have its limits, though. Only one brand will do.
“Motts,” he said. “Only Motts.”
Coach wants to see you, bring your …: After a disappointing 2018 season, Florida State coach Willie Taggart was ready to make a change, no matter how radical.
That’s why the Seminoles will be going without an offensive playbook this season.
“We’ll still have plays,” Taggart said. “We just won’t have the big book to carry around.”
Taggart said that the players have enough to study with their coursework and didn’t need the burden of learning a large number of plays on their own. So the number of plays was reduced, and the time devoted to teaching them in practice increased.
“The offense is a lot less complicated,” said receiver Tamorrion Terry, who added that the players were “losing their minds” when informed of the new direction.
“It was the craziest thing I’d ever heard,” he said.
Rules Changes: ACC Football Officiating Supervisor Dennis Hennigan outlined the new rules we’ll see in college football this year.
This is a year when only rules related to player safety could be changed, so there aren’t many tweaks to the rulebook. Still, there are a few things that could impact play this season:
–Blindside blocks will be illegal. This is when a blocker comes from outside the opponent’s field of vision. “It typically happens on changes of possession,” Hennigan explained.
