Getting to a bowl game is Price’s goal
The next two weeks aren’t a job audition to become Virginia Tech’s head coach, J.C. Price said.
“This is about trying to put our team in a position to win one or two games and go to a bowl,” he said. “This isn’t about me.”
Price was named Virginia Tech’s interim coach Tuesday after the Hokies parted ways with Justin Fuente after six years.
A former defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator, Price will guide Virginia Tech in its regular-season games tonight at Miami and Nov. 27 against rival Virginia.
“I told the team that I don’t expect to be the (next) head coach,” Price said in a meeting with media members Thursday. “All I’m concerned about is winning this week.”
The Hokies (5-5, 3-3 ACC) decided early this week to replace Fuente after the season, but Fuente and athletic director Whit Babcock agreed late Monday to make the change immediately.
Babcock said he chose Price because he is a former Virginia Tech player, has coaching experience and because it would free offensive coordinator Brad Cornelson and his defensive counterpart, Justin Hamilton, to game-plan for Miami and Virginia.
“I felt like he was the best fit,” Babcock said. “It doesn’t mean the other people couldn’t have done it.”
Price said he met with players Tuesday morning and then guided the team through a practice session.
“There is no playbook for what we’re going through,” said Price, who played for the Hokies from 1991-95 and was hired by Fuente as an assistant before this season. “The (Tuesday) practice was obviously somber. But those kids practiced their butts off.”
Price said he hasn’t made any major changes in the practice routine and added that he will be a head coach — and will not handle the defensive line — in the remaining two games.
“Hopefully, all I have to do is stay out of the way,” Price said. “But I’ll be there to help make decisions — things like time management, game management. We have outstanding coordinators.”
On Thursday morning, Price took the players to the April 16 Memorial, the campus memorial dedicated to the 32 victims of the 2007 mass shooting on campus.