As the Virginia football team works through the early preseason practices in preparation for its first intrasquad scrimmage, new defensive coordinator John Rudzinski is focused on three things. Fundamentals, installation, and reps, reps, reps.

The goal there is simple. He wants to put players in position to learn the expectations and schemes from the coaches and then give them enough reps to feel comfortable with those assignments. As a result, there’s less focus on establishing a depth chart and more attention on getting the players up to speed as quickly as possible. When that first scrimmage rolls around Saturday, then the picture for playing time will start to clearer.

That scrimmage will likely increase the competition and urgency for the Hoos. When they walk off the field at Scott Stadium this weekend, there will be three weeks remaining before the season opener with Richmond on Sept. 3.

“I think it’s really fluid,” Rudzinski said. “What we’re trying to do is get through the initial install. We’re very front-loaded with that install and then what we’ll do is we’ll get a chance when we scrimmage this Saturday to get a real picture of who wants to tackle and who can execute at a really high level.”

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