As spring practice for the Virginia football team comes to a close, defensive coordinator John Rudzinski took a few minutes to reflect upon his unit’s progress over the past month. UVA returns all of its defensive staff from a season ago, and Rudzinski believes the familiarity has helped keep the defense focused through the spring.

“The longer that you spend time with people, the better you can actually become at communicating with each other, speaking each other’s language, both the good, the bad, and also the emotional part which is part of the process of building a team,” Rudzinski said.

Though the coaching staff has remained fixed, the foremost principle preached to the players this spring has been adaptability. Many players have been experimenting in new or elevated roles with the departure of key pieces from last year’s defense, including Team Defensive MVP Nick Jackson at linebacker and the All-ACC cornerback duo of Anthony Johnson and Fentrell Cypress II.

Rudzinski made clear in his press conference that it is the responsibility of the coaching staff to adjust their scheme to fit the personnel, not the other way around. Rudzinski compared the process to putting together a Lego set.

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