CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Day 2 of the ACC’s Football Kickoff event is in the books, with league co-favorite Florida State sharing the stage with several remnants of the former Coastal Division on Wednesday.

As was the case on Day 1, everyone involved is excited, improved and ready to get the season started.

But not everything was on script.

In the midst of a long day of interviews, here is something beyond the obvious and cliché that I learned about each of the 5 of the teams represented – Pittsburgh, Duke, Virginia Tech, Virginia and Florida State: 

MJ Devonshire brings the bling

The ACC Kickoff is a time for players and coaches to discuss the upcoming season with members of the media from around the conference.

It’s also an opportunity for some of those young athletes to show off their sartorial splendor.

Among the most memorable fashion statements were the capri pants and pink tie worn by Clemson’s Ben Boulware in 2019, Jaylen Samuels’ NC State red shoes in 2017 and the medallion in the shape of Jesus’ head worn around the neck of Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei last year.

This year’s best conversation starter, at least so far, belongs to Pittsburgh cornerback MJ Devonshire. It’s the enormous diamond-crusted ACC championship ring he was wearing on the pinkie finger of his right hand.

“My mom was like, ‘Wear your ring. It will go nice with the gold (sports jacket),” said Devonshire, who is best known for his game-winning pick-6 in last year’s win against rival West Virginia. “It looks good. I love wearing this ring.”

Devonshire was surprised that he was the only member of Pittsburgh’s traveling party in Charlotte to do so.

“I asked Matt when we came down, ‘What, no ring?’ ” he said, referring to offensive lineman Matt Gonclaves. “He was like, ‘I didn’t even think about that.’ ”

As much as the ring means to him, this is the 1st time he’s worn the prize he and his Panthers teammates earned by winning the ACC title in 2021. He usually keeps it in a glass case next to his bed at home.

“I see it when I wake up in the morning,” he said. “I put it in that case, and I’ve been waiting for somewhere to wear it. Today is the day I got to wear it.”

Duke’s Mr. 3,000

The Blue Devils bring back one of the most experienced teams in the ACC, with 9 starters returning on offense and 8 back on defense from a team that won 9 games in coach Mike Elko’s rookie season.

Of all those proven performers, offensive lineman Jacob Monk is unquestionably the most experienced.

“He’s played more snaps than maybe anybody in this program’s history,” quarterback Riley Leonard said of his center.

That may or may not be the case. Records on such things only go back so far.

But suffice it to say, Monk has been on the field a lot since becoming the first Duke lineman in more than a decade to start from the 1st game of his true freshman season. Entering his extra COVID 5th year, the 6-3, 320-pound graduate – whose father also played for the Blue Devils – has recorded 3,051 snaps.

He is the only player currently in the program to have played as many as 3,000 snaps in his career. That’s a lot of wear and tear for a player who hits and gets hit every time the ball is put in play.

“I definitely feel it when I wake up,” Monk said. “But it’s gone by so fast. I can’t believe this is my last year.”

Above and beyond his durability and longevity, Monk is most proud of the fact that he’s been part of the group that helped Duke recover from 3 straight losing seasons at the start of his career.

“Growing up a Duke fan, I watched Anthony Boone, Jamison Crowder and all those guys go to bowl games every year,” he said. “Having the opportunity to do the same thing last year meant the world to me.”

If you beat ’em, join ’em

Growing up in Richmond, Ali Jennings III always dreamed of playing football for Virginia Tech. But he wasn’t recruited by the Hokies’ former coach Justin Fuente. And he vowed to get even.

He did just that during last year’s season opener.

Playing for Old Dominion, the speedy receiver caught 5 passes for 122 yards, including a contested 38-yarder at the 1-yard line to set up the go-ahead touchdown with just over a minute remaining of a game the Monarchs won 20-17.

It was a performance that clearly caught the eye of new Tech coach Brent Pry, who helped Jennings finally realize his childhood dream by bringing him to Blacksburg via the transfer portal. 

His addition will be a vital part of Pry’s effort to improve a passing attack that ranked next-to-last in the ACC last year. It has also brought back some bad memories for some of his new teammates.

“They give me a hard time about that,” Jennings said. “They’re like, ‘Man, how’d you have to do us like that?’ But I was just doing my job. My team asked me to make some plays and it just happened to be against (the Hokies). But I’m here to make plays for us now.”

Jennings said that his performance in last year’s opener may also have helped speed his transition into the program.

“They’ve also seen me play,” he said. “Now they know what I can bring to the table, something the team needed.”

Jennings led his team with 54 catches for 959 yards and 9 touchdowns last season. As luck would have it, his 1st game as a member of the Hokies will be against a familiar opponent.

ODU.

Back, but not back to normal

All 3 Virginia players and coach Tony Elliott wore pins with the slogan “UVA Strong” and the numbers 1, 15 and 41 prominently on their lapels as they went through the gauntlet of interviews at Charlotte’s Westin hotel.

It’s a symbol of respect toward teammates Lavel Davis Jr., D’Sean Perry and Devin Chandler, all of whom were killed in the tragic shooting that rocked UVa’s campus last November.

But it’s also a reminder that while the Cavaliers are doing their best to move forward in preparation for their return to the field against Tennessee in Nashville on Sept. 2, things aren’t even close to returning to normal for anyone involved with the program.

“I don’t think there will ever be a sense of normalcy after something like that happens,” running back Perris Jones said. “But I think we get back to doing the best we can.

“When you call something normal, normal is having them here. The fact that they’ll never be here again kind of destroys that.”

Jones said it will be emotional when they return to the field for that 1st game back. But it might be even tougher for the 2nd game when the Cavaliers play their 1st home game at Scott Stadium against James Madison on Sept. 9.

“There are going to be a wide variety of emotions for sure,” Jones said. “I can imagine there will be some guys who can’t wait and some who will be sad. But I think they’ll all contribute to us playing well, because we have a point to prove. And that’s to make sure those guys are honored the right way.”

Chapter and Verse on why Jared came back

One of the biggest surprises of the offseason – and a major reason why Florida State is picked so highly both in the ACC and nationally by virtually every preseason publication – was defensive end Jared Verse’s decision to delay entry into the NFL to return for another year with the Seminoles.

Verse, who ranked 2nd in the conference with 9 sacks and 17 tackles for loss last season, was projected as a solid 1st-round pick, a status that would have brought him a significant financial windfall.

But as the former Albany transfer explained, there was more that went into his decision than its potential impact on his bank account.

“One of the biggest factors in coming back was probably seeing all these other guys come back,” he said. “The coaching staff was back. (Fellow defensive players) Fabien Lovett came back and Jarrian Jones came back. All these guys came back. Key players. 

“They just kept telling me, what are you going to do? I had a feeling I was going to come back. I’m not done here yet. I accomplished what I wanted to. I put myself in conversations where I was able to go high up in the draft, but it wasn’t what I wanted. We still had a lot more as a team to do.”

Verse can enhance his already soaring draft stock by putting together another strong season. But that’s not his focus as he and his teammates look to build on the momentum they created by winning their final 5 games last season, including a win against Oklahoma in the Cheez-It Bowl.

“Team goals,” he said. “I don’t really have any crazy (individual) goals. Obviously we want championships. We want to win ACC and national championships. I just want to reach all the full potential as a team, because if we do that, the sky’s the limit.”