5 Questions with Riley Skinner
4/18/2020 12:31:00 PM | Football, Les Johns
"He was really good at getting to know you as a person and a player. I absolutely loved playing for coach Grobe." - Riley Skinner
By Les Johns
Quarterback Riley Skinner came off the bench because of an injury in his first collegiate football game at Wake Forest to start what became a four-year, record-breaking career with the Deacs.
In his freshman season, Skinner led the Deacs to the 2006 ACC Championship and an Orange Bowl appearance. Although threatened recently by John Wolford, Skinner still owns Wake Forest career passing records for yards (9,762), attempts (1,451), completions (903), touchdowns (60) and completion percentage (66.9%).
Deacon Sports Xtra recently caught up with Skinner for this Q&A.
How ready were you both physically and mentally to come off the bench in that first game of his freshman season and lead the Deacs all year? Now 14 years removed, can you honestly say you practiced as a first-stringer during camp?
Skinner: "I would love to honestly tell you yes, but 14 years past now, I can be honest, right? Physically I was ready, but mentally I was not. I did not know what to expect mentally in terms of bullets flying, being under the lights and on the field. There were the blocking protections, defensive awareness, what the coverages and routes were, and also the checks on the line.
"There's so much more to it live in a game than there is doing it in a practice. Mentally, no. I was a deer in the headlights. I couldn't find my helmet when I first got called into the game when Ben (Mauk) got hurt. I snapped the ball too early and fumbled the shotgun snap on my first play.
"But it was something that week-by-week I got more and more confident. Reps and experience is the best way to learn. That's what allowed me to grow week after week. The coaches saw that, and it was evident in the way they opened the playbook as the season progressed. I probably had 50 percent of the playbook on my plate in week one. By the end of my freshman year, I had about 90 percent of the playbook open for me. It was a gradual process. I give the coaches credit for leading me down that path. They didn't put it all on my lap at once, while I was also trying to understand what it takes to be a college quarterback week-in and week-out in the ACC."
What was it like playing for coach Jim Grobe?
Skinner: "My high school coach, Corky Rogers, was a legendary coach who passed away about a month ago. He was a Nick Saban-style coach. I had to get thick skin early on in my high school career. He was a drill sergeant. He was all over you through practice and would lay into you.
"It was a little bit of a culture shock when I first got to Wake and worked with Coach Grobe. He was more hands off and let his coordinators do the coaching. Coach Grobe and I developed a really neat relationship, yet still had the separation between player and coach at the same time. He was really good at getting to know you as a person and a player. I absolutely loved playing for Coach Grobe. I felt like he was a guy I could go to when I was frustrated, when things were going good, or someone I could talk with if I had an issue with my family or my girlfriend. We created a friendship that exists to this day."
How has playing at rival schools in Jacksonville (Skinner at Bolles School) as John Wolford (Bishop Kenny) impacted your relationship?
Skinner: "I'll say this, they thought it was a rivalry. It was one-sided. John was probably in middle school when I was playing, but the two times we played when I was in high school we won 69-0 and 69-0. It depends on how you want to define a rival, but our high schools are definitely rivals.
"I got to see John play a couple times because my wife went to his high school. My wife went to Bishop Kenny, so I knew John. So when John did summer camp, I threw with him some when he was in high school and thinking about going to Wake. I enjoyed getting to know John. He's a phenomenal quarterback and a great person. We stayed close through his playing career at Wake and after that now while he's in the NFL. There was never any bitterness, because he didn't have much ground to talk smack about our football rivalry. Bishop Kenny hasn't beaten Bolles since the 70s in football. It was more my opportunity to give him a little piece of my mind in the Bolles-Bishop Kenny rivalry.
"But I did have a few particular players who would text me to give me a hard time as John broke my records at Wake Forest. 'You're fading out,' they told me. If my records were going to be broken, I was more than happy for it to be John to be the guy to do it. It was pretty cool for two guys from Jacksonville to be able to play quarterback for four years at Wake Forest in this short amount of time."
Does the transition to broadcasting help satisfy the competitive itch?
Skinner: "It's more just an opportunity to continue to be involved in the game. It's the game I've loved so much. To completely shut the door on it was tough, and that was the way for me to get my football fix. It's not like college basketball or golf, where when you're done you can still play that sport. With football, when you're done, you're done.
"I coached quarterbacks at Bolles last year, and I think I'm going to keep doing that. That's really helped scratch that itch, by being able to pour into young kids and be an influence on them from an athletic perspective, but also from a mentor and life perspective. It's been a huge blessing for me. I never thought I wanted to coach, but being able to it's been really fulfilling and something I hope to continue to do."
How are you responding to the Coronavirus pandemic?
Skinner: "We've been impacted pretty significantly. Owning our own company (Skinner Brothers Realty Company), I've been able to go into the office just when I need to. But we have roughly 100 shopping center tenants across our portfolio. They are all having to shut down. We have grocery stores that are thriving. Many of the small shop tenants are shutting down. I'm pretty much all hands on deck at this time. We've got four construction projects that are in the middle of construction. I'm driving to the job sites to monitor the construction. We have a lot going on with this virus, and it's uncharted territory. It's interesting times, but we're trying to be proactive, fluid and creative. We want to be as helpful to these small businesses in our shopping centers as we can. There's a lot of interaction with our tenants over the last two weeks."
Quarterback Riley Skinner came off the bench because of an injury in his first collegiate football game at Wake Forest to start what became a four-year, record-breaking career with the Deacs.
In his freshman season, Skinner led the Deacs to the 2006 ACC Championship and an Orange Bowl appearance. Although threatened recently by John Wolford, Skinner still owns Wake Forest career passing records for yards (9,762), attempts (1,451), completions (903), touchdowns (60) and completion percentage (66.9%).
Deacon Sports Xtra recently caught up with Skinner for this Q&A.
How ready were you both physically and mentally to come off the bench in that first game of his freshman season and lead the Deacs all year? Now 14 years removed, can you honestly say you practiced as a first-stringer during camp?
Skinner: "I would love to honestly tell you yes, but 14 years past now, I can be honest, right? Physically I was ready, but mentally I was not. I did not know what to expect mentally in terms of bullets flying, being under the lights and on the field. There were the blocking protections, defensive awareness, what the coverages and routes were, and also the checks on the line.
"There's so much more to it live in a game than there is doing it in a practice. Mentally, no. I was a deer in the headlights. I couldn't find my helmet when I first got called into the game when Ben (Mauk) got hurt. I snapped the ball too early and fumbled the shotgun snap on my first play.
"But it was something that week-by-week I got more and more confident. Reps and experience is the best way to learn. That's what allowed me to grow week after week. The coaches saw that, and it was evident in the way they opened the playbook as the season progressed. I probably had 50 percent of the playbook on my plate in week one. By the end of my freshman year, I had about 90 percent of the playbook open for me. It was a gradual process. I give the coaches credit for leading me down that path. They didn't put it all on my lap at once, while I was also trying to understand what it takes to be a college quarterback week-in and week-out in the ACC."
What was it like playing for coach Jim Grobe?
Skinner: "My high school coach, Corky Rogers, was a legendary coach who passed away about a month ago. He was a Nick Saban-style coach. I had to get thick skin early on in my high school career. He was a drill sergeant. He was all over you through practice and would lay into you.
"It was a little bit of a culture shock when I first got to Wake and worked with Coach Grobe. He was more hands off and let his coordinators do the coaching. Coach Grobe and I developed a really neat relationship, yet still had the separation between player and coach at the same time. He was really good at getting to know you as a person and a player. I absolutely loved playing for Coach Grobe. I felt like he was a guy I could go to when I was frustrated, when things were going good, or someone I could talk with if I had an issue with my family or my girlfriend. We created a friendship that exists to this day."
How has playing at rival schools in Jacksonville (Skinner at Bolles School) as John Wolford (Bishop Kenny) impacted your relationship?
Skinner: "I'll say this, they thought it was a rivalry. It was one-sided. John was probably in middle school when I was playing, but the two times we played when I was in high school we won 69-0 and 69-0. It depends on how you want to define a rival, but our high schools are definitely rivals.
"I got to see John play a couple times because my wife went to his high school. My wife went to Bishop Kenny, so I knew John. So when John did summer camp, I threw with him some when he was in high school and thinking about going to Wake. I enjoyed getting to know John. He's a phenomenal quarterback and a great person. We stayed close through his playing career at Wake and after that now while he's in the NFL. There was never any bitterness, because he didn't have much ground to talk smack about our football rivalry. Bishop Kenny hasn't beaten Bolles since the 70s in football. It was more my opportunity to give him a little piece of my mind in the Bolles-Bishop Kenny rivalry.
"But I did have a few particular players who would text me to give me a hard time as John broke my records at Wake Forest. 'You're fading out,' they told me. If my records were going to be broken, I was more than happy for it to be John to be the guy to do it. It was pretty cool for two guys from Jacksonville to be able to play quarterback for four years at Wake Forest in this short amount of time."
Does the transition to broadcasting help satisfy the competitive itch?
Skinner: "It's more just an opportunity to continue to be involved in the game. It's the game I've loved so much. To completely shut the door on it was tough, and that was the way for me to get my football fix. It's not like college basketball or golf, where when you're done you can still play that sport. With football, when you're done, you're done.
"I coached quarterbacks at Bolles last year, and I think I'm going to keep doing that. That's really helped scratch that itch, by being able to pour into young kids and be an influence on them from an athletic perspective, but also from a mentor and life perspective. It's been a huge blessing for me. I never thought I wanted to coach, but being able to it's been really fulfilling and something I hope to continue to do."
How are you responding to the Coronavirus pandemic?
Skinner: "We've been impacted pretty significantly. Owning our own company (Skinner Brothers Realty Company), I've been able to go into the office just when I need to. But we have roughly 100 shopping center tenants across our portfolio. They are all having to shut down. We have grocery stores that are thriving. Many of the small shop tenants are shutting down. I'm pretty much all hands on deck at this time. We've got four construction projects that are in the middle of construction. I'm driving to the job sites to monitor the construction. We have a lot going on with this virus, and it's uncharted territory. It's interesting times, but we're trying to be proactive, fluid and creative. We want to be as helpful to these small businesses in our shopping centers as we can. There's a lot of interaction with our tenants over the last two weeks."
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