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Feast on a veritable smorgasbord of Kevin Dresser comments, first from a phone interview early Friday afternoon and then from his media session later in the day:

Q: What do you think of your first college head coaching job?

Obviously I’m excited. I’ve got a lot of work ahead and there’s a little bit of uncertainty any time you’re doing something new. But hey, I’m up for the challenge.

Q: How did it all come together?

I’ve been involved here in the last week and a half in trying to make sure that when Tom left, everything was good over here, and so I kind of got involved in some negotiations. I think at that point they felt like I would be a good choice and offered me the job Wednesday.

Q: Were you already comfortable with each other, given your 18 years in the area?

I’m sure that was a big factor, you know, just my reputation in Southwest Virginia made it an easy decision – made it an easier decision. That’s the key word: easier. I don’t think it was an easy decision, but I think that my reputation and just being here [helped]. Like I told everybody, there’s no secrets with Kevin Dresser in the wrestling world in Virginia.

Q: Was it an easy decision for you?

I can’t say it was an easy decision. You know, I’ve got a lot of relationships at Christiansburg. Any time you leave those relationships, that makes it tough. But from a challenging perspective, it was an easy decision. I feel like I’ve accomplished and taken Christiansburg to a level that I’m satisfied with right now. And I feel like I’ve left that program in good hands and in a good situation. So that made this decision real easy.

Q: You left Grundy for Christiansburg to find a new challenge. Is this a similar situation, trying to duplicate that high school success?

Yep, that’s the goal. The goal is to be successful and to take this program to the highest level. I wouldn’t take [the job] if I didn’t think that I had the ability to take it to the highest level.

Q: What will happen to the Blue Demons?

[Assistant coach] Daryl [Weber] is going to be the new coach at Christiansburg, so you know, Christiansburg’s not in good hands. They’re in great hands.

Q: Are Christiansburg seniors Matt Epperly and Jantzen Minton and junior Cody Gardner still committed to Virginia Tech?

I can’t name names right now, but we’re going after the very best kids in Virginia. That should point us in the right direction.

Q: How do you feel about keeping the wrestlers has Tech has already?

Well, that’s going to be my biggest challenge right now is … getting these guys to know that hey, we’re going in the right direction. And you know, I’ve already kind of done that. I’ve talked with Steve Borja. I think he’s really excited and on board. Steve Borja is going to be one of our captains next year. He’s a fifth-year senior and he’s going to be nationally ranked. So that’s going to be my biggest thing early on, is keeping things going good.

Q: What was it like for those guys the past nine days?

I think probably the worst part of the thing was just the unknown. Now that we know what we’re doing and know what direction we’re going at Virginia Tech, I think that we can rock and roll.

Q: Have you gotten a chance to talk to all the guys?

No, I haven’t. We’re having a team meeting Monday. … Actually, my first day of work’s Monday.

Q: Will wrestlers be released from their scholarships if they want to transfer?

That’s all administrative decisions. I’m a coach and administrators are going to take care of all of that.

Q: Anything else?

Nope. We’re ready to rock and roll.

And then, around 3:30 p.m., Dresser met the media horde -- which consisted of three print reporters and maybe two TV cameramen.

Q: What do you know about the program and the wrestlers you’re inheriting?

Well, I know a whole lot about the program. I’ve been a Virginia Tech fan for, I guess, 18 years. Since I moved to Grundy. The wrestlers I know a little bit about. I know a lot about some of them, and some of them I don’t know anything. That’s obviously a priority or a goal here, to get to know them as well as I can before we take a break when the semester’s over.

Q: Will the transition from the high school ranks be tough?

I’m not worried about the wrestling side of it. I’ve been around wrestling for a long time and I feel I’m as knowledge as [anyone and] I have all the qualities that it’s going to take to be on the mat. Administratively, I’m going to have to learn some stuff, because the NCAA has changed quite a bit in 18 years. I’m going to have to sharpen my pen.

Q: Nice to not have to move?

It’s a big thing, because I hate moving. My wife [Penny] is probably fired up more than I am about that, but yeah, it’s nice not to have to move. I live in Riner, so when I go home to work now, I’m still going to go to Riner. It’s just going to be a different way to get to work.

Q: Who stands out among the wrestlers you’re inheriting?

There’s a lot of guys that have a lot of potential. Individually, it’s probably not fair for me to start naming names, because I haven’t seen them and some of these guys I’ll short-change. The last thing I want to do is offend any of my wrestlers right now. So I’m going to kind of avoid that question, politically, just ’til I know a little bit about them. I’m looking forward to be able to get on the mat in the next week or two, before the exams to see what we’ve got.

Q: How about the Christiansburg guys?

Those guys, along with the rest of the guys we have, we have to finish that process out. Hopefully they’ll be athletes at Virginia Tech.

Q: With the signing period opening two days ago, are you behind at all?

We’re behind the eight ball, right. We’ve got some work to do. There’s no question that we’re wounded a little bit [in] just getting out there and building relationships with prospective athletes. We’re behind the eight ball a little bit. But that’s all right. We can make up. Right now we’ve got a really good nucleus, a good team.

Q: Do you need to bring in a lot of recruits this year?

Right now we don’t need to bring in a lot of kids. We need to get some things sewed up, but we don’t need to bring in a lot of kids.

Q: And you’ll determine next week who is staying or going?

We had a little bit of adversity the last week and a half, but adversity does two things to people: It either makes you tougher or it makes you quit. And obviously Virginia Tech’s chosen to get tougher. That’s my coaching lesson today. … I respect Virginia Tech for what they’ve done. Specifically, [senior athletic administrators] Mr. [David] Chambers, Mr. [Jim] Weaver, Mr. [Jon] Jaudon have been very instrumental the last week and a half of making this thing stay on course.

Q: Will you stay involved with the Blue Demons?

Not unless I want to get fired. [laughs] No, I’m going to be a big Christiansburg fan. I always will be. It’s like, even though I competed against Grundy, I was always a Grundy fan. When I was at Christiansburg, if I couldn’t get first, I wanted Grundy to get first. And obviously I’ve got relationships at both places, so I’m going to continue to support those programs as a wrestling fan.

Q: Can you still run camps with Daryl Weber?

We’re actually okay with those. We can still do those. There’s just rules and regulations in terms of contact with prospective athletes that I just have to make sure that we’re within the rules of that.

Q: What’s the most exciting part of this for you?

Just the challenge. I know that there’s a little bit of adversity. I don’t mind adversity. You know, when I came to Christiansburg, there was 11 kids out for wrestling and seven of them had never wrestled. We’ve come a long way. So I’m here. The thing about me is my Virginia Tech gear, I’m not turning it in. You give me some time and we’re going to make a heck of a wrestling program here. It’s not going to happen overnight, but nothing good happens overnight.

Q: And they wanted someone who would be here for the long haul

I think that’s got to be attractive when you hire a guy like me. I think it’s got to be attractive to know that I’m going to be here.

Q: What can Daryl do for Christiansburg?

Daryl’ll do fine. He’s going to do great. He’s got all the skills that are needed to keep that program going. He’s going to be successful. I’m not worried about Daryl a bit. … More than anything, I think he’s ready to run his own show, and so that was probably a good step. Not that I wouldn’t be interested in hiring a guy of Daryl Weber’s quality, but I think more than anything he was ready to run his own show.

Q: What will you look for in your assistant coaches?

I’ve got a really short list and I’m getting ready to catch a plane late tonight to go to Vegas. I’m meeting with four or five people. I don’t really want, to be quite honest, to name any names yet, but I think that’s going to be the most exciting thing that’s going to happen next week. I think hopefully by next Friday I can tell you guys. We’ve got some people that have already scheduled to fly in next week. Virginia Tech wrestling is on the map nationwide. Even with the little bit of adversity, Virginia Tech wrestling is really nationwide now, so it’s not going to be hard to find a good coach to come here and help this program. I just want to make sure that we find the best one that fits weight-class-wise, that fits what I need, because I need a little bit of help administratively now, too.

Q: What’s going to be the biggest change?

Good question. Again, I still think administratively I’m going to have some issues. [Moving] from the high school to the college level, obviously the quality of the athlete, the maturity and the quality of athlete is going to be a factor. And I’ve always liked working with the real serious athletes, and obviously at the college level they’re more serious. So I’m looking forward to it. That’s going to be the biggest thing, is I think most Division I college athletes that come to Virginia Tech are pretty serious about their job – and probably their job is wrestling here. I’m looking forward to stepping up that more elite level.

Q: You’ll be at the U.S. nationals in Las Vegas, right?

The high school division is the Western Regionals and then they’ve got the open division, which is the U.S. Open to qualify for world and Olympic-team status. It’s kind of like the Final Four. Everybody that’s everybody will be out there, so it’s actually great timing for that, because when I come back, I’ll have enough names to do my search.

Q: One-stop shopping.

Exactly. I’m going to Wal-Mart. It’s the Wal-Mart of wrestling.

Q: Did you talk to Tom Brands about the job at all?

We kind of started putting all of this together Wednesday morning, the pieces of this puzzle. Tom was already gone with his athletes to Vegas, so I haven’t talked to Tom.