I talked to Brookville’s Zack McCray today after his signing day ceremony at school. I gave him a hard time for being the last Tech player to sign his letter of intent. He laughed it off. School was out today, and they scheduled the ceremony later to account for the bad weather.

Here’s a Q&A. I’ll have a story on McCray’s signing in tomorrow’s News & Advance.

ON BEING THE LAST PLAYER IN TECH’S CLASS TO SIGN: I wanted to get it done as soon as possible. I didn’t really know what time we were going to do it. I just got back two days ago. It was hectic, and I came over here and they said 1 o’clock, and I was like, ‘Alright, sounds good to me.’ … I had to let coach (Bryan) Stinespring know. He was like, ‘1 o’clock? You sure you’re not going to do it in the morning. I was like, ‘Yeah, it’s 1 o’clock.’

DID STINEY TRY TO CONVINCE YOU TO DO IT EARLIER? He didn’t try to convince me, but he was like, ‘Ooh, 1 o’clock, huh?’

WHO FROM TECH HAVE YOU TALKED TO THIS MORNING? I talked to Jerome Lewis, and he said he had his interview and that went well, and then I talked to some of my other teammates.

IS STINEY THE ONLY COACH YOU TALKED TO TODAY? Yeah, he’s the only coach.

WHEN JASON WORILDS DECLARED FOR THE DRAFT, IT OPENED A DOOR FOR EVERYBODY AT DE, WERE YOU THINKING HERE’S MY CHANCE? It kind of blew my mind, because I didn’t think that was going to happen. I at least thought I would go in there and maybe redshirt a year and learn behind Jason. Then he declared for the draft, and I got a call, ‘Zack, you’ve got to be ready to come in here and compete for a position as soon as you get here.’ That’s what I’ve been doing, trying to prepare and work hard so I can come in and compete.

WHAT DOES THAT DO TO YOU PREPARATION-WISE, HOW DOES IT CHANGE HOW YOU APPROACH FIRST SEASON? I was trying to get ready the whole time, but that just kind of pumped me up a little bit more, knowing that I have a chance to go in there and compete for playing time right away and know that if I do good, I’ll be on the field as a freshman.

YOU HAD SOME PEOPLE AT TECH CALLING YOU TO TELL YOU TO BE READY? I’ve talked to some of the players, and I’ve talked to the coaches. I’ve talked to coach Beamer, and they all said the same thing, to be ready to come in and compete.

SINCE WORILDS DECLARED, HAS THAT MADE YOU PREPARE HARDER? Oh yeah. I’m lifting every day, study every day and just push myself every day to make sure I’m in shape if not a little bit better shape than other people. That way I can have an edge coming in.

WOULD YOU BE SURPRISED TO BE ON THE FIELD PLAYING ON LABOR DAY AGAINST BOISE? I don’t know. It would be surreal. I’d love to do it. If I’m ready, I’ll play. If not, I’ll take a redshirt. It’s just kind of how they see fit. I’d love to keep working hard and busting my tail to get there. If it doesn’t happen, that’s just God’s way of saying something else.

YOU SAID EARLIER YOU THOUGHT THERE’D BE AN OPPORTUNITY TO PLAY EARLY IN YOUR CAREER AT TECH, DID YOU THINK IT WOULD POSSIBLY COME THIS QUICKLY? Before the season, I thought Jason would have a giant breakout year or some freak of nature act could happen to put me in the position where I could have twice the early playing time or something like or maybe come in after a redshirt year and play, but him leaving threw a whole other twist in there, but it kind of played in my favor as far as playing time. I was kind of hoping I would get to play with him for a year, and with his experience that would help me a lot.

DID YOU PRETTY MUCH THINK YOU WOULD HAVE A YEAR BEHIND WORILDS? Yeah, I was 100 percent sure that was going to happen. I thought I might get some playing time but most likely redshirt while I was sitting behind him waiting.

ON POSSIBILTY OF BEING A PART OF A PART OF A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM: Tech’s been on the rise for two or three years, and I think we’re going to be a national championship contender the next few years. With the recruits that we had and the potential we have, the sky’s the limit and to be a part of that is something different. I don’t want to go to a program that is already No. 1 and just be there. I want to build something and be able to start from the ground up.

KYLE RENFRO (BROOKVILLE SOCCER PLAYER) AND YOU GOING TO TECH TOGETHER: Yeah, Kyle’s my boy. I’ve known him since kindergarten. We played basketball and soccer together when we were little.

HOW COOL IS THAT, GROWING UP TOGETHER AND NOW GOING TO COLLEGE TOGETHER? It’s crazy. Me and Kyle have been pretty good friends for a while, and it’s kind of surreal that me, him and Logan are all going to Virginia Tech to play sports. It’s kind of been a lifelong dream for all of us. To see that happen is special.

LATE SIGNING, ARE YOU NORMALLY FASHIONABLY LATE? Um, not normally. I think some of the fans thought I’d commit a lot earlier than I did. I did wait a little bit on that on purpose just to poke a little fun, but normally when it comes to big stuff like this, I’m not one to wait. I didn’t have any input on what time we did this. … School being cancelled pushed it back.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING SPECIFICALLY TO PREPARE YOURSELF FOR POSSIBLE PLAYING TIME? I go back and watch some of the Tech film. In the weight room, it’s just a whole other level. When I go lifting, I have workout books, and I look at that, but now that I know there’s a chance I might be playing, it’s a lot harder, a lot more weight on the bars.

DID YOU TALK TO LOGAN THOMAS (TECH QB AND MCCRAY’S COUSIN) TODAY? I called him today. Of course, he never answers my calls. I talked to him yesterday, and he said, ‘Just take your time. You’ll be up here before you know it, and I can’t wait to get you up here.’

EXCITED ABOUT PLAYING WITH HIM AGAIN? I can’t wait. He’s like my brother. We talk all the time. Him not being him, I kind of lost one of my best friends with him being gone. I can’t wait to go up there and be with him.

NO QUESTION YOU’RE GOING TO PLAY END? Oh yeah, most definitely. I want to play end. That’s what they recruited me for. Other schools were like, ‘You might play end. You might play tight end. You might play linebacker.’

FIRST TIME TECH CONTACTED YOU, NO QUESTION YOU’D PLAY DEFENSIVE END? I came to camp as a defensive end, and they were like, ‘It’s defensive end and nothing but defensive end.’

NO INTEREST IN PLAYING TIGHT END AT COLLEGE LEVEL? If I had to, if they needed me to play tight end, I would play it. Defense is my more natural position. I like defense.

PLAYED TIGHT END, DEFENSIVE END, LEFT TACKLE THIS YEAR, ANYTHING ELSE IN YOUR CAREER? Receiver, in middle school I played fullback, little league I played quarterback, I played running back. I played virtually everything.

WHEN DID YOU KNOW DEFENSIVE END WAS NATURAL POSITION? Last year. Beginning of high school, my freshman and sophomore years, I thought I was going to be a tight end, just because … My dad’s best friend played professional football for the Ravens and teams like that, Eric Green, and I always just kind of thought I had the size and frame to be a tight end, but then I thought, ‘Maybe I should try defense.’ At the end of my sophomore year, I played a little bit of defense, maybe the last two games, and the first game I got in there I had two sacks right away and forced an interception, and right after that, I think my first offer, Virginia offered me to play tight end, and then I had offers from West Virginia and Wake Forest to play defensive end. My highlight film was maybe six plays. They were just like, ‘You have the gift of getting off the ball and getting around people,’ and I really didn’t know. Then I started going to summer camps and thought, ‘Maybe I’ll try to play defensive end,’ and then I started getting offers to play defensive end. Then I had 20 sacks my junior year, and I was like, ‘That’s what it is, defensive end.’ I love it.

SACK OR BIG PLAY ON DEFENSE FEEL DIFFERENT THAN OFFENSE? Offense feels more like a job to me.

ON PLAYING FOR BUD FOSTER: That’s probably one of the big reasons I committed to Tech is to play for Bud Foster. Coach Foster is a defensive genius. He just finds ways to beat people on defense. He makes the defense score more than the offense in some games. It’s definitely a great thing to be able to play for a guy like that on defense. He knows everything about it.

HE’S PRETTY INTENSE, READY FOR THAT: I like that. When people get in my face, it just motivates me more. I’m not the person who’s going to break down. You’re not going to see my actions change. I’ll be the same person if someone flips out on me or if somebody talks sweet to me.

GOING TO BOTH SUMMER SESSIONS: I’m going there July 3, I think.

HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO STUDY: Business.