If Shittah Sillah can stay healthy this season, his name will quickly become a household one for ACC followers.

Sillah looks like he could start in the NFL right now. He - like a bunch of others on this defense - are athletic freaks who would be cheat code=types in Madden games. The only problem for Sillah and others is that they haven't been able to stay on the field.

Still, he's fought for two tough years and now, he's ready to show the world just how good he is. Sillah explained how his season ended so quickly a year ago, a moment that came as a real surprise to him a day later.

"The second or third quarter of the Rutgers game, game one, I went inside on a snap. I jammed the tackle, it was kind of a fluke injury," he explained following practice on Monday. "My shoulder kind of got a little out of place, but I thought it was just a stinger, you know what I mean? I was coming back from the injury, so I finished out the game and the next day it didn't feel right. I went to the trainer's, tried to work it through and then I got the diagnosis."

It's obviously been a tough road back, but it's all been worth it now that he's back with his teammates.

"I'm definitely excited," Sillah said. "It was a long recovery process, kind of like the first one. But, I worked my way back and I'm just excited for this year."

Part of the reason he's so excited is because of the energy shift inside the walls of Alumni Stadium and Fish Field House every day. Between numerous guys returning from injury like himself, new additions to the team and changes on the staff, the entire program feels reinvigorated.

"Yeah, I definitely feel the energy," he said. "It's up-tempo, guys are more energetic, communicating a lot more. It's just a different feel, you know what I mean? I'm excited for the season, getting ready to go."

With Sillah and Donovan Ezeiruaku on each end, ACC offensive linemen are going to have their hands full dealing with two specimens on the outside this year.

"Don's is a really impressive young guy," Sillah added. "Stepping up into a leadership role, he played a phenomenal season last year. I'm just excited to rush with a guy like that. He's going to get double teams, I'm going to get singles and obviously that's going to work back and forth. Just got to take advantages of our opportunities."

While much has been made about the staff changes across the board, defensively, things haven't changed much, which is just another reason for Sillah's excitement level to be as high as it is.

"It's kind of the same thing scheme wise. Most of the stuff...we're running a little bit of the same stuff, but it's just cool to have two guys that have really good knowledge working out there, teaching us new stuff. Just getting ready to attack this year."

Through all the ups and downs both personally and as a member of the team, Sillah has grown immensely and he can't wait to be making a difference again.

"It's been a tough process going through two injuries back-to-back, but I'm definitely excited to get out there, help this team and eventually win an ACC Championship. That's the main goal."