Georgia Tech football continued preparing for the annual spring game with practice on Thursday just eight days away from the annual spring game on April 13th in Bobby Dodd Stadium. After practice the defensive line took the spotlight with the first media appearances by new defensive line coach Jess Simpson and edge/outside linebacker coach Kyle Pope as well as veteran defensive linemen Zeek Biggers, Kevin Harris, and Makius Scott taking questions.
Simpson who was the first hire on the defensive side of the ball Key made in the offseason even before hiring defensive coordinator Tyler Santucci explained his decision to join the Yellow Jackets' program.
"There are a lot of reasons why I wanted to come to Georgia Tech starting with this place. This is a special place. One is the opportunities that guys I have known my whole life and what Georgia Tech has done for them that came here and were able to get a degree. Certainly growing up just up the road from here, I was well aware of this institution. This degree, this football program and the tradition here is very special and goes way back," Simpson said. "Coach Key and his vision and the excitement he is creating being a Georgia Tech man, anytime a place has one of their own people seem more excited and more invested. You can feel the energy. The arrow is up and this place is doing football right."
Also it was a personal thing for Simpson, a Georgia native to return home and be close to family after working at Duke or Miami in recent years around his stint with the Atlanta Falcons.
"What's really special on top of this is I was born and raised in Marietta, Georgia. I spent most of my coaching life here in the state of Georgia as a high school coach, I spent three years with the Falcons here in Atlanta as well. I've been down in Florida for a little bit and in North Carolina, but getting to come back home, I have four kids, they are all within in 20 minutes to an hour of here. I've got a new grandbaby in January up in Duluth and my mom in in Marietta now and being able to help her and take care of her, for me professional and personal reasons this is a no-brainer for me and my family," he said.
Simpson was very cool and I can see why the kids love him. He said that he is the luckiest guy in the world because he gets to roll out of bed every day and do what he loves, teaching ball and coaching young men. They are hungry to build relationships and to grow. He said he asked for a leap of faith from the young men to trust him and trust is consistency over time and as a leader, husband, man, teach, he wanted to pour what he has into them and their response has been great and the relationship is growing with each young man in his room.
Simpsons said that Zeek, Horace and Makius Scott have been the bell cows of the DT room even with Horace being a little younger. They are growing every day and fighting complacency and they are not satisfied with where they are at. They are smart kids who care about football and he is excited about where they are going with the process.
Simpson said on the recruiting front, he understands what he is selling at Georgia Tech and the type of young men he is looking for. He joked he is just an old HS D-line coach working at this level who is lucky enough to coach at GT now and he is very honest with everyone he deals with and those relationships have led to some success on the recruiting trail.
Simpson said that Scott has been a bell cow inside this spring for them and he is 290 pounds with position flexibility to play the nose, three-tech or five-tech (DE) on first and second downs. He said his greatest value right now is inside and he has done a really good job. Simpson said he recruited Scott out of HS at Miami and then he was a ball boy for the Falcons when he was there and he got to know him really well during summer training camps there. He said it is incredible to reconnect with him.
Simpson said the DTs are all crosstrained for 3-tech and he wants them to know both positions and he also gives them reps at DE or Rush to get to experience that so they have an understanding of how the whole D-line works and he will move DEs inside for a rack and that helps the togetherness of the D-line room. He said the football knowledge rises from that like I am an inside shade or an outside shade or I'm playing head up, backfield sets, tight end alignments and I'm expecting these blocks, he said that the best players in the world make great plays because they know and when you can look at the big picture of what is in front of you and get a vision of what will happen before the snap, then you can make plays. That is something he is trying to develop this spring and summer. The roles will tighten up closer to the season.
I asked him about Ayo Tifase and he said he is very raw, but has some really tools and real power. When he goes you feel him and right now it is about him learning what to do and how to be consistent with what you do.
Coach Pope said that his connection with Key obviously came from working together at Bama and they had a really good relationship there and that gave him something to build upon when Coach Key wanted to bring him in. He is very excited about working him again and getting Georgia Tech going again.
Pope said he is excited to work with Kevin Harris and he is working hard and has the natural athletic ability you look for in a rush and he wants to get the most out of his ability. He said he is very coachable and wants to learn and he is able to lean on him and he has done well so far.
Pope said his philosophy as a coach is keeping it simple, fast and violent. That is how they attack the field every day and when you turn on the film and see the guys coming off the edge you want to say they play fast and play violent and that is the mantra.
Pope said he is excited about his DE/OLB group and they love to work and love to be pushed and he is blessed to be the guy working with them.
Pope said they haven't looked at moving anyone else over to OLB/Rush, they have Harris, Jordan Boyd and Jacob Cruz on the scholarship side as pure rush/OLB types plus the other DEs that can flex over.
Pope said Jordan Boyd shows a lot of flashes and you look at his GPS numbers and you can forget that he should be in a HS math class right now and not on a college football practice field. He has a lot of potential and a very nice future ahead of him, but he is still a kid and makes new guy mistakes, but the effort is there and he has the willingness to learn to make up for that.
Pope said the chemistry with Coach Simpson is great and Pope has coached the whole D-line in the past and it has been a lot of fun with Simpson having the inside and him having the ends/edge guys because they can work together and he can learn from him. They are like-minded and both have the same outcome in mind for guys to be the best they can be. He has enjoyed working with Simpson every day.
Pope said he likes the end position guys like Eddie Kelly for example, all of them are hungry and determined and he likes the whole front of the D-line right now and it is a great group and they've got some flexilbity with the D-line and some ideas going into the summer now.
Simpson who was the first hire on the defensive side of the ball Key made in the offseason even before hiring defensive coordinator Tyler Santucci explained his decision to join the Yellow Jackets' program.
"There are a lot of reasons why I wanted to come to Georgia Tech starting with this place. This is a special place. One is the opportunities that guys I have known my whole life and what Georgia Tech has done for them that came here and were able to get a degree. Certainly growing up just up the road from here, I was well aware of this institution. This degree, this football program and the tradition here is very special and goes way back," Simpson said. "Coach Key and his vision and the excitement he is creating being a Georgia Tech man, anytime a place has one of their own people seem more excited and more invested. You can feel the energy. The arrow is up and this place is doing football right."
Also it was a personal thing for Simpson, a Georgia native to return home and be close to family after working at Duke or Miami in recent years around his stint with the Atlanta Falcons.
"What's really special on top of this is I was born and raised in Marietta, Georgia. I spent most of my coaching life here in the state of Georgia as a high school coach, I spent three years with the Falcons here in Atlanta as well. I've been down in Florida for a little bit and in North Carolina, but getting to come back home, I have four kids, they are all within in 20 minutes to an hour of here. I've got a new grandbaby in January up in Duluth and my mom in in Marietta now and being able to help her and take care of her, for me professional and personal reasons this is a no-brainer for me and my family," he said.
Simpson was very cool and I can see why the kids love him. He said that he is the luckiest guy in the world because he gets to roll out of bed every day and do what he loves, teaching ball and coaching young men. They are hungry to build relationships and to grow. He said he asked for a leap of faith from the young men to trust him and trust is consistency over time and as a leader, husband, man, teach, he wanted to pour what he has into them and their response has been great and the relationship is growing with each young man in his room.
Simpsons said that Zeek, Horace and Makius Scott have been the bell cows of the DT room even with Horace being a little younger. They are growing every day and fighting complacency and they are not satisfied with where they are at. They are smart kids who care about football and he is excited about where they are going with the process.
Simpson said on the recruiting front, he understands what he is selling at Georgia Tech and the type of young men he is looking for. He joked he is just an old HS D-line coach working at this level who is lucky enough to coach at GT now and he is very honest with everyone he deals with and those relationships have led to some success on the recruiting trail.
Simpson said that Scott has been a bell cow inside this spring for them and he is 290 pounds with position flexibility to play the nose, three-tech or five-tech (DE) on first and second downs. He said his greatest value right now is inside and he has done a really good job. Simpson said he recruited Scott out of HS at Miami and then he was a ball boy for the Falcons when he was there and he got to know him really well during summer training camps there. He said it is incredible to reconnect with him.
Simpson said the DTs are all crosstrained for 3-tech and he wants them to know both positions and he also gives them reps at DE or Rush to get to experience that so they have an understanding of how the whole D-line works and he will move DEs inside for a rack and that helps the togetherness of the D-line room. He said the football knowledge rises from that like I am an inside shade or an outside shade or I'm playing head up, backfield sets, tight end alignments and I'm expecting these blocks, he said that the best players in the world make great plays because they know and when you can look at the big picture of what is in front of you and get a vision of what will happen before the snap, then you can make plays. That is something he is trying to develop this spring and summer. The roles will tighten up closer to the season.
I asked him about Ayo Tifase and he said he is very raw, but has some really tools and real power. When he goes you feel him and right now it is about him learning what to do and how to be consistent with what you do.
Coach Pope said that his connection with Key obviously came from working together at Bama and they had a really good relationship there and that gave him something to build upon when Coach Key wanted to bring him in. He is very excited about working him again and getting Georgia Tech going again.
Pope said he is excited to work with Kevin Harris and he is working hard and has the natural athletic ability you look for in a rush and he wants to get the most out of his ability. He said he is very coachable and wants to learn and he is able to lean on him and he has done well so far.
Pope said his philosophy as a coach is keeping it simple, fast and violent. That is how they attack the field every day and when you turn on the film and see the guys coming off the edge you want to say they play fast and play violent and that is the mantra.
Pope said he is excited about his DE/OLB group and they love to work and love to be pushed and he is blessed to be the guy working with them.
Pope said they haven't looked at moving anyone else over to OLB/Rush, they have Harris, Jordan Boyd and Jacob Cruz on the scholarship side as pure rush/OLB types plus the other DEs that can flex over.
Pope said Jordan Boyd shows a lot of flashes and you look at his GPS numbers and you can forget that he should be in a HS math class right now and not on a college football practice field. He has a lot of potential and a very nice future ahead of him, but he is still a kid and makes new guy mistakes, but the effort is there and he has the willingness to learn to make up for that.
Pope said the chemistry with Coach Simpson is great and Pope has coached the whole D-line in the past and it has been a lot of fun with Simpson having the inside and him having the ends/edge guys because they can work together and he can learn from him. They are like-minded and both have the same outcome in mind for guys to be the best they can be. He has enjoyed working with Simpson every day.
Pope said he likes the end position guys like Eddie Kelly for example, all of them are hungry and determined and he likes the whole front of the D-line right now and it is a great group and they've got some flexilbity with the D-line and some ideas going into the summer now.
