Now that I've finally got some sleep under my belt and I was able to catch up on some business things I had to square away (more to come on that soon) I can give you some updates and highlights from the ACC Kickoff.
I had a couple of nice private conversations with coach Collins but I'll focus this on what was said in the media room.
He got asked about the portal and if they target SEC kids and he said that isn't a priority but they do lean toward guys who the staff had a prior relationship to whether that was GT recruiting the kid or a specific staffer at another job so they have a better idea about fit and personality. He said they tend to focus the portal work on a 5 1/2 hour radius around Atlanta (basically driving distance) and those are the kids who seem to want to be in Atlanta the most.
Collins said that Hassan Hall and Dylan McDuffie were both big pickups for GT along with the four OL transfers (Quick, Tchio, Robinson and Adams).
Collins said that Jeff Sims is trying to harness his tremendous talent and has been working hard with Coach Weinke and coach Long in the offseason to learn everything and also improve as a leader. Collins said he is excited to see Sims take that next step.
Collins said opening with Clemson in the Benz has narrowed the focus through the entire offseason for everyone because the Tigers are a great team and it is a huge challenge but they showed last year what they could do if they play well against them.
Collins said adding David Turner to the staff has been big on the defensive side along with coach Tillman and Collins himself has been more involved in the various actual coaching periods defensively like blitz drills and tackling. He said he thinks Tillman has done a good job unifying the secondary so they play better together because that was a major issue in the past.
Collins said adding coach Semore for LBs has helped because he knows the system really well and his coaching style fits in and he got that extra experience of being a DC at VSU so he brings a little more to the table now.
Collins said that Keion White is the guy they are really excited about on D, he played last year briefly though he was far below 100 percent and he is a dynamic playmaker and he brings seriousness to the locker room.
Collins said that Zamari Walton doesn't get enough appreciation for the job he has done the last three years for them and he is a big guy in the locker room and with chemistry in the secondary and he has grown a lot as a man and matured into a leadership role.
Collins said that Taisun Phommachanh has done a good job learning since arriving on campus and he is a tremendous athlete and a great locker room guy who works hard.
Collins said the relationship with the 4 scholarship QBs has been really strong so far. Collins said that Weinke has been pleased with how they are growing together as a unit and progressing.
Collins said the biggest difference offensively will be personnel groupings and how much they use the TEs and use multiple TEs in different roles now. He said that Long's offense uses the groupings to confuse defenses and it is very simple for GT's players but hard for opposing defenses to get lined up and set against because they have a bunch of different calls all within different situations. He thinks the new offense is a positive marriage for GT with the personnel and what they want to run.
Collins said this team is a little less on the big personalities and a little more workmen-like overall, he said the kids have a chip on their shoulder from all of the losing and he feels like the tough times has galvanized them and led to more focus and he is trying to get them to build on that for the upcoming season.
Collins said having Chip be the TE coach and not the QB coach has been helpful because Weinke can get into the weeds with the QBs and work on the fine details of everything and Chip can look at the big picture and how to execute his plan with the pieces they have rather than worrying about Jeff Sims' footwork for example.
Collins said the new transfers have come in hungry to play good ball and the returning players are hungry for that as well and the relationships within the team and how they work within the process has been very exciting to watch.
Collins said one of the biggest guys to watch coming off an injury is Leo Blackburn and they are really excited about what he can do in this offense this year. He also said the same can be said on defense about Keion White too. He said that Keion is around 280 and he is putting up crazy numbers running on the catapult system at that size and has his explosiveness back that was on the tape at ODU that they recruited him off of.
The special teams staff breakdown:
Jason Semore- kickoff and punt
Mike Daniels- kickoff and punt return
Brent Key- FG/PAT
Collins said there are some young guys on D at LB and NB he is excited to see this fall like Trenilyas Tatum, Tyson Meiguez, Khatavian Franks, and then Kaleb Edwards at nickel.
I asked Geoff how he keeps a positive mindset with so much noise around him about his fate and the program's standing nationally right now after three 3-win seasons.
"I just have the belief system that I have internally. And then just a belief and I get to see how these guys work on a daily basis. How they come into the building, how dialed in they are. What an edge they have a chip on their shoulder. And, you know, it's very process driven. And you know, a lot of times when you are so process driven if the results aren't showing, it's very easy to get discouraged. But I think we've got a group of guys that are committed to knowing that we are finding every single way that we can to make the product on the field on game days, the best that it can possibly be, and to continue to elevate day in and day out so that we can do that. And I think we're you know, surrounded by Grunch a bunch of great guys that are committed to that and I'm fired up to work with them."
I asked about the inability to put back-to-back great games together as well so far like Pitt after UNC for example.
" think there's a lot a lot of factors that come into that. But one of the things the leadership the maturity the experiences that some of our guys have been through your the ups and downs and seeing where the shortcomings have come and why they came because we're not shy to talk about it internally. Why those shortcomings happened how can we fix those things moving forward? And I think one of the biggest examples is Charlie Thomas, and Charlie Thomas. You guys know Charlie has been here for a while. Just the growth and maturity and development of him. He's turned into one of the best leaders in the program, and just excited to see Dontae Smith, who's right over there, how he's grown, how he's matured, and having those lessons imparted on the young talent that we've been able to get on the roster. So those common experiences at times have been very painful, but not letting those painful experiences go to waste and trying to find a way to learn from them and take the next step forward so we can play really good ball and in times that there is some adversity, how can we snap out of it and get the result that we want to make all the Tech fans proud and happy and all those kinds of things."
On Weinke's work with Jeff Sims and Sims' progress so far
"I think he's done a tremendous job with tying in his footwork and his arms and his eyes and all of those kinds of things. The leadership piece, the bonds that Jeff has made, not just with the offense, but with the entire team. You know, he's one of the best leaders and best players that we have in the program, and just excited for him to take that next step. He wants to take that we want him to take and I know he's committed to doing it. "
He said that SIms has the talent and has worked to learn the new system and having the OTAs this offseason helped him a lot because he got extra work with Weinke and Long, but it also comes down to the will to be great and Jeff has that within him, he is really pouring himself into learning and becoming a great player.
Collins said that E.J. Jenkins is an absolute freaky looking guy at 6"7" 245 pounds as an outside receiver and they are really excited about what he can do on the field. He has come in with a very strong work ethic as well so he can get himself to the next level.
I had a couple of nice private conversations with coach Collins but I'll focus this on what was said in the media room.
He got asked about the portal and if they target SEC kids and he said that isn't a priority but they do lean toward guys who the staff had a prior relationship to whether that was GT recruiting the kid or a specific staffer at another job so they have a better idea about fit and personality. He said they tend to focus the portal work on a 5 1/2 hour radius around Atlanta (basically driving distance) and those are the kids who seem to want to be in Atlanta the most.
Collins said that Hassan Hall and Dylan McDuffie were both big pickups for GT along with the four OL transfers (Quick, Tchio, Robinson and Adams).
Collins said that Jeff Sims is trying to harness his tremendous talent and has been working hard with Coach Weinke and coach Long in the offseason to learn everything and also improve as a leader. Collins said he is excited to see Sims take that next step.
Collins said opening with Clemson in the Benz has narrowed the focus through the entire offseason for everyone because the Tigers are a great team and it is a huge challenge but they showed last year what they could do if they play well against them.
Collins said adding David Turner to the staff has been big on the defensive side along with coach Tillman and Collins himself has been more involved in the various actual coaching periods defensively like blitz drills and tackling. He said he thinks Tillman has done a good job unifying the secondary so they play better together because that was a major issue in the past.
Collins said adding coach Semore for LBs has helped because he knows the system really well and his coaching style fits in and he got that extra experience of being a DC at VSU so he brings a little more to the table now.
Collins said that Keion White is the guy they are really excited about on D, he played last year briefly though he was far below 100 percent and he is a dynamic playmaker and he brings seriousness to the locker room.
Collins said that Zamari Walton doesn't get enough appreciation for the job he has done the last three years for them and he is a big guy in the locker room and with chemistry in the secondary and he has grown a lot as a man and matured into a leadership role.
Collins said that Taisun Phommachanh has done a good job learning since arriving on campus and he is a tremendous athlete and a great locker room guy who works hard.
Collins said the relationship with the 4 scholarship QBs has been really strong so far. Collins said that Weinke has been pleased with how they are growing together as a unit and progressing.
Collins said the biggest difference offensively will be personnel groupings and how much they use the TEs and use multiple TEs in different roles now. He said that Long's offense uses the groupings to confuse defenses and it is very simple for GT's players but hard for opposing defenses to get lined up and set against because they have a bunch of different calls all within different situations. He thinks the new offense is a positive marriage for GT with the personnel and what they want to run.
Collins said this team is a little less on the big personalities and a little more workmen-like overall, he said the kids have a chip on their shoulder from all of the losing and he feels like the tough times has galvanized them and led to more focus and he is trying to get them to build on that for the upcoming season.
Collins said having Chip be the TE coach and not the QB coach has been helpful because Weinke can get into the weeds with the QBs and work on the fine details of everything and Chip can look at the big picture and how to execute his plan with the pieces they have rather than worrying about Jeff Sims' footwork for example.
Collins said the new transfers have come in hungry to play good ball and the returning players are hungry for that as well and the relationships within the team and how they work within the process has been very exciting to watch.
Collins said one of the biggest guys to watch coming off an injury is Leo Blackburn and they are really excited about what he can do in this offense this year. He also said the same can be said on defense about Keion White too. He said that Keion is around 280 and he is putting up crazy numbers running on the catapult system at that size and has his explosiveness back that was on the tape at ODU that they recruited him off of.
The special teams staff breakdown:
Jason Semore- kickoff and punt
Mike Daniels- kickoff and punt return
Brent Key- FG/PAT
Collins said there are some young guys on D at LB and NB he is excited to see this fall like Trenilyas Tatum, Tyson Meiguez, Khatavian Franks, and then Kaleb Edwards at nickel.
I asked Geoff how he keeps a positive mindset with so much noise around him about his fate and the program's standing nationally right now after three 3-win seasons.
"I just have the belief system that I have internally. And then just a belief and I get to see how these guys work on a daily basis. How they come into the building, how dialed in they are. What an edge they have a chip on their shoulder. And, you know, it's very process driven. And you know, a lot of times when you are so process driven if the results aren't showing, it's very easy to get discouraged. But I think we've got a group of guys that are committed to knowing that we are finding every single way that we can to make the product on the field on game days, the best that it can possibly be, and to continue to elevate day in and day out so that we can do that. And I think we're you know, surrounded by Grunch a bunch of great guys that are committed to that and I'm fired up to work with them."
I asked about the inability to put back-to-back great games together as well so far like Pitt after UNC for example.
" think there's a lot a lot of factors that come into that. But one of the things the leadership the maturity the experiences that some of our guys have been through your the ups and downs and seeing where the shortcomings have come and why they came because we're not shy to talk about it internally. Why those shortcomings happened how can we fix those things moving forward? And I think one of the biggest examples is Charlie Thomas, and Charlie Thomas. You guys know Charlie has been here for a while. Just the growth and maturity and development of him. He's turned into one of the best leaders in the program, and just excited to see Dontae Smith, who's right over there, how he's grown, how he's matured, and having those lessons imparted on the young talent that we've been able to get on the roster. So those common experiences at times have been very painful, but not letting those painful experiences go to waste and trying to find a way to learn from them and take the next step forward so we can play really good ball and in times that there is some adversity, how can we snap out of it and get the result that we want to make all the Tech fans proud and happy and all those kinds of things."
On Weinke's work with Jeff Sims and Sims' progress so far
"I think he's done a tremendous job with tying in his footwork and his arms and his eyes and all of those kinds of things. The leadership piece, the bonds that Jeff has made, not just with the offense, but with the entire team. You know, he's one of the best leaders and best players that we have in the program, and just excited for him to take that next step. He wants to take that we want him to take and I know he's committed to doing it. "
He said that SIms has the talent and has worked to learn the new system and having the OTAs this offseason helped him a lot because he got extra work with Weinke and Long, but it also comes down to the will to be great and Jeff has that within him, he is really pouring himself into learning and becoming a great player.
Collins said that E.J. Jenkins is an absolute freaky looking guy at 6"7" 245 pounds as an outside receiver and they are really excited about what he can do on the field. He has come in with a very strong work ethic as well so he can get himself to the next level.
