ATLANTA- Georgia Tech football began the final week of Fall Camp 2022 on Monday with a two-hour session in shells in some of the best weather of August so far. It was a cool and sunny morning on Rose Bowl Field and that led to a spirited practice. After practice, offensive line coach Brent Key and two of his linemen, guard Pierce Quick and center Weston Franklin spoke to the media.
Key has been rotating offensive linemen throughout camp with the first group on offense and he said that is more of a function of depth than concern in finding his five best options.
"This year with us having a little more depth. We're lucky to be in that situation that we can do that and it's not always rolling guys to see who's gonna be that that first five guys out there or what position they're going to be in a lot of times it's within practice trying to see who plays well next to each other and then also getting guys experienced playing next to each other," Key said. "So if a guy might be rolling with the second group one day, maybe it's because he's playing next to him in that grouping that day that are trying to get baked reps and have them getting used to that guy to the right and the left of them so it's kind of a two-fold situation there with getting with rolling guys."
The center position appears to be settled with Franklin there and Jordan Williams is expected to start at left or right tackle, but the other tackle spot and both guard spots are open. The tackle rotation has Corey Robinson II, Jakiah Leftwich and Wing Green all working to earn that other starting spot while the guard spot has Quick an Alabama transfer, Paul Tchio a Clemson transfer, returning part-time starter last year Paula Vaipulu and walk-on Joe Fusile in a four-man race for two starting spots. Key said that with the competition at guard and tackle, depth has finally been established where he feels comfortable playing more than just his starters in a game situation for the first time since he came back to the Flats.
"Hopefully we're at the point now where we can create some depth and it's true playing depth where you get into the season and you have an opportunity to play six, seven, or eight guys out there on the field and it's not the first time they've played next to each other," he said.
Key said the OL are understanding better why they are doing things and the outcome of that versus before they were mostly just trying learn how to do it, but struggled with the why part of it in the schemes. He said the new offense has helped there as well as a lot of attention to fundamentals and technique. When to get thicker on a block and when to get thinner for example and understanding where the RB is going or supposed to go and where the QB is setting up in the pocket on pass pro.
Key said the decision to move Jordan Williams to left tackle was to make him more of a complete player and he is going into his third year now and it is time for him to step up. He worked his tail off in the offseason to become a more complete OL. He now has reps on both sides so they are letting him work some left and some right tackle. He said he is really proud of how he has handled it, he is learning to be more of a technician and be more physical and finish plays and work the edge.
Key reminded people of the famous quote from Josh Sitton (UCF) a former player of his who moved from RT to LT in a game for the Green Bay Packers and famously said, "it’s like wiping your ass with your opposite hand." He said it is not easy but Jordan has handled it well. He said he has learned the calls and they started working on it over the summer and everything is the opposite so the calls on the right and left are very different and it just takes repetition to get down. Now he is getting there so they are letting him play a little more RT as well. Key had him talk to former Jacket Chris Brown who did the same thing in college and became a consensus All-American in 2000 at Tech. Jordan Williams and Brown apparently had a really long talk at Fan Day. He said they are starting up a mentor/mentee relationship.
I asked Key about Joe Fusile and he joked he had no idea he was a walk-on. He said they are trying to find the best five and he has asserted himself into that mix because he is what you want, a big strong guy who is smart and tough. He is extremely smart and doesn't make mistakes. He has worked himself into a position to compete for a starting job regardless of whether he is a walk-on or a 5th year player. He said his job is to find the best 5-8 guys to put on the field and right now Joe is one of them.
Key said that Quick and Tchio have adapted really well here and they both can play LG and RG. His goal is to have four guards who can play either LG or RG in a game. Tchio has been coming back from his foot injury and is ahead of schedule with that and competing. He said they have a lot of guys in there working hard and even someone like RJ Adams has had a strong camp working guard and center and he has started to show up the last few days too.
Key said with the tempo offenses it changes how the center handles things and the OL communicate because they don't have seven or eight seconds anymore once in their stance to make calls like they used to. You have to hustle to the line and get the call quick and communicate it to all of the line so they are on the same page and the OL group is getting a lot better than that and understanding how to read fronts, blitzes and LBs so they can do that fast and get the ball off.
Ken aimed to pin Key down on his thoughts on the OL overall asking him about his level of confidence in his OL playing well, Key responded, "When we put those five guys on the field in the first game, and we have the adequate backups that we know we're gonna play in that game. I have 100% confidence in those guys that we put on that field that we're gonna go to battle with and we're gonna win with this year."
Quick also spoke and he said the plan is still for him to play LG and RG and he has continued working both thought out camp so he is comfortable playing in a game at either. Quick said that will help him if he wants to play at the next level and he can even play center and tackle if needed in a game. He said he still takes some snaps with the QBs just in case there was a major emergency situation.
Quick said he has tried to change the culture in the locker room for the TEAM and bringing some of the Alabama mentality to the room. He said guys have to believe every game when they go on the field they can win and that was never in question at Alabama and he is trying to instill that here as well because that confidence carries over into how you play and perform. Part of building a culture of winning in his opinion, is having that mentality.
Quick said the offense is actually very similar to what they ran at Bama so that transition has been pretty smooth for him. He said that Key has helped refine his technique a lot though with footwork and other stuff that he was missing from his game.
Quick said despite some new faces in the OL room, the bond is really tight among that group and they are building that up with the rotation that coach Key has been using rolling different guys in different huddles. He said they still feel comfortable now when they go in with a different group.
I asked Quick if they had nicknames for Tchio and Vaipulu because they are Paul and Paula, he joked that hasn't actually come up, they just lean hard on the A in Paula and that seems to work.
Quick said that Jordan Williams is the leader in the OL room and actually Weston Franklin has spoken up a lot this year as well.
Franklin said he has embraced his new role as a leader on the OL because that is the nature of being the center and he is naturally a more reserved guy who led by example, but he understands his role is different now. He is trying to be more vocal and lead that way.
Franklin said playing a lot last year at the end of the year helped him understand so much and gave him some confidence going into the spring and now camp. He became a lot better by going through all of that last year and he thinks they have a really good group on the OL now.
Franklin said he likes what coach Key is doing with the rotation and how they roll difference guys because it has helped everybody work more as a team than having just unit A and unit B.
Franklin said that Brandon Best is really smart and he knows a lot of football. He said right now it is about him refining his technique and getting some other stuff down, but he is improving every day at center.
Frankin on his confidence in the OL this year, " I have 100% confidence in the guy beside me, beside me and behind me. We're just we're ready to get to the season and just go to work ready for it," he said.
OF NOTE:
Pretty spirited for the part we watched for the first 45 minutes or so. Some good one v one battles in the end zone. Malachi Carter had a really nice catch in the corner of the end zone over a defender. Malik Rutherford is so slippery down there as well and had some big catches. Several DBs made good plays on the ball as well including Kenny Bennett and Eric Reed Jr. two of the newcomers had PBUs.
Key has been rotating offensive linemen throughout camp with the first group on offense and he said that is more of a function of depth than concern in finding his five best options.
"This year with us having a little more depth. We're lucky to be in that situation that we can do that and it's not always rolling guys to see who's gonna be that that first five guys out there or what position they're going to be in a lot of times it's within practice trying to see who plays well next to each other and then also getting guys experienced playing next to each other," Key said. "So if a guy might be rolling with the second group one day, maybe it's because he's playing next to him in that grouping that day that are trying to get baked reps and have them getting used to that guy to the right and the left of them so it's kind of a two-fold situation there with getting with rolling guys."
The center position appears to be settled with Franklin there and Jordan Williams is expected to start at left or right tackle, but the other tackle spot and both guard spots are open. The tackle rotation has Corey Robinson II, Jakiah Leftwich and Wing Green all working to earn that other starting spot while the guard spot has Quick an Alabama transfer, Paul Tchio a Clemson transfer, returning part-time starter last year Paula Vaipulu and walk-on Joe Fusile in a four-man race for two starting spots. Key said that with the competition at guard and tackle, depth has finally been established where he feels comfortable playing more than just his starters in a game situation for the first time since he came back to the Flats.
"Hopefully we're at the point now where we can create some depth and it's true playing depth where you get into the season and you have an opportunity to play six, seven, or eight guys out there on the field and it's not the first time they've played next to each other," he said.
Key said the OL are understanding better why they are doing things and the outcome of that versus before they were mostly just trying learn how to do it, but struggled with the why part of it in the schemes. He said the new offense has helped there as well as a lot of attention to fundamentals and technique. When to get thicker on a block and when to get thinner for example and understanding where the RB is going or supposed to go and where the QB is setting up in the pocket on pass pro.
Key said the decision to move Jordan Williams to left tackle was to make him more of a complete player and he is going into his third year now and it is time for him to step up. He worked his tail off in the offseason to become a more complete OL. He now has reps on both sides so they are letting him work some left and some right tackle. He said he is really proud of how he has handled it, he is learning to be more of a technician and be more physical and finish plays and work the edge.
Key reminded people of the famous quote from Josh Sitton (UCF) a former player of his who moved from RT to LT in a game for the Green Bay Packers and famously said, "it’s like wiping your ass with your opposite hand." He said it is not easy but Jordan has handled it well. He said he has learned the calls and they started working on it over the summer and everything is the opposite so the calls on the right and left are very different and it just takes repetition to get down. Now he is getting there so they are letting him play a little more RT as well. Key had him talk to former Jacket Chris Brown who did the same thing in college and became a consensus All-American in 2000 at Tech. Jordan Williams and Brown apparently had a really long talk at Fan Day. He said they are starting up a mentor/mentee relationship.
I asked Key about Joe Fusile and he joked he had no idea he was a walk-on. He said they are trying to find the best five and he has asserted himself into that mix because he is what you want, a big strong guy who is smart and tough. He is extremely smart and doesn't make mistakes. He has worked himself into a position to compete for a starting job regardless of whether he is a walk-on or a 5th year player. He said his job is to find the best 5-8 guys to put on the field and right now Joe is one of them.
Key said that Quick and Tchio have adapted really well here and they both can play LG and RG. His goal is to have four guards who can play either LG or RG in a game. Tchio has been coming back from his foot injury and is ahead of schedule with that and competing. He said they have a lot of guys in there working hard and even someone like RJ Adams has had a strong camp working guard and center and he has started to show up the last few days too.
Key said with the tempo offenses it changes how the center handles things and the OL communicate because they don't have seven or eight seconds anymore once in their stance to make calls like they used to. You have to hustle to the line and get the call quick and communicate it to all of the line so they are on the same page and the OL group is getting a lot better than that and understanding how to read fronts, blitzes and LBs so they can do that fast and get the ball off.
Ken aimed to pin Key down on his thoughts on the OL overall asking him about his level of confidence in his OL playing well, Key responded, "When we put those five guys on the field in the first game, and we have the adequate backups that we know we're gonna play in that game. I have 100% confidence in those guys that we put on that field that we're gonna go to battle with and we're gonna win with this year."
Quick also spoke and he said the plan is still for him to play LG and RG and he has continued working both thought out camp so he is comfortable playing in a game at either. Quick said that will help him if he wants to play at the next level and he can even play center and tackle if needed in a game. He said he still takes some snaps with the QBs just in case there was a major emergency situation.
Quick said he has tried to change the culture in the locker room for the TEAM and bringing some of the Alabama mentality to the room. He said guys have to believe every game when they go on the field they can win and that was never in question at Alabama and he is trying to instill that here as well because that confidence carries over into how you play and perform. Part of building a culture of winning in his opinion, is having that mentality.
Quick said the offense is actually very similar to what they ran at Bama so that transition has been pretty smooth for him. He said that Key has helped refine his technique a lot though with footwork and other stuff that he was missing from his game.
Quick said despite some new faces in the OL room, the bond is really tight among that group and they are building that up with the rotation that coach Key has been using rolling different guys in different huddles. He said they still feel comfortable now when they go in with a different group.
I asked Quick if they had nicknames for Tchio and Vaipulu because they are Paul and Paula, he joked that hasn't actually come up, they just lean hard on the A in Paula and that seems to work.
Quick said that Jordan Williams is the leader in the OL room and actually Weston Franklin has spoken up a lot this year as well.
Franklin said he has embraced his new role as a leader on the OL because that is the nature of being the center and he is naturally a more reserved guy who led by example, but he understands his role is different now. He is trying to be more vocal and lead that way.
Franklin said playing a lot last year at the end of the year helped him understand so much and gave him some confidence going into the spring and now camp. He became a lot better by going through all of that last year and he thinks they have a really good group on the OL now.
Franklin said he likes what coach Key is doing with the rotation and how they roll difference guys because it has helped everybody work more as a team than having just unit A and unit B.
Franklin said that Brandon Best is really smart and he knows a lot of football. He said right now it is about him refining his technique and getting some other stuff down, but he is improving every day at center.
Frankin on his confidence in the OL this year, " I have 100% confidence in the guy beside me, beside me and behind me. We're just we're ready to get to the season and just go to work ready for it," he said.
OF NOTE:
Pretty spirited for the part we watched for the first 45 minutes or so. Some good one v one battles in the end zone. Malachi Carter had a really nice catch in the corner of the end zone over a defender. Malik Rutherford is so slippery down there as well and had some big catches. Several DBs made good plays on the ball as well including Kenny Bennett and Eric Reed Jr. two of the newcomers had PBUs.
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