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FOOTBALL
Got some information on different groups, so here is what I've gathered through multiple sources.
Overall no one expects a last-place finish in the ACC. It is somewhat laughable to all involved both current and former GT coaches. Everyone I've talked to has the same read on it that I've been saying, the team will be better than outsiders think and they should be a bowl team somewhere in the 5-8 wins range regular season wise. Aside from Clemson, UGA and the Citadel every game will be a toss-up. Folks are just overly buying the change in offense mantra and underselling the quality of the players. CGC and his staff were very pleasantly surprised by how talented and deep the roster was at most positions aside from the obvious areas like TE and OL that were not really transferable skill wise.
On the QB situation, the staff are very pleased with how Lucas Johnson has developed and the fit is very good for him. He goes into camp as the #1 QB, #2 is Tobias Oliver who will have a role this fall. My sources say the staff think he is electric with the ball in his hand, can throw it well-enough and just needs to get a better grasp of the passing routes. That brings me to James Graham, everyone asks about his academics, my sources tell me he had a tremendous spring academically and they are hopeful for his future. A lot of credit goes to Graham for buckling down and the academic support staff as well as the FB staff for focusing to help get him righted.
Jordan Yates is the last one I'll mention here. Again an electric athlete, good arm and a strong grasp of the offense already. Yates spent much of the spring at practice trying to soak up as much as he could. They are very impressed with Yates so far.
The next group people always ask about are the OLs. CBK has a tall task here, about half the room had limited or little experience with pure pass blocking when he was hired. A guy like Charlie Clark just played in the triple in HS so he just doesn't have a wealth of experience on that end. Many of the other OLs played defense in HS as well not helping the situation there. Overall they are pleased with the OL and they have about 7 guys who can play maybe 8 right now. Depth is thin and they are going to try to take at least 5 OLs in the 2020 class one at each spot to refill the cupboard and increase the level of competition.
The LB room on defense is an area where they have had some issues. Kendall Young has been a nice addition from a physical perspective. He looks the best out of all the LBs on the team. They would probably like to redshirt Bennett and Evans if possible, depends on a lot of factors. It will be nice for CAT to have a full room after going through spring with just four LBs on scholarship.
The other CB position remains an interesting thing as well. Myles Sims joins the room, behind Tre Swilling he is probably the most talented got new kids and Zamari Walton probably had the best spring behind Swilling of that group. Will be interesting to see how that all plays out on the field. Walton and King are still pretty close and Jaytlin Askew will be back plus the new freshmen Kenan Johnson and Jordan Huff has a jump on them by being there this past spring.
FOOTBALL RECRUITING
The QB situation is very solid with Tucker Gleason on board. The staff think he is a perfect fit for the new offense. My sources say they think he is underrated as a recruit and people are underselling his wheels as a runner. His passing is also very good. Looking forward to seeing him at the 7v7 next week in person for the first time.
RB recruiting is in a good spot. They have their slot/APB back in Jahmyr Gibbs. Heard they love his ability to flex in the slot and that CDP wants to use a lot of two RB sets flexing out and a lot of read-option with the speed guys like a Gibbs, Dontae Smith or Jamious Griffin going forward. The other RB spot should be a more traditional running back like Marvin Scott III or Tahj Brooks. Scott is the top gettable guy on the board right now.
Not much news on WR or TE right now just staff are happy with those commits so far Ryan King and Billy Ward. GT still feels really good about Bryce Gowdy though.
The Tech staff want to sign a full OL class with two to three OTs, two OGs and a center. They have one OT Jordan Williams and their center in Cade Kootsouradis (though he could grow into an OT). They have Connor McLaughlin visiting this weekend. His recruitment continues to spin, he was very close to committing to either Northwestern or Duke, then a bunch of schools including GT and Stanford jumped in this spring. He just OV'd to Iowa, but his family are very business oriented people so GT could really make a splash with the Tech Square, location and business-minded nature of the academic side of things. His family are big in the Tampa business scene and GT has a lot of connections in that world as well.
However the guy who is closest to pulling the trigger right now is another OV kid, Paula Vaipulu who is a heavy GT lean right now going into this visit.
At guard, that is maybe the one area they are still trying to do some work. When Tate Johnson didn't commit on his OV they knew he was a goner. CBK has been working hard on Trent Howard who they had just behind Tate on their board and he actually looks better to some trusted sources in-person playing on a bad ankle than Tate did this spring. Howard has a great lineage with his dad being a former Alabama football player and he will be back on campus next week for an unofficial visit and that could be when Howard pulls the trigger.
Tech will have another big-time OL visiting next week too in Michael Rankins from Lennard HS in Florida. The staff aren't as big on Florida OL Thomas Shrader.
On the DL side, GT is making one last big push for William Anderson this weekend. GT had Damarjhe Lewis on campus and this is one I'm not that big on. Wasn't impressed with him when I saw him at Rivals camp and he just doesn't seem that interested. All signs point to Auburn having dropped him and I actually like most of the DE commits better than him anyways.
Everyone expect him to commit to Alabama, but it is not 100-percent closed yet. GT are also working on Jayson Jones who CBK helped get as Bama's first commit for the 2020 class last July. Jones is quite the character and he could easily end up at GT IMO. Bradyn Swinson could be interesting as another DT target as well down the line.
Wesley Steiner the Jackets' top LB target will be on his OV as well. Steiner like Chad says is getting hit on all sides about GT and the fit. He has changed his mind multiple times on when to commit, when to sign and whatnot. He was supposed to be an early enrollee but now he wants to defend his team's track title. Some people around him are every pushing for him to wait until Feb. to sign. Weird deal and a lot of pressure on him. Steiner hates the recruiting process so that is an added strange element. Like Chad said, CAT has done an amazing job getting GT back from the dead in his recruitment.
The other top LB target right now is Choe Bryant-Strother who is slowing down his recruitment and won't decide this summer. He has an OV set to Nebraska for next weekend, but I don't expect anything to really come of that.
Safety is probably full for now with Nick Turner's commitment. Jalen Huff Could play either CB or S, we list him as a safety for now.
CB will be where GT tries to get one more big name commit. I expect little movement on that position in the near term unless Jahquez Robinson wants to flip to GT. He is the only one really close to do anything.
FOOTBALL
Got some information on different groups, so here is what I've gathered through multiple sources.
Overall no one expects a last-place finish in the ACC. It is somewhat laughable to all involved both current and former GT coaches. Everyone I've talked to has the same read on it that I've been saying, the team will be better than outsiders think and they should be a bowl team somewhere in the 5-8 wins range regular season wise. Aside from Clemson, UGA and the Citadel every game will be a toss-up. Folks are just overly buying the change in offense mantra and underselling the quality of the players. CGC and his staff were very pleasantly surprised by how talented and deep the roster was at most positions aside from the obvious areas like TE and OL that were not really transferable skill wise.
On the QB situation, the staff are very pleased with how Lucas Johnson has developed and the fit is very good for him. He goes into camp as the #1 QB, #2 is Tobias Oliver who will have a role this fall. My sources say the staff think he is electric with the ball in his hand, can throw it well-enough and just needs to get a better grasp of the passing routes. That brings me to James Graham, everyone asks about his academics, my sources tell me he had a tremendous spring academically and they are hopeful for his future. A lot of credit goes to Graham for buckling down and the academic support staff as well as the FB staff for focusing to help get him righted.
Jordan Yates is the last one I'll mention here. Again an electric athlete, good arm and a strong grasp of the offense already. Yates spent much of the spring at practice trying to soak up as much as he could. They are very impressed with Yates so far.
The next group people always ask about are the OLs. CBK has a tall task here, about half the room had limited or little experience with pure pass blocking when he was hired. A guy like Charlie Clark just played in the triple in HS so he just doesn't have a wealth of experience on that end. Many of the other OLs played defense in HS as well not helping the situation there. Overall they are pleased with the OL and they have about 7 guys who can play maybe 8 right now. Depth is thin and they are going to try to take at least 5 OLs in the 2020 class one at each spot to refill the cupboard and increase the level of competition.
The LB room on defense is an area where they have had some issues. Kendall Young has been a nice addition from a physical perspective. He looks the best out of all the LBs on the team. They would probably like to redshirt Bennett and Evans if possible, depends on a lot of factors. It will be nice for CAT to have a full room after going through spring with just four LBs on scholarship.
The other CB position remains an interesting thing as well. Myles Sims joins the room, behind Tre Swilling he is probably the most talented got new kids and Zamari Walton probably had the best spring behind Swilling of that group. Will be interesting to see how that all plays out on the field. Walton and King are still pretty close and Jaytlin Askew will be back plus the new freshmen Kenan Johnson and Jordan Huff has a jump on them by being there this past spring.
FOOTBALL RECRUITING
The QB situation is very solid with Tucker Gleason on board. The staff think he is a perfect fit for the new offense. My sources say they think he is underrated as a recruit and people are underselling his wheels as a runner. His passing is also very good. Looking forward to seeing him at the 7v7 next week in person for the first time.
RB recruiting is in a good spot. They have their slot/APB back in Jahmyr Gibbs. Heard they love his ability to flex in the slot and that CDP wants to use a lot of two RB sets flexing out and a lot of read-option with the speed guys like a Gibbs, Dontae Smith or Jamious Griffin going forward. The other RB spot should be a more traditional running back like Marvin Scott III or Tahj Brooks. Scott is the top gettable guy on the board right now.
Not much news on WR or TE right now just staff are happy with those commits so far Ryan King and Billy Ward. GT still feels really good about Bryce Gowdy though.
The Tech staff want to sign a full OL class with two to three OTs, two OGs and a center. They have one OT Jordan Williams and their center in Cade Kootsouradis (though he could grow into an OT). They have Connor McLaughlin visiting this weekend. His recruitment continues to spin, he was very close to committing to either Northwestern or Duke, then a bunch of schools including GT and Stanford jumped in this spring. He just OV'd to Iowa, but his family are very business oriented people so GT could really make a splash with the Tech Square, location and business-minded nature of the academic side of things. His family are big in the Tampa business scene and GT has a lot of connections in that world as well.
However the guy who is closest to pulling the trigger right now is another OV kid, Paula Vaipulu who is a heavy GT lean right now going into this visit.
At guard, that is maybe the one area they are still trying to do some work. When Tate Johnson didn't commit on his OV they knew he was a goner. CBK has been working hard on Trent Howard who they had just behind Tate on their board and he actually looks better to some trusted sources in-person playing on a bad ankle than Tate did this spring. Howard has a great lineage with his dad being a former Alabama football player and he will be back on campus next week for an unofficial visit and that could be when Howard pulls the trigger.
Tech will have another big-time OL visiting next week too in Michael Rankins from Lennard HS in Florida. The staff aren't as big on Florida OL Thomas Shrader.
On the DL side, GT is making one last big push for William Anderson this weekend. GT had Damarjhe Lewis on campus and this is one I'm not that big on. Wasn't impressed with him when I saw him at Rivals camp and he just doesn't seem that interested. All signs point to Auburn having dropped him and I actually like most of the DE commits better than him anyways.
Everyone expect him to commit to Alabama, but it is not 100-percent closed yet. GT are also working on Jayson Jones who CBK helped get as Bama's first commit for the 2020 class last July. Jones is quite the character and he could easily end up at GT IMO. Bradyn Swinson could be interesting as another DT target as well down the line.
Wesley Steiner the Jackets' top LB target will be on his OV as well. Steiner like Chad says is getting hit on all sides about GT and the fit. He has changed his mind multiple times on when to commit, when to sign and whatnot. He was supposed to be an early enrollee but now he wants to defend his team's track title. Some people around him are every pushing for him to wait until Feb. to sign. Weird deal and a lot of pressure on him. Steiner hates the recruiting process so that is an added strange element. Like Chad said, CAT has done an amazing job getting GT back from the dead in his recruitment.
The other top LB target right now is Choe Bryant-Strother who is slowing down his recruitment and won't decide this summer. He has an OV set to Nebraska for next weekend, but I don't expect anything to really come of that.
Safety is probably full for now with Nick Turner's commitment. Jalen Huff Could play either CB or S, we list him as a safety for now.
CB will be where GT tries to get one more big name commit. I expect little movement on that position in the near term unless Jahquez Robinson wants to flip to GT. He is the only one really close to do anything.
