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OT: United States Soccer to build National Training Center in Atlanta (including move of HQ from Chicago)

Pretty excited about it, to be honest. Arthur Blank heavily involved.

From the press release-

HICAGO (September 15, 2023) - As part of U.S. Soccer’s ambitious strategic plan to grow soccer across the country, the Federation today announced that Philanthropist Arthur M. Blank has contributed $50 million to support building a National Training Center and expand opportunities across the soccer ecosystem.

U.S. Soccer plans to construct the nation’s first-ever designated National Training Center in the Atlanta area funded in part by the contribution from The Home Depot co-founder and Atlanta United owner. The facility will serve as headquarters for the U.S. Soccer Federation, creating a central hub for the entire soccer community, including coaches and referees, to access best-in-class training, technology and infrastructure to promote successful and sustainable playing environments throughout the country. For players, the National Training Center will provide the best environment, guaranteeing uninterrupted access to elite infrastructure for training, development, recovery and performance analysis – cultivating expertise and excellence in the sport on an international level.

While the National Training Center will be utilized by all 27 of U.S. Soccer’s National Teams, part of Blank’s contribution will specifically go towards the construction of facilities for U.S. Soccer’s nine Extended National Teams (ENTs), particularly in support of the Cerebral Palsy (CP), Deaf, and Power Soccer National Teams, including thoughtful design of locker rooms and training facilities to maximize accessibility for players.

Blank’s contribution will also fuel the Federation’s work to develop winning teams and grow the game across the U.S. This includes bolstering support of women’s youth national team camps and women’s coaching and mentorship initiatives. The National Training Center will also host youth tournaments, soccer community conferences and will be a gathering place for the broader soccer ecosystem.

Support from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation will also provide community programming to benefit soccer-focused non-profits in Metro Atlanta, including Soccer in the Streets and GA 100 partners, that provide access, training and expert coaching opportunities to underserved communities. The Foundation and U.S. Soccer will leverage resources provided by the grant to create opportunities for community groups to be exposed to soccer through on-site experiences at tournaments and other events at the National Training Center and broadly supporting our membership.

“This National Training Center will accelerate the growth of soccer in this country and will represent a commitment to developing elite soccer players for decades to come,” said U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone. “Investing in youth and adult programs as well as our Extended National Teams reflects our commitment to ensuring that players of all ages and backgrounds can find a home and thrive in this sport. These investments are a signal to our players, coaches, referees, members and fans that the future of U.S. Soccer is bright.”

“America’s top athletes deserve the best when it comes to preparing them for competition on the global stage and I’m thrilled U.S. Soccer has chosen metro Atlanta as its new home,” said Blank. “Atlanta’s incredible passion for soccer, corporate community and unmatched infrastructure make this a natural home for the National Training Center and I’m very confident our community will help America’s finest soccer players compete on a global level like never before. I’m also pleased to help U.S. Soccer with community outreach and soccer development among underserved communities as part of our contribution and know that it will benefit scores of young people through engagement with the beautiful game for generations to come.”

As Georgia continues to develop as a hub for major sporting events and international soccer matches, officials from Georgia expressed great enthusiasm about the National Training Center.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp noted: “Georgia is proud to welcome U.S. Soccer’s new headquarters and looks forward to working alongside them to build a new home for American soccer players and fans. For many decades, sports have been an essential part of Georgia's history and culture. Events like the 1996 Olympics laid the groundwork for current and upcoming major attractions like the 2026 FIFA World Cup. From hosting visitors to training the next generation of athletes, we're glad that this project will create new opportunities for local businesses and hardworking Georgians.”

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said of the news: “Atlanta is a sports town—and just like soccer in America, we are dynamic, diverse and passionate. There is no better place for this sport to call home during such a critical time. On behalf of the people of Atlanta, we are extremely honored to welcome U.S. Soccer to our community and look forward to this new partnership and our city becoming even more of a soccer destination than it already is.”

The Coca-Cola Company, which announced a long-term partnership with U.S. Soccer in early July and has been a global partner of FIFA’s since 1974, played an important role in bringing the National Training Center to the company’s hometown of Atlanta.

“Our company’s purpose is to refresh the world and make a difference,” said Jennifer Mann, President of Coca-Cola North America. “We are committed to empowering communities, inspiring future generations and fostering a legacy of unity that supports the growth of soccer in our hometown.”

U.S. Soccer CEO and Secretary General JT Batson is leading the search for a site in the Atlanta area and have been advised by Deloitte on the project. The region reflects the diversity and evolution of U.S. Soccer, as well as its strong enthusiasm for the sport. U.S. Soccer will be working closely with key partners, stakeholders and officials across the Metro Atlanta community and State of Georgia to gather feedback and earn support from local stakeholders to construct the new center and be a community partner.

U.S. Soccer is currently pursuing potential sites for the National Training Center and is conducting due diligence to assess their feasibility. With rising external investment and thriving local economies, all sites currently being evaluated would make excellent locations for the future National Training Center. The final decision on location for the National Training Center will be made in January of 2024.

No. 4 Georgia Tech Golf Tees Off Fall Season in Illinois



Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational offers stern early test for new-look Yellow Jackets



Tech Schedule and Results | Live Leaderboard (Golfstat)

THE FLATS –
Georgia Tech’s golf team, preseason ranked No. 4 in the Bushnell/Golfweek coaches poll, opens its 2023 fall schedule Friday at the Olympia Fields Country Club/Fighting Illini Invitational at Olympia Fields (Ill.) Country Club. The tournament kicks off a five-event fall slate that will take the Yellow Jackets to Illinois, Texas and California, with the other two events in the Atlanta area.

After guiding the Yellow Jackets to the program’s 19th Atlantic Coast Conference championship and a runner-up finish at the NCAA Championship, head coach Bruce Heppler welcomes back three starters for his 29th season on The Flats, including seniors Bartley Forrester (Gainesville, Ga.) and Christo Lamprecht (George, South Africa) and sophomore Hiroshi Tai (Singapore), each of whom are ranked among the world’s top 50 amateur players.

Lamprecht, a first-team All-American in 2023, won The Amateur Championship and was low amateur at The Open Championship over the summer and enters the fall No. 2 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and No. 2 in the PGA Tour University rankings. Forrester, an All-ACC performer in 2022 with two collegiate victories, is No. 44 in the WAGR and No. 38 in PGA Tour U. Tai, who won two tournaments as a freshman and was the individual runner-up at the ACC Championship, is No. 69 in the WAGR.

ROSTER OUTLOOK – Georgia Tech lost two seniors from its national runner-up squad in All-American Ross Steelman, who is now on the Korn Ferry Tour, and Connor Howe, now on PGA Tour Canada, but Lamprecht, Forrester and Tai bring back a combined five career tournament victories and 28 top-10 finishes.

Competition for spots in the lineup comes from five other returnees in seniors Adam Bratton (Newburgh, Ind.), Aidan Kramer (Oviedo, Fla.) and Andy Mao (Johns Creek, Ga.), as well as junior Benjamin Reuter (Naarden, The Netherlands) and sophomore Aidan Tran (Fresno, Calif.). They have combined to compete in 38 collegiate events in their careers, while Kramer and Mao both have summer amateur victories under the belts.

Heppler added a pair of freshmen to the mix in Kale Fontenot (Lafayette, La.) and Carson Kim (Yorba Linda, Calif.), both of whom ranked among the top 15 junior golfers in the class of 2023.

TECH LINEUP – Forrester, who won the 2022 Calusa Cup and the 2020 Puerto Rico Classic as well as the 2022 Monroe Invitational, won both halves of Georgia Tech’s 108-hole qualifying tournament, which was split between The Farm Golf Club in Rocky Face, Atlanta Athletic Club in Johns Creek, and the Golf Club of Georgia in Alpharetta. A fifth-year senior, Forrester has 100 stroke play rounds under his belt and a 71.82 stroke average for his career.

Lamprecht, who won the Inverness Intercollegiate last fall while adding three runner-up finishes and a third-place showing, is right behind with 99 stroke play rounds and is challenging the Tech career stroke average mark at 70.33.

Both of Tech’s incoming freshmen, Fontenot and Kim, qualified to make the lineup for the Yellow Jackets’ opening event. Kim was a consensus top-10 junior prospect and a first-team Rolex All-American, while Fontenot ranked as high as No. 14 in the Junior Golf Scoreboard and won the Louisiana State Junior Amateur three straight years.

Kramer, who has five collegiate events on his resume and won the 2022 Rice Planters Amateur, rounds out the starting five at Olympia Fields.

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION – The Yellow Jackets are competing in the OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational for the second time, having shared the 2019 title with Baylor. Illinois hosts the 15-team event, which will be contested over 54 holes beginning Friday and concluding Sunday at Olympia Fields Country Club’s North course, which plays to a par-70 and measures 7,310 yards.

Tee times begin at 9 a.m. Eastern time Friday and Saturday, with the final round at 8:30 a.m. Sunday.

Participating teams include Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, Florida, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Michigan State, North Carolina, Oklahoma State, Pepperdine, Purdue, Stanford and Texas. Fourteen of the 15 teams are ranked or received votes in the first Golf Coaches Association of America poll. All 15 competed in 2023 NCAA regionals, 11 of the 15 advanced to the NCAA Championship, and seven of those reached match play (quarterfinalists Arizona State, Illinois, and Pepperdine; semifinalists Florida State and North Carolina; and finalists Florida and Georgia Tech).
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FOOTBALL Ole Miss Media

For anybody interested, here is some media from Ole Miss ahead of our game this week.

Lane's press conference is pretty much a snoozer, so here is a recap of all the GT related questions. Most of questions were about the team in general and things that happened last week, not much talk at all of GT. One early question was about Key and were they together at Alabama and what he knows about him as a coach. Lane said, "He did a really good job. I actually tried to hire him before at one point. Really good line coach, really good teacher, good recruiter, and he's doing a good job there."

The next GT question comes about 14 minutes into the 15 minute press conference. Asked about his first impressions of GT, Kiffin says, "I think their QB is playing well. I think they do run a good offense that presents some challenges, and they look better on defense. They're playing better than they were a year ago."

The final question of the press conference asked what will it take to have a similar result to last year for this game. Lane said, "We gotta win the game. So, I think a similar result to whatever - 50 to nothing - or whatever it was, look I have high expectations, but that's a little unrealistic. So we gotta go win the game. Those guys are playing good, we have a lot of stuff to work on and a lot of challenges."

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Jared Ivey also spoke. He is one I was really bummed about losing, and still am. He's a very well spoken young man and seems to be extremely knowledgeable about the game as a whole. If he wants to go that route, I could see him do well in a coaching capacity once his playing days are over. Don't know if mama Ivey is still around on here or ever was, but she seems to have raised a fine young man. That said, I hope somebody ties his shoes together Saturday and he keeps tripping over his own feet.

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CBK

It is very early and there will be several bumps in the road over the next few years.

But

I am really enjoying Coach Key's personality and the way he carries himself.

1. The video of him reacting to SC State getting their first score was classic. He was spitting nails, breathing fire, and pitching a controlled fit. There was no doubt how he felt.

2. His press conference praises the other coach for a storied career, compliments some of our players, and then stresses we have work to do. We are working to get better at every phase of the game every week.

3. Penalties seem to be in better shape at this point in the year than I would expect.

Observations:

His players know where he stands.

He will not stand for anything less than full effort.

He projects toughness.

He is all about discipline and details.

He is honest and a gentleman when speaking to the press.

Old School, Old School, and Old School



I was not initially for him when the previous coach was dismissed. Now, I am totally impressed with him. He strikes me as an O'Leary / Saban disciple. Time will tell how successful he will be but I see their mannerisms all over him.

Brent Key Thursday Presser Notes and Quotes 9/14

Four days of practice before the game and one more tomorrow morning flying to Memphis and staying halfway between Oxford and Memphis. There is a lot of downtime between tomorrow and the game because it is a night game and there is a lot they can do to prepare with that time. The majority of the physical work is done but there is mental work that can be done between now and the game. The team will continue preparing. We need to use our intelligence to prepare for the game and we did a good job of that before the game and we have one more tomorrow

Key said he is excited about the game and the opportunity. Ole Miss is well-coached and they create explosive plays on offense and

I asked Key about how they deal with the window dressing (misdirections and play fakes) Ole Miss uses), anytime you have a run/pass team that gains their explosives through play-action and RPOs you have to have great discipline and you have to be aware of the mechanisms of the offense and the setups that are coming. The quick game and the double moves and the jet-sweeps that become fakes and deep jet crosses. We have to stay gap sound and not think everything is going to be a pass and bust your gap and the back squirts out of there. Discipline has to be high across the board on D. They've worked hard on that all week.

Key was asked if he can tell if his team is ready to go or not. He said in his 20 years as a coach it is consistently inconsistent whether teams are ready to go or not. Sometimes they look great in pregame warmups and play bad and other times they look awful in warmups and play great. He said it is almost impossible to tell and you can drive yourself crazy trying to study it. He chooses to focus on preparing the right way and having a good week of practice and the outcomes should be based on playing with great effort and the way it is supposed to be played and 50% of teams win and 50% lose each week and that is the way it it is, so as long as he is confident in the preparation and consistency in the approach each week you can live with the results. You have to correct mistakes and change things in your approach if something isn't working, but that's it.

Key said they have a long way to go on offense but they've done some nice things and show glimpses of what they can be on that side of the ball, but there are plays they need to execute better and they need to put things on film that are hard to defend. Making sure the QB knows the game plan and manages that and Haynes King seems to get that and if there is anything anyone is unclear about they need to talk to their coaches about it.

Key said he feels like GT players should be able to handle a little more mentally than other places because of how the school prepares you so he expects his players to be able to handle one more play or one more check compared to other places. He said they work out on Tuesday what will work best for the team each week and practice that and then whittle down the game plan and he meets with the coordinators in all three phases and they put the overall game plan including down and distance decisions and things like special team calls for situations.

I asked him about the success against ranked teams on the road last year and he said that they executed pretty well in those games and it was all about having the right frame of mind going in and executing the game plan. He said you have to have the mentality of playing the next play and not worrying about what just happened especially if it was a bad play. You have to forget the good plays too and just focus on the mindset of playing the play at hand, where you are feet and he said he believes that in life as well, live in the moment.

He said Louisville was a really good team and South Carolina State did some good things on offense and this week it is Ole Miss, but it doesn't matter who the opponent is really, it is about having the right mindset as an 18-23 year-old of everyone is going in the same direction and having the staff coach the kids because Key can't coach 120 kids by himself, they have to trust the coaches and the players and shrink the scale of everything to executing the game plan and that play otherwise you don't have a shot.

On the WRs, Key said that DJ Moore has been out for a while and with Chase Lane out this week, Avery Boyd and Bailey Stockton will likely see the field more behind Eric Singleton Jr. Stockton has had a great week working his way up from the scout team onto some special teams as he expects him to play more as the season guys along. He said Zion Taylor has been making some plays and he is starting to mature and those two freshmen should be able to help the team. He doesn't want to just redshirt everyone and if someone can help them win now or in week six then they will play. It is next man up and they are developing them to play more. Key said Boyd has been very good on special teams as well.

GTAA needs to fix the GT game day application.

Once again game day application playing political radio instead of pregame and then in the third quarter cuts the station cut to Braves coverage. This isn’t the first time this has been an issue. What the **** is the damn point of Game Day application if you aren’t going to allow for people to listen to their team.

Also our radio coverage alternatives in the Southeast are garbage. Tech’s website says the only coverage in Savannah is 900am. That’s not even a damn station. We need to do better with our radio partners and this is LONG overdue to get fixed.

Are we missing the real story

We all are hung on on football… which at best will be below average!!! Is the real story our basketball program. CDS looks like he might be putting together a historic class. He by far looks like the real deal coach. We all know with basketball 2 players can change the entire direction of a program.

To be honest I don’t ever see our football team being the top in the ACC (we pray for mediocrity there)however I can see our basketball team competing for titles much sooner!!!

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HOOPS RECRUITING Entered a pretty big FutureCast this morning..

For Damon Stoudamire and his staff to land their first big fish in terms of a highly ranked HS recruit.

Overtime Elite SG Jaeden Mustaf is just over 24 hours away from announcing his decision. Schools in the mix include Maryland, NC State, Indiana, Arkansas, and FSU as well as Georgia Tech.

He is a Top 50 recruit nationally, coming in at No. 48 in the Rivals100.

I’ve entered my FC for him to choose GT at 1:30 tomorrow afternoon , live on Instagram at a ceremony that all of his OTE teammates will be attending.
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Couch Coach vs SCST

Here are a few gifs i decided to breakdown to give an idea of what happened on field vs. SC State. These are used to give others a different perspective on how to watch football. I don’t do this to disparage players or coaches, but to give insight to GT enthusiast on what I’ve learned as a player and avid football fan.

A win is a win. I felt like we did what we needed to do on offense vs. an inferior opponent. As for the defense, there is good bit of meat on the bone that needs to be rectified rather quickly.

Let’s take look at some clips of what we did well and some clips of what we may need to clean up on



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Here we have a man blitz with with DE dropping as hole player or as spy. The pressure up the middle causes an errant throw for the INT




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If i could point to one big improvement on offense, it has to be perimeter & TE blocking. Here is a great block by #12 Blaylock to spring Cooley for another 10-15yds

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Here is a great job by the OL blocking the 6man blitz. Good concept by OC Faulkner by utilizing the entire end zone with zig at front line and digs at the back line giving Haynes a nice window to drop the ball into Blaylock for the TD


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State found some success with the option. Appears to be power/ load option here. They caught us in man coverage, which eliminates the nickel back in the run fit. The Playside DE takes himself out the play by crash too hard inside with no dive present. He needs on the QB and the play side LB should be screaming to the pitch


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Gap integrity was an issue that occurred quite a bit that led to some big gains. Although a busted play, keys need to read and plays need to made MLB #13 Moala keys are G-C-G thru to the RB. With all 3 down blocking left . He needs to be ready to fill that play side Agap. Instead he inexplicably jumps to the right and gets him himself sealed by the LG for the big gain


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One way to stop the option is to blow it up before it gets started. Great job here by #11 Harris getting to his key and stopping the play. Reminiscent of when CGC had to sit him out of practice


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What the first two weeks confirmed for me is the speed and playmaking ability at the WR & RB position has been revamped and improved. Good job by the OL giving Haynes time. Nice sluggo by Singleton making the CB spin like the wheel on Prices is Right.


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One those plays you might not want to run with the 4th string RB. There is an overhang defender in the alley. Past yrs, this is crack back block
For a TD, but with the rule changes this is a bit more difficult. If we get this blocked correctly, it goes for a big gain or probably a TD. Dickens has do better job getting a piece of that guy in the alley to at least have a chance


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If we want to be the team i think we can be then we have to make these plays. This is unacceptable from Brooks and the CB, who both could’ve stopped him short of the 1st down


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Same way i thought MacKenny should be the LT, #4 Oliver needs to be at one of the LB slots. He brought a different physicalness that is desperately needed. State has numbers but watch Oliver fights thru the block and makes the tackle on the ball carrier


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And this is why Oliver needs to be playing bc we have LBs not reading the picture in front of them. #7 Tatum has a Guard pulling in front of him and instead of flowing the pulling action. He steps inside and get sealed by the OL. Miles should tackling thru this guy due to there is no where for RB to go. Very poor effort but i noticed he grabbed his right shoulder after the play


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Being a good LB is knowing what the guys are doing in front of you. This is an excellent job by #44 Efford. He knows the DL is slanting left and if the run comes to his side, he can slow play it bc his gap directly in front. Good job taking the on the OL and making the strip in the gap. THIS IS FUNDAMENTAL LB play!


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I can assure you another team will try this. Good job by the DE forcing the quick pitch. LBs are in trouble Here. I was always taught a RB shouldn’t be able to block LB 1on1. #7 Tatum has to be better disengaging the block, but he did force the back in side. #13 Moala needs to be getting over the the top and filling the lane. I guess we should SCST credit for executing as well


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I hope i don’t have to eat my words but the MacKenny and Fusile combo looks great together and should be the guys going forward. #2 Leonard has been a man blocking. I know he’s probably frustrated not getting many targets but he will be rewarded for his effort. look at MacNFus was down the left side of the line with the combo block and Mac comes off the double kicks out LB for untouched Cooley TD.

A chefs kiss

The best BBQ in Atlanta: An Analysis

I went through every post in the "starting a fight" thread that @gtechsta posted and analyzed the sentiment of each comment about a restaurant.

According to that thread, the best BBQ in Atlanta is...
  1. Fox Bros BBQ
  2. Heirloom Market
  3. Fresh Air (technically metro ATL)
  4. Community Q BBQ
  5. Daddy D'z
You can see my data here. There are tabs where you can filter to only metro ATL or only ITP. If you disagree with how I categorized your comment, please let me know and I will adjust. Similarly, if you have more to say, I missed something, etc, let me know.

--Methods--

I categorized each comment as strongly negative, negative, neutral, positive, or strongly positive. Comments that highly praised just one menu item were marked positive.

When calculating overall sentiment, each strongly negative review was worth -2 points, negative -1, neutral 0, positive +1, and strongly positive +2. The sum of all comment points equaled the overall sentiment. If two restaurants had the same overall sentiment, the restaurant with a higher number of comments ("buzz") was ranked higher.

What defines a well coached team?

Anytime we have a coaching transition I pay close attention to a few things that I think tell the tale of how good of a coach you have.

# of Penalties to me is the #1 statistic in my opinion and in two games we have 5 total penalties for 55 yards. Our opponents in that time have 13 penalties. In four years of dickhead we had 9, 17, 7, and 14 penalties to start off a 2 game stretch. And often times we did not improve very much as the season progressed. It definitely feels like we're making less stupid mistakes and the stats show that. It's going to be interesting to see how well the team does this Saturday in a big time Away environment where players can lose focus.


Turnovers and Turnover Margin is the second major statistic. So far we have 4 turnovers to our opponents 3, but the two INT's were basically bad luck throws that got tipped and someone came down with it. We can't turn the ball over and expect to beat good teams. I think Haynes King has shown that he values possessions. You can see on many of his throws, he throws it in the only place a receiver could catch it or he throws it away. He doesn't lob up a whole lot of junk which is a great sign. He's got to continue doing that for us to turn the corner.

Halftime Adjustments are the third key sign to me. We're struggling here thus far by the looks of it but this improves with experience. Maybe Sed @ibeeballin can offer some insight here in the future breakdowns to analyze how well our coaches are making adjustments AFTER halftime. I trust Key and Faulkner a whole lot more on the halftime adjustments than I do Thacker at the moment, but we will see.

I'm definitely encouraged with what I'm seeing but it needs to be more if we expect to do better than 6 wins. I don't expect that this season. I do expect we will continue to improve under Key. What's the ceiling? I'm not sure. We started with a pretty low floor.

Jackets commit - Trelain Maddox of Parkview

Parkview's healthy Maddox busts loose​
Not yet 100% healthy, Trelain Maddox was limited to seven carries in his first two games for Parkview, his new team. It’s safe to say he’s fully fit now.



Maddox, a transfer from Buford who is committed to Georgia Tech, rushed for 220 yards and three touchdowns, the last one a 3-yard run with 1:10 left, in a 35-32 victory over North Gwinnett. He also scored on runs of 82 and 78 yards and had five solo tackles and an interception.



“We knew that was coming,” Parkview coach Joe Sturdivant said. “It’s the first time he’s had a chance to show what he can do. We’d seen it in practice and scrimmages.”



Maddox is GHSF Daily’s Player of the Week.

FOOTBALL Georgia Tech Football Player Quotes and Notes 9/13

Freshman receiver Eric Singleton Jr. made his first appearance in front of the media after practice on Wednesday. Singleton has five catches and two touchdowns through his first two collegiate games and he is expected to start at wide receiver on the road at Ole Miss with Chase Lane out this week.

Singleton said that his approach has been to stay humble and ready as the key to his early success as a true freshman on the field in the ACC.

"Really I'm just trying to take every opportunity I get and just take advantage of it and make a play every time my name is called," he said.

From the summer workouts on, Singleton was gaining praise from his teammates. He said he set simple goals for himself and just kept working to put himself in a position to get on the field.

"I really was just trying to work my way up the depth chart so I could see the field," he said. "During the summer it was an OMG moment for me because I had to get adapted to everything but once I adapted it started clicking."

Given the fact he was a two-star recruit on Rivals and didn't have the offers he thought he should have out of high school, Singleton said there has been some joy in his early success on the field.

"I'm definitely trying to show the world who I am and make as many plays as I can," he said.

MORE FROM SINGLETON

Singleton told me the reason Chase Lane had to tell him to celebrate the TD in the first game was because the team was losing and he said there is no celebration if we are losing, I'll only celebrate a play if we are winning.

He said that Coach Crawford is a great guy and he is very knowledgeable and he came from a great program at WKU and once he got here he has been clicking with the WR room.

He said the whole WR room welcomed him with open arms when he got to GT.

Singleton said he met Haynes King on one of his unofficial visits to GT and they bonded quickly and he is a really good guy.

KYLE KENNARD

On being the ACC DL of the week, It is great, I haven’t received recognition like that in a long time.

They have great competitors like they see every week, a big group of guys up front and it is going to be fun going up against them.

Kennard said they are treating this game the same as any other, it is a business trip.

On watching the 2022 Ole Miss game, We watched film on it and talked about the game briefly. However both teams are very different than last year and GT is a completely different team than the one that played Ole Miss last year and they have new faces too. They are focused on looking at them from this year.

Kennard said the tempo is something they can take away from last year, they are one of the fastest teams in the country and look even faster operationally compared to 2022 on film.

Kennard said the DTs are coming along and CMC has taught them some new techniques and it is a completely different coaching style from (Larry Knight) and they are getting better week to week.

Kennard said seeing the tempo that Buster Faulkner likes to run should help them some this week and it is more like the Tech offense than either of the teams they've faced so far this year so he hopes that helps them be better prepared.

LAMILES BROOKS

Brooks said the Ole Miss tempo is among the fastest in the country outside of Tennessee and the old UCF offense. He said they are in shape and have been practicing the tempo and he feels like they are prepared for it.

On DBs helping in the run game, that is something they harp on no matter who the opponent is and Ole Miss has a really great RB, great receivers and a really good QB so they are not going to be doing anything out of the ordinary to stop the running back only, but they have to keep their eyes on the right keys and execute.

Brooks said last year's game is in the past and they have not really talked about it even amongst themselves.

Brooks said the secondary tackling was a little bit of week one struggles and they were the victims of that and you see a big jump to week two and they are trying to improve from there as well. The goal under Coach Key is to improve each week in all phases.

Brooks said he is viewing this as another game and it is their first away game against a SEC opponent with a good crowd so it will be a little different, but he isn't viewing the game any differently from any other one.

Brooks said there has been no trash talk yet with former teammates at Ole Miss now, but he expects some on the field on Saturday.

JAMAL HAYNES

I asked him about how his body feels after playing so much RB in the first two weeks, he said that the coaches harp on them to stay in the training room as much as they can and he is taking more hits but he put on some pounds and did extra lifting to prepare himself for that and that has been very valuable. He hasn't noticed much of a difference in how he feels compared to the past after a few games.

Haynes said he didn't look at his stats after the game on Saturday because he just cares about the win and he has always been a guy with that mindset, how can I help the team win and that is his goal. It is all about winning.

Haynes said he expects Ole Miss to be aggressive upfront attacking but if he can make that first defender miss he thinks there will be some room to break off some big runs. He said the OL has been doing a great job up front.

Haynes said his comfort level at RB is at a 10 on a 1-10 scale right now. Once he got used to the first few live snaps he was ready to go and his comfort improved tremendously from the first game to the second one.

Women’s Basketball Season Ticket Renewals Now Available

THE FLATS – Renewals for the 2023-24 Georgia Tech women’s basketball season tickets are currently underway. The upcoming season, the fifth under head coach Nell Fortner, officially tips-off on Nov. 6 against Coastal Carolina.

Season ticket members are guaranteed the best seating locations for Georgia Tech’s exciting home schedule that features 16 games in McCamish Pavilion this season.

Highlighting Tech’s home non-conference schedule is the inaugural ACC/SEC Women’s Basketball Challenge matchup against Florida on Nov. 29.Additionally, a challenging nine-game ACC home slate includes Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Louisville, Miami, Notre Dame, North Carolina, Virginia and Wake Forest. Dates and tip times for ACC and non-conference games will be announced later.

Under the direction of Fortner, the Yellow Jackets have made two NCAA Tournament appearances in four seasons, including a run to the Sweet 16 in 2021. This season’s squad returns seven letterwinners, while adding six newcomers.

New season ticket sales will begin on Tuesday, Sept. 19. In addition to offering the maximum value and best seat locations, season ticket benefits also include:
  • Priority post-season ticket access;
  • Amazing fan experience;
  • Ticket flexibility with the freedom to easily transfer tickets;
  • Significant cost savings;
  • Reserved and best seating locations.
  • Courtside seats: $150 per seat
To renew season tickets, please login to your ticket account found at www.ramblinwreck.com/myaccount or call the Georgia Tech Ticket Office at 888.TECH.TIX. The renewal deadline is Friday, Sept. 29.
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