Marco Coleman

Zeek Biggers

D'Quan Douse

Sylvain Yondjouen

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@Kelly Quinlan being a lions fan I appreciate the time to evaluate the Gibbs pick. I agree he’s not the 25 carries a game, but more so and 10-15 carries and 5 catches a game. Wry versitle and can’t wait to see what Ben Johnson has in store for him!

Thanks

Georgia Tech has been in discussions regarding the potential sale of naming rights to Grant Field at Bobby Dodd Stadium, according to multiple persons familiar with the situation.

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It's believed that Hyundai, which is building a $5.5 billion electric vehicle plant near Savannah, is the corporation with interest in purchasing the rights to the name of the field at Bobby Dodd Stadium. The name of the stadium is not for sale, a person familiar with the situation said.

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More AJC coverage of the Yellow Jackets
Originally named Grant Field, Bobby Dodd Stadium opened in 1913 and seats 55,000 spectators.

Among ACC programs, Louisville, Syracuse, Wake Forest, Pittsburgh and Miami have sold naming rights to their respective stadiums while Vanderbilt and Kentucky in the SEC have sold naming rights to their respective venues.

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It was bound to happen and brings additional money for the program

at east lake and have never been before. What are my best parking options? I'm coming in from the north. I-85.

Thought I’d do the right thing and warn you. Tried to share from FB but the link didn’t work.
It’s Classic City Lager from Tropicalia. Wasn’t a fan of their beers anyway so I’m already avoiding it

Fire away

So many GT shirts, decals, license plates, etc. very surreal. Never would have seen this 20-30 years ago I would not think. I opted for the Braves shirt. Lots of those too. 😂

If anybody missed it. Tune in to acc network at 4 pm

ATLANTA- Georgia Tech football continued fall camp on Wednesday with a two-plus hour session and after practice, Yellow Jackets offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner spoke to the media for the first time since spring ball.

Faulkner spoke about every position group on offense and shared what he is also looking for from the quarterback competition this fall between Zach Pyron, Haynes King and Zach Gibson as well.

"(Our quarterback) has to be the toughest guy in the building," Faulkner said. "In this day and age of media and everything else, you've got a lot to handle. You've got to be tough and a great leader."

Faulkner and co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Chris Weinke are on the same page as far as what they are looking for from that position.

"The beauty of Coach Weinke is we see it the same way. We didn't know each other seven months ago and the first time we talked about quarterbacks it was spot on. So we are aligned as far as that goes. All three guys are getting reps and they are going to get an opportunity to play (in camp) and whoever comes out on top, you guys will either know when we know or maybe just the first play of the first game," Faulkner said. "We are in no hurry to announce it, that's for sure."

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Faulkner was asked if he feels pressure for the offense to be a lot better, he said his job is to help them win games and for the kids to be successful and he takes that very seriously. He thinks they have a great staff on offense and they are trying to build it up one day at a time. as it is a process.

At RB, Faulkner said they have quite a wide range of guys from super senior Dontae Smith to Jamal Haynes who moved over from receiver after the spring. He said he has used RB by committee or just had two main guys and he had a team at MTSU where they had to move their best receiver to RB and he was a 600/600 guy. Haynes is a guy that gives them an X-factor in that room and they are excited about him. Trey Cooley can really run and Evan Dickens is one of the more impressive freshmen who has ever met with the way he carries himself and goes about his business. He said anyone from a freshman to a senior could play there.

When asked about Cooley in particular he said he has quick and elusive feet and they need to create lanes for him and get him in space. They want to see more of him.

I asked him about figuring out the WR position and the fact they could be more position-less at WR meaning they could line up with three slots and no outside body types or things like that they showed in the spring game and how he fits the new pieces with what they already have. Faulkner said that they added some playmakers this summer with Dominick Blaylock and Chase Lane who transferred in this summer that he is excited about.

Faulkner wants to avoid having just X types play X or certain body types are locked into lining up one way or another. He wants to get the best five on the field so it may be a slot playing X who isn't a prototype X body or whatever. They have a lot of fast guys and can run three vertical with three speed guys and change the game downfield. He wants to use motions and shifts and create mismatches offensively and isn't married to a formation or personnel package. His job is to find the best grouping and put those guys on the field.

He said that Zion Taylor and Eric Singleon Jr. this summer were doing a great job of coming along and that the walk-on Bailey Stockton looked great too, but he broke his finger in the last workout of summer and will be out for a little bit of camp right now. He said they are going to play whoever helps them win if it is freshmen, sophomore, juniors or seniors and the next several weeks will help them sort that out.

At TE, he said that Dylan Leonard has been a great leader since the day he got to GT and he is everything you could wants from a teammate and a player and he does it every day. Luke Benson he didn't know much about him when he got here other than some film he watched and he was pleasantly surprised by him and how he progressed especially after missing spring ball with an injury. Jackson Long is a young guy who is coming along. Brett Seither has some experience and can do certain things and he actually feels really good about the TE group overall.

Faulkner got asked about Todd Monken and UGA again and he said that he is a great offensive mind and a great friend of his and anytime he needs something advice, Monken is a mentor and is there for him. He is able to still lean on him now that he is in the NFL and he has other guys he has worked with and other coaches that share ideas and there is a community of them that work together, but he is building his own offense, the Georgia Tech offense and it won't be the UGA offense or what he did at other stops as an OC.

Faulkner said they didn't do a deep dive on last year's game film offensively, he watched the players to learn about their skillsets and how they did in situations, but we wanted to approach them with a clean slate. He is trying to create depth and versatility everywhere including the OL and they gave those guys a clean slate as well. He has worked with Geep Wade for many years and he knows what he brings to the table and that is why they work well together. He said they are working to find their own offensive identity right now.

He said that at his other stops, he would try to create whatever won games and won them immediately so they don't care about being 60/40 or 40/60 run/pass, what can these kids do well and what gives them the best shot to win now. He said if they are winning a bunch of games then he is doing his job as an OC.

Faulkner said that of the OL, Weston Franklin and Corey Robinson made the biggest "strides" up front. Franklin has shown he is good at snapping the ball and getting the offense going and their big challenge is finding a backup center to create depth at that position and they are trying different guys (Paul Tchio/Brandon Best/Gabe Fortson are my expectations) to create depth behind Franklin. Franklin has taken on a role as a leader as well and they are excited about him.

Faulkner got asked if there is a sense of pride from him and his fellow Georgians on the staff to return GT to relevance in the state and he said he was born and raised here (Parkview HS) and he loves the state and the HS football here and other guys on the staff feel the same way too. Atlanta is the best location in the Southeast to play football and what more could you ask for than what GT has to offer, he is right where he wants to be.

ATLANTA- Georgia Tech continued to work in full pads during Wednesday's practice on the Flats. The session also featured the first live tackling of Fall Camp 2023. Following the two-plus hour session in scorching heat, Special Teams Coordinator Ricky Brumfield and a trio of Yellow Jackets plays led by senior tight end Dylan Leonard spoke to the media.

Brumfield splits his time between working with the specialists and helping coach the Jackets' secondary with defensive backs coach Travares Tillman. He explained to JOL how he splits his time during a typical practice session.

"I'm working with the DBs and the way we have it set up, I'm Coach Tillman's assistant. So whatever coach Tillman needs. I help him out with it whether it is drills or just throwing the ball or just extra eyes. I'm his assistant and whenever we do special teams, I go handle special teams and then my focus shifts to defense after that," he said. "Our specialists do a good job of working on their own and they have a regimen and a plan of what they are supposed to be doing and they do that on the side. I make sure they are managed and taken care of during that time (when he is with the defense."



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Brumfield said that Gavin Stewart and Aidan Birr have both done a good job with kickoffs and field goals and they are going tit for tat out there. They just started doing a lot of team field goal work and before that they were doing snapper, holder, kicker work and charting that. Now they are using the rush to get an idea of how they perform with bodies flying around.

WIth KR and PR, Brumfield mentioned a lot of guys they are working, Malik Rutherford who he said is really fast and can make plays, Christian Leary has been doing a good job, Eric Singleton has some good speed they want back there. They have Taye Seymore back there, Dominick Blaylock and DJ Moore catching punts. They are looking for who is the most consistent with punts. Even Rodney Shelley is in the mix there

On KR they have Taye Seymore and Eric Singleton and those other guys they used before.

They brought in two new punters as walk-ons to help depth Logan Weighall (who can also PK) and Joshua Taylor and Brumfield said it is huge having those guys to compete but more importantly when they get into the season it gives David Shanahan a break. He will have Shanahan do the normal punting that they would do on a Tuesday, but then those guys can do the scout team punting on Wednesday so they can work on returns and punt blocks. Last year Shanahan had to do all of that because they failed to have a backup punter on the roster and Brumfield said is so much extra wear on the punter or kickers legs if they have to do all of the kicking for the scout team and the the normal competitive stuff in the season.

Brumfield said ideally he would have a kickoff guy and a separate field goal guy and both Gavin Stewart and Aidan Birr are competing for that. They've been good. David Shanahan has done a great job punting and Henry Freer has been good in camp and they've carried that over from the spring.

I asked Brumfield about the mess that punting was last year with the blocks and then the TDs after they fixed the blocks. He said he watched the tape and saw things he would help Shanahan with. The biggest was he wants him to be a two-step and not a three-step punter. He said they are focused on 2023 and not what happened last year but you can learn some things even if they had been the #1 punt team in the country which clearly they were not close to. He said he feels like Shanahan is really progressing with what they are asking him to do. He said they need him to progress with his hangtime and getoff time and the low hang time and the slow get off time was a recipe for disaster last year. He said Shanahan knew he needed to improve as well and was willing to really work on it.

I asked Brumfield about his experience coaching both offense and defense on the FBS level and how that impacts him and how he does his job as a special teams coach. He joked that when he is on defense he hates the offense and vice versa. He said it is more about his mindset as a coach. He said the one thing it does help with is he uses some terminology that the side of the ball he helps with uses in his special teams calls and assignments to make it easier to pick up.

David Shanahan talked about the new special teams scheme and he said they were overly complicated last year (shocking) now it is going down the has or rugby and it is very back to basics and about being consistent every single time on every punt. He said he really practiced a lot over the summer. Today was the first live drills and live rush so that was different but he is excited about the progress he has made.

Shanahan said they go out an hour before everyone else at practice and get a lot of work in then and he said the one thing that has changed is Brumfield and Key hold them accountable more and there is a much high expectation for them. They meet twice a day for 20 minutes and go every every kick. Everyone is held accountable for their performance that day and that is raising the standard in their room.

He said the two freshmen punters Joshua and Logan have helped a lot, they are both adjusting to college but he has had a lot less work on his leg and that has helped keep his leg healthy and fresh throughout camp so far.

Shanahan talked a lot about the trip to Ireland last month with his teammates. He said they went to his hometown and his mom cooked lunch for everyone (she tried to make an American style meal of beef and rice) and they went to Killarney for a July 4th party and they had all the American stereotypes you can imagine like cowboys and hot dogs and they all got a kick out of it. He said the guys were shocked by all the cows everywhere and how country where he is from was. He explained his HS was a little house with 100 students and a fireplace in every classroom and that it was very old. He said they were shocked being used to Atlanta public schools and the size of those.

Kicker Gavin Stewart said schematically they have completely changed and people will see that throughout the season with special teams. He said his thing is mostly the same with the operations with Freer and Shanahan (snapper/holder) and perfecting that operation. He said they have everything really well set up.

Stewart said that kicking off and kicking FG/PAT is a lot of wear on his leg, but he enjoys kicking off and it shakes the nerves off especially when he hits a touchback and that is when it is really time to go play ball.

I asked him if he has been lobbying for some trick plays given his athletic ability (very good HS WR) and he said that is absolutely something he hopes happens one day, but he said for now his job is pretty simple PATs and FGs and kicking off.

Stewart said a lot of the things they are doing very similar but the coaching has changed because Brumfield is very nitpicky about how they execute things. He said they worked on punt block today and Brumfield was very specific about it compared to the past.

Dylan Leonard was the outlier today as they had the TEs go on specialist media day since they only had Buster Faulkner on his day.

Leonard said that it is bittersweet going through his final camp in college, but he is pushing himself and in year five he really wants to be All-ACC as a TE and just win games. He doesn't really care if he isn't All-ACC if they just win. He said in his four prior seasons they have not lived up to the potential they thought they had as a team and this year is strictly about winning and that is how Key has it set up and the mentality of the team.

Leonard said the 100-degree heat is a big difference from last year, but he doesn't think it is more physical in practice necessarily just the heat element amps things up and today that had the first live periods and then they have a 100-play scrimmage on Saturday and that will be more of a physical test.

Leonard said things don't get easier at Georgia Tech and he said he was asked if school gets easier as you move up to JR or SR year and he said no, "I'd just say you get tougher and that is what Tech does to you. It just makes you a tougher human being off the field and on the field." He said he told a parent it doesn't get easier, you just get tougher so it may feel easier. "That builds you into being a beast of a human being in this place."

Leonard said he likes the WRs they've added and Dominick Blaylock and Chase Lane and some other guys and the two Zachs and Haynes King are doing a great job of distributing the ball.

I asked Leonard about the role of the TE and how it kept being hyped but really has yet to be a key part of the offense and he said that that was a common storyline in the past, but it really changed later last season (after Jeff Sims got hurt) and they started to be a part of the offense finally in the passing game. He said that Buster Faulkner likes to use them all over the field and create one-on-one matchups and that is exciting. He said the QBs like using the TE now and that helps and they have great relationships with all of the QBs.

Leonard got the QB question and he said he has no idea who will be the starter and he is just as interested as anyone else is in finding out. He said that all three have done well and it will likely be a skin of the teeth edging out who wins it. He said that Zach Pyron and Haynes King are just guys who love football and playing it and they can both get out of the pocket and run and are very similar in how they play. He said whoever they name he will ride with and he is looking forward to seeing who wins the job.

Let's do this. Please remember that Kelly is the one who primarily covers the football team, so I am not in a place where I can answer much there.

Regarding Jordan Boyd and GT after the FSU visit, I am told things have calmed down a bit at the moment, but that may just be due to camp being a GRIND and not about GT's intentions for the 2024 class.

If anything happens with Boyd's status, I would anticipate Amontrae Bradford having an announcement within a week or less of that taking place.

Ask away..

From Monday to Thursday

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As I sit here and wait for roadside assistance, I’m going to go ahead and call it for the Live Q&A that was scheduled for tonight.

Will share an updated day/time when I’m able.

Sorry.

-RJ

The ACC DN has compiled a series of Top 5 returners at all positions.

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Have you guys seen these? What are your thoughts? I linked a few, but they did it for all positions.

This is absolutely hilarious.

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Spent some time with Peyton Marshall this afternoon shortly after head coach Damon Stoudamire left Kell HS.
Login to view embedded media After spending time with Marshall, his mom, as well as his coach, it was clear from talking with Marshall that the visit made an impact on the former Auburn commit.

"It was nice having him come visit today," said the Rivals100 big man. "I had heard a lot of good things about him, from being a coach in the NBA, actually play in the NBA, and what all he has been able to accomplish as a man in the basketball world."

Things have heated up quickly between Marshall and GT since being re-offered.

"For someone like him, with all his accomplishments, to be as interested in me as he is, it felt great to meet him in-person for the first time, and give him the chance to see my campus.

Stoudamire hasn't been shy about his vision for Marshall, were he to choose to stay local and play for GT.

"He was telling me how I would be used offensively, and comparing me to players he has had the chance to coach in the past. He explained to me what they'll be running at Georgia Tech in terms of playing style. For him to come up here, speak with my mom, my coaches, and myself, and take that time with us was really nice."

Marshall added an offer from Xavier literally on the other line while he and I were talking, and there are several other schools in the mix here as well.

... will they (41 total in & out) have on Game 1 vs GT at the Benz?

How many make the 2-deep? How many are impact players?...

Who they lost (first 2 ranked in the Top 300):
1- LB Monty Montgomery -> Ole Miss
2- DE Jeremiah Caldwell -> Maryland
3- RB Trevion Cooley -> GT (ranked #357)
4- OL Luke Kandra -> Cincy
5- LB Dorian Jones -> Cincy
6- DT Caleb Banks -> Florida
7- WR Dee Wiggins -> Cincy
8- OL Aaron Gunn -> JMU
9- TE Christian Pedersen -> FIU
10- DL Zach Edwards -> Troy
11- LB Nicario Harper -> Illinois
12- RB Jalen Mitchell -> UCONN
13- WR Chance Morrow -> Buffalo
14- TE Dez Melton -> San Diego
15- P Mark Vassett -> Colorado
16- DT Henry Bryant -> GA State

Who they gained (first 11 ranked in the Top 300):
1- WR Kevin Coleman (Jackson St)
2- DB Marquis Groves-Killebrew (TAMU)
3- DB Marcus Washington (uga)
4- OLB Stephen Herron (Stanford)
5- OL Vince Luma (Duquesne)
6- QB Brady Allen (Purdue)
7- DB Storm Duck (UNC)
8- DB Devin Neal (Baylor)
9- WR Jamari Thrash (Ga St)
10- OL Lance Robinson (Houston)
11- LB Keith Brown (Oregon)
12- RB Isaac Guerendo (Wisc)
13- WR Jadon Thompson (Cincy)
14- OL Eric Miller (Purdue)
15- QB Jack Plumber (Cal)
16- QB Harrison Bailey (UNLV)
17- DE Rodney McGraw (PSU)
18- WR Jimmy Galloway (Tenn)
19- OL Willie Tyler (Rutgers)
20- LB Gilbert Frierson (Mia)
21- DE Jeffery Clark (Ga State)
22- WR Joey Gatewood (UCF)
23- OL John Paul (UVA)
24- WR Allan Houston (Brown)
25- K Nick Lopez (Cal)

Saw this in the FB GT Football group and seemed worth a share. Free tickets with free drinks and food!

Let me preface that I assume this has been asked previously on here but I can’t find it and have not found logical answer online.

So Stetson was in school for 6-7 years and never graduated. Every inquiry about his eligibility has regarded Covid/redshirt…but isn’t there an APR standard regarding progress towards a degree? How can somebody be in school 7 years, play football, and never graduate?

Sony Michel played with Stetson at UGA… played for 4 different teams in NFL, won 2 super bowls, retired from the NFL….before Stetson left college.?!!

There is a little treat for those who are willing to thumb through the pictures of something very funny and then the response from the players who saw me shooting it.

Does anyone know the range of what these go for for season tickets? Myself and extended family have a lot of young kids and potentially exploring the idea of getting a box suite for future seasons.

The Bois are back! This time we have Wiley Ballard, Georgia Tech's own home grown sports anchor and sideline reporter, with the Drinkin with the Jackets. From GT Baseball to ACC play by play, Wiley has done it all! So grab a six pack with the lads, and listen to Wiley's journey into Sportscasting as well as his love for all things Georgia Tech. @Russell Johnson may have met his baseball match!

ATLANTA- Georgia Tech scaled things back on Thursday with a practice in shells as first-year head coach Brent Key prepares his team for a big scrimmage on Saturday afternoon in Bobby Dodd Stadium. The Jackets will have one more session on Friday before going for 100+ plays on Saturday. Among the groups of interest in that scrimmage are the running backs. That position is physical and the live reps should help create a little separation on the depth chart for first-year running backs coach Norval McKenzie.

McKenzie spoke to the media after practice on Thursday and shared his thoughts on how his group is progressing through the first week and a half of camp and the first live periods of tackling to the ground on Wednesday.

"It has been good. For a running back and an offensive lineman they work together, we joke around about how can I tell about the productivity when you can't get tackled," McKenzie said. " Having live segments proved to be beneficial for us. Can we make the play? Can we make somebody miss? Are we able to make contact and two or three yards after contact? Those are the things that we measure in those live settings and I feel like we are doing a really good job of it."

The presumed starter senior Dontae Smith was named to the Doak Walker Award Watch List for the second straight season. McKenzie has big expectations for his senior running back.

"Dontae has been great. The one thing about Dontae I think he is a solid contributor and he is not a kid that is going to have mental mistakes and he is going to practice hard. He has been battle-tested in the past so you feel confident that he can go out there and due to his experience have some success," McKenzie said. "I think right now he is in a good spot. Of course, we lean on him as a leader in the room in terms of the age gap and in terms of the experience gap. I'm hoping for a big fall from him as well."

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McKenize said that Jamie Felix is having a good camp and Jamal Haynes has done a great job of switching over from slot receiver to RB.

He said Haynes has done a nice job of narrowing the learning curve and his prior experience playing RB at Grayson HS has helped, but he has picked up the pass pro really well and that was the biggest concern they had with making the switch and he gives them a nice changeup guy in that RB room and he has the attitude and mentality he is looking for in there.

McKenzie said preparation leads to performance and he is trying to teach his guys to get mental reps even when they don't get the actual rep so they get 120 reps instead of 20, but the other 100 are mental. He wants all of them to prepare like they are the starter as well.

McKenzie said like Coach Faulkner he is a Georgia kid, who grew up here and he is really excited about the talent in this state and the coaching and the future for Georgia Tech and the way they are building relationships in this state for the future.

McKenzie said his time with Faulkner at Arkansas State has helped them have a smooth transition to working together and they kind of picked up where they left off.

McKenzie said the staff will meet tomorrow and decide how to split the workload for the scrimmage position by position.

Dontae Smith said he found out at practice from the SID that he was on the Doak Walker Watch List again, but he said he is not worried about that, he is worried about winning and things like that will come if they win.

Smith said like Coach Key his focus is on winning and putting everything he can into his final season and building on everything they've done up to this point so they can show the world and surprise people this fall. Their goal is to win every game one week at a time. They are not looking ahead at the schedule trying to figure out which games are wins and losses.

Smith said he has the same mindset he had as a third-string guy, he plans like he is starting and practices that way and always has. That way if they call his number he won't be surprised and will be ready to go.

Smith said he focused on pass-catching this offseason because of how much Faulkner likes to use his backs in the passing game and trying to make himself a better all-around back.

Smith said about the offense this year, "the number one thing is we are going to score a lot of points and that is as basic as I can put it. As simply as I can put it. We are going to score a lot of points." He said the plays have been there in the past and they haven't done it and it comes down to executing on every play and they are doing a good job at that and they have freshmen receivers who are developing extremely fast and the depth is there across the offense to score. They've worked all spring, summer and now in camp to do that one goal.

Smith said that he is using all the losing as a motivation and like Coach Key he is burning to win games, but it isn't a pressure thing, the goal is to win championships and graduate from Georgia Tech and if it isn't about either of those two things it doesn't matter to the team.

Smith talked about Morgan Burnett speaking to the team about Demaryius Thomas and his big takeaway from it was Demaryius would do anything to help the team win and he was extremely unselfish as a player and that was part of his leadership method. He knows he has to be a leader now on this team with these younger guys and he took away to not make it about himself but do like Demaryius and make it about the team and helping others and lifting them up.

We also spoke to another one of my favorite kids, Jamal Haynes

Haynes said his move to RB came after an offseason meeting with the coaches. He had a great spring at the slot but with Malik Rutherford and Christian Leary ahead of him they wanted to find a way to get his skillset on the field and Faulkner wanted to try him at RB where he played some in HS.

Haynes said that they have a great RB room and they welcomed him with open arms and are quick to help him if he misses an assignment or makes a mistake.

Haynes said that he likes playing RB because he loves feeding off a crowd and that is one of the spots where fans really get into it especially when you make a move and get into open space.

Haynes said he might be smaller than some RBs, but he isn't afraid to run and he has been doing the same thing all his life, he looks at the holes and uses his vision and ability to make plays.

Haynes said he worked hard with the S&C staff this offseason to put weight on and he is up to 185 now.