"We finished up our Thursday practice today getting ready for the Notre Dame game. We've had a good week of practice. I don't think there's ever been a time anyone's ever come up to a podium and say, man, it's a horrible week. We're not prepared. We're not doing anything. It was a very intentional week and we got a lot of things accomplished and focused. I thought the focus was extremely good, not stressed, not anxious, but, ready for the moment and excited to be able to have this opportunity on Saturday."
Student-Athletes of the Week:
Offense: Eric Singleton Jr.
Defense: Zeek Biggers
Scouts of the Week:
WR Chris Elko
DB AJ Cheeks
Special teams Blake Ragsdale
The Captains for Saturday are Jordan Williams, Sylvain Yondjouen, LaMiles Brooks and Avery Boyd and they will have a special captain, Will Scissum. Key joked that Scissum is a 9th-year senior and he has been here every year he has been back at GT and he does a great job of working with the defensive side of the ball and he truly bleeds white and gold and is in grad school here. Scissum was in the 2019 recruiting class as a walk-on. Key said he lives and breathes Georgia Tech football and would do anything to help the team and he is excited he will be one of the captains.
I asked about the QB situation and who will start on Saturday if he is ready to make that public and Key joked they won't have that meeting until this afternoon, but he said that Haynes King is day-to-day and it was good to see him back out at practice today.
Key said the Frat Radio Show thing was an idea that came up several weeks ago and he thought it was a great idea and a great chance to get in front of the students who have been so impactful in football games for GT this year and he said that he is really excited that they are buying into the program and that they are all in this together. He said that he hopes it is a great turnout tonight and that they have some trivia questions and prizes and he will give out a few things he has in his office. He said he hopes they take up the whole street tonight with people.
Key said he was impressed with seeing how many Tech students go to Falcons game as he drove through the campus after his radio show a few weeks ago and saw the hordes going over to MBS for the Thursday night game that week, he said it looked like half of the campus was going and the only down part of it for him was seeing them in red and black. He hopes that they show up on Saturday and make MBS into a block party for GT.
On facing the ND defense for his OL, Key said every game is a challenge but this is a particularly strong challenge and they've made some headway in the last few weeks with the things that make Georgia Tech football a successful program an they have to be able to protect the QB and establish the run game. ND is really good against the run and they've got a lot of experience and the two inside guys are super seniors and he joked they've been at ND as long as Key has been back in the league and they've been playing these crossovers ACC/ND. He thinks the two LBs are good and instinctive players and twitchy and strong and get-off blocks. The safeties do a good job of run/pass reads and getting down and being involved in the run and defending the pass. The edge guys play good responsibility defense and there are not a lot of busts.
A ND reporter was here and he asked a lot of questions as Key humored him since he traveled all the way down for his presser from South Bend. He asked about Riley Leonard and Key said that Riley is similar to Haynes King and that he has followed Riley's career since he is from Fairhope, Alabama and he likes to keep an eye on Bama kids who leave the state to play football. He said that ND has an offensive identity and their younger guys up front have matured as the season went along and are playing better. They get the TE involved as well and Riley is an explosive player like Haynes as a runner and they might do things a little better than the other one at certain things.
I asked about the evolution of the QB room from when he was interim to now where they are stacked comparably to the 2022 season and he said that the big thing was having guys made of the right stuff and do they have the right character and do they love the game and are willing to push through adversity. He said that they may not get to play right away but when it is their turn they take the ball and run with it and they have tough kids and a toughness in that room and are each other's biggest supporters. He said the number one goal was fixing the offense when he hired Buster Faulkner and it is QB driven and they had to acquire talent in that room. He said that over the last two classes they've been able to do that and they have some young guys that will be really good players. Are they ready to play 15 games right now a year? Not necessarily, but they'll be very good players. He said that Brody Rhodes has been there the longest and he is like having a coach in the room and really is a coach and Brody is a great example of someone who just loves Georgia Tech and Georgia Tech football and will do anything in his power to help the team win on Saturdays.
I asked about Tyler Santucci finding his stride with the defense and the players getting more comfortable in the system after seeing some live bullets in games and that adjustment to how it looks in a game. He said they tend to look at things overall during bye weeks and the scheme has to be personnel-driven and the mark of a good coach is adjusting to and taking your personnel and putting them in a position to be successful. He said it drives him crazy when a coach says someone isn't good enough, he said it is their job to recruit and put guys in a position to be successful and they can recruit each year and build it up and find guys who fit the identity of the program. He said that Tyler has done a good job of that and coming up with schemes that fit the personnel they have and working with them hands on and he has adjusted after seeing them face live bullets in games and seeing how they react to that and getting a feel for it and adjusting. He said that the thing he loves about Tyler is they could have the #1 defense in the country and he wouldn't be satisfied by that and would be looking for things to improve. Key said that they played a lot of guys early as well to figure out who could help them win games and they've adjusted and you can see the overall improvement on D and offense and special teams because of that. He said that Tyler is a grinder too and is as old school as they come and that is why he loves having him on the staff.
I asked about the status of Jackson Hawes, Josh Beetham and Ryland Goede and Key cracked a joke that he was going to put on the uniform and have an eligible number and just run verticals and seam routes, he said right now those guys are game time decisions and he wouldn't say that if they havdn't been practicing.
The guy from South Bend asked a bunch of very ND-specific questions, listen to the audio or watch GT's video later if you want that stuff, I didn't find it that illuminating.
Student-Athletes of the Week:
Offense: Eric Singleton Jr.
Defense: Zeek Biggers
Scouts of the Week:
WR Chris Elko
DB AJ Cheeks
Special teams Blake Ragsdale
The Captains for Saturday are Jordan Williams, Sylvain Yondjouen, LaMiles Brooks and Avery Boyd and they will have a special captain, Will Scissum. Key joked that Scissum is a 9th-year senior and he has been here every year he has been back at GT and he does a great job of working with the defensive side of the ball and he truly bleeds white and gold and is in grad school here. Scissum was in the 2019 recruiting class as a walk-on. Key said he lives and breathes Georgia Tech football and would do anything to help the team and he is excited he will be one of the captains.
I asked about the QB situation and who will start on Saturday if he is ready to make that public and Key joked they won't have that meeting until this afternoon, but he said that Haynes King is day-to-day and it was good to see him back out at practice today.
Key said the Frat Radio Show thing was an idea that came up several weeks ago and he thought it was a great idea and a great chance to get in front of the students who have been so impactful in football games for GT this year and he said that he is really excited that they are buying into the program and that they are all in this together. He said that he hopes it is a great turnout tonight and that they have some trivia questions and prizes and he will give out a few things he has in his office. He said he hopes they take up the whole street tonight with people.
Key said he was impressed with seeing how many Tech students go to Falcons game as he drove through the campus after his radio show a few weeks ago and saw the hordes going over to MBS for the Thursday night game that week, he said it looked like half of the campus was going and the only down part of it for him was seeing them in red and black. He hopes that they show up on Saturday and make MBS into a block party for GT.
On facing the ND defense for his OL, Key said every game is a challenge but this is a particularly strong challenge and they've made some headway in the last few weeks with the things that make Georgia Tech football a successful program an they have to be able to protect the QB and establish the run game. ND is really good against the run and they've got a lot of experience and the two inside guys are super seniors and he joked they've been at ND as long as Key has been back in the league and they've been playing these crossovers ACC/ND. He thinks the two LBs are good and instinctive players and twitchy and strong and get-off blocks. The safeties do a good job of run/pass reads and getting down and being involved in the run and defending the pass. The edge guys play good responsibility defense and there are not a lot of busts.
A ND reporter was here and he asked a lot of questions as Key humored him since he traveled all the way down for his presser from South Bend. He asked about Riley Leonard and Key said that Riley is similar to Haynes King and that he has followed Riley's career since he is from Fairhope, Alabama and he likes to keep an eye on Bama kids who leave the state to play football. He said that ND has an offensive identity and their younger guys up front have matured as the season went along and are playing better. They get the TE involved as well and Riley is an explosive player like Haynes as a runner and they might do things a little better than the other one at certain things.
I asked about the evolution of the QB room from when he was interim to now where they are stacked comparably to the 2022 season and he said that the big thing was having guys made of the right stuff and do they have the right character and do they love the game and are willing to push through adversity. He said that they may not get to play right away but when it is their turn they take the ball and run with it and they have tough kids and a toughness in that room and are each other's biggest supporters. He said the number one goal was fixing the offense when he hired Buster Faulkner and it is QB driven and they had to acquire talent in that room. He said that over the last two classes they've been able to do that and they have some young guys that will be really good players. Are they ready to play 15 games right now a year? Not necessarily, but they'll be very good players. He said that Brody Rhodes has been there the longest and he is like having a coach in the room and really is a coach and Brody is a great example of someone who just loves Georgia Tech and Georgia Tech football and will do anything in his power to help the team win on Saturdays.
I asked about Tyler Santucci finding his stride with the defense and the players getting more comfortable in the system after seeing some live bullets in games and that adjustment to how it looks in a game. He said they tend to look at things overall during bye weeks and the scheme has to be personnel-driven and the mark of a good coach is adjusting to and taking your personnel and putting them in a position to be successful. He said it drives him crazy when a coach says someone isn't good enough, he said it is their job to recruit and put guys in a position to be successful and they can recruit each year and build it up and find guys who fit the identity of the program. He said that Tyler has done a good job of that and coming up with schemes that fit the personnel they have and working with them hands on and he has adjusted after seeing them face live bullets in games and seeing how they react to that and getting a feel for it and adjusting. He said that the thing he loves about Tyler is they could have the #1 defense in the country and he wouldn't be satisfied by that and would be looking for things to improve. Key said that they played a lot of guys early as well to figure out who could help them win games and they've adjusted and you can see the overall improvement on D and offense and special teams because of that. He said that Tyler is a grinder too and is as old school as they come and that is why he loves having him on the staff.
I asked about the status of Jackson Hawes, Josh Beetham and Ryland Goede and Key cracked a joke that he was going to put on the uniform and have an eligible number and just run verticals and seam routes, he said right now those guys are game time decisions and he wouldn't say that if they havdn't been practicing.
The guy from South Bend asked a bunch of very ND-specific questions, listen to the audio or watch GT's video later if you want that stuff, I didn't find it that illuminating.
