ATLANTA- Georgia Tech began spring ball on Thursday as Geoff Collins enters a critical new season with six new on-the-field assistants, a new offense and key new defensive assistants as well to break in. Collins spoke with the media on the record for the first time since December after practice on Thursday.
"It was really good to be back on the grass today," Collins said after practice. "You know we have some new coaches on staff and to get them out there teaching the new offense and then things we are progressing towards on defense is good. They've had four to five-week offseason with coach Lew (Caralla)."
Collins was 30 minutes late to his own presser because he said he wanted to debrief his new coaches immediately following the program to share notes and thoughts after the first day on the field.
"I apologize for being late," he said. "I grabbed the coaches that are new to the organization just to give them some real-time notes that I had taken throughout practice on how to make it cleaner and more efficient to get even better work in."
With so many new faces on the staff, Collins said the holdover assistants brought the new coaches out to the practice fields on Wednesday for a run-through on how practice typically works.
Collins said he thought the new staff hit the ground running on Thursday and the older staff really helped them settle in.
Collins said that Chip Long is bringing an offense that aligns with what they want to do as a program, being both physical and aggressive on offense, he said he liked that attitude and demeanor of the team as a whole in practice on day one. He said the goal between now and Sept. 5th is to create the best version of Georgia Tech football they can so when they take the field at MBS for Clemson they can be great.
On the RB situation
He said that Dontae Smith has proven himself to be a very good player and he has made major strength gains in the offseason and he has also stepped into a leadership role now with the team. He said they really like Hassan Hall former Atlanta kid from Louisville has great speed and runs great routes as well, he popped some today. They like Antonio Martin as well, Collins also noted something I've said they really like the two walk-on RBs Englan Williams and Daylon Gordon and he said even new RB coach Mike Daniels was impressed with those two in practice and how they run it.
On the LBs
Likes Ace Eley and his impact on the team, Charlie Thomas has grown within this program both physically and with his maturity as well and Demetrius Knight is nearing 240 range and is moving extremely well and has a passion for the game and has learned how to play defense more. He said they are really excited about Tatum and Khatavian Franks who is back with the team as well as Kyle Efford who enrolled early. Tyson Meiguez is still out recovering from his knee injury, his status is TBD for spring ball.
On how they used the portal
Collins said they had 12 mid-year spots to play with so they added five HS kids and 7 transfers to max that out and they've spent the offseason teaching those guys how to work within the program and locker room and they will use the rest of the spring to make evaluations and make additional moves based on needs post-spring. He said that looking at the fit and relationships is a big part of evaluating portal kids as well and they've had guys leave for the NFL or transfer out, but the bonds within the organization are also very important when looking at that.
I asked him about the low OL numbers for spring ball and how he will manage that and the number of medicals they've had in that group in three-plus years now, Collins said they went through everything they were doing and worked with the medical staff and GT to make sure there were no issues leading to the number of medical issues they've had with that group, he said GT has been really good with providing great medical support and staying on the cutting edge of that and player safety and that led to them changing a few things they do to make sure they take care of their players.
Collins got asked three different times if he was bummed about coaches and players leaving GT and the perception of that to the outside world. At first he said that he was excited to add guys like David Turner who worked for him at Miss State and has an amazing background as a coach, Chip Long, Chris Weinke, Jason Semore, Mike Daniels and Travares Tillman who played at GT back to Tech. On the third try, he said he loves the guys who left and cares about them and he counseled the players over their decisions to leave, but at the end of the day he has to look at the team he has and he feels blessed to coach them and he has to focus on that and not think about the guys who left.
Saturday will be student appreciation day, closed practice on the practice fields open to students only.
Rod seems to be on a Zach Gibson hype train that I don't understand, he talked about how well Gibson spun it during 7v7 (personnel matchups probably helped there)
Collins quickly corrected him on talking up Gibson and went back to Jeff Sims and the work he is doing with Weinke and Chip Long and their goals for developing the QB room and Jeff and they are excited about Jeff's growth as a QB and leader and Long and Weinke have really helped push him to be the type of player he can be with his skillset. He said that Sims spent a ton of time with them in the offseason learning the new offense, reads and schemes and he has handled the transition very well. Collins said they are really excited about both Zachs, he said today was the first time he got to see them both throw live and they did not disappoint, but there is plenty for them to clean up over the next 14 practices.
I asked about the DB situation and breaking in many new guys, Collins said he is really excited to see them on the same page this year, he said that was evident today and the DBs were flying around and there are guys who've had to wait to play who really excited to get on the field now. He said the communication piece was really good today and everyone was playing the correct techniques for the calls and they have to continue progressing with that.
ROSTER MOVEMENT
As we have previously reported on JOL, last year’s starting center Mikey Minihan has retired after graduating and freshman Ryan Spiers has received a medical and is working with the team as a student assistant. Sources confirmed that offensive lineman Nick Pendley and defensive end Albany Casey are no longer with the team as well both due to injuries that ended their careers with medicals.
NEW DIGITS FOR NEW JACKETS
RB- Hassan Hall 3
WR- DJ Moore 13
QB- Zach Pyron 14
QB- Zach Gibson 15
RB- Antonio Martin 20
S- Khari Gee 23
CB- Ahmari Harvey 26
DB- Jaylin Marshall 36
LB- Kyle Efford 44
OG- Paul Tchio 57
OG- Pierce Quick 70
TE- Luke Benson 81
PLAYS OF THE DAY
Saw Jaylon King have a diving interception off a tipped ball off of a receiver's hands that changed direction. It was impressive to see the effort on the first day to make that play from him. Sims threw one of the prettiest deep balls I've seen in a while to the corner of the end zone, the WR misjudged the ball, but it was an NFL-level deep throw.
"It was really good to be back on the grass today," Collins said after practice. "You know we have some new coaches on staff and to get them out there teaching the new offense and then things we are progressing towards on defense is good. They've had four to five-week offseason with coach Lew (Caralla)."
Collins was 30 minutes late to his own presser because he said he wanted to debrief his new coaches immediately following the program to share notes and thoughts after the first day on the field.
"I apologize for being late," he said. "I grabbed the coaches that are new to the organization just to give them some real-time notes that I had taken throughout practice on how to make it cleaner and more efficient to get even better work in."
With so many new faces on the staff, Collins said the holdover assistants brought the new coaches out to the practice fields on Wednesday for a run-through on how practice typically works.
Collins said he thought the new staff hit the ground running on Thursday and the older staff really helped them settle in.
Collins said that Chip Long is bringing an offense that aligns with what they want to do as a program, being both physical and aggressive on offense, he said he liked that attitude and demeanor of the team as a whole in practice on day one. He said the goal between now and Sept. 5th is to create the best version of Georgia Tech football they can so when they take the field at MBS for Clemson they can be great.
On the RB situation
He said that Dontae Smith has proven himself to be a very good player and he has made major strength gains in the offseason and he has also stepped into a leadership role now with the team. He said they really like Hassan Hall former Atlanta kid from Louisville has great speed and runs great routes as well, he popped some today. They like Antonio Martin as well, Collins also noted something I've said they really like the two walk-on RBs Englan Williams and Daylon Gordon and he said even new RB coach Mike Daniels was impressed with those two in practice and how they run it.
On the LBs
Likes Ace Eley and his impact on the team, Charlie Thomas has grown within this program both physically and with his maturity as well and Demetrius Knight is nearing 240 range and is moving extremely well and has a passion for the game and has learned how to play defense more. He said they are really excited about Tatum and Khatavian Franks who is back with the team as well as Kyle Efford who enrolled early. Tyson Meiguez is still out recovering from his knee injury, his status is TBD for spring ball.
On how they used the portal
Collins said they had 12 mid-year spots to play with so they added five HS kids and 7 transfers to max that out and they've spent the offseason teaching those guys how to work within the program and locker room and they will use the rest of the spring to make evaluations and make additional moves based on needs post-spring. He said that looking at the fit and relationships is a big part of evaluating portal kids as well and they've had guys leave for the NFL or transfer out, but the bonds within the organization are also very important when looking at that.
I asked him about the low OL numbers for spring ball and how he will manage that and the number of medicals they've had in that group in three-plus years now, Collins said they went through everything they were doing and worked with the medical staff and GT to make sure there were no issues leading to the number of medical issues they've had with that group, he said GT has been really good with providing great medical support and staying on the cutting edge of that and player safety and that led to them changing a few things they do to make sure they take care of their players.
Collins got asked three different times if he was bummed about coaches and players leaving GT and the perception of that to the outside world. At first he said that he was excited to add guys like David Turner who worked for him at Miss State and has an amazing background as a coach, Chip Long, Chris Weinke, Jason Semore, Mike Daniels and Travares Tillman who played at GT back to Tech. On the third try, he said he loves the guys who left and cares about them and he counseled the players over their decisions to leave, but at the end of the day he has to look at the team he has and he feels blessed to coach them and he has to focus on that and not think about the guys who left.
Saturday will be student appreciation day, closed practice on the practice fields open to students only.
Rod seems to be on a Zach Gibson hype train that I don't understand, he talked about how well Gibson spun it during 7v7 (personnel matchups probably helped there)
Collins quickly corrected him on talking up Gibson and went back to Jeff Sims and the work he is doing with Weinke and Chip Long and their goals for developing the QB room and Jeff and they are excited about Jeff's growth as a QB and leader and Long and Weinke have really helped push him to be the type of player he can be with his skillset. He said that Sims spent a ton of time with them in the offseason learning the new offense, reads and schemes and he has handled the transition very well. Collins said they are really excited about both Zachs, he said today was the first time he got to see them both throw live and they did not disappoint, but there is plenty for them to clean up over the next 14 practices.
I asked about the DB situation and breaking in many new guys, Collins said he is really excited to see them on the same page this year, he said that was evident today and the DBs were flying around and there are guys who've had to wait to play who really excited to get on the field now. He said the communication piece was really good today and everyone was playing the correct techniques for the calls and they have to continue progressing with that.
ROSTER MOVEMENT
As we have previously reported on JOL, last year’s starting center Mikey Minihan has retired after graduating and freshman Ryan Spiers has received a medical and is working with the team as a student assistant. Sources confirmed that offensive lineman Nick Pendley and defensive end Albany Casey are no longer with the team as well both due to injuries that ended their careers with medicals.
NEW DIGITS FOR NEW JACKETS
RB- Hassan Hall 3
WR- DJ Moore 13
QB- Zach Pyron 14
QB- Zach Gibson 15
RB- Antonio Martin 20
S- Khari Gee 23
CB- Ahmari Harvey 26
DB- Jaylin Marshall 36
LB- Kyle Efford 44
OG- Paul Tchio 57
OG- Pierce Quick 70
TE- Luke Benson 81
PLAYS OF THE DAY
Saw Jaylon King have a diving interception off a tipped ball off of a receiver's hands that changed direction. It was impressive to see the effort on the first day to make that play from him. Sims threw one of the prettiest deep balls I've seen in a while to the corner of the end zone, the WR misjudged the ball, but it was an NFL-level deep throw.
Last edited:
