I'll give you some summaries of my conversations and the media breakout room at the ACC Kickoff by player
LAMILES BROOKS
LaMiles said he thinks he will play the majority of his snaps at safety, but will also play some nickel.
LaMiles said Jalen Ramsey and Derwin James are the two guys he models his game on with Ramsey being the biggest one.
LaMiles said he was recruited by all three big Florida schools but he wanted a different experience at GT and that is why he came to GT instead of FSU or Miami or Florida. He pointed to the fact he just went to Ireland and Washington DC in the last month as being great examples of the opportunities at GT compared to other schools for SAs.
LaMiles said this is the first offseason he has been able to lift significantly due to his shoulder and it had an impact on his tackling and ability to play last year but he adjusted and did the best he could with it. He feels like after the Clemson game he was able to finally at least feel comfortable to take the brace off and play last year and let it rip for the first time since HS. He said he had to get past the mental part of his shoulder injury and he would still feel a pinch or whatnot, but he has to go through it.
LaMiles said he thinks the secondary will be a strength of the D, he said they have a great core group with Sims, Watson, KJ Wallace, Clayton Powell-Lee and Jaylon King all back plus new guys he really likes like Sirad Bryant and Ahmari Harvey and Rodney Shelley he expects to play larger roles.
I asked him about moving from CB where he expected to play out of HS to safety and he said that Thacker was the one who asked him to move and he wasn't sure about it at first, but clearly Thacker knew what he was doing. He really likes that they have continuity with Thacker and Tillman working with the secondary again.
JORDAN WILLIAMS
Jordan said the chemistry is really strong and the bond is really strong among the team.
He said the bare minimum goal is to make a bowl game this year.
When asked about who looked good this summer, he said that Zeek Biggers lost a lot of weight and looks great. He said Tyson Meiguez is looking much faster. Weston Franklin has really stepped up at center and cut his body fat. He said that at RB he like Trey Cooley and thinks he is fast and a load out there. At WR he likes Malik Rutherford and Christian Leary and he thinks that Jamal Haynes will be an X-factor guy as a RB/WR guy. He also said that Makius Scott his roommate and friend has really improved his body.
I asked him where he thinks he will play this fall and he said LT or RG. He joked that he actually was okay at center where they tried him out a little in spring ball. He said he can actually snap and run which he didn't think he could do. (Key joked that Williams is the 7th string center) this fall and Jordan said at least he is on the depth chart.
Jordan said he really was impressed with Connor Scaglione the Princeton transfer and how strong he is. He didn't get to see him as much because he had classes during some of the OTA time so they were working with different groups. He said he looks "promising"
Jordan said Joe Fusile is a dog and now one on the team outworks that dude and that is why he is on scholarship and the starting left guard. Joe has cut down his body fat and he works harder than anyone else and he is grinding every day even when everyone is dead tired. He said they'll be exhausted from a workout and Joe will be in the cold tub or working out more with his headphones one. He said he is not human and he is Jordan's biggest motivator to get better.
I asked about comparing Key and Geep Wade as coaches, Williams said that Key is very technical to the point of talking about elbow angles on blocks and stuff like that and Geep is much more about understanding the play and what they need to do and getting it done however they can to sustain the block.
He joked that despite Geep and Buster Faulkner having this long history he has never seen them speak to each other on the field like buddies. He said they are both so focused and when Buster comes into the OL room he just sits and watches Geep rip them a new one and smiles.
Jordan said the biggest change between Collins and Key is the mental toughness of the team. He said that Key makes them feel like they can overcome anything in any game situation. He said that Joe's growth is a great example of that.
On the QB situation, Jordan said that Zach Pyron is definitely leading the team and he speaks up to the team and makes sure everyone has their head on straight. It is a player led team and he helps make sure everyone is held accountable. He said he was shocked when he learned that Zach broke his collarbone last year in the Miami game because he kept playing and he thought maybe at worst he had a stinger. He couldn't imagine trying to play through that. He said that Pryon is very black or white, yes or now type dude and he is focused on getting better and football and that is a big motivator.
Jordan said he is pissed the ACC Kickoff moved to three days and he couldn't see Chico Bennett and give him a hard time. He said he is still in touch with Jeff Sims and Jahmyr Gibbs and Ryan King as they've moved along and that is an interesting part of playing in the portal age.
SYLVAIN YONDJOUEN
Sylvain said that Larry Knight was the guy who gave him, you only have one body speech. It was about how guys who would have injuries would go out and party or do stuff that impacted their ability to recover and heal during the season or even offseason and that made no sense to Coach Knight. That stuck with Sylvain and he is focused on making sure he can handle the workload he is expected to undertake this season doubling his snap count.
Sylvain said he only goes home once a year around Christmas because if he goes for the week off they have then he can't really enjoy himself because of jet lag until it is almost time to go home.
Sylvain said he feels like an ATL dude now after spending so much time in America.
Sylvain said that Coach Key has really changed the team from what Coach Collins was doing and they feel like an actual family now with accountability and he thinks fall camp will bring them even closer ahead of the season.
Sylvain said he learned a lot from Coach Coleman and he is excited to have him back this year and Coach Knight helped him a lot as well just in terms of how to get better, how to listen and how to learn about the game.
Sylvain said he is very excited about Eddie Kelly the transfer from USF and ET (Etinosa Reuben) the two new additions and he thinks they will be able to help create more depth at his position.
Sylvain gave the best example I've heard so far about the difference between AJ Artis and Coach Lew. He said they do Olympic lifting now and he had never power cleaned before in his life until AJ took over. He didn't workout in HS and Lew didn't have them do that and he feels the strength in his legs and explosiveness from the power clean and it is a very tangible difference.
LAMILES BROOKS
LaMiles said he thinks he will play the majority of his snaps at safety, but will also play some nickel.
LaMiles said Jalen Ramsey and Derwin James are the two guys he models his game on with Ramsey being the biggest one.
LaMiles said he was recruited by all three big Florida schools but he wanted a different experience at GT and that is why he came to GT instead of FSU or Miami or Florida. He pointed to the fact he just went to Ireland and Washington DC in the last month as being great examples of the opportunities at GT compared to other schools for SAs.
LaMiles said this is the first offseason he has been able to lift significantly due to his shoulder and it had an impact on his tackling and ability to play last year but he adjusted and did the best he could with it. He feels like after the Clemson game he was able to finally at least feel comfortable to take the brace off and play last year and let it rip for the first time since HS. He said he had to get past the mental part of his shoulder injury and he would still feel a pinch or whatnot, but he has to go through it.
LaMiles said he thinks the secondary will be a strength of the D, he said they have a great core group with Sims, Watson, KJ Wallace, Clayton Powell-Lee and Jaylon King all back plus new guys he really likes like Sirad Bryant and Ahmari Harvey and Rodney Shelley he expects to play larger roles.
I asked him about moving from CB where he expected to play out of HS to safety and he said that Thacker was the one who asked him to move and he wasn't sure about it at first, but clearly Thacker knew what he was doing. He really likes that they have continuity with Thacker and Tillman working with the secondary again.
JORDAN WILLIAMS
Jordan said the chemistry is really strong and the bond is really strong among the team.
He said the bare minimum goal is to make a bowl game this year.
When asked about who looked good this summer, he said that Zeek Biggers lost a lot of weight and looks great. He said Tyson Meiguez is looking much faster. Weston Franklin has really stepped up at center and cut his body fat. He said that at RB he like Trey Cooley and thinks he is fast and a load out there. At WR he likes Malik Rutherford and Christian Leary and he thinks that Jamal Haynes will be an X-factor guy as a RB/WR guy. He also said that Makius Scott his roommate and friend has really improved his body.
I asked him where he thinks he will play this fall and he said LT or RG. He joked that he actually was okay at center where they tried him out a little in spring ball. He said he can actually snap and run which he didn't think he could do. (Key joked that Williams is the 7th string center) this fall and Jordan said at least he is on the depth chart.
Jordan said he really was impressed with Connor Scaglione the Princeton transfer and how strong he is. He didn't get to see him as much because he had classes during some of the OTA time so they were working with different groups. He said he looks "promising"
Jordan said Joe Fusile is a dog and now one on the team outworks that dude and that is why he is on scholarship and the starting left guard. Joe has cut down his body fat and he works harder than anyone else and he is grinding every day even when everyone is dead tired. He said they'll be exhausted from a workout and Joe will be in the cold tub or working out more with his headphones one. He said he is not human and he is Jordan's biggest motivator to get better.
I asked about comparing Key and Geep Wade as coaches, Williams said that Key is very technical to the point of talking about elbow angles on blocks and stuff like that and Geep is much more about understanding the play and what they need to do and getting it done however they can to sustain the block.
He joked that despite Geep and Buster Faulkner having this long history he has never seen them speak to each other on the field like buddies. He said they are both so focused and when Buster comes into the OL room he just sits and watches Geep rip them a new one and smiles.
Jordan said the biggest change between Collins and Key is the mental toughness of the team. He said that Key makes them feel like they can overcome anything in any game situation. He said that Joe's growth is a great example of that.
On the QB situation, Jordan said that Zach Pyron is definitely leading the team and he speaks up to the team and makes sure everyone has their head on straight. It is a player led team and he helps make sure everyone is held accountable. He said he was shocked when he learned that Zach broke his collarbone last year in the Miami game because he kept playing and he thought maybe at worst he had a stinger. He couldn't imagine trying to play through that. He said that Pryon is very black or white, yes or now type dude and he is focused on getting better and football and that is a big motivator.
Jordan said he is pissed the ACC Kickoff moved to three days and he couldn't see Chico Bennett and give him a hard time. He said he is still in touch with Jeff Sims and Jahmyr Gibbs and Ryan King as they've moved along and that is an interesting part of playing in the portal age.
SYLVAIN YONDJOUEN
Sylvain said that Larry Knight was the guy who gave him, you only have one body speech. It was about how guys who would have injuries would go out and party or do stuff that impacted their ability to recover and heal during the season or even offseason and that made no sense to Coach Knight. That stuck with Sylvain and he is focused on making sure he can handle the workload he is expected to undertake this season doubling his snap count.
Sylvain said he only goes home once a year around Christmas because if he goes for the week off they have then he can't really enjoy himself because of jet lag until it is almost time to go home.
Sylvain said he feels like an ATL dude now after spending so much time in America.
Sylvain said that Coach Key has really changed the team from what Coach Collins was doing and they feel like an actual family now with accountability and he thinks fall camp will bring them even closer ahead of the season.
Sylvain said he learned a lot from Coach Coleman and he is excited to have him back this year and Coach Knight helped him a lot as well just in terms of how to get better, how to listen and how to learn about the game.
Sylvain said he is very excited about Eddie Kelly the transfer from USF and ET (Etinosa Reuben) the two new additions and he thinks they will be able to help create more depth at his position.
Sylvain gave the best example I've heard so far about the difference between AJ Artis and Coach Lew. He said they do Olympic lifting now and he had never power cleaned before in his life until AJ took over. He didn't workout in HS and Lew didn't have them do that and he feels the strength in his legs and explosiveness from the power clean and it is a very tangible difference.
