Georgia Tech returned to the practice field after a 10-day layoff for spring break Monday. After practice, newly minted associate head coach Ricky Brumfield spoke to the media about his specialists as well as his new duties as the Jackets cornerbacks coach. Brumfield had been helping with the defensive backs in the past, but adding the cornerback position as a full-time gig and associate head coaching duties adds more things for him to do in addition to being the special teams coordinator for the Jackets.
"Obviously with the corners and special teams and everything else, I've added a little more on the plate, but last year I was helping out as well with the corners and the nickels so it was a smooth transition," Brumfield said.
Adding the associate head coach title was a big sign of faith from head coach Brent Key in Brumfield as well in addition to bumping up his role on staff to corners coach.
"It meant a lot. I didn't know (coach Key) coming in and I worked hard for him and him seeing that, it was honestly an honor to get that. My future goal is I want to be a head coach wherever that is. That will allow me to help with that process. Him doing that, I'm very appreciative of it and grateful of it and I am not taking it lightly," Brumfield said. "I'm doing everything I can to learn as much as I can from him and help him out as well. I told him, 'Coach I want to take some things off your plate. I don't just want a title and just be here, I want to take some things off your plate.' Obviously, that will help my career in the future as well."
Brumfield said having his core four guys back for 2024, Aidan Birr at PK, Gavin Stewart at KO, David Shanahan at P/Holder and Henry Freer at LS is big. Last year they spent a lot of time just teaching them how to do a certain drill or the why and how things translate to the game and now they are able to refine more and add some stuff they couldn't do a year ago like more rugby punts or how they line up for FGs and it is just a lot smoother overall and the players have bought in more.
I asked Brumfield about Warren Burrell and Syeed Gibbs to get his take on each.
On Burrell, he said that he really wants to be coached hard and specific with his technique. Burrell tells Brumfield to stay on him and he is a pleasure to coach. He never gets too down or too high and he wants to be perfect out there, but he knows that isn't possible but keeps pushing towards that goal and he thinks he will be a really good player for them this year.
On Gibbs, he is different than Burrell who likes to smile, laugh or joke a little, Gibbs is very serious and he likes to get extra time working on his craft and he is a perfectionist as well. He goes about his business in a different way than Burrell but they both want to be great.
Brumfield said that the biggest area of work is kickoff both coverage and kick return as both dropped off as the season went along. They did jump from 131 to 42 in the country and there was major improvement overall on special teams but there is still work to do because they didn't score a touchdown on KR or PR. They did have four blocked kicks but they need to be able to change field position better in the return game and score touchdowns. He said they also had too many missed tackles. He said kickoff was their worst phase last year and they are doing a lot of extra work on that this spring with drills.
I asked about the return game and he said they have Christian Leary back at KR and Jamal Haynes who both handled the duties last year plus some other guys they want to look at. Rodney Shelley was the backup PR last year and got a chance in the SC State game and the bowl game when Dom Blaylock was out and he is more of a home run threat than Dom was because he has more wiggle, but Dom was very consistent catching the ball and getting more yards than you would expect in the space he was operating in. Dom could get 10-12 yards, but he wasn't going to break one. Rodney is more of a breakaway guy back there, but he has to be more consistent catching and fielding the ball. He said they are looking at Christian Leary, Eric Singleton, and Jamal Haynes on PRs as well. He is looking for consistency there.
I asked him how he decides on the holder and why he uses a punter and he gave a great answer.
"I love the punters holding because those guys work together all day long. I've had it before where the QB was the holder and they could care less about holding and they come over with their chin strap unstrapped and they get about five snaps and say hey coach I'm good. I want chemistry and I want trust in the holder and snapper."
He said the amount of reps and the work they get in builds that trust in the operation on the FG/PAT and that it also helps the punter because he is always catching the ball anyway. He also said how many fake FGs are you going to try in a season, one maybe two so there isn't a huge point in using the backup QB.
David Shanahan was up next and he said that it is getting closer to playing in Ireland but they still have a long way to go before that game kicks off with spring ball, summer workouts and fall camp, but he said people are excited about the game and they went over in July around July 4th with a group and they went to his hometown and stuff like that and that was a lot of fun to do.
Shanahan noted this will be the first time he has had the same position coach for back-to-back seasons at GT and he thinks that should help him with consistency and knowing what to expect and they are able to work on more detailed things like directional punts or different types of kicks because of that.
Shanahan said the team got to sample some Irish snacks and Jordan Williams really liked them and they were a hit with the team. He joked that a couple of his teammates asked him how to get a passport and he thought it was funny given he doesn't have an American passport and would have no clue how that works.
Shanahan said he is working on nailing down his process and gave the example of pro-style punts and his steps. He said he varies between 2, 2.5 and 3 steps and he should be hitting it on two every time. He has to be more confident in that process and that is the biggest thing he is focusing on.
Next up was Henry Freer the long snapper and he was put on scholarship before spring break for his SR season. He said getting put on scholarship meant everything to him and this is his sixth year here and when he got to GT he had no idea he would even play football at all before he got a call asking him to tryout in the summer. He showed up at camp and then the next year he got to travel and the year after that he got in a couple of games and then he just played a little more and then a little more and it has been a cool journey for him.
Freer said having Brumfield back is huge for them because they aren't stuck trying to figure out a new system again and different calls like the previous regime.
Freer said he is focused on improving his coverage skills on punts, he said his teammates rag on him about it and he needs to get more tackles.
Freer said he feels like GT is on the rise and trending up now under Coach Key and they are starting to do the right things to build it up.
Last we spoke to Aidan Birr and I asked him why he switched from 93 to 33 and he said his kicking coach back home Jade Oberkrom wore #33 in college and when coach Key asked him in December if he wanted a different number he said yeah, 33. He likes the number and it is the most 3s you can have on a jersey.
Birr said he has been very focused on the kicking operation with Freer and Shanahan and improving that and also improving his kickoffs and leg speed.
Birr got a little emotional when I asked him about his tough road to playing with his ACL injury, he said that he had appendicitis that ended his HS senior season early and then tore his ACL and he wasn't sure if GT would honor his scholarship or not and they stuck with him so when a year after that he got on the field against SC State for the first time it was a great feeling and he knows that GT really cares about the players.
Birr wants to break the 55-yard field-goal record at GT.
I asked him about following in Harrison Butker's footsteps and he said that is a huge motivation and he watches him kick in the summer here and said it sounds like a sledgehammer hitting the ball when Butker kicks it. He said he doesn't go bother him or anything, just watches what he does and that Butker is a very nice guy.
"Obviously with the corners and special teams and everything else, I've added a little more on the plate, but last year I was helping out as well with the corners and the nickels so it was a smooth transition," Brumfield said.
Adding the associate head coach title was a big sign of faith from head coach Brent Key in Brumfield as well in addition to bumping up his role on staff to corners coach.
"It meant a lot. I didn't know (coach Key) coming in and I worked hard for him and him seeing that, it was honestly an honor to get that. My future goal is I want to be a head coach wherever that is. That will allow me to help with that process. Him doing that, I'm very appreciative of it and grateful of it and I am not taking it lightly," Brumfield said. "I'm doing everything I can to learn as much as I can from him and help him out as well. I told him, 'Coach I want to take some things off your plate. I don't just want a title and just be here, I want to take some things off your plate.' Obviously, that will help my career in the future as well."
Brumfield said having his core four guys back for 2024, Aidan Birr at PK, Gavin Stewart at KO, David Shanahan at P/Holder and Henry Freer at LS is big. Last year they spent a lot of time just teaching them how to do a certain drill or the why and how things translate to the game and now they are able to refine more and add some stuff they couldn't do a year ago like more rugby punts or how they line up for FGs and it is just a lot smoother overall and the players have bought in more.
I asked Brumfield about Warren Burrell and Syeed Gibbs to get his take on each.
On Burrell, he said that he really wants to be coached hard and specific with his technique. Burrell tells Brumfield to stay on him and he is a pleasure to coach. He never gets too down or too high and he wants to be perfect out there, but he knows that isn't possible but keeps pushing towards that goal and he thinks he will be a really good player for them this year.
On Gibbs, he is different than Burrell who likes to smile, laugh or joke a little, Gibbs is very serious and he likes to get extra time working on his craft and he is a perfectionist as well. He goes about his business in a different way than Burrell but they both want to be great.
Brumfield said that the biggest area of work is kickoff both coverage and kick return as both dropped off as the season went along. They did jump from 131 to 42 in the country and there was major improvement overall on special teams but there is still work to do because they didn't score a touchdown on KR or PR. They did have four blocked kicks but they need to be able to change field position better in the return game and score touchdowns. He said they also had too many missed tackles. He said kickoff was their worst phase last year and they are doing a lot of extra work on that this spring with drills.
I asked about the return game and he said they have Christian Leary back at KR and Jamal Haynes who both handled the duties last year plus some other guys they want to look at. Rodney Shelley was the backup PR last year and got a chance in the SC State game and the bowl game when Dom Blaylock was out and he is more of a home run threat than Dom was because he has more wiggle, but Dom was very consistent catching the ball and getting more yards than you would expect in the space he was operating in. Dom could get 10-12 yards, but he wasn't going to break one. Rodney is more of a breakaway guy back there, but he has to be more consistent catching and fielding the ball. He said they are looking at Christian Leary, Eric Singleton, and Jamal Haynes on PRs as well. He is looking for consistency there.
I asked him how he decides on the holder and why he uses a punter and he gave a great answer.
"I love the punters holding because those guys work together all day long. I've had it before where the QB was the holder and they could care less about holding and they come over with their chin strap unstrapped and they get about five snaps and say hey coach I'm good. I want chemistry and I want trust in the holder and snapper."
He said the amount of reps and the work they get in builds that trust in the operation on the FG/PAT and that it also helps the punter because he is always catching the ball anyway. He also said how many fake FGs are you going to try in a season, one maybe two so there isn't a huge point in using the backup QB.
David Shanahan was up next and he said that it is getting closer to playing in Ireland but they still have a long way to go before that game kicks off with spring ball, summer workouts and fall camp, but he said people are excited about the game and they went over in July around July 4th with a group and they went to his hometown and stuff like that and that was a lot of fun to do.
Shanahan noted this will be the first time he has had the same position coach for back-to-back seasons at GT and he thinks that should help him with consistency and knowing what to expect and they are able to work on more detailed things like directional punts or different types of kicks because of that.
Shanahan said the team got to sample some Irish snacks and Jordan Williams really liked them and they were a hit with the team. He joked that a couple of his teammates asked him how to get a passport and he thought it was funny given he doesn't have an American passport and would have no clue how that works.
Shanahan said he is working on nailing down his process and gave the example of pro-style punts and his steps. He said he varies between 2, 2.5 and 3 steps and he should be hitting it on two every time. He has to be more confident in that process and that is the biggest thing he is focusing on.
Next up was Henry Freer the long snapper and he was put on scholarship before spring break for his SR season. He said getting put on scholarship meant everything to him and this is his sixth year here and when he got to GT he had no idea he would even play football at all before he got a call asking him to tryout in the summer. He showed up at camp and then the next year he got to travel and the year after that he got in a couple of games and then he just played a little more and then a little more and it has been a cool journey for him.
Freer said having Brumfield back is huge for them because they aren't stuck trying to figure out a new system again and different calls like the previous regime.
Freer said he is focused on improving his coverage skills on punts, he said his teammates rag on him about it and he needs to get more tackles.
Freer said he feels like GT is on the rise and trending up now under Coach Key and they are starting to do the right things to build it up.
Last we spoke to Aidan Birr and I asked him why he switched from 93 to 33 and he said his kicking coach back home Jade Oberkrom wore #33 in college and when coach Key asked him in December if he wanted a different number he said yeah, 33. He likes the number and it is the most 3s you can have on a jersey.
Birr said he has been very focused on the kicking operation with Freer and Shanahan and improving that and also improving his kickoffs and leg speed.
Birr got a little emotional when I asked him about his tough road to playing with his ACL injury, he said that he had appendicitis that ended his HS senior season early and then tore his ACL and he wasn't sure if GT would honor his scholarship or not and they stuck with him so when a year after that he got on the field against SC State for the first time it was a great feeling and he knows that GT really cares about the players.
Birr wants to break the 55-yard field-goal record at GT.
I asked him about following in Harrison Butker's footsteps and he said that is a huge motivation and he watches him kick in the summer here and said it sounds like a sledgehammer hitting the ball when Butker kicks it. He said he doesn't go bother him or anything, just watches what he does and that Butker is a very nice guy.
