Tech post-spring outlook promising

Brent Key says roster likely will continue to evolve this summer.

Georgia Tech is a little more than three months away from the next major milestone on the football calendar, a day in late July when the Yellow Jackets return as a team to begin preseason practice ahead of the Aug. 24 season-opener against Florida State in Dublin, Ireland.

For now, though, things are a little quieter around Bobby Dodd Stadium (save for ongoing construction to tear down the Edge Center) after the program completed spring ball Saturday with the annual White and Gold Game. Second-year coach Brent Key, his staff and his players will have a bit of down time — relatively speaking — before summer workouts begin.

“Every day’s a challenge. We truly want to live every day as a day we work to get better ... not look forward, not look back, be where your feet are and work to get better,” Key said about the next few weeks of the academic calendar leading into the summer. “That was what we did this spring. That’s the way we want to work every single day.”

Key’s 2024 team already has gone through a slew of changes since it last took the field for real in December in the Gasparilla Bowl in Tampa. There are new assistants, true freshmen who enrolled in January and several transfers already on the roster.

Key hinted that the roster will continue to evolve before the start of the ’24 campaign.

“That’s the name of the game in college football — to constantly be working to build the depth of your football team. You build your roster and constantly want to build that roster from the bottom up,” he said. “You continue to improve the competition all around. I think we saw that (Saturday)

with the depth that we have, that we’re starting to build.”

With Tech’s spring practice officially in the books, here’s a closer look at what was learned about the Jackets and what to expect with a new season on the horizon: Offense

The biggest questions for Tech’s offense going into the spring were who would emerge as the starting right guard and what the depth chart would look like at tight end.

For the former, the Jackets likely will look to Corey Robinson (6 feet 5, 305 pounds, from Douglas County High) or Middle Tennessee transfer Keylan Rutledge (6-4, 310), but both missed spring practice with injury. Ethan Mackenny (6-4, 292, Lassiter High), the starting left tackle last season, moved inside to improve his versatility, and coaches praised the play of freshmen Harrison Moore (6-5, 260) and Jameson Riggs (6-6, 305, from Hiram High).

At tight end, senior Brett Seither didn’t play in the spring game. That allowed Mississippi State transfer Ryland Goede (Kennesaw Mountain High) to have three catches for 25 yards. Earlier in the spring, Key also lauded the abilities of Yale transfer Jackson Hawes.

Elsewhere, Tech showcased its depth at running back with

Jamal Haynes (Grayson High), Trey Cooley and newcomer Anthony Carrie, and at wide receiver with Eric Singleton (Alexander High), Malik Rutherford, Chase Lane, Christian Leary and Abdul Janneh. And, of course, the offense is in solid hands at quarterback with returning starter Haynes King.

“The first one is the standard and we got to hold everyone to the standard. The second one is details,” King said on what the focus will be for the offense going into the summer. “We might have a good play called and somebody be open and something just not happen. Now you got to go back and look at details. What was it? What made that play not happen? At the end of the day, if you can make about four or five game-changing, big-chunk plays, you have a really good chance at winning that game.” Defense

Before Tech sees a different-colored jersey, it will be difficult to evaluate if the Jackets have improved under a new defensive staff. New coordinator Tyler Santucci has some key pieces to feature at all three levels in 2024, but whether that unit can slow the likes of FSU, Louisville, Notre Dame or Georgia, to name a few, is a question that can’t be answered at the moment.

Until it can be, stacking depth at all positions continues to be a talking point.

“I liked the fact that even early on in the game (Saturday), the first group was running to the football. The line of scrimmage was stalemated, the line of scrimmage was flat-walled, which is what we want to see,” Key said. “The first group of guys, we got some good players. We’ve got to continue to develop the depth on our defense. That’s what we wanted to see (Saturday); we wanted to see a lot of those guys get there that might not have gotten as many reps before . ...

“You might have 11 starters that are good players, but on defense you got to have 25-30 guys that can go in there.”

Tech’s front will be anchored by Zeek Biggers (6-6, 333) and Horace Lockett (6-6, 341, Westlake High) in the middle. That duo will be flanked primarily by ends Josh Robinson (6-6, 253, Douglas County High) and Kevin Harris (6-4, 245, Grayson High).

Linebacker may be Tech’s beststocked position with returning starters Kyle Efford (Dacula High) and Trenilyas Tatum (Mount Zion High) anchoring the spot. Tech brought in transfers E.J. Lightsey (Georgia) and Jackson Hamilton (Louisville and Blessed Trinity High), and freshman Tah’j Butler was consistently praised all spring.

The back end features veteran safeties LaMiles Brooks and Clayton Powell-Lee (Westlake High). Tennessee transfer Warren Burrell (North Gwinnett High), who had an interception Saturday, and Ahmari Harvey are penciled in at cornerback alongside Rodney Shelley or Syeed Gibbs (Langston Hughes High) at nickelback.

“The game is all about confidence. When you’re learning a new defense you don’t have much confidence, so it’s hard to play fast,” Efford said. “One thing we did a good job of was slowly stacking, slowly progressing each day. We started getting to the point where I was much more comfortable out there.”

Special teams

Kicker Aidan Birr was matterof-fact this spring when stating he wants to set a school record for longest field goal. Had Saturday’s 62-yarder happened during the regular season, he would have made true on his promise.

Birr’s big leg has Tech’s kicking job solidified; the same goes for punter with David Shanahan. But there will be a new kickoff specialist after Gavin Stewart announced he intends to transfer.

Special teams coordinator Ricky Brumfield will give Shelley a try at returning punts. Leary returned 21 kickoffs for 463 yards in 2023.

BOB ANDRES FOR THE AJC A backfield led by Jamal Haynes, a former Grayson High star who rushed for 1,059 yards last season, looked good during spring practice and should be a strength this fall.

JASON GETZ/AJC 2023 Linebacker Kyle Efford, a former Dacula High standout, was Tech’s leading tackler last season (81 stops), and he headlines a position group that might be the defense’s best.