Tech

While not as exciting as getting a new phone book, (for you younger readers, review Steve Martin’s filmography on imdb.com) the three-deeps are out. These are very preliminary and I would caution you to not read too much into any of this. But, here they are:

QB

Josh Nesbitt

Jaybo Shaw

Tevin Washington

B-back

Jonathan Dwyer

Richard Watson or Preston Lyons

A-back

Roddy Jones

Embry Peeples

Paul Reese

A-back

Anthony Allen or Lucas Cox or Marcus Wright

WR

Demaryius Thomas

Zach Fisher

Quentin Sims

WR

Tyler Melton

Kevin Cone

Daniel McKayhan

T

Nick Claytor or Brad Sellers

Phil Smith

G

Joseph Gilbert

Omoregie Uzzi

C

Dan Voss or Sean Bedford

Zach Fraysier

G

Cord Howard

Zach Krish

Nick McRae

T

Austin Barrick

Clyde Yandell

Mike Johnson

DE

Derrick Morgan

Emmanuel Dieke

Osahon Tongo

DT

Jason Peters

Logan Walls

Albert Rocker

DT

Ben Anderson

T.J. Barnes

Jason Hill

DE

Robert Hall

Anthony Egbuniwe

Antonio Wilson

Wolf

Cooper Taylor or Mario Edwards

Anthony Barnes

Continue reading The new three-deeps are here! The new three-deeps are here! »

Austin Barrick has played many positions at Georgia Tech: wide receiver, tight end, special teams blocker, offensive tackle, and done each of them fairly well, as he modestly says.

Despite his ability to change positions and all that comes with it — different assignments, routines, terms, skill sets — he’s perhaps most known for the thing he wasn’t able to do: get three feet against Georgia in last year’s 45-42 win.

Barrick, who is 6-3 and 275 pounds give or take a baked potato, took a lateral on the play, and as he neared the first down marker, tried to do a little shimmy that didn’t quite work. He came up one yard short.

But, Barrick laughed it off in an interview on Monday, and promised a different result should he get another chance.

AJC: You’ve played, like, six different positions. Which has been the hardest position?

AB: Hardest position? They’ve all had their challenges. Tight end was a tough transition for me because I came in as a receiving tight end. I basically …

Continue reading Barrick talks about the yard »

A few tidbits to tide you over:

I just went and looked at the new scoreboard and new ISP suite at Bobby Dodd.

The scoreboard appears to have the main screen up. The two screens on the side and the banner screens that will go around the stadium are still being worked on.

The giant suite on the opposite side of the stadium is being worked on as well. It hasn’t been closed in yet, but the overhang will make for a nice place to watch the game.

I will be doing some more Q&As this week with a few players, Austin Barrick for one.

For the Tech fans, what questions would you like me to ask the football players this week.

With football season around the corner —  with all the news that will follow the start of the first practice —you can follow me on twitter @ajcgatech

Also, the Albany Times-Union reported Sunday that Tech will play Siena in men’s hoops this season, as the opener of a three-game agreement. So, Paul Hewitt and Brad Sheehan will get to return to their stomping …

Continue reading Dis and dat »

Robert Hall was kind enough to sit down with me a few weeks ago for another in our summer question and answer series. In this, he talks about German French fries, the joy of math, and the toughest player to tackle in the ACC.

 AJC: A lot of the players I’ve talked to, when I’ve asked them for a player that really stood out in spring, they named you. So what does it feel like to be invincible out there on the football field?

RH: (laughs) I wouldn’t say invincible. I mean, I just feel like it’s my time. I waited my time. It’s time for me to step up to the plate. That’s it.

AJC: What did you learn from the guys before you?

RH: What did I learn? Play as an entire unit, and not just as an individual. I guess you wouldn’t say each one of them alone was really the greatest. But all together they made a great defense. Really liked that teamwork.

AJC: How does that work on the defensive line? You’re out on the end, you’re trying to focus on what’s ahead of you, but also, I don’t …

Continue reading Robert Hall Q&A »

When it was reported last week that Tech had received a rather sizable donation to help renovate the seating at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, many of you wondered what in the world all that money was going to be spent on.

I did too.

So, I started to do some research.

Virginia’s new hoops palace, the John Paul Jones Arena, cost around $130 million and will seat 15k or so, almost twice as much as the old arena. 

So, there’s your benchmark. Now, Dan Radakovich already said they don’t want to turn AMC into a concert venue. Atlanta already has enough of those, and judging by JPJ’s price tag, a new arena won’t be in the works here. 

With that information, Wayne Hogan and I were discussing the possibilities Monday afternoon, as a pie in the sky exercise. 

Among the things that could be done: the roof could be raised to add more seats, as well as suites (where the big money is). But, AMC is already at 9,191, so do you want more seats?

Replacing all the bench seating with chairback …

Continue reading $35-40 million will buy you… »

The big news out of Tech’s quarterly budget meeting was the large donation made by a yet-to-be named family to help pay to improve the seating at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.

The donation is designed to pay for 1/3 of the cost, which is expected to be at least $30 million. The donation won’t exceed $15 million. The name of the donor will be made public later this year, after the Board of Regents meets.

It was no surprise that Tech’s budget for the 2010 fiscal year is slightly smaller than the budget for 2009. Their endowment took a straight jab to the chin, and ticket sales didn’t quite meet what was budgeted, which was described as aggressive. Who would have predicted when that budget was put together in 2008 that the economy was going to go into the tank and that numerous colleges around the country would be in the red this year?

During the board meeting the 2010 budget was described as being a bit more conservative than the previous year’s, despite the decision to hire …

Continue reading AMC and work to be done »

First, let me say that this is the dead period in college sports. Many coaches are on vacation or holding camps right now. 

So, that’s why I haven’t blogged in a couple of days. That, and I’ve been covering the Mexico-Venezuela game at the Georgia Dome.

However, Thursday is an important day at Tech. On Thursday the Athletic Association will hold its quarterly meeting and will approve the 2010 fiscal year budget.

From talks with various Tech officials, it appears the budget will be similar to last year’s, in the 50-plus million range.

I would be surprised if any new projects are approved considering the AA is still paying off the stadium expansion.

I’ll have a news story in Friday’s paper about the budget.

But, are you stunned at the costs of running an athletics department? It may not be something that many fans think about. I know I don’t for the teams I follow around the world. I want to win, and to do that you need either the best players, or the best players for your …

Continue reading Money, Money, Money »

Esteemed colleague Mark Bradley ranked the nation’s top 10 basketball teams for 2009-10 last week here http://tinyurl.com/msqce 

He also had an interesting column about Paul Hewitt and the expectations for next season here http://tinyurl.com/nutco4

So, that ground has been covered very well. 

I thought I’d take a look at how Lawal’s decision, and those made by other players at other schools, will affect the ACC next season.

First, let’s focus on the Flats. 

Lawal’s return gives coach Paul Hewitt many choices for lineups.

The only potential hole is at the 5 spot. There are two centers on the roster: RS Jr. Brad Sheehan and freshman Daniel Miller. Sheehan, a 7-footer, is a rebounder, but doesn’t score or block shots too frequently. Of course, he may only need to rebound with the scoring potential the rest of the roster has. Miller will be an incoming freshman, so the jury’s out on what kind of impact he’s going to have in the ACC.

Hewitt may opt to not play a true center, and go …

Continue reading Looking at the ACC after Decision Day decisions »

A-Back Roddy Jones did indeed hurt his right wrist earlier this week. Our story can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/nx2clw

Now, everything seems a bit up in the air as of today whether Jones will play in the season-opener against Jacksonville State. Frankly, I’m not sure he’ll be needed for that one, but I would bet the odds are slim that he’ll miss the next one, a Thursday nighter five days laster against Clemson.

You only need to watch film from last year’s wins over Miami and Georgia to see what Jones means to coach Paul Johnson’s spread-based option offense (which needs a new nickname by the way, but that’s a blog for another time). His speed on the edge gives the offense the home-run threat that keeps those safeties back a step or two while the play develops.

So, who will get the call in the A-back positions if Jones were to miss the first game? Marcus Wright and Anthony Allen come to mind. Both are unfairly fast. Wright “saw the elephant” last year, while Allen had to …

Continue reading Roddy Jones injury, don’t despair Tech fans »

Josh Nesbitt will be a lot better this fall, so says coach Paul Johnson.

And he wasn’t saying that because Nesbitt had a bad year last year.

Nesbitt rushed for almost 700 yards and four touchdowns, passed for 800 yards and two more TDs while helping Tech come very close to winning the ACC’s Coastal Division.

And that was just his first season as a starting college quarterback and playing in an offense that was very different than anything he had played before. After all, he was a passing quarterback at Greene County High School.

While Nesbitt wouldn’t give up his recipe for pork chops, he did talk about the LSU game, and the expectations for this season (they are quite high).

 When I return, we can talk about Gani Lawal’s decision and how it will affect Tech, as well as the rest of the ACC.

 Also, to clarify how the AJC uses blogs: we don’t break news on the blogs, we generally talk about the news that has happened. So, go to ajc.com/sports or …

Continue reading Something to tide you over, a Q&A with Josh Nesbitt »