Archive for February, 2010

Georgia Tech linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary has accepted a position at Louisville.

Jean-Mary, who has been at Tech for the past six seasons, will be asst. head coach, as well as linebackers coach,  for first-year coach Charlie Strong.

The two have known each other since Jean-Mary was a junior at high school and Strong the assistant head coach at Florida (1991-94). They worked together for Lou Holtz at South Carolina in 2001-02, where Jean-Mary was a grad assistant and Strong the defensive coordinator.

Jean-Mary said it was hard decision to make, pointing out that both his kids were born in Atlanta. But he hopes to one day become a head coach and felt being more involved in the structure of practices and the final product on the field, which is what Strong offered, was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

“Always scary when you are going from a team that just won its conference to a team that hasn’t gone to a bowl in two years,” Jean-Mary said. “[My] Career goal is to be a …

Continue reading Jean-Mary heading to Louisville »

DURHAM, NC – Greetings from Cameron Indoor Stadium, which I gather is not as crazy as the Tech campus today. Wow, good day to be on the road? Just read about the samurai sword attack this morning at the Weber building. I thought this was a tough crowd….(ooh, bad, sorry.)

The Crazies were just starting to file in as I came back into the press room to write this blog and Tech players were shooting around, getting a feel for a court they haven’t played on in two years, if at all.

It’ll be an interesting night for Tech’s freshmen, getting their first taste of having students practically breathing down their neck – literally when they inbound the ball on the side of the court opposite the benches. Glen Rice Jr. and Brian Oliver have both made strides lately and have been key contributors for Tech off the bench.

In a game where Tech will surely try to use its depth in the backcourt to its advantage and press a good bit – if Paul Hewitt sticks to the strategy that worked so well …

Continue reading Bring on the Dookies »

Georgia Tech will open its season at home on Sept. 4 against S.C. State and will begin defending its ACC title at North Carolina on Sept. 18, according to the schedule that was released today.

The Yellow Jackets went 11-3 and won the ACC Championship last season with a schedule that opened with three games in 12 days, including back-to-back  Thursday night games against ACC contenders Clemson and at Miami. Tech will not host a Thursday night game this season for the first time since 2002. However, in a showdown that should be circled on calendars, the Jackets will travel to Virginia Tech for a ESPN Thursday night game on Nov. 4. The Jackets defeated the No. 4 Hokies, 28-23,  in Atlanta last season. This year’s contest could be a battle of top-10 teams and may decide the ACC’s Coastal Division rep in the championship game on Dec. 4.

The rest of the schedule is almost a mirror copy of last year’s, with tough conference games on the back end at Clemson on Oct. 23, at the Hokies …

Continue reading Tech’s 2010 schedule is set — updated at 3:17 p.m. »

The ACC will release the 2010 football schedules this afternoon.

Here’s a breakdown of Georgia Tech’s opponents next season, done alphabetically. This ran a bit ago online and in print, but I figure it’ll help you remember who Tech is playing this year.

When the schedule is released I’ll rearrange these and add some fresh comments.

A reminder that most game times aren’t set until a week or two before the game.

Here you go:

A first look at Georgia Tech’s 2010 football schedule (dates to be determined):

at Clemson: Tech won two epic games against the Tigers last season. But, with Mr. Everything C.J. Spiller and Jacoby Ford gone, can Clemson make it back to the championship game? Can Dabo Swinney coach without Spiller? The orange and purple will find out soon.

vs. Duke: This might be a tough season for the Blue Devils, who lost their record-setting quarterback (Thaddeus Lewis) and best defensive player (DT Vince Oghobaase). Plus, after a hot start in 2009, the Devils burned …

Continue reading 2010 football schedule comes out later today »

Joseph Gilbert, who has started 26 games on the offensive line for Georgia Tech over the past two seasons, may have to transfer.

Gilbert, a 6-4, 280-pound native of Cartersville, is on pace to graduate with a degree in management this summer and has yet to be accepted into a graduate school at Tech.

Should Gilbert leave, Tech will start the season without three starters on the offensive line from the 2009 championship team after the graduations of Brad Sellers and Cord Howard.

Gilbert was Tech’s first commitment in the 2007 class, and was instrumental in recruiting other players.

Tech coach Paul Johnson declined to comment about an internet report than linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary has accepted a similar position at Louisville. If true, Jean-Mary would be the third assistant coach to leave, joining defensive line coach Giff Smith (to be outside linebackers coach at Buffalo) and A-backs coach Jeff Monken (head coach at Georgia Southern). Smith’s position has yet to be …

Continue reading Tech’s Gilbert may have to transfer; Jean-Mary gone? »

I’m in the waiting room at Georgia Tech with a few dozen other folks.

As the letters of intent come in, I’ll post a bio of the player whose commitment just became official. Hopefully, we will be able to talk to some of Tech’s assistant coaches throughout the day to help add some context to the bios.

I’m going to keep adding to this blog as they come in, so check back often. I will also tweet at @ajcgatech, so please sign up there.

Coach Paul Johnson said he hopes to hire a defensive line coach soon to replace Giff Smith. He said reports that he knows who he’s going to hire are wrong, but that he has some guys in mind. He and defensive coordinator Al Groh first met to talk about the position on Sunday. He said he’s not sure who the recruiting coordinator will be. He likes the balance of the class.

Also, check these out:

AJC Player tracker for Tech, http://projects.ajc.com/playertracker/list/2010-georgia-tech-commitments/

AJC Player tracker for UGA,

Continue reading Signing Day…check for updates…18 (that’s it) letters in…10:45 a.m. »

On February 7, 2007 I and 19 other student-athletes signed letters of intent to play football at Georgia Tech. For many of us it marked the beginning of a dream. This was the start of a championship run, of a chance to get a prestigious degree. Signing Day ended all the searching and wondering about whether we were making the right decision and cemented reality. That day I and the rest of my teammates held our signing day party in Atlanta. After spending so much time together at games it was great to finally sign together and celebrate!

As I look back on signing day I remember the excitement. It was such a great feeling to see the amount of talent headed to Tech and how we all became friends so fast. We had Tyler Melton come in from Houston and Albert Rocker from Alabama. My friends and family were there. It was a great experience. I still make fun of Derrick Morgan, who enrolled early, for not being able to come. Here are some thoughts from my teammates:

Kyle Jackson: “For …

Continue reading Claytor and company remember their Signing Day »

Don't think this is THE yellow jacket, but close?

You can count on one hand the number of times Georgia Tech has beat Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium, where these two teams will match up on Thursday night.

Tech is 5-34 overall at the cramped confines of a certain little building in Durham, N.C. where the Crazies live, and this is since 1946, when Tech played there for the first time six years after Cameron Indoor Stadium opened.

Anyone want to guess the years Tech won? I’ll give you a hint, one was before Mike Krzyzewski got to Duke and for a few others, think Olympic years. Just for fun (I know, get crazy), I’ll wait until the bottom of this blog to answer.

So is this matchup Thursday night between No. 21 Tech and No. 10 Duke going to be one for the other thumb?

(By the way, I see where Duke and Kansas State are tied at No. 10 in this week’s Associated Press poll. I didn’t even know that was possible.)

Well, Tech comes in with the confidence of having already beat the Blue …

Continue reading Tech will have to beat a tougher Duke team at Cameron for No. 6 »

As I take a break from research and writing about Tech’s 2010 football commitments, here are a few highlights from athletic director Dan Radakovich’s state of the athletic association address, which can be seen on ramblinwreck.com.

• A new turf is being put down, starting Wednesday, on Tech’s Rose Bowl practice field. It will replace the older turf field. More importantly, the GTAA is considering, repeat considering, enclosing that side of the field with a bubble, similar to what some pro teams have. It has a projected cost of $5 million. So, if you have a few million laying around and want your name on a facility, I would contact him.
• Other projects are also being considered. A $7.5 million golf practice facility is being considered, as is a $5 million indoor/outdoor tennis facility. Tech has three indoor courts. More are needed to host meets efficiently.

But,as noted, those are just being considered. What is being acted on is the $45 million Henry F. McCamish Jr. Basketball …

Continue reading Signing Day, projects being considered and the 2010 ACC football sked »

This is what Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski looked like the last time his Blue Devils faced Georgia Tech

Happy February, folks. The ACC schools all went in the grinder over the weekend and came out today with Duke, now No. 10, on top in the conference standings.

So as much parity as there is in the league right now, after both Maryland and Virginia lost games last week, Duke is back on top , at least in the win-column, heading into No. 21 Georgia Tech’s game in Cameron Indoor Stadium Thursday night in Durham at 5-2 in the ACC.

Maryland lost to Clemson last night and Virginia lost in overtime to Virginia Tech last week. Tech is right there at 4-3 in the ACC. If Tech wins on Thursday, the Yellow Jackets would be matched with Duke at 5-3 and could force a serious bottleneck atop the conference standings.

Speaking of which, I personally think we at the AJC don’t run the ACC standings like we should, so I’ll throw them here for your …

Continue reading Duke back atop the ACC, Tech within range for Thursday’s showdown »