Archive for December, 2011

Guard Omoregie Uzzi and wide receiver Stephen Hill both submitted paperwork to be evaluated by the NFL draft advisory board. The board, made up of NFL scouts and officials, gives players with remaining college eligibility an appraisal of their draft standing. The decision does not require them to forego their final year of eligibility. A-back Orwin Smith and cornerback Rod Sweeting did not and said they will return for their senior seasons. Uzzi and Hill also intend to return but left open the possibility of entering the draft.

If he were told he had a first-round standing, “I’d definitely look into it,” Uzzi said.

Hill said he submitted his name out of curiosity “and then just wanted to make sure of where I was and what I need to work on, things like that.”

Continue reading Uzzi, Hill request NFL draft evaluation »

Georgia Tech cornerback Louis Young will not play in the Sun Bowl for disciplinary reasons, coach Paul Johnson said Monday.

Johnson declined to elaborate, but did say that the discipline may extend past the bowl game.

“We’ll see,” Johnson said. “For now, he’s not eligible for the bowl game.”

Young will be replaced by Jemea Thomas in the starting lineup. Jamal Golden or Mike Peterson are the likely replacements at the No. 3 cornerback spot.

Continue reading Young held out of Sun Bowl for Tech »

Georgia Tech will hold graduation ceremonies Saturday at the Georgia Dome. Among the graduates will be 40 current or former Tech athletes and managers. Notables include football players Chandler Anderson, Preston Lyons, B.J. Machen, Steven Sylvester and Omoregie Uzzi. Anderson, in fact, will report to Naval Air Station Pensacola Jan. 3, three days after playing his final game for Tech in the Sun Bowl.

Former Tech baseball player Charlie Blackmon, who made his major-league debut this season with the Colorado Rockies, will also graduate, as will three-time tennis All-American Guillermo Gomez, whose Tech career ended this past spring before turning professional.
Kristen Adkins, softball (STC)

Doug Allvine, former football (MBA)

Chandler Anderson, football (BSBA)

Sarah Anderson, women’s track/cross country (BMED)

Cy Avila, cheerleading (MGT)

Charles Blackmon, baseball (BSBA)

Zach Brewster, baseball (MGT)

Joseph DiDia, men’s track/cross country (BSBA)

David Duncan, baseball …

Continue reading 40 Tech athletes to graduate this weekend »

Greetings-

Hope you’re well. I spoke with Georgia Tech assistant coach Buzz Preston about the opening at Hawaii. He said he was encouraged to apply, but that even if he hadn’t been, he would have applied anyway.

“That kind of situation, opportunity, opens itself, you definitely are going to try to get yourself involved with it,” he said.

He makes a pretty good case to be considered.

First, the school is dear to him. He played there, graduated from there, met his wife Audrey there, coached there and returns there almost annually with his three children.

He’s coached at nine different schools over a 32-year coaching career, largely on offense but also defense and special teams. It has given him exposure to a variety of offensive and defensive schemes.

He describes the offense that he would coach as “hybrid, that you can exploit running and passing the ball and doing some things that would have West Coast concepts, run and shoot concepts and a little bit of the spread of what …

Continue reading Tech asst. Preston on Hawaii job »

Georgia Tech wide receivers coach Buzz Preston has reportedly applied for the head coach opening at Hawaii, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

Preston played at Hawaii and coached seven years with Tech coach Paul Johnson. A Star-Advertiser story said that 30 coaches had applied for the job as of Monday. The school reached a retirement agreement with former coach Greg McMackin after leading the Warriors to a 29-25 record over four seasons.

Utah offensive coordinator Norm Chow, whom Tech will face in the Sun Bowl, is also reportedly a candidate, as is Jacksonville Jaguars offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter.

Preston has coached at Tech since 2008, part of Johnson’s original staff, and has developed receivers Demaryius Thomas, Stephen Hill and Tyler Melton. Thomas, whom Preston coached two seasons, was the first wide receiver taken in the 2010 NFL draft, 22nd to the Denver Broncos. It would be Preston’s first head coaching position after 32 season as an assistant.

Johnson …

Continue reading Report: Preston a candidate for Hawaii job »

Greetings-

Sorry for the absence. I was taking a short breather and recovering from sort of virus. I’ll be here the rest of this week, be in and out next week and then start it up heading into the Sun Bowl starting the 26th. Onward.

Georgia Tech had its seventh bowl practice Monday. They’ll have three more this week, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday, taking off for finals Thursday and Friday. Then two more next week Monday and Tuesday and then three more in El Paso.

Players and coaches seemed to be genuine in their excitement about playing in the game, despite the fact that it doesn’t mean a whole lot by itself.

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1. Guard Omoregie Uzzi, who on Monday was named a third-team All-American by Rivals.com and who will receive his degree Saturday in 3 ½ years, said he is “very motivated” to end the bowl losing streak. “I know the last guy that told me he won a bowl game was (former offensive tackle) Andrew Gardner (in his) freshman year (2004). It’d be a great compliment to send …

Continue reading Georgia Tech bowl practice continues »

Greetings-

Sorry for the delay. I have been down for the count with some sort of bug. Just a few notes from an interview with guard Will Jackson.

1. After a week break, Jackson was eager to get back to practice, to start preparing for Utah and ending Tech’s six-game bowl losing streak.

“It’s kind of a known fact that Georgia Tech’s lost ‘X’ number of bowl games in a row,” he said. “The Orange Bowl my first year and last year losing to Air Force, both of those were pretty embarrassing. You work three weeks, put a lot of time and effort into it and you go down and get beat, it’s not a lot of fun.”

2. Jackson said that run and pass blocking technique got a little sloppy towards the end of the season, which is why the line is trying to polish it up early on in bowl practice.

3. Jackson gave a nod to a few younger linemen, specifically Shaq Mason, Trey Braun and Errin Joe. Of Mason, he said that “I think he’s going to be a phenomenal player.”

Jackson also mentioned a member of the …

Continue reading Tech’s Will Jackson on bowl practice »

Greetings-

Some notes, including coach Paul Johnson’s response to rumors/speculation about freshman quarterback Vad Lee transferring after Monday’s practice. Some other stuff first.

1. The team began a full week of practices on Monday. There will be three practices next week, two the week after that and then players will be released Dec. 20 and go to El Paso for the Sun Bowl Dec. 26. There will be 15 practices total.

2. The first stretch of bowl practices is mostly about working on fundamentals. Out of about 20 periods in Monday’s practice, only about six involved scout teams. That means that for most of the practice, all of the players, including the redshirt freshmen, were getting repetitions in Tech’s offense and defense.

3. Johnson said he doesn’t have any plans to make any changes on the staff. That would mean a second offseason in a row without any turnover. Defensive coordinator Al Groh said “for sure” he intends to be back for the 2012 season.

4. Johnson doesn’t expect …

Continue reading Georgia Tech begins bowl practice »

Greetings-

A few notes about Georgia Tech’s berth in the Sun Bowl.

1. Chick-fil-A Bowl president Gary Stokan said that, after Virginia Tech was picked for the Sugar Bowl, making the Hokies unavailable, the choices were Tech, Florida State, Virginia and Wake Forest, all of which were 5-3 in the ACC. Virginia owns wins over the Jackets and Seminoles and has a better overall record than Wake Forest. That decided it, Stokan told reporters Sunday night.

So, it would appear, a win over Virginia would have likely put Tech in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Venturing into the “Tech beats Virginia” alternate universe, though, is kind of speculative. Maybe a win over the Cavaliers would have meant Tech would have lost to Clemson. It opens up a whole world of possibilities. Maybe if Tech had beaten Virginia, I would have won the lottery two weeks ago and I’d be making my first mortgage payment on my beachside mansion on Maui. I’d still be blogging, of course.

2. Virginia Tech getting the at-large …

Continue reading Georgia Tech bowl notes »

Georgia Tech has accepted an invitation to play in the Sun Bowl. The Yellow Jackets will play Utah Dec. 31 in El Paso, Texas. It will be the Jackets’ 15th consecutive bowl appearance.

“Our team is excited for the opportunity to play in the Hyundai Sun Bowl,” Tech coach Paul Johnson said in a statement. “Our players worked hard this season and we’re excited to have another game to play.

Tech played Utah in the 2005 Emerald Bowl, losing 38-10 and starting the Jackets’ six-game bowl losing streak.

Continue reading Tech to Sun Bowl »