Patience pays off for new Tech commitment Kyle Travis
A jack-of-all trades at South Forsyth, Kyle Travis is expected to play outside linebacker at Georgia Tech. (Family photo)
By all accounts, Kyle Travis is a pretty laid back guy. He always believed he could play college football at the highest level. But he wasn’t tossing and turning in angst when the calendar flipped to 2011 and he still didn’t have an FBS offer.
“I wasn’t really worried about it,” said the 6-foot-3, 235-pound linebacker. “I knew I could play. I just thought somebody would come along eventually.”
That somebody ended up being Georgia Tech, and Travis couldn’t be happier about it. Travis accepted a scholarship offer from the Yellow Jackets after taking an official visit this past weekend. He was one of three recruits to jump on board with Tech this week.
“I had been talking to Tech for a while,” said Travis, who also played offensive line, defensive line and fullback for the War Eagles (6-5). “Coach [Paul] Johnson told me if they had the numbers they’d offer me. Then nothing really happened. A couple of nights ago Coach Johnson called me and asked me if I’d take an official visit. I said ‘absolutely.’ About three days before I went I’d gotten word they were probably going to offer me, so it wasn’t really unexpected. But I was really excited when it finally happened. I committed right away.”
Before Tech stepped up, Travis was holding only an offer from Georgia Southern. But he said he was OK with following that path if it was the only one for him.
“The previous year, I wasn’t really marketed as a college prospect,” who played then under former coach Wendell Early. “Then Coach [Jeff] Arnette came to [South Forsyth] and he really helped me out a lot. He did everything for me. He knows a lot of college coaches and he let them know about me and got my film out there and stuff like that. I can’t thank him enough.”
While Travis spent the majority of his time playing fullback and defensive end for South Forsyth, he’s expected to play outside linebacker in defensive coordinator Al Groh’s 3-4 defense. It’s one of the more demanding positions on the field.
“I’ll be able to handle it,” he said. “I played fullback in high school and they like that. I’m looking forward to playing it. My coach says I’m a prototypical outside linebacker. We’ll see.”
Travis is excited just to find out.
By Chip Towers, The College Recruiting Blog
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83 comments Add your comment
sansworld
January 25th, 2011
7:32 pm
Dawg Fan80
Yep, A higher rated class, generally has more tallent you would assume. UGA has had some great classes and great tallent recently. Shame you can’t turn that into great teams.
What exactly do you do to turn 5 star recuits into 2 star players in college?
Dawg1
January 25th, 2011
7:34 pm
Good luck to the young man.
Down South Jacket
January 25th, 2011
7:47 pm
DawgPolice
January 25th, 2011
5:52 pm
Hey Kyle…glad you got what you wanted. Georgia Southern’s loss though. IMHO that would have been a better life style choice.
LinkReport this comment.Destin Dawg
January 25th, 2011
6:03 pm
Johnson did really well at Ga. Southern… fun school with prettygirls.. yes Dawg police.. great life style !!
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
Note the “…” in both posts and making the word lifestyle into “life style”. hmmmmm. Sounds like a guy using two screen names having a conversation with himself.
Pulled scholarship
January 25th, 2011
8:41 pm
sansworld
January 25th, 2011
7:32 pm
So then using your logic, teck turns 2 star recruits into 0 star players.
Pulled scholarship
January 25th, 2011
8:45 pm
Down South Jacket
January 25th, 2011
7:47 pm
Wow, Sherlock. You actually took the time to make that leap? Well let me join in. Hmmm, in the first post refers to “Georgia” Southern while in the second post it refers to “Ga.” Southern. Guess that blows your hypothesis right out of the water.
Down South Jacket
January 25th, 2011
9:23 pm
Pulled scholly: Writing “Georgia” and “Ga” is acceptable. It’s hard to believe that two UGA fans post back-to-back and both think “lifestyle” is two words. I mean, no two UGA fans can be that dumb, right? nevermind.
GT man
January 25th, 2011
9:38 pm
So glad to get someone that picked GT over Ga.Southern, better than the Dennis kid that chose us over Troy—any players that Wofford are after, so we can get them ? This Travis kid will never be heard of except on kickoffs. Can PJ not get any superstar to come to Tech?
Cool Jerk
January 25th, 2011
10:25 pm
He very well might be a good player but let’s not put too much pressure on him from the start. He certainly has good size, but I’m not believing that he gets penalties for hitting too hard or that schools wouldn’t take him only for that reason.
GTMustang
January 25th, 2011
11:03 pm
Welcome to the Flats, Kyle!!!
Work hard, Play hard!
Go Jackets!
Ramblin Man
January 26th, 2011
7:09 am
Welcome Kyle I hope you are a sleeper. Could be the next Chris Reis who knows.
ACC Fan
January 26th, 2011
8:09 am
Fullbacks in high school are not looked at as closely as other positions and a 6′3″ 235 lb. lineman will not be rated highly. Coach Johnson appears to have found a real find in Kyle as a linebacker.
rduck
January 26th, 2011
8:21 am
For all the DAWG fans who are waiting for Drew on Friday
Just read this on the ESPN recruiting blog:
@JNewbergESPN I found it strange that DE Ray Drew said he only has two in-home visits this week – Dabo Swinney tomorrow and Gene Chizik on Thursday…hmmm
Wrecker
January 26th, 2011
9:12 am
Congratulations, Travis! I hope you make the most of this opportunity. Welcome to the Tech family!
Wrecker
January 26th, 2011
9:12 am
*Mr. Travis
Ramblin Man
January 26th, 2011
9:58 am
Chip,
Off base here, but can you give us some information on Tre Jackson? I have no problem with other coaches looking and talking with him, but I am bothered by this particular case. This kid was another recruit that some fans of other schools bashed GT for simply becuase he was not highly recruited. GT took a chance on him being as he does have a serious previous injury and now that they need to fill a spot he is suddenly good enough for a invite? I will be highly disappointed in Jackson if he decommits from coaches that have believed in him for a while for a last minute taker that needs a spot.
stan
January 26th, 2011
10:03 am
HVL DAWG….You said win at life and lose in football…If i were a Georgia fan I dont think id be saying anything about winning at football since your record shows otherwise…..and thats not to mention at life….check your arrest records in Athens and then re-post
GTfan2011
January 26th, 2011
10:06 am
Ramblin Man,
I totally agree with you. If he flakes out on us at the last minute, I will be disappointed. Our coaches went after him when he had no offers. Now just because he’s always like Miami, they can get in it for him at the last minute with almost no prior relationship. Very sad that committment means nothing. If he goes to Miami, I hope we can show him how wrong he was. If they put him on the O-line, I hope one day we see Nick Menocal beat him for three or four sacks in a game.
DawgNation2010
January 26th, 2011
10:17 am
From a fellow dog fan I hope that Kyle has a great year at Georgia Tech. He is from my home town in Cumming, GA. It is nice to see someone from that area go to a D1 school. If it is true it stinks that other schools did not offer Kyle because he hit to hard. Best of Luck
LB from Chestatee HS
January 26th, 2011
10:21 am
UGA got a kid exactly like this young man in the last reccruiting class and his name is Chad Vasser. He was a UGA red shirt LB this year or maybe he played Special Teams ball. Over the next couple of years, say by his soph year …………… he will play.
GO Dogs.
Good luck to the GT young man.
WnE
January 26th, 2011
11:02 am
re:
GTfan2011
January 26th, 2011
10:06 am
__________________
If that “last minute talker” is a better looking girl in the eyes of Tre Jackson then in his opinion, he might want to go to that school instead of GT.
He always dreamed of playing for Miami.
GT’s Problem is that HS FB Players growing up in Ga., don’t dream of playing FB for GT as they are growing up.
Reason for this is that GT is something like 10-31 vs. UGA.y since 1970 (estimated) and GT schedules crappy OOC Teams with their 3-opne OOC Games.
This is the kind of fallout when DRad & CPJ drop Bama from the OOC schedule to play Teams like MTSU, Elon ,W. Carolina etc.
GT is not perceived as a “big time” FB Program, so in the eyes of Recruits GT becomes their safety-net School that they use for leverage in case they don’t get an Offer to their Dream School.
If we start playing Bama, Tenn, USCe, Florida as OOC Games and you’ll see a generation of HS player grow up in Ga. with GT as their Dream school.
Sammi 3
January 26th, 2011
11:03 am
Chase Vasser. And he was highly recruited. Similar height, but Chase was not this kid’s weight coming into UGA.
Ramblin Man
January 26th, 2011
11:39 am
WnE,
Check your facts agian. GT is still commited to play Bama in 2019 I think and USC after that. They are currenlty under contract with BYU and Syracuse for the next several seasons. Most schools play a gimme game like Western Carolina or ga. Southern every year so that excuse does not fly for OOC. I seriously doubt DRad runs from the bigger programs and most of these matchups were made before CPJ arrived. I welcome you to try and work out a OOC schedule while trying work out scheduling conflicts. Now the fact that the ACC is not helping itself as a conference is a different topic.
Ramblin Man
January 26th, 2011
11:42 am
I also get your point about him liking Miami, but the kid has to weigh the fact that they did not get thier first, second, and third choice before saying crap we only have a week left somebody call that Tre kid we ignored until now. I don;t think Shannon was guilty of oversigning and I have no idea about the new coaching staff but I hope Tre looks at that as well.
Gerald
January 26th, 2011
11:46 am
Wish UGA would have signed this kid. They need more white kids. Not joking or being a racist. Instead, I am 100% serious. The ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-10, and the mid-majors all have great white OLBs, many of whom wind up in the NFL. It is only the SEC where white players are extremely rare unless they are QB (obviously), FB, TE or OL. The NFL is even starting to play more white RBs and DBs. So, of course, guys like this are likely good enough to play at UGA and in the SEC.
Ramblin Man
January 26th, 2011
11:46 am
Chip,
No 10@10 and no response to my question. I have forgiven you in the past but this is becoming habit forming. I believe I told you to do nothing but monitor this blog until after 2/2 and then and only then can you go back to having a personal life. I am starting to question your dedication sir.
GT and SF Dad
January 26th, 2011
12:20 pm
Congrats Kyle! Proud to have you as part of the Jackets!!!!
WnE
January 26th, 2011
12:32 pm
re:
Ramblin Man
January 26th, 2011
11:39 am
________________________
I realize that GT moved the Bama game back to 2019, but for a School that has a serious identity crisis in a crappy conf. (ACC) surrounded by SEC powerhouses, that left the SEC in the 60s, it really hurts GT FB to move that game back to 2019.
GT should have played Bama in 2012.
Playing in a crappy ACC, GT needs more OOC games vs. SEC Schools,and I don’t mean Vandy and Miss. St either.
If GT doesn’t play SEC Schools then they need to play more inter-sectional powers ala, Texas, Ohio St., Oklahoma etc.
This is the only way that GT will ever re-establish themselves as a serious player among CFB Programs in the South.
Ga. HS FB is too good to have so many Recruits grow up NOT dreaming to play for GT like they do other schools.
The Program won’t go to that next level with that mentality, and that is what is holding GT FB back, not tough academics and every other excuse that GT Fans like to fall back on.
Who Cares
January 26th, 2011
12:59 pm
CPJ is 2 for 2 in taking kids from Ga.Southern. He is one hell of a recruiter. Big time recruits and big time athletes don’t want to play in the mickey mouse offense Tech runs, and they certainly don’t want to play defense for a guy that was fired by another powerhouse program from the ACC, Virginia. The good thing for Tech is that they do play in one of the weakest conferences in the country, so these 2 star studs can match up pretty well with the competition they will be playing against. Hope these 2 grumpy old men do well on well on saturdays this fall, coz they certainly have proven they can’t recruit.
Chip Towers
January 26th, 2011
1:34 pm
Ramblin Man: Sorry bud, but between planning for NSD coverage, radio interviews and actual reporting I haven’t had much time to monitor blog. As for Tre Jackson, Michael Carvell has been monitoring that situation. But my understanding is Miami has been putting some major heat on him and he’s considering it. It’d be kind of ironic wouldn’t it if the Hurricanes ended up executing a trade of Nick Menocal for Jackson? We’ll see.
wreckmaniac
January 26th, 2011
2:54 pm
DogFan 80 You can’t prove what you said, All that recuitin’ rah-rah goes well in dawgdom but your team’s tradition shows that the # of stars makes little difference. Face it, this is your best time of the year. You always end up in the Recruiting Bowl “top 10″ but all thats forgotten at the end of another nonperforming season.
The Supreme Authority
January 26th, 2011
5:40 pm
Kyle Travis will make future Jackets teams proud.
adolfo
January 27th, 2011
2:47 pm
That’s my boy!!! He’s going to step on that field and prove alot of people wrong. Do your thing boy I seen what you can do congrats!
sf89
January 27th, 2011
9:59 pm
As his teammate, I’m not shocked at all. He has had some highlight reel runs, and some (literally) bone cruching tackles. He lined up at DT, OLB, MLB, DE, FB, OT, and OG over the course of the season. He is more versatile that he gets credit for. We call him King Travis for a reason.