THE FLATS – Georgia Tech junior linebacker Kyle Efford (Dacula, Ga./Dacula H.S.) is among 90 candidates on the official watch list for the 2025 Bednarik Award. The Bednarik Award is presented annually to college football’s defensive player of the year.
Efford has led Georgia Tech in tackles each of the last two seasons, including with 64 in just 10 games as a sophomore last season. Despite missing three games due to a shoulder injury that required offseason surgery, Efford also led the Yellow Jackets in sacks (3.0) and was tied for third on the squad with 5.5 tackles for loss as a sophomore in 2024.
He turned up the biggest in some of Tech’s biggest games of the year, amassing 10 tackles in the Jackets’ season-opening win over No. 10 Florida State and six stops, including a sack of eventual No. 1 NFL Draft pick Cam Ward, in Tech’s victory over No. 4-ranked and previously unbeaten Miami (Fla.) in November. Despite being limited by injury in the second half of the season, Efford was a third-team all-ACC honoree.
In addition to being an all-ACC selection, he was a member of the all-ACC academic team in 2024 in recognition of his performance on the field and in the classroom.
Efford also led the team in tackles as a redshirt freshman in 2023 with 81, despite only being in the starting lineup for the second half of the season. He was the first Georgia Tech freshman to tie for the team lead in tackles since Darryl Smith in 1999, and the first freshman to lead the Yellow Jackets in stops outright since 1991.
The Bednarik Award partners with Pro Football Focus and Phil Steele Publications to provide data to its selection committee. The committee will select semifinalists and finalists for the 2025 Bednarik Award in November, and the recipient of the 31st Bednarik Award will be announced live during The Home Depot College Football Awards, Dec. 12 on ESPN. The award will be formally presented at the Maxwell Football Club Awards on March 13, 2026 in Atlanta.
Georgia Tech has posted consecutive winning seasons for the first time in a decade and returns five all-ACC honorees from last season’s squad, including Keylan Rutledge, an all-America guard and first-team all-conference selection. Other top performers returning for the Yellow Jackets in 2025 include all-ACC selections DT Jordan van den Berg, Efford, RB Jamal Haynes and WR Malik Rutherford, as well as two of the league’s top quarterbacks in senior Haynes King and redshirt freshman Aaron Philo.
Efford and the Yellow Jackets open the 2025 season on Friday, Aug. 29 at Colorado (8 p.m. ET – ESPN). The Jackets then open their home slate versus Gardner-Webb on Sept. 6 (3:30 p.m. – ACC Network Extra) before their highly anticipated ACC opener against Clemson on Sept. 13 (noon – ABC or ESPN).
2025 GEORGIA TECH FOOTBALL SEASON TICKETS
2025 Georgia Tech football season, mini-plan and single-game tickets are on sale now.
Season tickets include the best seats for the Yellow Jackets’ six-game slate at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field, which features Atlantic Coast Conference showdowns versus Clemson, Pitt, Syracuse and Virginia Tech. Georgia Tech season ticket members also have elevated seating priority for tickets purchased for the 2025 edition of “Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate” versus archrival Georgia, set for Nov. 28 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Tech’s 2025 mini-plan includes tickets to the home opener versus Gardner-Webb, Hall of Fame Weekend against Virginia Tech and Senior Day versus Pitt. Mini-plans offer a better value than purchasing seats at single-game prices without the commitment of a full season ticket.
For more information and to purchase 2025 Georgia Tech football tickets today, visit ramblinwreck.com/footballtickets.
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
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