July 16, 2004
Georgia Tech’s 2004 football season officially begins Aug. 4, when the Tech players report for preseason practice.
Tech’s first practice is scheduled for Aug. 5, and the team will hold its annual Fan Photo Day on Sunday, Aug. 15.
Tech head coach Chan Gailey discussed the upcoming season with the media this week.
Opening comments:
“We have returning starters at most of the positions, if not all, and we are excited about some of the young players for the upcoming season. Our tailback position, our quarterback position, our receiver position are all solid. We feel good about that. Jimmy Dixon returns as a fullback. He gives us a good returning starter there. A couple of offensive linemen are returning, Andy Tidwell-Neal, Kyle Wallace and Brad Honeycutt. We have two new ones in there, so that unit has to come together quickly for us. Tight end? I don’t know who is going to play tight end right now. We’ve had two great ones the last two years, so we are going to have to see who can fill that void for us from Darius Williams, George Cooper and Mike Matthews. And the kicking game, that’s all still up in the air right now. We don’t have a proven veteran at any of the spots, so we will have to see who can come in and handle those positions for us in the fall.”
Comment on Reggie Ball’s development:
“He’s got a lot of ability and he’s a great competitor. There is still a lot of learning that needs to go on. I think he made great strides from the last ballgame to the end of spring practice, but he needs to continue to grow. He needs to learn to pay attention to detail in a lot of areas and he needs to become a more consistent football player. If he can do those two things he has a chance to be a very good football player before he leaves Georgia Tech.”
How much does it help Reggie to have a productive P.J. Daniels in the backfield?
“A ton. And it helps P.J. for Reggie to be there, and for the defense not just focus on one aspect of our game. I think those two are a good one-two punch for us coming into this fall.”
What have you seen from backup quarterback Patrick Carter?
“Well, I haven’t been on the field with him, obviously, here in the off-season. The last time I saw him was spring practice, and he did a nice job the last four or five days he could practice in spring practice. He has a lot of talent. He’s just got to come on now and compete and produce.”
What will it take for your team to avoid some of the peaks and valleys it experienced last season?
“Well, we talk about that all the time, and I think the biggest thing that we have to do is approach every game the same. We are talking about understanding that this isn’t like our basketball team. Our basketball team came in fourth in the conference, third in the ACC tournament, and yet played for the national championship. In football, every game is a playoff game. You better get ready to go. We talked about it and used our basketball team as a focal point for us to understand that it’s not the same, and you better go get it every week.”
Who else are you looking for at the wide receiver to go along with returning starter Nate Curry?
“Levon Thomas is a very intelligent football player. He’s a great competitor. The only thing Levon really lacks is consistency reaching the ball. He has really good speed and runs good routes, and he gives us some maturity at the wide receiver position that we need. He and Nate Curry are two strong candidates as seniors to go out there and make big plays for us this year.
Levon Thomas is one starting wide receiver right now. He is a senior wide receiver that has some ability obviously. The other guys are fighting for spots. Xavier McGuire is fighting for a spot; Chris Dunlap is fighting for a spot; Mark Logan; then the other guy who is going to play quite a bit is Damarius Bilbo. He probably made about as much of a jump as anybody. The quarterbacks tell me when I see them that they think he has made another jump during the off-season program. That will be an interesting process to see how much he can develop and help this team as a receiver.
Do you expect freshman Calvin Johnson to make an impact right away?
“I don’t think there is any question about it. Calvin is one of those rare athletes. How fast he can pick it up; how fast he can be ready to play; that remains to be seen. But he is certainly physically able to come in and contribute a great deal this year, and yes, compete for a starting job.”
What did winning the bowl game do for your team in the offseason?
“I think that is a great question, and I don’t know if you will ever figure that out. That is kind of a question that is out there that no one can put their finger on the answer. I do know one thing, winning is better than losing. And there were a lot more positive things this year after we won the bowl, than last year after we lost the bowl. I think that after you come off of a bowl game like that people feel better, their more positive and upbeat. I think as players you see a glimpse of what you can be if you go play that way week in and week out.
Who are some players who have stepped up since the end of last season?
“Kevin Tuminello is going to start for us at center. He’s improved greatly. Salih Besirevic is going to start at right tackle. He’s improved tremendously. And both of those guys had to come on a great deal in order to give us a chance to be successful with the offensive line. I think that Chris Woods got a lot better in spring football. He had a lot of big plays in spring practice.
“On the defensive side of the field, Gerris Wilkinson moved to mike (middle linebacker), and that looks like it’s going to fit out pretty well. Chris Reis moved to sam (strong-side) linebacker, and that’s got a chance to be a successful move for us. Those guys made some big strides, and then Kenny Scott at corner, with Reuben Houston and Dennis Davis both being out in the spring, got a ton of reps. I thought he made a big jump and he looks like he is ready to move into that starting spot at one corner position.”
What about your 2004 schedule with new ACC teams?
“Well, it’s a challenge. It obviously didn’t get easier it got harder by bringing those two teams in. But, if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. So that’s what we are looking at. It’s not going to be easy. We open up with Samford, then have Clemson, North Carolina and Miami as the next three. Wow, that’s pretty strong.”
With the uncertainty in the kicking game, what role do you see for freshman Kyle Belcher?
“We had no consistency in our punters during spring. So we called Kyle [Belcher] after spring practice and told him to concentrate on punting and kicking off. We felt that we had Travis Bell in spring practice was our most consistent and looked like he had a chance to be a placekicker. But you don’t know, he hasn’t been in the fire yet. He did some good things on field in spring practice. So we called Kyle and told him the punting and kicking off were the two things to concentrate on before coming up here in the fall.
[David Jordan] will be in the mix (for kickoffs). He has not proven that he is the guy that can go out there and consistently get the job done. He certainly has a strong leg, but again we go back to that term consistency, and we have to have that out of him. He is capable but he hasn’t proven it yet.”
Preseason expectations?
“I think our team knows what people think about them. The great thing about football is it doesn’t matter what people think about you now, it’s what happens during the season and at the end of the season. I think our guys understand what a lack of respect means. I think they understand that term. And I think they know the only way to get it is to go out and earn it. So our objective is to go out and earn respect and earn a position as one of the best teams by the end of the year.
“You are always planning and working, and lifting weights and running sprints in order to win. The objective is to win every game, and if you don’t, you learn from it and go on to the next one. My objective right now is to get our guys ready for the first game and learn from that and move on to the next one. At the end of the year, it will all work itself out, I’m not worried about that. There will be enough wins and losses in order to figure out whose going where. It doesn’t matter what I think, it’s what we do that matters.
“You make a statement every week that you play and at the end of the year you total it up and make the statement by your final record.”
