Ace In The Hole: Tech is counting on LB Ace Eley to replace the tackling and leadership of David Curry. He knows better than most not to take an opportunity for granted.
By Andy Demetra (The Voice of the Yellow Jackets)
The early-morning lift is a staple of college football offseasons, where the peace of predawn gets loudly and violently interrupted. Plates clang. Sweat drips. Music shakes the walls at obscene, ear-splitting volumes. Coaches bark and players unleash guttural, torture chamber screams as they strain under the weight of a bar or sled.
It’s an unlikely place to find a four-year-old hanging out.
Except for Ayinde “Ace” Eley, who found it a perfectly normal, idyllic part of his childhood.
“I just knew I had to get up early. I’d get my slushie and doughnut from 7-Eleven and I’d be good,” he joked.
Eley knows the intensity – and team-building magic – of those 6 a.m. lifts well. He first experienced them while tagging along with his father, Donald Hill-Eley, who spent 13 years as the head coach at Morgan State University (2002-2013). He later became a participant in them, spending three years as an inside linebacker at the University of Maryland.
And now the Olney, Md., native has found a new setting for those sessions, transferring to Georgia Tech in January as part of the Yellow Jackets’ 2021 signing class. An honorable mention All-Big Ten pick in 2019, he has three years of eligibility remaining.
“It’s been love since Day One,” Eley said of his time at Tech.
The redshirt junior is part of a raft of 10 Football Bowl Subdivision transfers who joined Tech in the offseason, a sprawling group that includes offensive tackle Devin Cochran (Vanderbilt), defensive ends Keion White (Old Dominion) and Kevin Harris (Alabama), wide receiver Kyric McGowan (Northwestern), defensive back Kenyatta Watson II (Texas), and placekicker Brent Cimaglia (Tennessee). All will look to contribute right away.
A transfer from Maryland, Eley (10) knew he wanted to enroll at his new school in time for the Spring semester. He hit the ground running at Georgia Tech, working in spring practice and playing in the spring game.
But among those transfers, the 6’3,” 227-pound Eley may have to fill the most immediate production void. It’s not lost on him that he was recruited in large part to replace David Curry, a durable, dependable veteran who led Georgia Tech in tackles each of the last two seasons.
The expectations won’t faze him, he insists.
“I don’t try to chase a certain number of tackles, a certain number of snaps or whatever. I just try to go play football as hard as I can and to the best of my ability,” Eley said.
He’s already made a strong first impression. In July, head coach Geoff Collins selected Eley to be one of his two student-athlete representatives at ACC Media Days. On Wednesday, Collins revealed that he was voted one of Tech’s six team captains, a rare honor for someone who has only been with the program for eight months.
“He’s come in with the right attitude. He’s worked hard. He’s a great football player, and he has that championship feel and vibe about himself and how he approaches the game,” said redshirt junior cornerback Tre Swilling.
Eley (10) has been around football his whole life, beginning with tagging along as a child with his father, Donald Hill-Eley, who spent 13 years as the head coach at Morgan State University (2002-13).
Added Collins: “He’s come in and embraced every single thing about our culture. He just has a poise. He has a presence. He’s built the right way.”
Eley was a steady presence at Maryland, starting 11 games and racking up 109 tackles, two interceptions and three fumble recoveries across three seasons. He appeared in three games, starting one, in the Terrapins’ abbreviated 2020 season. After graduating in December with his degree in family science, Eley announced his intention to transfer via an Instagram post on Christmas Day. When his name officially hit the transfer portal on December 26, Collins and defensive coordinator Andrew Thacker reached out and immediately started vetting his film.
“We’ve talked since we’ve been here about how much longer and faster and all those things that we want in our program. And he has all of that,” Collins said.
“He is a full 6’3,” 235-pound dude. And then we saw him have the opportunity at Maryland to make some real live, Big Ten plays. He’s a very elite tackler, a very consistent tackler,” said Thacker.
Eley knew he wanted to enroll at his new school in time for the Spring semester, which sped up his decision-making process. Thacker’s attacking, 4-2-5 defensive scheme appealed to him, as did the ability to replace a high-volume player like Curry. He also had some built-in ties to the Tech staff: wide receivers coach Kerry Dixon II (2007) and defensive analyst Anthony Parker (2009-10) both served under his Dad at Morgan State. He’s known both since he was in grade school.
But Eley was also drawn to something more intangible when he sized up Tech as a potential landing spot.
“The vibe I felt, the energy I felt from the outside looking in, I knew it was special and I wanted to be a part of it,” he recalled.
That vibe extended to his new head coach. I promise to treat you like my own son. How many players have heard that old bromide on the recruiting trail? Eley, the actual son of a Division I head coach, may have a more acute feel for what that means.
While Collins and his Dad have different personalities, Eley says they share one important trait in common.
“They both genuinely care about the players. They genuinely want to win and care about the success of the program. They’re both just good dudes. They do everything they can to help people,” Eley said. That conviction convinced him to commit to the Yellow Jackets on December 28, two days after he entered the portal.
(Incidentally, his first name doubles as a perfect description of his recruitment to Tech. Though he goes by “Ace,” a combination of his first, middle and last initials, his given name, Ayinde, comes from a Yoruba word for “we gave praises and he came.”)
Prior to Georgia Tech’s season-opener against Northern Illinois on Sept. 4, head coach Geoff Collins revealed that Eley (above, 10) was voted as one of the Yellow Jackets’ six team captains.
He may be stepping into a high-pressure role on the Yellow Jackets’ defense, but Eley knows not to take an opportunity for granted. As a junior at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Olney, Md., he suffered a pair of seizures during basketball season. The second one sent him into a coma for a week.
Doctors eventually diagnosed him with encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain caused by a viral infection or autoimmune response. Mild cases may only cause flu-like symptoms. Severe cases can be life-threatening.
In Eley’s case it caused him – a strapping, four-star linebacker coveted by several major conference programs – to have to learn how to walk and write again.
“I lost control of my left side [of my] body,” he explained. “I had to re-learn simple motor mechanics.”
Eley estimates it took him two months before he could walk normally again. When he entered the hospital, he weighed around 215 pounds; by the time he left he weighed around 175 or 180. He missed his entire senior year of football as he recovered.
“It gave me a different perspective on life, really. You can’t take any day for granted. It was just a big eye-opener. I’m just blessed that God worked a miracle on me and allowed me to have a second chance to play football,” Eley said.
The second chance in his college career arrives Saturday when Georgia Tech faces Northern Illinois at Bobby Dodd Stadium (7:30 p.m. ET, Georgia Tech Radio Network from Legends Sports). Having already earned the respect of his teammates, he’ll now look to earn the respect of Georgia Tech fans with his hard-hitting play.
The coach’s son, raised on those 6 a.m. lifts, will be ready.
Said Eley: “I always want to play the game with passion. I really feel like this game has been with me. I fought so hard to get this game back after everything that happened in high school.”
“To get a chance to play football, I’m going to give it 100 percent.”
