Inside The Chart: Walking Weapon

Walking Weapon: Kyle Efford knows the Georgia Tech defense needs to step up down the stretch. Who better to lead the way than the Yellow Jackets’ ferocious, laser-focused junior linebacker.

Inside The Chart | By Andy Demetra (The Voice of the Yellow Jackets)

Even when he’s off the field, Kyle Efford stays on brand.

Case in point: The Weapons Wall.

Inside his apartment, the redshirt junior linebacker converted a spare bedroom into a combination office/gaming room. To spruce up the space, Efford decorated one of the walls with an array of weapons – four katanas, a couple of bō staffs, two lightsabers (he’s a big Star Wars guy), and other assorted swords he’s collected over the years. Efford first became interested in blade-making after watching the History Channel series “Forged In Fire” in high school.

Brent Key’s “Slice me open and see what colors I bleed” declaration from last week? Don’t let Efford catch wind of that. Though he insists the weapons in his office are for display purposes only.

Most of the time.

“My roommates hate it, but I’ll get (a sword) down just to have fun and chop some fruit up,” the Dacula, Ga., native admitted.

So, no, a hard-hitting linebacker doesn’t exactly peruse the aisles at HomeGoods for “Live, Laugh, Love” signs when furnishing his apartment. The wall is also a fitting milieu for the 6-foot-2, 225-pounder, who could become the first player since Recardo Wimbush (1999-2001) to lead the Yellow Jackets in tackles in three-straight seasons.

That doesn’t include an unofficial tackle he made at Duke on October 18, when he inadvertently took out Key while driving a ball carrier out of bounds along the Georgia Tech sideline.

“Twenty-five years, first time I’ve ever been wiped out on the sideline,” Key noted on his radio show. “I jumped up like a champ, though. I was alright. My leg is still, like, swollen. I’ve got battle scars too.”

Kyle Efford’s nine tackles at Duke did not include an unofficial takedown of head coach Brent Key (Danny Karnik photo)

Efford said he didn’t realize he had barreled into his head coach; he was too focused on stopping Duke’s ball-carrier to be aware of anything else. Key, on the other hand, got to experience what he had only observed from a safe distance over the past three years.

The man with the neck roll, and the jersey rolled up like a half-shirt, and the eye black smeared on his cheeks like war paint, and the Biofreeze slathered over his skin, can deliver a lick.

“I’m sure he enjoyed it. He probably felt like he got a little piece of the game there,” Efford laughed.

“I know what it feels like to be tackled by him. Because I was,” Key said, adding, “He jumps up and I see his face. It’s all painted. I’m like, you are kind of scary looking.”

He may have the archetypal linebacker’s look, but Key acknowledges that Efford doesn’t have the archetypal linebacker’s speed. He also knows better than to consider that a liability.

“Kyle is probably not the fastest in the 40 [yard dash] on the defense. Week in and week out, when we check the GPS numbers on Sunday, he is, if not the top, he’s (the) second… fastest guy on defense every single week. He’s blowing past other guys. Just the relentless effort the he plays with, and the strain. And when you play that way, you can overcome a lot of different things,” Key said.

Efford has also internalized Key’s “nameless, faceless opponent” mantra – perhaps too literally.

“He told somebody that he doesn’t even know who we’re playing when he’s out there on the field. He doesn’t know that. He doesn’t know who we’re playing. He doesn’t know what the score is. All he knows is to go as hard as he can,” Key said.

Nameless, faceless, relentless – though Efford may not mind less tackling. The prospect of becoming Georgia Tech’s first three-time leading tackler in 24 years is certainly appealing. But he also remembers the frustration of last season, when he missed two games with a shoulder injury and played the final month at less than full strength (he underwent shoulder surgery in December and missed all of Georgia Tech’s spring practice). Efford says the improved depth in the linebacker’s room, with veterans E.J. Lightsey, Cayman Spaulding, Melvin Jordan IV and Tah’j Butler, will only benefit him, even if it means his own numbers may come down.

“Being able to trust guys in there, knowing there’s not going to be a drop-off when anybody comes out, it’s a cool thing because we’re a close room as well. We really want to see each other succeed,” Efford said.

He and the linebackers also want to rebound. After an uncharacteristically poor performance against N.C. State, Efford says the defense paid special attention during its bye week to setting edges and getting off blocks.

“We definitely had that stank on us for a couple of days,” Efford said. “Getting back into the building, getting back to work, that’s the only thing that was really making us feel better. So, we definitely want to get out there and get back right this upcoming Saturday.”

That begins with No. 14/12 Georgia Tech’s final road game of the season against Boston College in Chestnut Hill (3:30 p.m. ET, Georgia Tech Sports Network). Efford earned his first career start against the Eagles in 2023, finishing with six tackles. While prowling the secondary Saturday, he’ll also spot a familiar foil: he and Boston College quarterback Dylan Lonergan have battled each other since their grade school days in Gwinnett County, and Efford’s Dacula High Falcons fell to Lonergan’s Brookwood Broncos in a four-overtime thriller during Efford’s junior season.

“I’ve been playing Dylan for probably my whole life now, so I mean, it’s going to be fun to go in there, get to see him again, play some football,” Efford said.

If history is any indication, that will likely include more tackling for Georgia Tech’s feral-looking linebacker. But no matter how ferociously Kyle Efford hits, he still hasn’t forgotten his manners. After tumbling into Key at the Duke game, Efford pulled himself out of the pile – and apologized, much to the incredulity of his head coach.

“He did! Kyle’s like the most hardcore… And he sees me. ‘Kyle, get your butt back out there,’” Key recalled saying.

Knowing his penchant for hits, that won’t be a hard ask for Efford, who’s ready to be weaponized for the home stretch.