March 19, 2004
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech opened spring football practice with a Friday afternoon workout as the Yellow Jackets, who return 15 starters, look to build on the momentum of a seventh straight bowl berth and a seventh consecutive winning season.
“Spring practice is a little bit hard because there’s no game on the horizon; it’s great, however, because you’re learning mental toughness,” said head coach Chan Gailey, in his third spring at Tech. “Fundamentals and mental toughness – to me, that’s what spring practice is about.”
“I think there were some real positives out here today,” said Gailey. “Some of the holes that we have were very obvious so it’s going to take some work to shore those up, but I think that overall, it was a good day.”
One of the areas of focus for the Yellow Jackets this spring is the quarterback position. Sophomore Reggie Ball returns after starting every game as a true freshman last fall and earning the Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Year award. But Ball is the only Tech signal caller who has thrown a pass in a college game, so developing a dependable backup is a priority.
Working behind Ball are Taylor Bennett, a true freshman from St. Louis, Mo., who enrolled at Tech this semester, walk-on Robby Brown, and senior Mark Logan, who has came to Tech as a quarterback but has played receiver the last two seasons. Promising redshirt freshman Patrick Carter is nursing a minor injury, so his availability for spring may be limited.
“When Bennett decides where and when to throw it, he has a live arm,” Gailey said. “He has a very good arm, but no consistency right now because he’s thinking about so much, but he certainly has some raw talent.”
Another priority is making sure that Ball progresses in his first spring practice.
“Reggie has a lot of work to do,” said Gailey. “We’ll work on his reads, and technically, we’ll work on his footwork and his release. But you’ll never change him completely. He did so many good things last fall, you’ve got to believe he’ll be able to get those things done.”
Ball, too, knows the value of hard work in preparation for his sophomore season.
“The offseason is time to grow mentally and physically and just get better off the field,” he said. “Each day we go along that is just a day closer to kickoff against Samford.”
The Stone Mountain, Ga., native set Tech freshman records for passing yards (1,996) and total offense (2,380). He completed 52 percent of his passes and threw 10 touchdowns, but also had 11 interceptions.
“I didn’t want to make mistakes, but being a true freshman out there, I knew I was going to make some, and some were in critical situations,” Ball reflected. “Looking at it now I am ready to learn from my mistakes and not make them anymore.
“I started the first game at BYU, and they ran that 3-3-5 defense. Looking at that and looking at the way I read now is almost like going from a boy in elementary school to a guy in college. I have come a long way with just reads, pre-snap and after the ball is snapped. I think I have come a long way, but I still have a long way to go.”
The Jackets next practice is Saturday at 10:30 a.m., and spring drills continue through the April 17 spring scrimmage.
