March 17, 2004
SPRING PRACTICE DATES (Subject to Change): March 19, 20, 23, 25, 26, 27, 30, April 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 13, 15, 17 (spring scrimmage). Weekday practices are 4 p.m., Saturdays are 10:30 a.m.
ATLANTA–Coming off its seventh consecutive bowl game, the Georgia Tech football team begins spring practice this weekend with 15 starters returning for the Yellow Jackets, led by a trio of all-Atlantic Coast Conference performers in senior free safety James Butler, junior defensive end Eric Henderson and junior tailback P.J. Daniels as well as sophomore quarterback Reggie Ball, the reigning ACC Rookie of the Year.
Tech opens the spring with workouts scheduled for Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. and Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m. at Rose Bowl Field and continues through the April 17 spring scrimmage.
“You’re always excited about starting up again and looking to the future,” said Tech head coach Chan Gailey, entering his third spring on the Flats after guiding the Yellow Jackets to a 7-6 record in 2003, capped by a 52-10 victory over Tulsa in the Humanitarian Bowl.
“Any time you win a bowl game, it helps give you a positive outlook for offseason workouts and spring practice, but you can’t dwell on it,” said Gailey. “There’s still so much work to be done, and you’ve got to be looking forward.”
When asked about his top priorities for the spring, Gailey quickly answered, “Linebacker,” where the Yellow Jackets graduated all three starters, including all-stars Keyaron Fox and Daryl Smith.
While Tech did lose its top two tacklers in Fox and Smith as well as Ather Brown, the Jackets will have one experienced linebacker as junior Gerris Wilkinson moves into the strong-side outside linebacker position after starting every game last season at defensive end.
Junior Travis Parker, a two-year starter at defensive tackle, slides into the vacated defensive end position, where he and Henderson should form a very effective tandem. Three out of four starters return in the secondary, including Butler at free safety and junior Dawan Landry at strong safety.
Other areas where Gailey and his staff will focus on replacing key players include the offensive line, which lost all-ACC center Hugh Reilly and left tackle Nat Dorsey, as well as tight end and wide receiver, where the Jackets graduated John Paul Foschi and Jonathan Smith, respectively.
“We’ve got to get our offensive line meshed back together,” said Gailey. “We’re moving Andy Tidwell-Neal to center and Kenton Johnson into the left tackle position.”
The Jackets also return right tackle Kyle Wallace and right guard Brad Honeycutt, while former starter Ball returns at quarterback after setting Tech freshman records for passing yards (1,996) and total offense (2,380) while completing 52 percent of his passes with 10 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. At tailback, stability comes in the form of Daniels, who led the ACC in rushing last fall with 1,447 yards, including an NCAA bowl-game record 307 against Tulsa.
