April 1, 2009
Junior kicker Scott Blair is ready for this season. Blair pulled a rare double-double last season, performing all kicking and punting duties, and he was consistent at both. Blair came to Georgia Tech as a walk-on, but was awarded last season with a scholarship from head coach Paul Johnson. We were able to get some time in with Scott following Wednesday’s practice.
Q: How is practice and conditioning compared to last year so far?
A: We haven’t conditioned a whole lot during spring practice, but we conditioned a lot during the fall. Practices are similar to last year, but we (kickers) are limiting our reps a little because we felt we kind of kicked ourselves out a little bit last year. I’m just trying to make each rep mean a little more.
Q: How about special team drills?
A: We actually bring out a video camera now and try to kick about 10 balls and video tape them. Then we will watch the film to see what we are doing wrong. Then we kick another 10 and do a few drills and that will be our practice.
Q: Which kick returners on the team do you think have the ability to get a touchdown any time they receive a kick?
A: It’s going to be hard to name names. Roddy (Jones), Morgan Burnett, Jerrard Tarrant, I guess everyone out there really has a good shot at doing it.
Q: What is the farthest you have kicked a punt or field goal?
A: Field goal I kicked a 70 in practice and punt I had a 72 in high school.
Q: How did it feel to hit that 28-yard field goal against UGA to give the team a two possession lead?
A: I was actually hoping we would score a touchdown there and I would be kicking extra points the whole game, but any make feels really good, feels a lot better than a miss.
Q: You had 10 tackles last year. What other position would you play so that you could pad that stat a little?
A: Let’s see, I’m too small to play linebacker. I’d say, safety.
Q: When you were a kid what was your favorite sport and what position did you play?
A: That would be soccer and I played forward or striker.
Q: Do you still play pick-up or anything?
A: Whenever I get a chance I do. I go to the CRC and play around usually on the indoor field up at the top.
Q: What other Tech sports do you enjoy attending during the year?
A: Softball.
Q: Any particular reason?
A: Because my girlfriend is on the team. Baseball and basketball are also always fun to watch.
Q: Building electronics is listed as one of your hobbies. Have you built anything interesting recently?
A: I built a desktop maybe three years ago and I usually use it just to use all my wasted files so I don’t slow down my laptop.
