Georgia Tech Football: Takeaways from Geoff Collins’s first spring press conference

Football is back on The Flats, well… kind of. Georgia Tech football on Tuesday held their first spring practice of 2021 and Geoff Collins met with the media for the first time this spring following the Jackets practice.

Here are a few takeaways from Collins’ first meeting with the media, you can watch his full press conference below.

Excited about the success of men’s and women’s basketball:

Collins started his press conference on Tuesday talking about how he was excited to see the success the Georgia Tech men’s and women’s basketball teams had this season. Collins spoke highly about both teams and the excitement he has for both those programs and their future. He also repped the men’s basketball team’s ACC Champions hat. It’s always good to see programs supporting each other within a university and it’s also worth noting that at times a group of programs having success or a program having success can give a little boost to other programs as well.

Staff continuity: 

Often overlooked across college football success is that of staff continuity. Now yes, places like Alabama simply replace coaches every year and still move like the machine they are. But for most programs, having consistent staff turnover can be extremely challenging. On Tuesday, Collins noted his excitement that the Jackets were returning all 10 of their full-time assistant coaches. Having that continuity on the staff could be huge for the Jackets this offseason as they build towards an important 2021 especially for the players who are entering year three with these coaches.

The philosophy regarding this year’s spring football: 

If you’re an avid Georgia Tech fan, you likely know that during Geoff Collins’ first two years on The Flats, practices were always about bringing energy and bringing your juice. To paraphrase Collins, those first two years were about setting the culture of the program and setting the expected energy level of the program.

Now entering year three of the Collins era, the players are well aware of the expectations and the focus has very much more shifted towards focusing on the details and all the little things that go into being a winning program. As we continue to hear from Collins this spring and upcoming summer, expect to hear him talk a lot about the details and having the players focusing in on the little things.

Penalty issues from 2020: 

When asked a follow-up question regarding their focus on details this spring, Collins immediately noted that the Yellow Jackets were one of the least disciplined teams in the country last season and how much it hurt them throughout the season especially pre-snap and post-snap. Limiting those penalities is going to be one of the bigger focuses this spring and the Jackets even had officials at Tuesday’s practice. If the Jackets are going to improve in 2021, they’ll need to flip the script on their penalty issues from 2020.

The quarterbacks on day one:

Collins raved about Jeff Sims in Tuesday’s press conference, he noted the second-year freshman’s maturity and drive to get better as he’s always looking for ways to improve whether it’s studying film or studying the playbook. He also noted that during the Jackets’ first practice, the Jacksonville, Florida native looked poised and confident while also showing he was comfortable in leading the offense.

He also noted that quarterback Demetrius Knight looked good in his first practice at quarterback after moving to the position from linebacker and noted he was impressive in his first practice at quarterback showing a good understanding of the playbook, cadences, and other intricacies of the offense.

That wraps up the biggest takeaways from Collins’ first presser of the spring. That being said, if you have 20 minutes, we 100% suggest you watch his press conference in the Youtube video provided above to get a better and fuller understanding of everything that was said.