April 17, 2002
ATLANTA – Head coach Chan Gailey’s first spring at Georgia Tech concludes Saturday as the Yellow Jackets hold their annual Springfest scrimmage Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Marist School.
“The biggest thing we’re trying to get is an opportunity to see players in game situations,” said Gailey, who inherits a program that has been to five consecutive bowl games. “We want to find out who can play when there’s a few more people in the stands and the spotlight is on. We want to see who can make plays.”
Gates open at 10 a.m. and admission is free for Springfest, which is being held at Marist in suburban Atlanta due to the expansion of Bobby Dodd Stadium/Grant Field. Parking is available on the Marist campus for $3 per car. Concessions will be provided by the Varsity.
Gailey and his staff will divide the squad into two teams who will play four 15-minute quarters with a running clock.
“We’ve installed a new defense, we’ve gotten our offensive coaches acclimated to the offense, we’ve made progress on finding a quarterback, and we may have found a running back in Tony Hollings, so those are all positives,” said Gailey in summarizing the Yellow Jackets’ progress this spring.
Heading into the spring game, Tech’s primary quarterback candidates–junior transfer A.J. Suggs (Powder Springs, Ga.) and redshirt freshman Damarius Bilbo (Moss Point, Miss.)–remain even, while junior Brian Camp (Dublin, Ohio) also battles for playing time.
“Nobody is way ahead and nobody is way behind at this point, so we’ve got a good battle continuing these last few practices and going into the fall,” said Gailey, who has said that he would not be opposed to a dual-quarterback arrangement.
While the quarterback race remains too close to call, Hollings has emerged as a strong candidate to be Tech’s top tailback. A 5-10, 211-pound junior from Jeffersonville, Ga., he moved to tailback this spring after playing safety his first two years.
“Probably the biggest jump in spring practice has been made by Tony Hollings,” said Gailey. “I think anyone who has followed spring practice from the beginning to the end can see that. I can’t say he came out of nowhere–in his own mind it wasn’t nowhere–but we didn’t know he was going to jump this far this fast.”
Tech has also made progress on the offensive line, where all-ACC left tackle Nat Dorsey (New Orleans, La.) returns and all-conference candidate Hugh Reilly (Roswell, Ga.) moves from right guard to center.
The deepest and most experienced position on offense is wide receiver, where the Yellow Jackets look for big things from the trio of seniors Kerry Watkins (LaPlace, La.) and Will Glover (Tampa, Fla.) and junior Jonathan Smith (Argyle, Ga.), who combined for 136 receptions, 1,810 yards and 12 touchdowns last season.
On defense, Tech returns nine starters, led by defensive end Greg Gathers (LaPlace, La.), linebackers Daryl Smith (Albany, Ga.) and Recardo Wimbush (Blakely, Ga.) and safety Jeremy Muyres (Stone Mountain, Ga.). The unit is learning a new, more aggressive scheme under first-year coordinator Jon Tenuta.
“Our quickness and speed is very good, but you still have to be able to tackle, you still have to get penetration and you still have to be physical,” said Gailey. “Those are the things that we will work toward in the offseason as we continue to get stronger.”
So is Gailey satisfied with Tech’s progress to this point?
“Satisfied? You’ll never hear any coach say he’s satisfied, and I certainly fall into that category,” he said.
