Today marked the last day of ACC Media days and it was time for Georgia Tech to take the stage today. Head coach Geoff Collins and three of his players were there and after Collins was done at the podium, it was time for tight end Dylan Leonard to take the stage and answer questions from the media.
Leonard is entering the season competing for a starting job with multiple other tight ends. He is hoping to take a leap under new offensive coordinator Chip Long and make a positive impact on the offense.
Here is what Leonard had to say at media days (Answers will be in bold):
1. Leonard was asked about Long also being his position coach as well as his offensive coordinator and his opinion of that and the offense so far:
"Coach Long is very good at what he does and he has been notorious in the past at Notre Dame of having good tight ends, so I have been absorbing as much as I can from him. He is going a great job as far as tight ends specifically to put is in positions to make good plays and I have intentions of making a lot of good plays this year "
2. Leonard was asked if he is playing with a chip on his shoulder this season:
" I don't need all the spotlight when it comes down to it, I just enjoy getting out there and doing what is best for the team and block for guys like Dontae and let him make the big plays. Obviously, tight ends have been in the spotlight for receiving in the past few years and we have not been involved as much as me or the other tight ends would have like to have been, but I think coach Long is going to change that a lot and even just in spring ball and the summer, we were involved in the passing game a lot more so hopefully we can get a little more of that spotlight."
3. Leonard was asked about being a former walk-on and receiving his scholarship prior to the 2020 season:
" Coming out of high school, I had back surgery going into my senior year and I was pretty small for a tight end and I think I was 185 LBS my senior year, but actually my best friend, Jordan Yates, who ended up coming with me to Tech, so I built a relationship with coach Collins through Jordan and I am very appreciative to this day that coach gave me an opportunity to walk-on at Tech, which was the best decision I ever made and after the first season I wound up playing in every game, mostly on special teams and I would get in here and there on offense and I remember the moment I was in my dorm room before I went on Christmas break and Coach Collins gave me the call and told me that I was going to be on full scholarship and that feeling was surreal, just to know that I bet on myself and when people told me hey you don't belong at the D1 level, I just bet on myself and Coach Collins gave me the opportunity to do certain things to get a scholarship."
4. Leonard was asked about his leadership role on the team and what his approach has been:
" For this year we have a lot of new people as Coach Collins was talking about, so being here for three years, I know the right way to do things and the way that Coach Collins wants them done so I have been trying to hold that standard up to the best of my abilities and try to shed that on to the new kids coming in as well as the freshman, so you know I just try to hold people accountable and to that high standard and I feel that people look up to me for that and I try to pull people aside one-on-one and try to show them the ropes a little bit, but I can always improve as a leader and these guys right here are great leaders too, so we are just trying to bring them along on what we know is right and it is going to pay off for sure"
5. Leonard was asked about what it is going to take for the new offense to find a way to put the ball in the end zone more:
" I think a lot of the factors is consistency with us and I feel like last year we did have some games where we put a high point total, but I think as far as us for offense it is not getting three or four touchdowns better, we lost five games last year by single digits, so I think a lot of it is stepping stones and if we do that and we flip those single digit games around, you're talking about a different season and we are having a very different conversation than the one we are having now. We just need to gain that edge and make sure that we are getting better every year, we don't need to change every single thing on our offense, obviously with a new coach you run things a little different but we just need to have those small increments of getting better and it will for sure show"
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