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Oct 19, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets head coach Brent Key on the field against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the fourth quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Predicting Georgia Tech's Freshman Phenom For The 2025 Season

Originally posted on Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on SI
By Arvon Bacon | Last updated Jul 3, 2025 1:58 PM ET

This year's freshman class will be one the Tech faithful will talk about for some time. Four of the incoming freshmen are ranked in the top 15 recruits for having the highest player ratings in school history, per 247 Sports. As the Yellow Jackets continue to rise in the college football landscape, freshman classes like this will hopefully be the standard under the Coach Key era.

Just two months away from kickoff, who will be the freshman to have the most impact this season?

Tae Harris

I believe that this year's freshman phenom is going to be defensive back Tae Harris. He is the third-highest rated freshman in the history of the program, per 247 Sports. When you observe his tangibles, Harris stands at six feet, weighing 190 pounds, and he's lightning in a bottle. Harris recently on record beat fellow freshman, Dalen Penson, in a footrace, clocking 23.09 mph. In high schoo,l Penson was a multi-state champion in hurdles. But how will Harris get on the field? Geogia Tech has experienced safety's in the back end of the defense, such as Clayton Powell-Lee, Omar Daniels, and others, but Harris's talent might be too much to ignore. Quite frankly, Harris is a force. He can cover with the best of them, and the Cedar Town native relishes the moment to lay down big hits; he's a big play waiting to happen.

When a hurdler meets a sprinter@dalenpenson @manmaker55 @GeorgiaTechFB pic.twitter.com/j2PZ827LmL
— Tae Harris (@taeharris27) June 18, 2025

Aside from being a specimen on the field, Harris is a smart football player that loves the preparation aspect of the game; Harris has mentioned that he spends countless of hours in the film room preparing himself for game-day schemes, as well as studying the opposing team's skill players similar to a boxer preparing for championship rounds.

Harris told our own Najeh Wilkins about what it takes to play the safety position.

“Being a safety you have to be able to do everything. You have to be able to tackle in space and bigger running backs. You have to be able to cover and be able to play man-to-man. You have to be a technician and you have to be able to do everything. You have to have speed because you are going to go against some talented receivers. It takes a lot to be a safety.

As a senior at Cedar Town High School, Harris recorded 70 tackles, seven tackles for loss, six pass breakups, three forced fumbles, and two defensive touchdowns. His senior stat line says it all; he's got playmaker written all over him. How much of a sample size will we see Harris in week 1? Who knows, but one thing is for certain: when he gets his opportunities, we'll be in store for some memorable moments.

During his National Signing Day press conference in December, Yellow Jackets head coach Brent Key detailed the process of landing Harris and what went into that recruitment:

"Stick to the process, believe in the process. Just because someone commits somewhere, it's easy for somebody to say, "Oh, well, let him go." We ain't having that here. That's not the type of staff that we have. It's not the type of program that I want to have. If you believe in something as strongly as we believe in Georgia Tech and the future of the Georgia Tech football program, you're going to continue to recruit the right players for your school, for your program. He's a guy that's local , that we recruit extremely hard, decided along the way, which a lot of them do, that he comes and goes, but those relationships are big. You know, being able to keep people home is big, and showing them a path to success and a path to development is big. And he's a guy that, and that kid's an unbelievable kid now. You talk about a kid that is hungry, that, I mean, the day he commits, he's on the phone texting and calling all the other guys in the position room here on the roster saying, "I can't wait to be with you guys" and those guys immediately come back to me and they're like coach, that guy's definitely one of us now, I mean just the way he everything about him they're like some of us some of them didn't even like meet one of his visits here and they just said that guy's one of us so you know he's, he's an alpha an alpha and really expected to get things out of him."

Look for Harris to make an impact sooner rather than later for the Yellow Jackets.