Everything From Georgia Tech RB Coach Norval McKenzie After Yellow Jackets 4th Practice

Georgia Tech continued with Fall Camp/Training Camp today, as it was the fourth day of practice for the Yellow Jackets as the season opener against Colorado is now four weeks away. After practice, running backs coach Norval McKenzie spoke with the media and here is everything that he had to say:

1. On the depth of his position room...

"Oh, man. It's, it's exciting like you mentioned last year, went through a lot of lows in terms of just highs and lows with injuries or whatnot and now we feel like we got a stable of guys, very confident in those guys And we have a true depth, you know we haven't had depth since we've been here and I feel like through the recruiting process and going into year three we're able to add some pieces and now we feel like we got a really talented room."

2. On adding Shane Marshall to the room...

"Well, yeah, so Shane's a bigger back. He's a kid, he's probably like 5'10 200 LBS, and you know just through the recruiting process, just really loved, you know him as a running back just in terms of his Durability, his speed, his power his burst , and acceleration and so, so far since he's been here, he's been able to demonstrate that too in the off -season conditioning which sometimes, you know, you're sitting there like, okay, what's going to happen? Like, when you get him, what's going to happen? And so, right now he's checking every single box and very excited about him as an addition to the room. Sure."

3. On Trelain Maddox...

"Man, Tre is doing really well. I thought he had a great spring. You know, anytime you're coming from an injury, it's always the mental piece. I think he's over that hurdle now, mentally and physically. He's a specimen, right? I think he got, he received the iron jacket this summer, just in terms of what he's done in the weight room. He's big, he's strong, he's powerful. You know, and he's going to get a lot of experience this season and we're excited about him and we're excited about the growth that he's taken from the first day he's been here until now."

4. On the coaching staff continuity on offense...

"I just think you know as a coach we're we're always trying to grow so this offseason we're going to study other teams and try to add to what we do offensively, but the continuity is there, like you mentioned, Coach Weinke, myself, Coach Wade, Coach McKnight, now in year two. So, I mean, a lot of familiar, familiarity, excuse me for that word, with each other, right? And so, man, we're so excited to work together every single day. each other, right? There's really no egos in the room. There's a lot of energy in the room. Coach Faulkner does a lot of good things in terms of giving us autonomy to come up with plays or whatnot, and whether he used them or not, he does give us the opportunity to kind of share in on the game plan or whatnot. So, man, it's been tremendous, the first two seasons and looking forward to us continue to build this thing in year three."

5. On how the two true freshmen (JP Powell and Shane Marshall) can get on the field...

"You know, it's kind of hard to say right now what I'm looking for. I think the biggest thing is, like I tell these guys all the time, you just gotta go out there and compete, right? Go out there and compete. When your number is called, you gotta and compete, right? and compete, right? Go out there and compete. When your number is called, you gotta earn it. You gotta show us that we can put you in there and in protection, you know who you have in protection. You know what routes to run, when we call certain concepts, you're a willing blocker in past protection. And then when you get your numbers called, when the ball is in your hand, how productive are you? Can you win in space, when there's nothing there, can you create things of that nature. And I think right now, those two guys are extremely talented. I think the room is talented, like I mentioned earlier. So there's a lot of competition in the room. I think because we have so much competition in the room, it's gonna just elevate everybody's play, which I'm excited about."

6. On Malachi Hosley...

"Yeah so Malachi is a smart kid obviously coming from Penn so he doesn't struggle from a mental standpoint. In addition to that he's an experienced player because he played two seasons there. Did get banged up in spring however did good in the offseason. We got an unbelievable strength staff, unbelievable you know athletic team or whatnot and they and they got him back and he's done what he needed to do to get back. And so extremely excited about him as an addition to the room as well. Has a really good skill set. We saw that last year when he decided to hit the portal and you watch PFF and you start recruiting guys and say, can they fit in our offense? And felt like he has the tools to be successful here."

7. On Daylon Gordon's Journey as a player...

"So, Daylon, unbelievable kid, you know, high character kid, truthfully, you know, sometimes when you look at leadership, it can be vocally, it can be by example, he's a kid that leads by example. And always smiling, I don't know if Daylon ever had a bad day, you know, and he brings people along, and you know, you need guys like and I think that, you know, how it would be rewarded is by having a package in a role this year. And I think not only in addition to special teams, we're looking forward to him having a role offensively. He does have a good skill set. He's a team guy. And so, man, guys like him, they're going to be successful. And I'm looking forward to his success this season."

8. On what Jamal Haynes needs to do to reach the next level...

"Yeah, I think like you mentioned, so he's going to be on every award, pre -season award. The biggest thing is, I would say he's taking this off -season a different manner in terms of head down and working, which has been good to see you know this offseason was probably his best off season had a really good spring and now this summer did well also okay and so he's in position how he can get better is by the rest of the room being better you know there's been times over the past who sees us where he's had to play more snaps than he should have played last year he battled the entire season with injuries so I'm excited about the rest of the room to continue to compete, to be able to spell him when he needs it for me to be able to trust those guys in certain situations. I always feel like I have to put Jamal in the game, but another back can go in the game. And so we're excited about that offensively as well. In terms of what he could probably get better at, if there was one thing that we've talked about, I would say pass protection and not that he's not a willing pass protector, but just in terms of technique, right? And so we always want to hone in on the fundamentals. And he's taking it a step further just to ask the questions, OK, how did that look? What did I need to do better? We actually watched film this morning of some previous running backs I coached in the past. That was his stature of how they blocked. And so he's in a growth mindset right now, too, in just in terms of how can I get better? He knows that he gets better, we get better."

9. On Chad Alexander and JP Powell...

"Right so Chad, great kid, you know a lot of times when kids go through injuries they get they get down on themselves he's working even harder right and so we don't know what he's gonna be back but I would tell you right now he's in a great mental, he's in every meeting, if I call on him, he has the correct answer every single time. He's at all the walkthroughs. He's really engaged right now. He's putting on weight. I think the heaviest has ever been here and looks really, really good. And so he has the mindset that he's getting back, right? Whether it's September, October, November, whenever, he's getting back and it's gonna be a really great addition to have back into the room. As you know, he had a great season for us last year and his reps are so we're fired up about him getting back. When we transition to JP, I think JP is, I don't want to say it negatively, but he's light years ahead of where he was in spring, just from a, you know, acclimation part, right? So as a freshman, sometimes you struggle in spring because everything's new to you, right? And so at times, when you're a mid -year, that's the advantage, right? And so now you look, you move forward and we're seven months from when he's gotten here, all right. And so there's a lot of growth in terms of understanding the playbook, understanding the standards at the running back position, knowing how to practice. He's naturally gifted, so you know there's just fine -tuning things here and there, but there's been tremendous growth in him from January to today."