Andrew Thacker Praises New Coaching Additions To Georgia Tech

Thacker discussed the new staff after practice on Monday

Jackson Caudell | Mar 28, 2023

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While there are some familiar faces on the Georgia Tech coaching staff, there are plenty of new faces as well.

After being hired as the full-time head coach, Brent Key went to work on making the program and the staff look how he wanted it to. Coaches like defensive coordinator Andrew Thacker, defensive backs coach Travares Tillman, and quarterbacks coach Chris Weinke are returning from the previous staff, but everyone else is new.

Marco Coleman is back as the defensive line coach for the Yellow Jackets, and new co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Kevin Sherrer is coming in with a wealth of experience from his years in the SEC and the NFL.

Thacker spoke after practice on Monday and discussed the new additions at length and the tough decisions that Key had to make when assembling his staff:

"I think Coach Key made some really tough decisions and he did a great job of building the staff. You are speaking specifically to the defensive staff, we brought in a ton of quality. You mentioned Coach Sherrer and having the co-defensive coordinator title and what I can learn from him and the value that he brings to the defense, that is hard to be measured right now. Someone who has been defensive coordinator at SEC schools, who has coached in the NFL, the knowledge and the wisdom he brings and having gone through the fire and to my and the staffs advantage as far.

As for the rest of the staff, having Marco Coleman back, had the chance to work with Marco multiple times, just a Georgia Tech legend. I will say this with respect to Marco, how he has developed as a coach has been impressive. Only been away for a year and having the opportunity to have a full defensive line at Michigan State and then now taking the full defensive line over here. I have been impressed with Marco as a peer in how he has developed as a coach. I know he was a great player, a legend and all that, I think he is an elite coach right now.

And I have to mention it, the opportunity for Coach Key to structure this staff, with having Brian Baker on the staff, that is a game changer for us. Brian Baker's humility to come here, he has 20 years of NFL experience and having an off-the-field role and just what he adds to the development of the defensive line and Coach Coleman and using each other as a benefit has been huge for us. Inside the staff room and the knowledge I am gaining from those guys is huge, catering our offense to their style have been some of the changes. I gotta keep going full circle, obviously Till (Defensive backs coach Travares Tillman and we had the opportunity to work through eight games with Coach Key this past season.

While the offense is almost, outside of (Chris) Weinke, is completely new. We have gone through some battle, we have gone through some adversity through the course of the season and you build toughness through those moments and you build trust or distrust and fortunate for us, our trust, which has been longstanding those last eight games and the complement that I can give Coach Key for my own benefit was trusting me to have control of the defense and giving me parameters and giving me guidelines on what his vision was and what he wanted, but also letting us as a defensive staff have some freedom to see what that looks like. Very complementary of him and his head coaching style and I am very thankful for the trust that he has put into us.

I will go back, he made some tough decisions with the staff, he really did. I do know when he made decisions to create this staff it was to put it in his own image and what he wants this program to look like and what he obviously wants the defense to look like and I am thankful and incredibly thankful to still be here and be a part of it."

When asked specifically about what Sherrer is bringing to the staff, it was hard not to see how excited Thacker was to have him on board:

"When we had the conversation of him coming in, I would say that the biggest thing that he tried to impress on me in our first conversation is his approach to having humility coming in, coming in to support this staff, support this team and the way he supports me. The biggest compliment that I can give him as a man is that he has come in and has been true to that. Another thing that he has said is if you want to know the truth, then ask me the question. If you do not want to know the truth, then do not ask me the question. So every once in a while I don't ask him the question because I don't want to hear the truth, but I can't compliment his humility enough.

His resume speaks for itself and the experience to be a power five coordinator at such a high level and to be the places that he has been and the defenses that he has been exposed to being in the NFL.

Tangible examples, he comes from such a defensive background and the tree that he is from and all of his experience, his nuance to the defense in ways. Sometimes it can be a linebacker path and his idea of what that is supposed to look like and articulate to the guys to make them know it better. Ok, let's watch the offseason and see how this can make us better. Some stuff about blitz paths and and then its really been a huge benefit to me, even though he is coaching linebackers, hey this is what coverage mechanics we used, here is a route that we were exposed to and we gave up an explosive play, what are some solutions to this route and what mechanics can we use, what communication can we make that we haven't in the past.

He has brought a tremendous amount of nuancing the defenses in those ways."

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