David Shanahan Talks About Playing In the First Game of the year In Ireland and what He is Doing to Improve in 2024

Jackson Caudell | Mar 26, 2024

Georgia Tech v Virginia / Ryan M. Kelly/GettyImages

Georiga Tech was back on the field yesterday for spring practice after a week off for spring break. After practice, it was the special teams day to speak to the media and among that group was Georgia Tech punter David Shanahan, who is getting ready to begin another season as Georiga Tech's starting punter. Shanahan, who is from Ireland, talked about playing the first game of the season in his home country and what he is doing to improve his game ahead of the 2024 season.

Here is everything that he had to say.

1. On playing the first game of the year in his home country...

"Yeah, it's definitely getting closer. I guess when we found out, it was probably like this time last year, it was kind of St. Patrick's Day, so it's still so far away. There's obviously a lot of stuff between now and then, like summer ball and obviously the rest of it. spring ball and all that, the fall camp, but it's definitely getting there. It's definitely coming around pretty quick, so I'm excited. You've already been over there a couple times recently right? Yeah, we went back in July, groups went over, we kind of got to go there for like the 4th of July a week, we kind of went around the place, took it to my hometown, my school and stuff, so that was a lot of fun too."

2. On what he is improving on ahead of this season...

"Yeah, yeah, I mean, yeah, I guess, I mean, this would probably be the first year we've kind of had, I've had the same special teams coordinator for a year on year, freshman and sophomore, and junior had different special teams coordinators, so knowing exactly, exactly I guess what we're going to be doing and having that, I guess Coach Brumfield's been here again, that'll really help I think, just to have that continuity. So yeah, I mean there's always stuff to work on like consistency and kind of directional stuff and we're kind of implementing some more stuff in that we didn't have last year, kind of different types of kicks, so kind of keep things interesting. So yeah, there's always stuff to keep improving on the whole operation."

3. On if he has told his teammates what to expect in Ireland...

Yeah, yeah, a little bit, got to try some of the Irish snacks, which they were popular, honestly. They were a hit. Some of the big boys as well, they liked them. Jordan Williams liked them. But yeah, yeah, it's... it's really... coming along. I think we still need a couple of passports as well, so guys will be asking me about that. Probably not the person to ask, but yeah."

4. On the aspects of his punting and what he is looking to improve...

"Um, yeah, sort of, yeah. Um, just kind of nailing down a process, especially for the kind of, the pro style spiral punts, you know, sometimes I'd do it two steps, sometimes two and a half, sometimes three, just kind of nailing down like a good two -step process and kind of sticking with it and being confident in that process. It's probably, it's probably the biggest thing I'm focusing on in the spring anyways."