Everything From Defensive Coordinator Tyler Santucci After Georgia Tech's 3rd Fall Camp Practice

Santucci is entering his first season as the defensive coordinator for Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech defensive coordinator Tyler Santucci / Georgia Tech Athletics

Georgia Tech wrapped up fall camp practice No. 3 on Friday and after practice, defensive coordinator Tyler Santucci spoke with the media for the first time since the spring. Santucci is being taked with turning around the Yellow Jackets defense and if he can do that. Georgia Tech has one of the best offenses in the ACC and could be a dangerous team if they can fix the defense.

Here is everything that Santucci had to say.

1. On where the defense is at right now...

"Yeah, I think football is a little different than it was six, seven, eight years ago where you get summertime with these guys and I tell these guys all the time, it's year round. And if you wanna be good at this You've got to be year -round investment somehow, some way, whether that's individually or with your coaches. So I think our guys have bought into that. A lot of work this summer to continue what we built in the spring. And I think that that's helped, you know, building into day one, two, and three in fall camp. So I like where we're at. The details still have to get ironed out. And I think that's part of camp in general, but especially installing new defense. So I'm happy with who we're at."

2. On the new additions since spring practice...

"Yeah, I think those young guys are talented. You know, the young freshman class is talented and it's good to see them. The transition from high school to college is tough, especially if you didn't go through spring as a mid -year. So those guys are getting their feet underneath them. And I think the true evaluation for them comes in week two, week three of fault camp. I think some of the guys that are, you know, carried over from the mid -year, right? You got Tah'j Butler, who's out there running around. He had 15 practices under his belt. He had a full summer under his belt. And I think that that's so beneficial for those guys when they do it and then I think when you talk about the supplementation with the transfer portal, you talk about the d -line and being able to roll one two three groups out there that compete I think competition brings out the best in everyone and I think you see that the older guys compete with guys that have come in talking to each other challenging each other and I think that that's so healthy for the defense for the unit and I think that'll bring out the best in them. And then guys like Zach Tobe, Jayden Davis, like all of those guys that have come in, said obviously had 15 practices. All of those guys are gonna create depth and competition. And that's what we look for, competition is king. It'll bring out the best in everyone. And I think we're trying to find guys that can help us win. And if they show that they can help us win, they will be on the field. That could be 30 guys. If 30 guys can help us win, 35, 40 guys, great. If it's 25, great. Whoever can help us win, we will find ways to put them on the field."

3. On his assessment of the linebackers...

"Yeah. I'll answer that just like I did in the spring. We are work in progress and I'll answer that for as long as I'm here. That's just the mindset thing for us as a defense. We're a work in progress. We're working to get better. We're continuing to learn how to command the defense for our voice to mean something when we say something and to earn that trust from the rest of our teammates. So we're a work in progress.

4. On if there is pressure on him to get the defense performing at a higher level....

"That's not pressure, that's my job, you know, it's just what you sign up for. There's an expectation that you do a good job, you know, and that's the world we live in. You know, it's stop people, create takeaways, and get the ball back to the offense, and don't let them score touchdowns. So that's not pressure, that's just our job."

5. On Trenilyas Tatum and Tah'j Butler...

"I guess Production you'd like to see from that position out. Yeah, they just got to keep working I mean they got to trust what we do what we put in front of them and I think part of that's on me right like I've got to earn their trust I've got to continue to earn their trust since the day I got here that's all I told them I say like just give me an opportunity to show up for you and they've done that and I hink that the progress continues to happen the expectations that they continue to progress and they don't just pause or plateau anywhere that we continue to get better and I'm really proud like Tren Tatum whatever you know he hasn't been under 220 since the end of spring you know he's been over 220 since then and I think he played at you know 210 last year so he's held the weight really well he's keeping the weight, in camp that's really important for him because that was a challenge of mine to him it's like how important is it to be over 220 and he's doing it and then Tah'j is just you know as he continues to grow as a young football player. He can continue to learn lessons like each and every day. So again, those guys will continue to work, love working with them, and you know, they're great kids."

6. On characteristics he looks for in corners, safeties, and nickels...

" I think all five DBs kind of have to have similar skill sets. As I talk about all the time, DBs are like a basketball team. You want the best five. And guys have different skill sets, but they all have to be able to have some type of competitive drive where they just want to compete in one -on -one situations. You've got to be athletic enough to play man -to -man and compete for the ball deep down the field. That's important. You have to have top -end speed and you got to be physical enough to down the football. So each and every position on our back end you have to have those things. Now you cover a little better, you slide out to corner, right? You communicate, maybe you don't have as good a long speed, you play safety. You tackle a little better, you play safety. Nickel is a great combination of both And that's what we would like out of those guys be able to play man in the slot Be able to play a little bit of zone and fit the run when we ask it to and be able to blitz."

7. On the defensive line...

"Yeah our best players will play and if that is whatever you know you can't play with five 5D tackles at a time. You know wish you could at times but that's not the game we live in anymore but our best players will play and I know that the accumulation of reps means something so even if you know maybe we do play three three bigger D linemen at times but when you talk about a 12 -game season with three by weeks and a fall camp and the schedule that's ahead of us. I think you talk about the accumulation of reps and knowing that at some point, somebody's number's gonna get called and just making sure that like that's right. And I think that that's what it allows you to do. Like the most physical position on the defense is our defense of tackles. And I believe like that's how you build it. You build it inside out from a mentality and a physicality standpoint. And I think when you have six, seven, eight bodies that are capable of playing winning football, that allows you to be fresh in the fourth quarter in meaningful games. That allows you to be fresh in week 11, week 12, and continue on and so forth. So I think that it's hugely beneficial. There's no negative to it. Will it change the defense? Maybe. Maybe not. I don't know. We'll see how that kind of plays out over the next three weeks."

8. On if the defense can make a similar jump that the offense did a year ago...

"Yeah, I think our goal is to be the best version of the 2024 Georgia Tech defense that we can become. We've talked about that since day one. We don't put numbers on it. We don't set goals per se of like, "Oh, if we don't hit this goal, we didn't accomplish anything." We talk about like continual improvement, he accumulation of small wins over time. We are trying to build habits and routines each and every day so that we have the ability to improve. So I guess, yeah, we want to get better for sure. We want to improve. That's why we're here as a D staff. But just the foundational value of that thing is like, let's just do it every day and let the results happen when they come. So yes, we want to get better."

9. On how he approaches opening the season with Florida State...

"Yeah, it's interesting, 'cause a year ago when I was at Duke, we opened up Clemson on Labor Day. So that was, I think it was a little bit of a different mindset going into camp and like just knowing that like hey like let's go and that's that's kind of what we're in we start a week earlier than everybody else because we're week zero I don't know that we do anything different per se but it's it's just like you know it's coming I guess more than anything else and preparation doesn't change we don't do anything different. But I just think that it creates a sense of urgency throughout the guys and throughout the team of like, they know what's on the horizon. They know that there's challenges ahead. In regards to the portal, Florida State has done a really good job over the last three or four years where some of their highest draft picks over the last two years were guys that they, you know, and now they have a quarterback, you know where they're going from a guy that has really been a three to four year starter there and the heart and soul of their team and now it's a new guy so, you know continue to see how they are and We'll find out August 24th."