Everything From Georgia Tech Defensive Coordinator Tyler Santucci After The Yellow Jackets' Third Spring Practice

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

Georgia Tech concluded their first week of spring practice yesterday and it was also the first week of practice for newly hired defensive coordinator Tyler Santucci. Santucci was hired to be the new defensive coordinator for the Yellow Jackets and he spoke with the media for the first time since being hired yesterday and here is everything he had to say. 

1. On his defensive philosophy...

" Yeah, well I think systematically it's all built around the players, but right now this is the infancy stages of the game. of it and I think you know maybe more of like what we're doing is,   it's how we're doing it, how we go about our business, how we attend meetings, the intent when we approach those things, the intent when we cross the lines, how we play together, how we swarm to the football I think those things are critically important like,  foundationally I think that defense has got to start there. First, it's like, how we go about our business, and then it's like, hey, this is what we're doing, and this is why we're doing it.  So right now, to me, the most important part is how we practice, how we pay attention to meetings, how we communicate with one another. I think it's critically important visually and verbally.  And I think that's where we're at. And I think, right now, like, that's-- our focus each day we're trying to try to gather small wins doing those things right now and then we'll get to the putting guys in position to have success but right now that's kind of where we're at."

2. On the initial conversation with him and Brent Key about him being hired...

"Yeah I think the initial conversation was you know,  he needed, he needed somebody to run the defense that he felt comfortable with. I think that, you know, foundationally we believed in a lot of the same things about what a football team is about, being tough, being together, creating bonds that are meaningful for the rest of these kids' lives,  and coaches having those bonds also and I felt like Georgia Tech is a place that's near and dear to his heart, it's important to him and Georgia Tech the values of the University aligned with my values and you know that's kind of what brought us to this point right now is all those things combined brought my family and I here to Georgia Tech in Atlanta."

3. On how to fix the run defense...

" Yeah you know I'm not I'm not sure what happened here a year ago I mean statistically you see things but you know to me it's it's all about starting from square one and having no preconceived notions on anybody or anything. But building it the way that we believe is a defensive staff and the way the coach key wants it built. And that's where we're at.  And I think with that, we can't cheat steps, we can't skip steps, and we will get to where we want to get to in a timely manner. But I know foundationally, like it's got to start with how we play our effort that we play with, how we communicate, how we treat one another, and how we care about one another, and if we do those things I feel like we'll get to where we need to get to and hopefully help that problem."

4. On what has stood out about the current unit on defense...

"Yeah, I like that they are eager and willing, they show up each and every day and they want to be coached They want to be coached hard, they want to understand and know the why, hey coach, why are we doing this? And those are the best guys to be around. Like the opportunity to explain to them, hey, this is why we do it this way. And you can give them the big picture reasons. And these guys have shown up each and every day. Every challenge that we as a coaching staff have thrown them, they have answered. And they've shown up, they have not relented. And that's all we could ask. From day one, all we ask is like, "Hey, there's going to be a little bit of blind faith here, but you've got to trust that we're going to put you in position to where you guys want to be and where ultimately we want to be as a defense." And that's where we're at and we ask them to do things and they do it. We give them clear explanation and they understand it and they take it and run with it. So I've been really happy with those guys just showing up. And I think that's all we could ask. step one is showing up and being eager to do it."

5. On what the most important part has been about building relationships with the players...

"Yeah, it's been a fast forward since getting here, middle of January, and it's just been like, "Guys, I need you around." So every day we have practice as they're around dinner, going from class to back to home, wherever it may be stopping and like whether it's football or not there's conversations being had all over the defense Coach Simpson,  Coach Pope, Coach Peoples, Coach Brumfield,  me like it is just a revolving door to try to expedite some of these relationships and being present you know and like voluntary hours like we're there we're just there to watch so that they see us I think that's critically important at the beginning stages of this thing, so they know that we're in this with you. We're not pushing you through the door, we're walking with you through the door. And I think that that's critical for kids, especially nowadays to understand, it's like these guys are with us and that is important in today's climate and college football."

6. On how he likes to use his personnel...

"Yeah we play with five DBs, two high safeties, a nickel,  and two corners you know and then we play with two linebackers. We play with a buck linebacker and a Mike linebacker. And then we play with four defensive linemen. One's a rush, one's a tackle, one's a nose and one's an end and we have the personnel that we need here. You know, we do and we have the right body types. We have the right people and we just kind of continue to grow them."

7. On the linebacker position...

" Yeah, I think we're a work in progress. I think there's a lot of young guys just starting out and a lot of stress is put on the linebackers in our defense and I think they're starting to understand that after three practices how important it is to communicate on the field,  how that prepares you for game, to command a defense, to make sure that you create that comfort within a defense. Kyle (Efford) is learning, right, and as you learn, you learn quick, you can become effective as a communicator on the field if you learn slow, it takes you a while to catch up and he in a learning process and he is urgently learning which allows him to communicate on the field. Tren Tatum has had a good two, three days it's good to have him back, we'll continue to work those guys and I think like when you talk about the unit like each and  every day we're gonna rotate and guys are going to go with the ones, guys are going with the twos and there is a consistent work output that we're looking for and if that consistent work output happens the day before by somebody, then that guy gets the opportunity to go with the ones because that will be most important, this will be a merit-based defense. So like the way that we perform, the way that we communicate, the way that we hold the standard of what we're going to do is we're going to go with the twos and the twos will be how the debt tour is created."

8. On if coaching at academic and ACC institutions has given him an edge at Georgia Tech...

" Yeah, I think it does. I think being at places like Duke, Notre Dame, and Wake Forest helped me kind of gauge where this place is and I think it helps a lot in recruiting.  I think it allows you to target the right kids who want the right things from this place. They want high-level football but they also want the number one degree in the nation when you talk about public institutions like that it means a lot to the right kids and I think that it helps on all levels when you communicate with these guys on our team,  you understand the stresses that they have not only academic or athletically but academically and we talk about academics here it's not just I'm a football coach like we speak pretty frank about academics and hey what are your challenges right now?  What do we need to allocate time for right now? Do you need to cut this meeting short so that you can go spend time with tutors? I think all those things are critically important, but it's important for the combined experience for a student-athlete. I think a place like this gives that kid the right experience so that they can do both and have a successful life, not only football career."

Tyler Santucci Describes The Defensive Philosophy That He Wants To Bring To Georgia Tech