Everything from offensive line coach Geep Wade post-practice 8/15

Wade is in his first season at Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech fall camp is rolling on in its final week before the team turns its attention to getting ready for the week one matchup with Louisville 

One of the most important storylines on this team going into the season is the improvement of the offensive line. After practice on Tuesday, first-year offensive line coach Geep Wade spoke with the media and talked about his unit. Here is what he had to say. 

1. On the center position...

"Yeah you know, Weston has kind of been the main show for the past year, he played as a young kid and has really progressed and he is a kid that has really worked himself into what he has become, through our weight program, through our offseason program. Behind him, last spring Brandon Best, we gave him a shot there and we told him some things that he had to do over the summer to continue to progress where we think he needed to be at this level to win and he did it. 

Gabe Fortson has come in and being a freshman, I am really proud of where he is at. He missed practice today, he had an illness but he has really progressed and we are also working Joe Fusile there a little bit. 

We have different combinations but as a coaching staff, we have to get it honed in the next four or five days before next week starts."

2. On the number of guys he wants to have prepared to play in the first game...

"You are always looking for about 8-10 guys. At this level if you have eight guys than you are doing good. We feel like we possibly have eight guys, the center position is where we are working hard at because there are a bunch of different combinations and we just have to find some continuity with those combinations so that is something that is still going to have to be worked on at the end of this week heading into next week."

3. On if the group is spending a lot of time off the field together...

"Yeah you know I think it is something... it was hard when you first get here, you have only been here for six months and you get to know these guys and the main thing that I want is to get to know these guys, and show them I care about them and we have been out to do stuff with them and they are a tight-knit group and I think that is big in winning. We want to recruit guys that have the mentality of hanging out together in college, I tell our kids all the time that if you are happy where you are at then you will play better so that is something that is big and I also understand that in my station, I want positive energy. 

I am a positive guy, not saying all the time, but being in this profession if you are not, it will beat you down and the same thing with the O-lineman going through a 12-13 game season you know like coach says, there are going to be ebbs and flows to a practice and we have to be on the other end of that more than the flows so that is something that I try to preach to my guys. You got your teammates around you and there have been times in camp where you have said guys I can't fix it, you have to fix it so we are trying to put more pressure on these guys. 

4. On transfer Connor Scaglione...

"He fits right in, there is no question. He is a mature human being, a grown man. He is a kid that did not go through spring practice at Princeton so he is trying to get back in shape, he is going through Coach Key's practices right now, he has a bum knee, a bum shoulder, a bum wrist and he is fighting through it and we feel really good about where he is at to give us some added bonus."

5. On the backup center position...

"We will get to that point. We'll get to that point, that is something that right now is very important and we kind of know as a coaching staff the direction we are going in but we are still trying to let guys continue to develop while we are in camp. All of these reps are invaluable. When we get to hit the sleigh, hit the chutes, you get the sentimentality because during the season, you don't get that time. You are preparing your scout team so these next couple of days are very important for our football program and our group."

6. On the offensive tackles...

"Two kids that when you come here in the spring as new coaches, it is amazing at what our kids have done from the first spring practice to now with their bodies and with coach A.J. (Artis), with their hips, they can run better. So those are two kids (Corey Robinson and Jakiah Leftwich) that have worked as hard as anybody on the football team so they have put themselves in position to become better players and we challenged them and they took the challenge. 

They are both tough kids, Jakiah and Corey are very, very tough kids."

7. On if he is satisfied with the evaluation of the freshman group...

"Very satisfied. Ethan Mackenny is running with the twos every rep since he got here and he was not here in the spring. Ben Galloway is very twitchy for his size, then you got Gabe and he has been running with the twos. He has been out there in 110-degree heat and runs 50-60 plays with the twos and he had some freshmen mistakes in some critical situations, but that is to be expected. I hope that he learns from it to become a great player in the future. 

We have Pat Screws and he has been limited a little bit and Elias Cloy has gotten tremendously better since the spring, we are playing him at tackle right now but I would like to move him around when we have that chance to do so. 

8. On if he would like to move guys around positions...

"With our zone scheme and stuff like that, one guy can play anything and I have made some points of that throughout this camp. Our job is to find the five best guys to go and win us a football game and that sounds cliche but its not. We have to go find the five best guys that will give Georgia Tech the best chance to win a football game and I think we will do that here in the next couple of days."

Georgia Tech opens its 2023 season against Louisville on Sept. 1st at 7:30 on ESPN. 

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