Norval McKenzie is Confident In Georgia Tech's Running Back Room

Jackson Caudell | Apr 2, 2024

Nov 18, 2023; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets running back Jamal Haynes (11) runs / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Last season, Georgia Tech showed one of the biggest improvements in the entire country when it comes to total offense and they would end up finishing with the top rushing offense in the ACC. The Yellow Jackets return the majority of snaps on their offensive line and leading rusher Jamal Haynes, meaning they could be in for an even bigger 2024. 

The guy coaching Haynes and a talented group of running backs is Norval McKenzie. He spoke with the media after practice on Tuesday and here is everything that he had to say.

1. On what he is looking for from the young guys...

"Yeah, I think right now, like you mentioned, we've got an experienced guy in the sense of Jamal had a really good year for us. And so now the biggest question mark is, you know, who may be that second guy, right? And so I think the young guys are doing well so far in spring ball. They've all been pushing each other and competing really hard. So you have Trey Cooley, who did play some last year, who's in the mix and competing. Behind him right now, you have Evan Dickens, who's having a really strong spring ball. And then we have Chad Alexander and also Anthony Carrie, who's a transfer, excuse me, a mid -year... early enrollee, who's actually doing extremely well also too. I think right now we've got a good group of young guys who are competing, practicing hard, doing all the little things that you ask, and feel really good about the group collectively as a whole right now."

2. On the true freshmen Anthony Carrie and Trelain Maddox...

"I think I'll first start off by talking about Trelain Maddox. Very mature kid and loves ball right and so when you have a mature kid that loves ball. It's pretty easy to keep him motivated. He's in every single meeting and I actually called him in the meetings. He's on the sideline taking mental reps and I'm always looking to make sure where he is just so he's doing that. And so what I love about him right now is he's playing the game without being able to play the game. And so I think that's a mature approach, that would be a pro approach. And that's what he's doing. Actually, I walked in with him after practice today and we talked about some of the plays that happen in practice. And we also talked about some of the special teams reps that happen in practice too, just to make sure that he's paying attention. So love where he is from a mental standpoint right now for a guy that's injured but still staying involved as you mentioned. 

Transition over to Anthony, I think Anthony's having a good spring ball. You always worry about as a freshman like how would he grasp the offense, kind of where would he be in pass protection. Is he a physical kid or is he gonna get bullied or whatever? And right now doing really good with the playbook and also doing fine and pass protection as well. So there's still some things he has to learn in terms of where he fit in protection, but when it comes to actually fitting up a guy and protecting, he's actually showed that he can and he's more than willing to. So that's the biggest thing too. Is he a willing blocker, which he is. So like I mentioned, man, I'm excited about where he is right now and the progression that he's taken from practice one to practice eight."

3. On how to keep Jamal Haynes motivated to take another step in his career...

"Yeah, I think what motivates Jamal is just he loves ball, right? And he's very, very competitive. And we talk about it's either standard or it's below standard, all right? Like, today wasn't the standard, okay? So, he's a little bit upset about that, which all competitors would be, right? So, he's a guy that, that was one of the things that I loved about him last year, where some people may say, "Man, he's angry or he's mad. He's really has a high standard for himself." And when he doesn't reach that standard on that particular play, sometimes it upsets him. And so, we have a great relationship of understanding, okay, like, understand that that was about bad play. You also have to have short-term memory and realize, hey, we can't let that bad play lead into the next bad play, or a bad series, or a bad quarter, or a bad half, or a bad game, right? So we always talk about having short -term memory, but at the same time, I don't want to take away the competitiveness that he has. I don't want to take away the standard that he set for himself, which I truthfully love that about him."

4. On Trey Cooley and how he is doing this spring...

"Well, doing well, doing well. I think my expectations for Trey is to play how he played in the first two or three games, right? We saw glimpses of Trey where it was like, man, unbelievable, really, really good, right? And then there were times where he was... as consistent as he was in the first two to three games. So I think the biggest word for Trey this spring is consistency, because he shows flashes that he can do it. It's just a matter of doing it all the time. And so that's the biggest challenge I have for him this spring is, hey, man, like, if you could do it on one play, then you could do it on the second play. You got to better do it on the third play. So that's kind of where I am right now. I feel like he's a talented kid. We talked also too about just honing in on some detail things in terms of the run game and the pass game. But he knows that, and once he knows that he's embraced that, now he's trying to work on it."

5. On Anthony Carrie's confidence...

"Yes, sir, absolutely. absolutely. He's a very confident kid. He's a very conscientious kid. I think in order to play ball, you gotta have confidence in yourself, okay? I talk to the guys all the time about the game is played from the neck up. And one part of that is actually having confidence in yourself that you can do it, okay? So when I'm teaching and coaching these guys, I'm gonna give them constructive criticism, I'm gonna be on them when they make a bad play. I'm gonna lift them up when they make a great play. But I'm also going to let them know, hey man, there's some growth that always has to happen. Okay. So you can never get down on yourself. Just look at it as a growth moment. And from there, he has. All right. And then now he's doing better. So this is really good. But in terms of his confidence, I don't think he lacks any."

6. On if he feels they can be creative with personnel packages and if he believes he has guys that can catch the ball...

"Yeah, absolutely. I think as we went into the all -season and you self -scout yourself, all right, that's some of the things that we talked about in our self -scout. In addition to that, like, like every coach on our staff had a Responsibility that they had right so one coach may have to study the Miami Dolphins another coach had to study the San Francisco 49ers and so then you pick and choose what you like that organizational program does and so we're fine. Tune is some of the things but in the NFL like you just mentioned, there's a lot of multiple packages, you know personnel packages. There's a lot of trades, there's a lot of shift, there's a lot of motion so when it comes to those things, you know, in the running back room, you'll love to have 20 personnel out there and it can be 20 personnel with two running backs. It could be 20 personnel with a back and another receiver back there who's a running back type, right? And who can run the ball and also catch it. So I think as we move forward in year two, we definitely want to be versatile in a sense of our personnel packages and use that to our advantage."