Norval McKenzie likes the running back depth that Georgia Tech has

McKenzie is in his first season at Georgia Tech

Author:
Jackson Caudell
Publish date:
Aug 10, 2023 6:11 PM EDT

In this story:

Georgia Tech is preparing for its scrimmage on Saturday as the second week of fall camp concludes and the Yellow Jackets move one step closer to the opening game against Louisville.

Running backs coach Norval McKenzie is in his first season with Georgia Tech (the team he grew up rooting for) and when talking about his position with the media today, he seems confident in his group and the depth they have at the position right now:

"I think collectively the young guys are doing well. We always talk about practice and it starts in the meeting room when those guys are learning material and then we talk about that material transferring over to team and it has been good, they are learning a lot in the classroom and they are applying it on the field and I would say those young guys are coming along. Jamie (Felix) is having a good camp, Jamal Haynes has done a good job switching over from wide receiver, he has done a great job.

I am very excited about those guys' growth and extremely excited about where they are going and their trajectory is going upward."

Georgia Tech Running Back Dontae Smith — Norval McKenzie likes the running back depth that Georgia Tech has
Ken Ruinard / USA Today Network / USA TODAY NETWORK

McKenzie was asked about how many of these guys he could trust in a game right now and he felt very confident that all of them could handle it:

"Right now I would say all of them and that is just in terms of preparation. We always talk about how preparation leads to performance, we talk about owning your reps and I challenge these guys... we have 120 snaps that each individual took 120 snaps and while you may not have gotten all of them physically, you got all of them mentally.

For us, we talk about the game being played from the neck up, its a mental game, you have to prepare like you are the starter and that is part of my job and part of my responsibility to prepare and I have confidence that if I put them in they can own their rep and they can go do their jobs."

Georgia Tech is returning a very experienced player at running back with Dontae Smith and brought in Trey Cooley from Louisville. Those are the most experienced players, but young guys like Jamie Felix, Jamal Haynes, and Evan Dickens are fighting to be a part of the rotation.

Smith finished with 420 yards and five touchdowns on 80 carries, averaging 4.8 per carry. Smith is explosive when he is healthy and can catch the ball out of the backfield and I would think that he will be the starting back entering the spring. I recently wrote about how Georgia Tech needed to get more explosive in the passing game and that can include Smith. He is a legitimate home run threat when he has the ball in his hands and that will give the Yellow Jackets offense a different dimension that they lacked last year.

Cooley had 709 yards and three touchdowns in two seasons at Louisville and averaged 4.9 yards per carry. He also had 21 catches for 239 yards and three touchdowns.

When you glance at Felix's stats, they are not going to blow you away. 23 carries for 80 yards and an average of 3.5 yards per carry are not mindblowing, but when you watched Felix get carries toward the end of the year, he was a tough runner who showed physicality and he finished with six catches for 41 yards, showing there is potential for receiving upside.

New offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner is going to use these running backs in a variety of ways and they each bring something different to the table. It will be interesting to see how the snaps are divided up when the season begins.

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

Facebook: All Yellow Jackets

Twitter: @AllYellowJacket

Follow Jackson on Twitter: @jacksoncaudell

Follow Madison on Twitter: @Madison_Meyers7

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @kistner__

See all of the latest Tech News at AllYellowJackets.com

Check out the Georgia Tech Homepage

Listen to the Goal Line Stand Podcast for the best Georgia Tech and national college football coverage!

EJ Manuel on Brent Key: "You can run through a brick wall for that kind of guy"

Keion White is set to make his NFL debut for the Patriots vs the Houston Texans tonight

Report: ACC's pursuit of adding Cal and Stanford has hit "significant roadblocks