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

Santucci is beginning his first season in Atlanta as the defensive coordinator

Last year, Georgia Tech had its most successful season since 2018 and there was a lot to be excited about heading into the offseason. The biggest question mark for the Yellow Jackets was going to be about their defense. While Georgia Tech had one of the best offenses in the ACC, the Yellow Jackets had arguably the worst defense in the ACC and the worst rushing defense in the power five. 

To help fix the defense, Brent Key went out and hired a brand new defensive staff, including new defensive coordinator Tyler Santucci. 

In one season at Duke (2023), Santucci directed the ACC’s top-ranked scoring defense, allowing just 19.0 points per game, which was good for 16th nationally. The Blue Devils also ranked among the nation’s top 50 in rushing defense, passing defense, total defense, tackles for loss, third-down defense, fourth-down defense and red-zone defense. Duke allowed a total of just 10 points in a pair of wins over teams that finished the season in the top 25 – No. 20 Clemson (28-7) and No. 21 NC State (24-3) – and finished 8-5 overall after a 17-10 win over Troy in the 2023 Birmingham Bowl.

Santucci is in the midst of his first spring practice with Georgia Tech and when speaking with the media yesterday, he opened up about his defensive philosophy and what he wants to bring to the field:

"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."

Georgia Tech defensive coordinator Tyler Santucci / Georgia Tech Athletics

Santucci also talked about what he thinks about his current unit so far in the spring:

"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."

Georgia Tech's Spring Game is set for April 13th. 

Georgia Tech Defeats No. 13 NC State 8-5 in ACC Opener