Warren Burrell Reveals What Made Him Choose Georgia Tech: "Everything about this team was trending upwards"
![Tennessee s Warren Burrell (4) is seen during the second day of Tennessee football practice at Anderson Training Facility in Knoxville, Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022.
Football0802 0542 Tennessee s Warren Burrell (4) is seen during the second day of Tennessee football practice at Anderson Training Facility in Knoxville, Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022.
Football0802 0542](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_4237,h_2383,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/all_yellow_jackets/01j4vn305m6gfc74rh2n.jpg)
Georgia Tech needed some help in the transfer portal at the cornerback position this offseason and lucky enough for them, they had a player from Atlanta who had plenty of SEC experience. Warren Burrell played at North Gwinnett High School before leaving to play for the Volunteers, but he entered the transfer portal after last season. He ended up choosing Georgia Tech and after practice yesterday, he went into detail about what made him want to come to play for the Yellow Jackets:
"Oh, man. I mean, I was, I'm from here. So, you know, I was at home during the whole recruiting process. I had a couple of visits and everything lined up. I had a whole plan on what I wanted to do. And then I had, I have some connections up here as far as Coach Stewart, you know, high school head coach, AJ Artis, Byron, you know, those guys with my strength coaches there in Tennessee. So I got a call, you know, from one of my high school coaches talking about, you know, like, it's Georgia Tech, what you think about staying at home, I've never been on this campus before. So it was like, that was my first time. So when I came up here, it was just, it was amazing. I love the city of Atlanta. You know, to have the campus right here in the middle of it. It's just really cool. I kind of see it. And then, you know, from the football aspect, it's a team that's on the rise. You know what I mean? So everything about this team was trending upwards. You know, I believe myself enough to help give that boost. So it was just like everything kind of checked all the boxes. So, you know, it made sense."
Burrell also talked about if playing in the NFL drove his decision at all when he was trying to find a new school:
"Yeah, yeah. I mean, you can go to the League from anywhere. So as far as the main thing for me was just being able to have an opportunity to put things on tape, put good plays out there. And, you know, I felt like this is the best place to give me the opportunity to do that, you know, be with a staff that, you know, they believe in me, trust in me, man, and it's nothing better than that. So, you know, that is just up to me, do my job."
Burrell is going to be one of the most important players on the Yellow Jackets this season and he could be one of the most impactful.
He played in 40 games during his time at Tennessee and registered 22 starts. Over the course of his career, he has accumulated 89 total tackles, nine PBUs, one interception, and a fumble recovery.
According to PFF (Pro Football Focus), Burrell played 1, 647 snaps during his career in Knoxville, with 823 of those snaps coming in 2021. His best season from a PFF grading perspective came last season. He finished with a 68.0 overall grade on defense, a 67.3 in run defense, a very good 82.0 tackling grade, and a 67.2 grade in coverage. In all of his seasons with the Volunteers, Burrell graded out well as a tackler and that is going to be huge, as tackling was a big issue for Georgia Tech last season at every position.