Technical Tidbits 7/31

Georgia Tech was voted in as the No. 17 team in the nation by the head coaches of college football in the preseason coaches poll a few days back, trailing behind only some of the most well-established programs in all of college football. I'm not at all upset with this placement; the coaches have no reason to grant top-15 status to a program which has finished in the top-15 just once in recent years. I do believe that Tech is a top-15 team, but No. 17 is nothing to complain about. It is also interesting that of Tech's 12 opponents for the upcoming season, 4 are in the top-15. On top of that, 4 additional opponents received votes to be in the top-25. This means that 2/3 of the upcoming schedule will be played against teams receiving top-25 status or top-25 consideration in the preason. Yikes.

Big news broke yesterday when it was announced that safety Jarett Cole of Norcross High School had become the seventh commitment of the 2016 recruiting cycle for Paul Johnson and defensive coordinator Ted Roof. Cole, a three-star player who chose Tech over an offer from Kansas State, seems to be just as excited as anyone to be beginning his career as a Yellow Jacket. Although the only evidence you needed to believe that statement was the fact that he turned down legendary coach Bill Synder in favor of Tech, the article from Scout only serves to further the assertion. Cole has, by all accounts, completely embraced Tech as both a football program and a school and I couldn't be happier to have him on board.

The Georgia Tech Athletic Department made a big announcement yesterday that Tech will be honoring the 25th anniversary of the 1990 championship team during the upcoming (!!) Thursday night game versus rival Virginia Tech. The festivities are set to begin with members of the 1990 team leading the team down Yellow Jacket Alley prior to kickoff. The team will also be honored during halftime in front of what should be a massive sellout crowd. I'm thrilled to see the 1990 team getting as much attention as it has in recent days; just a few days before this announcement was made it was announced that an episode of "Driven" dedicated to the team is also in the works. It should be a great scene at BDS.

In an interview with 49ers.com, head coach Paul Johnson described former Yellow Jacket and current 49er as a player with "unlimited potential". If San Francisco fans know Paul Johnson's attitude half as well as we do, they should be salivating over this remark -- any time you get more than "he's a good football player" out of Paul Johnson, you know you are looking at a phenomenal player. Smelter is no exception to this rule; he has the potential to be one of the best picks in the entire draft and should be fantastic when healthy. It is only a matter of time before he makes his presence felt across the NFL just as he did in college.

What is DeAndre Smelter's ceiling as an NFL player? Will he be a Calvin Johnson or a Stephen Hill? Somewhere in between?