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Technical Tidbits 8/8: Tech exerts recruiting presence in Florida, athletic presence at Olympics

Paul Johnson and his assistant coaches have opened up a rather fruitful pipeline from the state of Florida.

By edac46
Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

Though the majority of the buzz surrounding a potential change in the ACC's football format has been directed towards a nine-game conference schedule, it's possible that commissioner John Swofford and the individual schools could be poised to pull something completely out of left field: an eight-game schedule conference schedule plus the requirement to play two other power-conference opponents. As the AJC article suggests, this is the idea that Georgia Tech's Mike Bobinski is partial to because of Tech's existing rivalry versus Georgia and the ACC's contract with Notre Dame; a combination of the two would satisfy the requirements for a number of years. On a personal level, I'd still like to see a nine-game ACC schedule. The fact that we go the better part of a decade without seeing any given Atlantic Division team at home is frustrating, and a nine-game schedule would alleviate that.

Georgia Tech picked up football commitment number ten yesterday afternoon in the form of defensive back O.J. Tucker, a three-star prospect out of Vanguard High School in Ocala, FL.

Tucker is the latest in a recently growing group of players from the state of Florida, reflecting the coaching staff's exceptional effort to diversify its recruiting. The central area of Florida has been especially fruitful for the Jackets lately, producing a number of quality players. As it stand now, a third of Tech's 2017 class -- plus a fair amount of the 2016 class -- hails from the Insane Sunshine State. Check out the FTRS breakdown of the commitment right here.

If you intently watched the traditional pre-Olympics parade featuring each of the 200+ participating nations on Friday night, you may have noticed a familiar face bearing the flag for Malta: Georgia Tech swimmer Andrew Chetcuti. Malta, which fields a delegation of just seven athletes, is a small island nation just south of Sicily. Congratulations to Andrew on representing both his country and his school at the Olympics, and congratulations to Brazil for hosting a surprisingly seamless first couple of days. There have been some ugly biking accidents on a relatively suspect course, but it has been smooth sailing outside of that.

Have a great Monday!