Technical Tidbits 2/8: Former Tech BB ascends coaching ranks, Jackets handle Tusculum

If you ask ESPN, the biggest piece of Tech’s 2017 signing class as far as being a potential impact player in year one very well could be linebacker Jaquan Henderson, a four-star prospect (per ESPN) who flipped to Tech from Tennessee just before signing day. Linebacker is a huge position of need for the Jackets given that longtime starter P.J. Davis has now moved on, but the simple truth is that there needs to be a new infusion of talent on the defense in general. Last year’s unit was so horrible from start to finish that even a major improvement from returning players would likely mean another year of subpar defense on the Flats. Hopefully Henderson and others can start making a positive change this season.

Georgia Tech took care of business against DII Tusculum yesterday night, dismantling the bye-week opponent by a final score of 96-58 at McCamish Pavilion. The starters played quite a few minutes, something that I didn’t really expect given how dinged up the team has been lately, but the fact that Josh Pastner felt comfortable playing them for so long speaks to their improvement health-wise over the past few games. Josh Heath left in the second half with an ankle injury, but that’s the only cause for concern stemming from the game. Everything else was just business as usual against a low-tier team.

Former Georgia Tech B-Back David Sims is ascending the coaching hierarchy about as fast as you can, having accepted the job of running backs coach at Furman just last week. Sims, who was recruited to Tech as a quarterback before making the switch to B-Back shortly after his arrival, spent the last two seasons with the same job at Division II Shorter up in Rome. At this rate, don’t be surprised to see him with a job somewhere in the FBS over the next five years or so. Word about good coaches moves quickly, particularly when the coach in question is a young, former player like David Sims. Keep an eye on that, Paul Johnson.