Back to Flats The biggest question mark of the new season is quarterback George Godsey's knee, said head coach George O'Leary, who welcomes 18 starters back to the Flats on Aug. 6. O'Leary, last year's Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award winner, said Tech should have an explosive offense paired with an aggressive defense in the quest for a fifth-straight bowl and a top-10 national ranking. "We have a chance to be a good football team," O'Leary said. "We're more athletic and have a lot more depth than we did last year. We're not where we need to be yet, but we're getting there." Godsey, who graduated in the spring with one year of eligibility left, tore an anterior collateral ligament in the final minutes of the Chik-fil-A Peach Bowl last December. The tear required off-season surgery and rehabilitation, and although he missed all of spring practice, Godsey is firmly entrenched as the Jacket's starter. "George Godsey missing spring practice was a bad thing for him, but a good thing for the football team," O'Leary said. "We had to go with the guys we had, so they got a lot of reps and built their confidence up. All the quarterbacks improved this spring." Sophomore Andy Hall edged redshirt sophomore Mark Logan for the backup job. "Hall showed a lot of maturity and poise," O'Leary said. "We tried to put a lot of pressure on him because that's where he needed to improve." In addition to the Godsey, Tech returns almost all key receivers and ball carriers, led by two-time All-ACC selection Kelly Campbell and tailback Joe Burns. Campbell is joined by juniors Kerry Watkins and Will Glover and sophomores Nate Curry and Jonathan Smith, who hauled in a combined 143 receptions for 2,107 yards and 20 touchdowns. The ground game promises to be potent with Burns, senior Sean Gregory, sophomores Jermaine Hatch and Sidney Ford and redshirt freshman Jimmy Dixon vying for starting roles. Tech's offensive line led the ACC in fewest sacks allowed in 2000, but the Jackets must replace first-team All-America tackle Chris Brown and All-ACC guard Brent Key. "It's not rebuilding the offensive line, it's replacing," O'Leary said. "We filled our needs in the spring, and the line has a chance to be good. We still need to work on building depth there, but I'm happy so far." Although Tech's offense was extremely productive last season, it was the defense that made the greatest strides. Nine starters returned, led by pass-rushing defensive ends Greg Gathers and Nick Rogers. "I think we made strides last year as far as the defense was concerned," O'Leary said. "We're not where we need to be yet, but we have a lot of young players who can run and enjoy hitting people. There's no one dominant player inside, so they've got to go out and give us some good downs." The Tech coaching staff has added some new faces and repositioned some old faces in new places. Bill O'Brien was promoted from running backs coach to offensive coordinator after Ralph Friedgen left to become head coach at ACC rival Maryland. Former Tech player Glenn Spencer joined the staff as running backs coach after three successful seasons as head coach at West Georgia, and Geoff Collins, a graduate assistant the past two years, was elevated to full-time tight ends coach. Defensive coordinator Ted Roof will bring Lance Thompson back to the Flats as defensive ends coach and recruiting coordinator after coaching two years at Alabama. Danny Crossman, in his third year at Tech, was moved to defensive backs coach, while Peter McCarty came to Tech from the University of Illinois to coach the defensive tackles. O'Leary acknowledged that team chemistry is the essential ingredient for a successful season. "I think football is about 60 percent mental and 40 percent physical," he said. "It's important that everybody understands their roles and what they must do to help us win." Georgia Tech opens the 2001 season against Syracuse in the Kickoff Classic Aug. 26 in East Rutherford, N.J.
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