Post-spring breakdown of Georgia Tech, FSU's Game 8 opponent in 2022

With spring football having concluded on campuses across the country, the Warchant staff is checking in on Florida State’s upcoming 2022 opponents to see how they fared during the spring.

We'll look at each team's question marks, key departures, new arrivals and more.

In this edition, we'll break down Georgia Tech, the eighth game on the schedule for the Seminoles. FSU will enjoy its second bye week of 2022 between games against Clemson and Georgia Tech on Oct. 29.

In case you missed them, here are our earlier post-spring check-ins:

* Clemson (Oct. 15)

* N.C. State (Oct. 8)

* Wake Forest (Oct. 1)

* Boston College (Sept. 24)

* Louisville Cardinals (Sept. 16)

* LSU Tigers (Sept. 4).

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The Georgia Tech football program has learned the hard way that the transfer portal giveth, and the transfer portal also taketh away.

Yellow Jackets head coach Geoff Collins has made some nice acquisitions this offseason. But in what will be a very critical year for him and his program, Tech also has lost several key players and starters to transfer. So the big question is whether there will be a net positive overall.

With so many different faces on the roster, it will be tough to tell how everything will mesh. But at the same time, a shake-up for a team that went 3-9 last year might not be a terrible thing.

Another important question mark is about the offensive changes coming to Georgia Tech this season. GT ranked 12th in the ACC for scoring offense and 10th for total offense in 2021, and the Jackets were shut out in the final two games of the season versus Notre Dame and Georgia.

To return closer to respectability this fall, Georgia Tech will need a serious uptick in offensive production.

Fourth-year head coach Geoff Collins only returns defensive coordinator Andrew Thacker and three core assistants. The entire staff has been shaken up since the end of last season, and the offense in particular could look a lot different in 2022.

After Tech didn’t renew former offensive coordinator Dave Patenaude’s contract, Collins replaced him with new play-caller Chip Long, Tulane’s offensive coordinator. Long held the same position at Notre Dame and Memphis (under Norvell in his first year with Tigers in 2016). Long will also coach tight ends.

For his quarterbacks coach, Long brought in a very familiar name to FSU fans. Seminole legend and former Heisman Trophy winner and national champion Chris Weinke will coach against the ’Noles inside Doak Campbell this fall, where he starred from 1997-2000. Weinke has previously spent time at Tennessee, Alabama and with the NFL’s L.A. Rams.

Former Georgia Tech running back and position coach Tashard Choice was hired away by Texas to be the Longhorns' running backs coach; he was replaced by Mike Daniels from Buffalo. Del Alexander, who coached receivers under Long at Notre Dame, also joined Tech’s staff this offseason.

New staff members on the defensive side under Thacker include former All-ACC Yellow Jackets defensive back and second-round NFL draft choice Travares Tillman. He spent last season as Michigan State’s cornerbacks coach. New linebackers coach Jason Senmore was previously an off-field assistant under Collins and rejoined the Yellow Jackets after a year as Valdosta State’s defensive coordinator.

Georgia Tech also brought in veteran assistant David Turner from Florida to be an assistant head coach and defensive run game coordinator. The Yellow Jackets also dipped into FSU’s support staff by adding Kenyatta Watson in an off-field role.

Few rosters in the ACC, and around the country, saw more turnover than Georgia Tech this offseason.

Under center, Tech does return Jacksonville native and former FSU verbal commit Jeff Sims, and he will be joined by two portal additions. Clemson’s Taisun Phommachanh announced recently that he will be joining the Jackets. The offense also added former Akron quarterback Zach Gibson.

At the skill positions, senior wideout Malachi Carter led Tech in catches and receiving yards last season. Buffalo running back transfer Dylan McDuffie, who had over 1,000 yards on the ground and 11 touchdowns last year, was an intriguing pick-up in the backfield. Another transfer running back coming in is Louisville’s Hassan Hall. Wideout/tight end hybrid E.J. Jenkins from South Carolina and Syracuse’s Luke Benson were brought in to compete in the tight end room.

On the offensive line, Georgia Tech had several holes to address and the staff was very active in the portal market. Former Alabama tackle Pierce Quick was a big-name addition and could start at left tackle; he was a Rivals100 lineman three cycles ago but saw very little playing time with the Crimson Tide.

Sophomore tackle Jordan Williams started most of last year on the right side and is probably the best returning blocker for Tech. Another lineman added from a top program was Clemson guard/tackle Paul Tchio. Additional Power Five transfers include Kentucky guard R.J. Adams and 6-foot-5 Kansas tackle Corey Robinson II.

Defensively, losses at defensive back and defensive end will hurt, but this unit was far from impressive last season (455 yards per-game, 117th in the NCAA). So again, some shakeup could be beneficial.

The defensive tackles were beefed up by the addition of Memphis transfer Morris Joseph, who had seven sacks in a big 2020 season with the Tigers. Joseph was credited with just 1.5 sack last season, however.

For the pass defense, a handful of Power 5 transfers were added. Tech double-dipped into both Auburn's (Eric Reed and Tallahassee native Ahmari Harvey) and Notre Dame’s (K.J. Wallace and Khari Gee) rosters. Texas defensive back Kenyatta Watson II was added as well before last season, while Maryland corner Kenny Bennett also recently committed to GT.

At linebacker, Tech lost leading tackler Quez Jackson, but the unit brings back the other two starters and will likely be the strength of the defense. Linebackers Ayinde Eley, who came in from Maryland, and Charlie Thomas had 88 and 70 tackles last year, respectively.

* The rich got richer when defending SEC Champion Alabama picked off one of Georgia Tech’s most talented players in sophomore running back Jahmyr Gibbs. In 2021, Gibbs had over 1,200 yards from scrimmage. The Yellow Jackets also lost junior Jordan Mason (2,349 rushing yards across four seasons), who declared for the draft but ended up signing as an undrafted free agent with the San Francisco 49ers. Tech will likely turn to leading returning rusher and junior Dontae Smith, plus the transfer McDuffie, to replace Gibbs.

* At defensive back, Georgia Tech also lost a number of names to both the NFL and the transfer portal. Wesley Walker (sixth on the team in tackles) left for Tennessee, and Tariq Carpenter was drafted in the seventh round by Green Bay. In addition to a slew of transfer additions, 6-foot-3 corner and previous starter Zamari Walton is a name to watch.

* The transfer blows for Georgia Tech continued along the defensive front, especially on the edge. Starters Jordan Domineck (Arkansas) and Jared Ivey (Ole Miss) both departed. However, it's not like the Jackets lost a lot of production there; they combined for just five sacks last year. The defensive end room will rely mostly on reserves from 2021, including Atlanta native and sophomore Kyle Kennard.

While returning starter Jeff Sims might struggle with consistency at times and needs to develop into more of a polished passer, he has certainly shown flashes and put up solid numbers in individual outings last year.

Like for his coaching staff, 2022 will be a big season for Sims to show he can hold off the competition. Akron’s Gibson put up a very efficient 1,215 yards, 10 touchdowns, 0 interceptions and a 69-percent completion percentage in five outings. He threw for 177 yards and two touchdowns in the Jackets' spring game.

Clemson transfer Taisun Phommachanh stayed in the ACC and will definitely factor in during fall camp. He didn’t see the field much with the Tigers but was a highly-recruited four-star prospect out of high school.

Several Georgia Tech media outlets were researched to contribute to this report: RamblinWreck.com (official team site), JacketsOnline (Rivals), AJC.com (Atlanta Journal-Constitution), and All Yellow Jackets (SI.com)

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