Georgia Tech right guard Shamire Devine is showing the best form of his career, play that was recognized with his being named ACC offensive lineman of the week for his play against Wake Forest this past Saturday. Devine shared his thoughts on the award, his quarterback TaQuon Marshall, Clemson, finite math and Halloween candy in a wide-ranging news-conference interview Tuesday.
Q: What was your reaction to hearing you had been named ACC offensive lineman of the week?
A: Oh, swell. I was coming from midterms, so I was just like, ‘Cool, I can’t wait for my next midterm.’ It was like, ‘Hey, Shamire! You won ACC offensive lineman of the week.’ It was like, ‘I did?’ It was like, ‘Do you not know?’ ‘No, I’m taking midterms. I’m studying, man.’
I felt overjoyed, though. I just felt like it was well deserved, that, after all the work I did, that I’ve earned it, and I would congratulate all my fellow teammates who helped me get it.
Q: It seems like you and (center) Kenny (Cooper) and (left guard) Parker (Braun) have a nice guard box and and (rotating right guard) Will (Bryan). Can you talk about your chemistry playing together?
A: Our chemistry playing together, we’re like four brothers. We mess with each other, we play with each other, we joke with each other. Once we get on the field, we kind of just know what we’re doing, what we need to do, and if we don’t understand something, we’ll be like, ‘Hey, Kenny, do you know what I’m doing here?’ It’s like, ‘Uh, I think you’ve got him.’
Kenny’ll ask me, ‘What are you doing?’ ‘I’m blocking him, so you got him.’ It’s a lot of communication in the guard box to try to get TaQuon (Marshall) protected as much as possible. Like, we don’t want anyone to come through the guard box and mess up TaQuon.
Q: Do you think back to when you first came on campus at summer camp and where you are now, how you’ve progressed?
A: Yes, I do remember that. My freshman year, that was a rough year. I was struggling. Everyone was out there doing the hashers (conditioning sprints), I’m finishing last. Now, I’m flipping around. My last year, we’re out there doing hashers, I’m telling people to keep up with me.
Q: What do you see when you watch yourself from the Clemson game last year?
A: What I see when I watch myself was a lot of simple, fundamental mistakes that I coud have not made which could have helped us win the game. That’s what I see when I see myself playing the game last year. I haven’t reallly got a chance because on Tuesdays when we really go over (the next opponent) – Tuesdays and Thursdays are my long days; I get out of class late – I get to watch it (Wednesday) with Coach (Mike Sewak) early before meetings.
Q: I know you kind of enjoy a salty defensive line where guys get after it. (Clemson) has that. I imagine that makes it a little more fun.
A: It makes it a lot of fun when you just get to go out there and you get to beat him and then he’ll occasionally beat you, and you’re not even salty at each other. It’s like, ‘That was a good block, man. You’re real big.’ I was like, ‘I know, I’m trying to get like you.’
Q: Did anyone stick out to you from the game last year?
A: I believe it was 94 (Carlos Watkins, now in the NFL) or 90 (Dexter Lawrence). They stuck out the most. Because like with 90 , it was more like a bear hug between the two of us last year. We'd just hug each other. It was like, 'I don't want to push you, but I got to.' He was like, 'I don't want to get pushed, but I got to.'
Q: What has impressed you the most about TaQuon?
A: What has impressed me the most with TaQuon is that I believe he feels safe behind us. Like, sometimes with (Justin Thomas), I know ‘JT’ felt safe to a certain extent and he’ll go out and sprint and everything, but with TaQuon, he feels like he just walked in a club with four bouncers. He’s like, ‘I don’t have anything to worry about.’
Q: Is it hard to believe he’s started only six games?
A: Not really. I believe he started high school.
Q: What was playing the whole Wake Forest game like? It seemed like there were times it was hard for you to get up.
A: It was fun, but it got hard for me because at some point, I took KirVonte (Benson) in the back, so it tightened up everything on the right side. And I was just like, ‘Alright, I need to keep going. KirVonte, Will, everyone’s counting on me, I can’t stop. Let’s just keep going.’ Everyone is asking me, ‘Are you all right?’ It’s like, ‘Don’t ask. You’re going to get a real answer.’
Q: Are you excited to be on the back end of school?
A: I am excited. If I was light enough, I’d probably be doing backfips all throughout campus.
Q: Because of being done with school?
A: Because I’m close to graduating. I have one class left. Just one, and it is hard. I hate math. Especially math that, when you look at it and it doesn’t equate to real life. Like probabilities.
Like, I have to figure out when am I going to find an apple in an urn to take out and give to someone else. First of all, why do we have apples in an urn instead of the fridge? But that’s math question problems.
Q: Is that finite (math)?
A: Yes, that’s finite.
Q: Are you still (majoring in) computational media?
A: I’m still computational media. I have to take my last mandatory math for Tech.
Q: What was your favorite Halloween costume?
A: It was Batman. I didn’t even have the Batman suit. It was just a Batman pajama with a little symbol on it and the mask and a cape running around the neighborhood asking for candy.
Q: What candy did you hate getting?
A: Uh, none. Candy’s candy, and free candy’s better.
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