Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson said Tuesday that the team is "working on" solutions that would decrease the number of players who are having to leave practice early for class. Among others, quarterback TaQuon Marshall has a 6 p.m. Monday class that requires him to leave practice at 5:20, which was about two-thirds of the way through the practice Monday.
“Looking for classes, looking for guys that need it for graduation, looking if we can substitute things,” Johnson said following the team’s afternoon practice.
Players leaving practice before the end is not uncommon at Tech, but has been manageable on Mondays and Thursdays, as those practices are typically shorter and not as critical for game preparation than the Tuesday and Wednesday practices.
However, Tech plays a Friday night game against Louisville (Oct. 5) and a Thursday night game against Virginia Tech (Oct. 25). It’s the first time since the 2009 season that the Yellow Jackets will play two non-Saturday regular-season games.
During the weeks of those games, the practice schedule will need to be adjusted, making Monday a “work day,” as Johnson put it.
There’s also the matter that one of the players leaving early is the starting quarterback.
“What we’ve got to do is make sure we have very few guys (leaving practice to go to class),” Johnson said.
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