Everyone familiar with Georgia Tech football knows that Jamal Haynes is the guy. Everyone also knows Haynes can’t be the guy 100% of the time, no matter how much Haynes wants all the touches.
“He’s a fireplug,” Tech coach Brent Key said about his star running back. “He’s like the Energizer Bunny, he can go all day.”
But Key and his offensive staff know it’s not the smartest game plan to have Haynes in for every offensive snap and have a balancing act to perform this season when it comes to Haynes’ workload. The 5-foot-9, 190-pound junior ran 174 times for 1,059 yards in 13 games last season and will once again be the featured back in Tech’s offense.
Haynes’ 174 rushes were the most for a Tech running back since KirVonte Benson had 204 in 2017. Haynes was also the first Tech rusher to eclipse 1,000 yards in a season since Benson and quarterback TaQuon Marshall both did so in ‘17.
The Grayson High School graduate and former wide receiver will be running behind four of the five starting offensive linemen this season who helped pave his path in 2023. Haynes said this summer at the ACC Football Kickoff that while all those 2023 accolades were nice, they have no bearing on what happens this fall.
“It absolutely does give us confidence, but that doesn’t matter. What happened last season happened last season,” Haynes said. “This season everybody starts 0-0. This season we still got to put on our pads, still be 100 yards on the field, and we still have to go out and accomplish what we want to accomplish.”
Haynes, who also had 20 receptions for 151 yards and two kick returns for 47 yards in 2023, doesn’t have to fret about losing his starting role going into the 2024 campaign. But Tech’s offensive coaches do have to solidify the depth chart behind him should Haynes need a breather or, worst case scenario, be lost to injury.
Senior Trey Cooley, who transferred from Louisville ahead of the ‘23 season, is expected to be Tech’s No. 2 back. He got 64 carries for 274 yards and scored three times last year. The 5-foot-10, 205-pound senior had a season-high 93 yards against South Carolina State in September.
Behind Haynes and Cooley is an inexperienced and young group that includes sophomore Chad Alexander and freshmen Evan Dickens and Anthony Carrie.
Alexander, from Archer High School, came to Tech as a walk-on and was a special-teams standout in 2023. Dickens played in 12 games last season and was afforded 11 rushes in which he totaled 47 yards. Carrie is a former four-star recruit, according to the 247Sports Composite, who was committed to Michigan State for five months before signing with Tech in December.
“You know, it’s hard this day and age to be the sole back. So the rest of the (backs are) coming along really good,” Tech offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner said. “Trey Cooley’s had a great, great spring. A really, really good summer. He’s gotten bigger. He’s stronger, he’s one of the fastest guys on the team. The bigger he’s gotten, the faster he’s gotten. And he played a lot of football for us and played a lot of football in his career. Got nothing but confidence in him to go out and play.
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
“Evan Dickens is a guy that you have no worries when he’s in the game, he can do it all. He’s getting better. And then you’ve got the freshmen that we brought in, and Chad Alexander’s a guy that’s competing right there. So we feel good about the (group). Really, really tough kids. And they’re all eager to learn. And we look forward to battling out over the next several weeks.”
Tech’s ground attack averaged 203.7 yards per game in 2023, a figure which ranked 13th nationally and led the ACC. The Jackets’ 5.38 yards per carry was the eighth-best mark nationally.
Those numbers, however, included 737 yards from quarterback Haynes King and 504 yards from former Tech running back Dontae Smith. So finding someone else to hand the ball to, not named Haynes, has been imperative during Tech’s preseason practice — and part of that process included Saturday’s scrimmage.
“(Saturday) was the day to see who’s gonna be in there with (Haynes). (Haynes is) a really good football player, but we also know at running back you can be the second, third, fourth guy, fifth guy in a game,” Key said. “We had to see those guys (Saturday) and see what they can do running behind the first and second offensive line and run against the first and second defense.
“It’s been a work-in-progress to this point. I think (Tech running backs coach Norval McKenzie) does a tremendous job with those guys, of developing them, coaching them hard, holding ‘em to a standard. I think we’ll be able to come in (Sunday) and really start to put some solidification on who’s behind (Haynes).”
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