The biggest development in the Georgia Tech backfield this spring is that Jamal Haynes is wearing a new number.
“It’s what I wore in high school when I finally felt like I was my true self, my complete self,” Haynes said Tuesday after Tech’s fourth practice of the spring. “I feel like this year is gonna show the complete Jamal Haynes that I know I can be.”
Haynes, now wearing No. 1 instead of No. 11, leads a revamped and restocked group of Yellow Jackets running backs that features more depth than Tech has had in some time. The trick will be keeping the new-look group healthy, but if Tech is able to do that, offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner will have an array of backs to plug in on any down and distance.
“I think this is the deepest we’ve been since we’ve been here in the running back (meeting) room,” Faulkner said. “Probably the most fired-up — obviously, (running backs coach Norval McKenzie) has done a great job of going out, again, with recruiting the right kind of guys, getting those guys in here. And I think he’s one of the best teachers of the running back position in the country, if not the best.”
Haynes goes into his third season as the team’s No. 1 running back. A Grayson High School graduate who enrolled at Tech in 2021 to play wide receiver, Haynes has 2,003 rushing yards on 343 carries (a 5.84 average) and has scored 16 times. He also has 48 catches for 317 yards and four TDs.
The 2024 season was one slowed by injuries for Haynes, who never truly was 100% after the start of the season. The 5-foot-9, 190-pound junior still had three 100-yard rushing games and averaged 5.59 yards per carry.
Faulkner said he and his staff will try to feature Haynes in as many ways as possible in Tech’s offense this season to highlight Haynes’ versatility.
“It’s truly no adjustment, just me being part of the player I am,” Haynes said. “Just being able to know all of the offense and being able to be that versatile guy that can go split out wide and also come back into the backfield and just being available for the offense in a matter of just being able to make plays.”
Battling to be Tech’s No. 2 back this spring are Anthony Carrie (6-foot, 195), Malachi Hosley (5-10, 205) and Trelain Maddox (6-1, 210). Carrie had 120 yards over seven games in 2024, while Maddox had 67 yards on 17 runs over two games before an injury ended his rookie season.
Hosley came to Tech after two seasons at Pennsylvania and a 2024 season that saw him become the Ivy League player of the year and offensive player of the year. The graduate of Northside High School in Columbus ran for 1,915 yards and 16 touchdowns in 19 games at Penn.
“For all these guys right now, they just gotta continue to compete,” McKenzie said. “They just gotta earn it. We talk about it all the time, when your number’s called, you gotta be productive. What that looks like is, in the passing game, maybe catching a ball and being explosive there. In the run game, same thing. We call an explosive run a 12-yard run. Offensively our philosophy is to be explosive. We wanna get our playmakers in space.”
Junior Chad Alexander will be limited this spring as he recovers from injury, but Tech did add freshman J.P. Powell (5-10, 190) to the roster. Powell, a four-star recruit according to the 247Sports Composite, ran for 1,052 yards as a senior and accounted for 22 touchdowns rushing, receiving and throwing.
Tech’s running back group will get even stronger in the summer when Shane Marshall, a freshman from Irwin County High School, arrives in Atlanta.
“In recruiting (Powell) we just saw his explosiveness. Probably, to be honest with you, one of the most violent (running) kids I watched in person,” McKenzie said. “Was really impressed with him — he played safety, he played running back, he was a kickoff returner. He did it all and he did it all at a high level.
“When you look at (Marshall), a bigger stature kid. More compact, but also a kid who is gifted and who can run as well. Just a big, every-down back. I think he can catch it well out of the backfield. I thought he did good job between the tackles in what (Irwin County) did in their offensive scheme. Really excited about him joining us this summer. I think with those two kids we really improved our (meeting) room.”
Over the past two seasons, Haynes has accounted for 34.8% of the rush attempts for Tech’s offense and 53.5% of the rush attempts by Tech running backs. Those numbers could go down this fall if McKenzie and Faulkner can find some backs trustworthy enough to take the load off a junior who ranks 18th in career rushing yards in Tech history going into the 2025 season.
“Not just for me getting fewer reps, but for some of the guys that just got here to get a chance to get a feel for the offense and understand the offense and what we’re trying to complete and get as a collective,” Haynes said about the benefit of having more backs at his side. “Then, for the long-term point of view, absolutely it will definitely give me a chance to not really take as many reps as I should be taking, but be able to be available when the time is needed.”
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