Georgia Tech’s strength-and-conditioning staff has undergone heavy turnover, as head strength coach Lewis Caralla has lost his three assistants – Zach Reed, Kyle Seger and Edward Thompson.
Reed chose to leave Tech after 10 seasons, Seger accepted a position at Notre Dame and Thompson was hired at Louisiana-Lafayette, his alma mater, according to a person familiar with the situation. Seger’s new job will take him back to his home state of Indiana.
Seger and Thompson both arrived in 2019 following the hire of coach Geoff Collins. Reed joined Tech’s staff in 2011. Collins often has extolled the work of Caralla and his staff for their work in developing the strength and size of Yellow Jackets players. The changes come as the Jackets head into the offseason, the core months of the strength-and-conditioning program. It’s believed Tech is close to filling all three positions, however.
The three worked with Caralla last offseason as the Jackets gained considerable weight in trying to meet Collins’ goal of adding an average of 10 pounds per player.
The gains were particularly noticeable on the defensive line, where Jordan Domineck added about 20 pounds during the past offseason and then recorded 8.5 tackles for loss, second on the team.
“You talk about the strength staff – coach Lew and all his staff have really helped me improve my physicality, get bigger, get stronger, get faster,” guard Ryan Johnson said during the season.
On Friday, former Tech running back Jerry Howard recalled his experiences with each of the three.
“When I first got here, I was like, ‘Who is this gigantic man?’” said Howard of Reed, who was easily noticed on the Tech sideline for his swelled physique and full beard.
Howard said that Reed’s own flexibility and instruction inspired him to develop his flexibility.
“He was a great person, great guy to talk to and super smart,” Howard said. “He knows his stuff inside and out.”
Said Howard of Seger, “He loves being a strength coach; he takes it to heart. Like, if somebody’s not doing what they’re supposed to be doing, he’s one of the ones that’s going to have a more authoritative voice and really speak up and be like, ‘Look, you have to stop B.S.’ing and get back to work.’”
Howard credited Thompson for developing his speed and explosiveness and said that, while being a younger member of the staff, he had the maturity to command the respect of players.
Said Howard, “If you want to get extra work, he’s definitely one of the ones that you can call, and he’ll be like, ‘Yeah, I’ll be there. What do you want to do?’”
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