The Georgia Tech football program received a big commitment Monday, its biggest commitment in some time.
Josh Petty, a 6-foot-4, 255-pound offensive lineman, held a commitment ceremony Monday in the gymnasium at Fellowship Christian School in Roswell where he announced he plans to play for the Yellow Jackets starting in 2025. Petty chose Tech over Florida State, Ohio State, Stanford and Tennessee.
“The first piece I wanna talk about is the education. It’s unmatched,” Petty said on stage inside the school’s gymnasium. “The O-line development is another thing that’s special. The amount of O-line guys they have on that staff, the amount of work that is going in to making it the, ‘Old GT’ and building with Georgia guys, it’s pretty genuine with (Tech) coach (Brent) Key throughout our whole relationship. It’s been great to see. I’m at home.”
Petty, expected to graduate from FCS in December and to then enroll at Tech in January, is Tech’s second-highest ranked recruit of all–time, according to the 247Sports Composite database, behind only wide receiver and Tech all-time great Calvin Johnson — the last five-star recruit to sign with Tech. He is considered the 14th-best player overall in the 2025 class by 247Sports, 27th by ESPN and ranked 29th overall by On3. Rivals considers him the 12th-best player in the state of Georgia while On3 has him seventh and 247Sports ranks him fourth.
He officially announced his pledge to the Jackets via a short video which played a countdown of his five finalists with Tech popping up on the screen as No. 1. Petty and members of his immediate family then walked about from behind the stage curtain decked out in Tech gear. His teammates and classmates who were present chanted, “Pet-ty! Pet-ty!”
“Georgia Tech is feeling like home and is my home. They’ve got guys over there that make it feel authentic. They’ve got everything over there that’s been amazing. Staying in Atlanta is huge,” Petty said. “It’ll definitely help with that feeling-at-home piece, but the friendly faces and the smiles and everything that goes on inside that building is more important to me as far as the home factor.”
He added that finances were a talking point as he and the program discussed how he could be compensated for his name, image and likeness.
“NIL was a factor for sure. I feel like around this time, if you’re an athlete, you should be entitled to your money and you should get that and get what you can out of that,” Petty said. “I’ve worked with my agency, Cali Power and Power Athletics, they’ve done a huge part in that. They’ve been fighting for me and making sure I do right and they do right by me.
“Tech’s been very easy, Tech’s been very cooperative and efficient with working on that. It’s been very easy. It played a factor for it and I needed that number to be fair. Tech went beyond and above and really have taken care of me.”
Petty is also on the FCS wrestling and track and field teams. He was the state runner-up at 285 pounds in the Class AA state wrestling championships in February and throws the discus and shot put in track and field.
Selected to play in the 2025 Polynesian Bowl All-Star Game, Petty has visited Tech numerous times as a recruit. He was recently named to the Mr. Georgia Football Top 10 Watchlist by the Corky Kell Kickoff Classic. On Monday, Petty was named to a preseason all-state selection by Recruit Georgia.
Tech director of high school relations Tim McFarlin was Petty’s coach at FCS in 2021 and 2022. McFarlin and Tech offensive line coach Geep Wade were instrumental in Petty’s recruitment, he said.
“Coach Wade and Coach McFarlin are great pieces of this recruitment. Coach Wade, kind of the genius behind the inside zone and everything going over there. It’s been great to have him and great to work with him through my recruitment, telling me pointers about my stances, working on my game, doing the little things. Coach (McFarlin) as well, having a friendly face up there that I’ve known for a while, a guy that I’ve bought in to, trust, took me over to this school and kind of made big things happen for me, it’s huge having him there.”
Tech’s 2025 recruiting class is now ranked 20th overall by the 247Sports Composite and fourth among 17 ACC programs.
Petty joins a Tech 2025 recruiting class that includes fellow offensive linemen Damola Ajidahun (Duluth), Justin Hasenhuetl (Rabun Gap-Nacoochee), Kevin Peay (Lancaster, S.C.), Xavier Canales (Douglass) and Jimmy Bryson (Chattanooga, Tenn.); defensive backs Dalen Penson (Sandy Creek), Fenix Felton (Eagle’s Landing Christian), Rasean Dinkins (Warner Robins) and Jayden Barr (Eastside); running backs JP Powell (Miller County) and Isaiah Groves (Cross Plains, Tenn.); wide receivers Cal Faulkner (Lumpkin County), Sam Turner (Southwest DeKalb) and Jamauri Brice (Cartersville); defensive linemen Derry Norris (Port Orange, Florida), Kamron Cullins (North Cobb), Andre Fuller (Grayson) and Carrington Coombs (Hebron Christian); tight ends Connor Roush (Wesleyan) and Kevin Roche (Darian, Conn.); and quarterback Grady Adamson (Edmond, Okla.).
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