Success is measured differently for Trenilyas Tatum.
A 6-foot-2, 225-pound linebacker for Georgia Tech, Tatum will be playing in his personal finale on Dec. 27 when he and the Yellow Jackets take the field at the Birmingham Bowl. That contest will be the culmination of career that has been full of ups and downs — on and off the field.
“I can’t even explain it. I really don’t even want it to come right now,” Tatum said of the end. “But I’m looking forward to it, we’re going out there to get a win.”
Tatum was a highly regarded recruit from Mount Zion High School in Jonesboro who signed with Tech ahead of the 2021 season. He was thrown into the fire that year and appeared in 10 games, both on special teams and defense, and recorded 12 tackles.
The 2022 season, a campaign that saw Tech coach Brent Key lead the Jackets over the final eight games as the program’s interim coach, had Tatum playing a more prominent role. In 12 games he recorded 31 stops, including seven in a win at Pittsburgh — Key’s first game as the Jackets’ coach.
But with high expectations coming into 2023, Tatum’s junior year didn’t pan out as expected. He finished with 38 tackles, 10 of which came over Tech’s final five regular-season games. Six days after the Jackets beat Central Florida in the Gasparilla Bowl, a game in which Tatum did not play, Tatum declared he would transfer.
However, three weeks later, he decided to return to the Flats.
“Tech is a special place,” Tatum said Wednesday. “I’ve built some special connections and friendships, bonds. It’s something that I just didn’t want to throw away. Coach Key knows that. Me and coach Key, we have a lot of conversations. He’s a great guy. We have a special relationship, from player to coach, from man to man, we talk about it a lot. He knows most of the things that goes on around my life and my world. He’s there for it.”
The 2024 season has been Tatum’s best yet. He’s the team’s top-graded pass rusher, according to Pro Football Focus, has a career-high 53 tackles (5.5 for a loss), has forced a fumble and recorded his first career interception in a win over North Carolina State on Nov. 21.
Tatum said none of those numbers have surprised him because he met the ‘24 season with a determination and focus he hadn’t had before.
“It wasn’t really nothing to me. It was something that I was looking forward to, something that I planned on. It was my plan,” he said. “That’s what I wanted for myself and that was the responsibility that I took on. I wanted that job. I wanted everything thrown at me.”
Tatum was honored during Tech’s senior-day pregame ceremonies Nov. 21. The business administration major is on track to graduate from Tech in May and, for Key, that will be the biggest stat of Tatum’s tenure.
“Tren’s gonna walk across that stage, and I’ve told Tren, I will be the first person he sees after he shakes president (Angel) Cabrera’s hand and gets that diploma in the spring time,” the coach said during his weekly radio show Nov. 19. “I am so proud of that guy. Take everything out on the football field out of it. To see Tren graduate from Georgia Tech will be one of the highlights of my coaching career.”
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