Georgia Tech took another step toward the 2024 season when it opened preseason practice Wednesday evening.
The Yellow Jackets worked out for nearly three hours, first on Rose Bowl Field and then inside the Brock Practice Facility due to inclement weather. Exactly one month from Wednesday’s first practice, Tech opens the schedule against defending ACC champion Florida State in Dublin, Ireland.
“There’s only one real way to attack things, that’s with the right frame of mind, to have the mental toughness, the discipline to do what you’re supposed to do and really work in a way so that you get what you deserve,” coach Brent Key said after Wednesday’s practice. “We talked about that (Tuesday) night with the team, of working throughout this entire preseason camp so that when game time comes, we deserve to get the outcome that we want. When you put the right work in, when you do things the right way, it’s a lot like life, you get what you deserve.
“We have goals as a team, players have individual goals that everyone wants to accomplish. Now’s the time to put the work in to be able to accomplish those goals.”
Key, who also spoke Monday in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the ACC Football Kickoff, has reason to be optimistic the team he worked with Wednesday, his second team as Tech’s coach, has the tools to be better than his first. There’s a wealth of returning talent and production on the offensive side and a renewed energy and hope on the defensive side with the influx of transfers and new coaches.
On Monday, Key said he wanted to see his team hit the ground running as it pertained to a retention of how to operate. He got good returns.
“The retention I was very pleased with,” Key said. “It’s one thing to know what to do. But to know how to do it, why you’re doing it, to know those three things, you can’t be successful unless you know all three of those things. Pretty much everyone comes in now knowing what to do so we’re able to start at a little bit faster pace and carry a little more install early on.”
The Jackets are scheduled to resume practice at approximately 5 p.m. Thursday.
Yondjouen returns
Sylvain Yondjouen was back Wednesday practicing with the Jackets a little more than 10 months after a knee injury cost him his 2023 season.
A 6-foot-4, 260-pound defensive end, Yondjouen was expected to be a key part of Tech’s ‘23 defense. But he played just 27 snaps in the season-opener against Louisville before suffering a second season-ending injury of his career (Yondjouen also missed the majority of the 2020 season).
“The speed and the twitch that he showed out there today, along with the size, the added girth that he has, excited to have him back out there,” Key said. “Adds a ton to the defensive line. Really good to see him back out — plus his leadership. He’s played a lot of football, he’s very well-respected by all his teammates. Doesn’t say a lot, but when he does, people listen.”
A native of Belgium who has been with Tech since 2019, Yondjouen was lining up the with the first-team defense Wednesday.
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