For Trenilyas Tatum, he’s suddenly one of the only originals left in the neighborhood.
“It kind of feels weird. I still feel like a young dude, but in the room, I’m definitely an older guy with so many young dudes,” he said. “But I don’t think it’s too much to handle. I like being a good teammate, showing them where to be, how to come out each day.”
A 6-foot-2, 208-pound junior, Tatum played more of a supporting role in his two previous seasons with the Yellow Jackets. But with stars Charlie Thomas and Ayinde Eley having graduated, Tatum now moves into center stage at his position in the heart of Tech’s defense.
The former four-star recruit out of Mt. Zion High played in all 12 games for the Jackets in 2022 mostly in a backup role. His best outings came against Western Carolina and at Pittsburgh in which he made seven tackles in both games.
Now he’s expected to not only be the leader of a young corps of teammates at his position, but for four significant transfers in the building as well.
“For the young guys, just letting them know where to be at, where to align, just the little things,” Tatum said. “Coach is going to coach ‘em, I’m just there to be a good teammate. Everything the older guys did to me, I’m just relying on that.
“Just watching the ones in front of me. Watching them come in every day, take care of themselves, take care of business. Knowing that I’m up this year, knowing that they’re gone, got a big responsibility and all that means a lot to me.”
With Thomas and Eley off the roster, Tech turned to the transfer portal to find immediate help for the 2023 season. The quartet of newcomers who joined Tech’s forces will all likely see significant playing time this fall inside defensive coordinator Andrew Thacker’s 4-2-5 system.
Kevin Sherrer, the team’s linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator with Thacker, has a good problem with being able to plug and play Andre White, Braelen Oliver, Paul Moala and Austin Dean alongside Tatum. It may also be a bit of a silver lining that the majority of Tech linebackers, or the coaches who are working with the linebackers, are learning on the fly.
“We’ve got a little bit of carryover from the spring. But in some ways it is good to wipe the board clean and start all over and start with fresh techniques,” Sherrer said. “Hopefully this time next year you’ve got guys that understand the system and what coach ‘Thack’ and myself want, things like that.”
White, Oliver, Dean and Moala have all put up impressive numbers at their respective previous stops.
White (6-3, 228), from Pennsylvania, spent four seasons at Texas A&M where he made almost 140 career tackles. The 6-foot, 217-pound Oliver, from Douglas County High, started 10 games for Minnesota in 2022 and was with the Golden Gophers for five seasons. Dean has two seasons at Tech remaining after playing two seasons at Rutgers where he saw action in 20 games.
Moala appeared headed for a solid career at Notre Dame before injuries changed his course. He rebounded in a big way at Idaho in 2022 by recording a team-high 61 stops.
“With my story and by the grace of God I just wanted to go until I couldn’t go any more,” Moala said of his final season as an amateur. “Being granted this opportunity, just kind of opened my eyes to God’s plan of what he wants for me. Kind of just taking it with a grain of salt and going as far as I can go, as far as my body will let me.”
The only other two returners at linebacker this fall for the Jackets are Tyson Meiguez (Creekside High) and Kyle Efford (Dacula High). Tech also has eight true freshmen linebackers on the roster.
