Everything From Georgia Tech DB Jy Gilmore At The Conclusion Of Tuesday's Practice

Georgia Tech defensive back Jy Gilmore talked to the media at the conclusion of practice on Tuesday. Here is everything he had to say.

On his road to Georgia Tech…

“Yeah, man, coming right across the street. It was crazy. With me getting in the portal, I kind of just hopped out on faith, really. Really didn't know what I wanted to do going into my senior year. I felt it was just best to bet on myself. After a few days of getting into the portal, coaches started to reach out to me, and it was already at the top of the list, an easy transition. So, you know, they're already at the top of the list. With me being in the portal for like a week or so, just praying on it. This is what felt the best for me. With it also being close to home again, I was around my family, and a quick trip like it wasn't much of a change. So this is the best option for me.”

On playing fast and how he plays…

“That is what I want to give off. That's kind of what I was raised on, man. I grew up in a football family. I'm the tallest out of my brothers, and I'm like 5'9". So you can really imagine that. So just me being a smaller guy on the field, I try to bring that energy, try to bring that juice to the defense and the position that I'm playing, safety and nickel, you have to have that playing style to earn your respect within your teammates, your peers, and with your opponent. Yeah, that's what I like to brand myself on physicality and playing fast."

On his relationship with coach Cory Peoples…

“Yeah, so like I said, when the defensive staff ended up reaching out to me, Coach Peoples, he did have an effect on me because I was with Coach Peoples a little bit when I was at Georgia State already. When they reached out to me, that definitely had something to do with it, of course, with him being here already, because it was somebody I already knew. A familiar face, and like I said, with me praying on it, it was also a thought of somebody I needed. Somebody that I could trust, and with me being in the portal, you really don't know what these coaches want me for. They could want me for depth, so it's like whose word am I gonna believe? So that's one of the things that helped me get over here as well too.”

On meshing with veterans and freshman in the secondary….

“Man, it's crazy because we got a lot of young talent, and we got a lot of old talent. I'll start out with the old talent. Me, Omar Daniels, Clayton Powell. So we're like the old heads in the room. With us meshing, it took some time. It wasn't nothing like rocky at the beginning, but it just took time for us to collab and for us to kind of find our way, how we would lead the younger guys. Because once again, they're really talented, but they need a sense of direction. So I felt like we'd give them that. The young guys push us at the end of the day. They're talented, we know they're gonna bring it every day. Me being an older guy, it’s not like I can just come in and be like, yeah, my spot's secured. No, I'm waking up like, no, I don't want this young cat right here to come take my spot. So I feel like every day at the same time it is us setting an example, but at the same time we gotta come to work too, because if not, we'll be the ones on the bench watching the young guys ball out.”

On what the competition has been like with Kelvin Hill at the Nickel Spot…

“The competition is great. I believe to my knowledge, I played nickel a year, maybe a year and a half longer than Kelvin, but his game is just unique because we have almost like the same makeup. He's a smaller, twitchier guy, great in coverage. It's things that we pull from each other, and just with me being like a fifth-year guy, the experience that I have, I can drop on him, and then he could come to the sideline, some drives like, hey, no, I just did. If this works for me, try this. It's the same thing back and forth. So I feel like that relationship just helps us take our game up like levels and levels. So great relationship overall for sure.”

On if he brings interceptions to the team…

“Yes, sir. Definitely. Like I said, me being an older guy, me being an energy guy, that's the main thing. The ball is the issue. The ball is the most important thing. So if you're not focused on getting the ball as a DB, what are you really focused on? So that's something that we push every day. Me and the older guys, we have talks every day before practice. What are we going to push these guys for? And most of times, it revolves on getting the ball back. So whichever way we can do it, punching the ball out, intercepting the ball, staying after on the jugs, whatever it takes for us to get more interceptions, increase our takeaways, we're gonna do that. That's what we've been working on this summer.”

On what it is like going against the offense everyday…

“Man, so of course when I was at state, I played them last year, so I got a little glimpse of it for 60 minutes. But every day is like, it's something new. You might watch film and be like, okay. When they line up like this, it's gonna be this, and it's always something combating off the next thing. It's kind of frustrating to be honest with you, like it gets you angry, gets you upset. But at the same time, I feel like that helps us learn as a defense, as a unit, because you're not really gonna see nothing like that into the season. You're not gonna have a lot of teams to do the things that we do. Buster Faulkner is a really special OC, so it's a lot of things we've seen in the off-season and this fall camp that we're gonna see in the season, and that is gonna prepare us for it. It's nothing that we wouldn't have seen already. I feel like it's a positive thing at the end of the day.”

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