Everything From Georgia Tech LB Coach Darius Eubanks After Wednesday's Practice (8/6)

Fall Practice rolled on for Georgia Tech on Wednesday, and the Yellow Jackets are now nearly three weeks away from their season-opening game against Colorado. After practice, Georgia Tech's linebacker coach Darius Eubanks met with the media, and here is everything that he had to say:

1. On the offseason additions to the linebacker room...

"Well, for me, being new, this is my first time seeing everybody. But that group that I have that room, that it's a good group. Good, really talented group. Guys with some experience at other schools. Then we got guys that were already here that had some experience. So one thing I'm preaching right now is just competition. I think that brings out the best in everybody. So again, everybody in our room is new for me just from being a new coach here."

2. On Kyle Efford...

"Yeah. Oh, yeah. He's what I've seen on film. He's going to go 110 % every day. One thing I preach to my guys, and part of him now, because he missed spring, but he's back now, is nowadays with the game, the evolution of the offense, they're asking linebackers to make a lot of plays in space. So when you look at our individual drills, you'll see a lot of changing directions. Yes, we're going to still work block destruction, tackling, but it's probably a lot of more changing direction drills, agility drills, and these guys are used to, but I'm excited to have them back. You know, you kind of feel them on the field too, which is great. So I've been excited with them."

3. On Tah'j Butler...

"Oh, he's developing, he's growing. I saw it this summer with him. You know, just saw how things was clicking with him. You know, he has a serious man. Even as a young guy, you know, I always try to preach to guys, man, be a pro. Take care of your body, you know, really dive deep into the film. If you want to be great, you know, if you want to be average, then, you know, just do the bare minimum. But he wants to be great. You know, he wants me to push him every day. He learns from the from the older guys, so that's why he don't make the same mistake, but he has that body type that you're looking for, and that's all I can ask. Somebody that want to come to work every day and he brings it."

4. On their depth...

"I've got a lot of good players, in my opinion, and that's the thing I know somebody brought up position flexibility, that's what I believe in, so if you guys watch their practice today, you know, I'm rotating five guys or so, and it's a mix and match. And that says a lot about those guys learning multiple positions too. So they're taking a challenge. If you want to get reps, guess what? You need to learn multiple positions. They're taking a challenge with that. But yes, we're running some base. Coach BG got a lot of base calls, so we're running a little bit of base. So you may see three linebackers out there."

5. On Cayman Spaulding...

"He's one of those guys. You know, honestly, you know, during the spring he was a guy just wanting to have like focus on one position, focus on one position. Then challenged him to discount. Like, hey, I'm gonna kind of swing you around a little bit. All right. And he's taking that challenge. You know, you talk about a freak athlete that can run and go, you know, he's that guy. So again, he's one that want to be coached throughout that whole room. So, but he's But he's a good one. He's a good one. Right."

6. On Jackson Hamilton...

"To stay ready, so you got to get ready. That's for everybody, everybody. And I also preach to my backers, not just Hamilton, but all of them is, and be a special teams guy. Definitely if you want to play at the next level, that's where it starts at. That's where the opportunity starts at the special teams and they can start to trust you on special teams as time goes on. Then guess what? You start to get those reps defensively at the next level. You know, that's kind of how it started for me as well. So I just try to, you know, make sure that they're, you know, able to play multiple positions, which he has, you know, he's rotated at Mike, he's rotated at Dime, he's rotated at Sam. And he executes at a fairly decent level. And then also, again, when it comes to special teams. And you know, it's a long season, you know? And, you know, we plan to playa lot of games here. So just got to stay ready when your number is called."

7. On position versatility...

"You know, at the end of the day, some guys are still going to do some things better than others. Like, even though I think they're a really good athlete, we've got good athletes in the room. There's still a lot of probably two or three guys that maybe cover better than the other three or four guys. So if we get caught in that predicament, hey, I need the guy that covers the best. I need him to go out and, you know, be one on one on the tight end. There's still a lot of thinking into I just can't, I just don't throw two guys out there and be like, hey, you do this job, you do that job. Hey, let's show what the offense give us and then let's, let's work to our advantage."

8. On E.J. Lightsey

"He's picking up right where he did from the spring, to be honest. He's really taking care of his body. You know, E.J.'s a fairly quiet guy off the field, you know. One thing I'm continuing to challenge him on is, and he communicates on the field, you have to as a linebackers, you know. And that's one thing, we're continuing to preach to our group. But sometimes, you know, even off the field, or sometimes, you know, grabbing guys to the side, I do think he has those leadership, he can get those game, those leadership qualities, and I think he has the respect of the locker room, 'cause he works hard. He works hard, he works hard, he busts his tail, and That's all you can ask for as a coach and then also as a peer, as a teammate."

9. On his relationship with Blake Gideon...

"Oh, it's been great. It's been great, man. Bless that BG was, you know, thought that I was worthy enough to come be a part of his staff and definitely grateful for that. You know, he's a good one. Definitely, when it comes to the curve, so I'm growing every day in that aspect. I'm always asking him questions too. What you doing, is why are you doing that you know because I want to continue to learn and grow as a coach as well and you know sometimes we talk about fits I see I show him how I see it and then vice -versa sometimes we talk about fits I see I show him how I see it and then vice -versa like later on today we'll probably sit back and watch inside together you know so and just talk about fits or whatnot but it's been great it's been a great opportunity here."

10. On Melvin Jordan...

"He's one that's, you know, you talk about IQ, a lot of experience, you know, instincts. He's one that I have playing multiple positions as well. And he's kind of picked off where he has in the spring, too. I've been very, very, very pleased with Mel. It don't matter who he got there, where I can pair him up with anybody, I can trust that he's going to execute his job at a high level. And as a ball coach, that's the main thing for thing for me. I do want good athletes. I want guys that's going to get off of blocks, you know, and tackle, but I'd rather be able to trust guys. Guys that I can trust out there on the field, and he's definitely one of them. He's going to continue to grow, you know, and he's not perfect out there. Nobody is. You know, he takes to the coaching as well, but I'm definitely excited to have him in the room."

11. On the communication between the linebackers and the secondary and how Blake Gideon helps with that...

"Yeah, yeah, sometimes when he's talking to the DB coaches, Coach Jones and Coach Peoples, you know, I'd be listening as if he's talking to me. You know, just like you said, being a DB coach for my first six, seven years of my career and you know, last year being my first year coaching linebackers still have a lot of growth here and I want to continue to grow in that position. But like I said, all around, I want to continue to grow and learn. So it's been good being with a guy like BG, 'cause I've learned a lot in the coverage since the spring to now, you know. And like I said, I had been coaching previously for six, seven years prior to that. And to come here and learn even more, I'm like, okay, this is a great opportunity for me to continue to grow as a coach as well."