Everything From Georgia Tech QB Coach Chris Weinke After The Yellow Jackets' 8th Spring Practice

Georgia Tech is 11 days away from their annual White and Gold spring game and today, the Yellow Jackets completed their eighth spring practice. Afterward, quarterbacks coach Chris Weinke got a chance to speak with the media and here is everything that he had to say:

1. On the depth at the running back position...

"Yeah, you know, you look at every year's a new year, right? You look at your roster and I always say that the offense is always predicated on the personnel. What are we gonna do? I think the ability for us in our offense with a large library of plays, we're able to be creative. And then you come into spring this year and you get really excited about the running back room, right? You know, there's some depth there, there's some older guys, there's some younger guys, some guys coming off an injury. So it excites you, right? I mean, when you look at what we're trying to do offensively, we're trying to utilize everybody on offense. You saw us do a little bit of that, obviously, in the quarterback run game with Haynes last year and I think that's a pure numbers game, right? We get the numbers when the quarterback's running it. So, but feel very good about that running back room and what Coach Norv (Mackenzie) has done with them and proud of the guys, the work that they're putting in and really excited about that room and the depth that we've got there."

2. On how Aaron Philo has progressed...

"Yeah, you know, he's a special one. There's no doubt. But I make sure that they understand that every day is a new day. There's always things to work on. You know the best part about my room and that's all the guys in there. They want to be coached. They don't want to just be average. They want to be great and that's a daily routine for them. They take the right approach. They ask the right questions. They put their cleats on to go to practice to work every single day and I appreciate that, that's the best part of my job. When you have guys that are wired the right way, that are willing to work. And Aaron, obviously, just being a young guy last year and throwing in the action, did some really good things. And I think what he understands is, now he's got to create that consistency. And that's the biggest thing. And the old cliche of a process of development, and I think when you look at him, he's continued to get better every day. He has a better understanding of what we're trying to do. He knows and understands that, hey, this is different than high school, right? He threw for all those yards, but this is different. The guys are faster. So those plays that he made in high school where he could chuck and duck, OK? He's got to make better decisions in terms of that when the play breaks down. And then along with that, you talk about the development and the process of the quarterback position. Everybody, we live in this microwave society where everybody wants to play right now. They don't understand the intricacies and all the variables that come into play at a high level. And the one guy that has made some huge improvements is Graham Knowles, a kid that you look at a year ago who was only a one year starter in high school. And what he's done this spring compared to last is night and day, so out of him too, so very fortunate to be in that room. We got the right guys excited about the future of that room."

3. On how much the position has changed since he was a player...

"Yeah, I think there's obviously maybe things on the outside that have changed. But I think the development of the position And my hope is that the way I go about my business and the way I teach it permeates through the rest of them, right? Our room is never going to change. You guys hear me say it all the time. It starts with toughness. That room is full of toughness. There's no substitute for hard work. And we always say that the standard is the standard. So I think when I look back of my career and very similar. I played for Coach (Mark) Richt and he had the same type of approach and I think these guys have been responsible. Not every kid is responsive to those types of things and being in that room with those guys they've been very responsive so there's a lot of similarities."

4. On incoming freshman Grady Adamson...

"Yeah so my process in terms of evaluating the quarterbacks a little bit different than maybe some guys around the country, and I'm going to spend a lot more time peeling back the onion and finding out what they're like inside. And to me, I usually typically evaluate between 100 and 150 guys in each class. And that gets shrunk down to probably 50, and then I'll continue to evaluate those guys. And I know the landscape of college football doesn't necessarily lend itself to relationships these days. I'm still a relationship guy I want to build a good relationship I want those guys to understand I care about them that I'm here for them and I truly believe if they know that they care about you That they're gonna work harder for you and Grady is one of those guys very athletic really smart But it starts with toughness And every time I turned on his film or I went down to see him you could those things he's really excited to to get here in the next couple months and be a part of this he stays in touch with all of our guys I talked to him every single week you know he probably wishes he was here right now he's missing out on some development right now but very excited about the future of of Grady."

5. On the wide receiver position...

"Yeah, I think the the the greatest part about this place is that anybody that comes in here from the outside is coming into a great environment, and I think you talked about Eric Rivers and Dean Patterson come in that were teammates, very successful, very productive. They came and fit right into our group. I know this, they both know how to work, they both approach it like a pro. Obviously, we've limited with Eric because of the injury. But Dean, I would say that, you know, the first two weeks, he's getting his feet wet, right, trying to figure out how we practice the temple in which we practice with learning a new offense. It's like learning a new language. And then you saw the break over spring break and he came back, he seems like a different guy. He's an unbelievable guy, his work ethic, I think his skill set is gonna fit very well into what we're trying to do offensively. We've been very pleased with what Dean's been able to do."

6. On Haynes King and the run game...

"Yeah, you know he's the son of a hard -nosed coach, you know, his dad's a longtime very successful high school coach, and I think that was instilled in him at a very young age. When that kid runs out of the tunnel to play a football game, football game, it's 100%. He's not worried about getting hurt. He plays one way. That's what I like about him. Obviously, you don't want to see him get hurt, but I think that's also an advantage for us in terms of the way he plays the game. You know, the advantage we get with him being able to run the football obviously puts a lot of pressure on the defense, but he's even stepped up his game. Obviously, he spent a lot of time rehabbing that injury, and I feel like he's operating our offense at a very high level, and as good as I've seen him since he's been here."

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