Georgia Tech safety Clayton Powell-Lee on how the coaching changes will affect the defense: "Same people, different chairs"

Kevin Sherrer is taking over as the defensive coordinator for Georgia Tech

Author:
Jackson Caudell
Publish date:
Oct 4, 2023 5:16 PM EDT

In this story:

The Georgia Tech defense is hoping to rebound quickly from their loss to Bowling Green and look more like the defense that notched eight sacks and forced five turnovers against Wake Forest. While the players on the field might be the same, Georgia Tech's defense saw a shakeup on the coaching staff this week when Andrew Thacker was demoted from defensive coordinator to safeties coach and linebackers coach Kevin Sherrer is taking over as the new coordinator.

When asked about how the players responded, here is what Head Coach Brent Key had to say:

"You obviously don't have the chance to talk to every single player. I made the decision, I obviously don't ever want to make an emotional decision immediately after a football game or anything so I was able to go back to watch the game a couple of times and think through the different options and then as I came in that morning I watched it again and and went through the processes of what would take place and I informed the staff 30 minutes before I informed the team. I went into the team room, just myself and no other coaches, no support, just myself and the team and I told them exactly what was done and why it was done and exactly what is needed going forward."

Georgia Tech defensive back Clayton Powell-Lee — Clayton Powell-Lee is hoping to lead the Georgia Tech defense with a bounce-back performance this week
Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Safety Clayton Powell-Lee is one of the leaders of the defense and when asked about the changes on the staff today, here is what he had to say about how it might affect that side of the ball moving forward and his reaction to hearing the news:

"No real reaction out of me. Me personally, its really, nothing big of a change for us, it's the same people, different chairs and a different person presenting whatever install might be that day or that week. For us, it is that same standard that we are going to keep holding the high standard of playing fast and playing physical and making plays and eliminating explosives. Nothing really different, its just same people, different chairs."

For the first time since making that move, Key met with the media on Tuesday to discuss the move:

"I felt that it was the right time to make a change and have a new voice and a new type of energy leading the group on defense. This was not a knee jerk reaction, this is something that we evaluate every week on all sides of the ball and all of the coaches and at the end of the day, performance is what matters, that is where we stand and that is why the decision was made, to make an adjustment and a change on the defensive side of the ball."

Whether the move will work is still to be determined. The Yellow Jackets have a huge test in front of them this week against Miami and Powell-Lee and the defense will have a chance to rebound from last week's performance.