Georgia Tech's defensive football players, like their offensive counterparts, have worn their names taped to the backs of their helmets in the first two spring practices.

For many of the players, it hardly seems necessary.

Three of the four defensive coaches are holdovers from the previous staff, and defensive line coach Giff Smith and linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary are working with the same personnel they worked with when Jon Tenuta was the defensive coordinator.

But don't be misled. While Tech's offensive changes grab most of the headlines, there have are some very significant changes under way on defense.

Defensive coordinator Dave Wommack plans to use man-to-man coverage as well as the zone coverage that Tech fans have been used to seeing. And he is changing the techniques being taught in the secondary, the responsibilities of the linebackers and the positioning of the defensive ends.

Defensive backs who used to be taught to backpedal into coverage now are expected to run sideways, or shuffle.

"We're kind of joining the majority [of teams technique-wise] now," said cornerback Jahi Word-Daniels, the secondary's lone returning starter.

Word-Daniels also welcomed the opportunity to play man coverage. How much Tech plays will depend on how well it can play it.

"They haven't played a lot of man around here for a couple of years. It's going to take us a little while to polish up on that," said Wommack, who coaches the safeties while former special-teams coach Charles Kelly coaches the corners.

Linebacker Anthony Barnes was excited about the changes he had seen.

"There's fewer things to think about," Barnes said. "They're making it easier for the linebackers. We're just playing now. We're flying around to the ball."

Tenuta's defenses were known for aggressiveness. Wommack's will be, too, but in different ways.

"We're still going to be a fast team, get to the ball. That's not going to change," Word-Daniels said. "How we blitz and how much we blitz, that's probably going to change."

How much that changes will depend on what Wommack sees over the next three weeks of practices. He will see his players in pads for the first time Friday, and some of his players are adjusting to new positions. Dominique Reese, for instance, has moved from cornerback to safety and is also learning nickel back. Willie White, who was on offense last fall, is learning to play safety.

Reese remains in the mix at cornerback, along with Word-Daniels, Mario Butler and Jerrard Tarrant. Morgan Burnett, Reese, Tony Clark and Jake Blackwood have been at safety. A lot can change between now and the season opener. The key to how Tech plays defense coverage-wise might be how well it plays its defense fundamentally.

"It depends what we can do and what we do well," Wommack said. "Right now, we're trying to just get in our base defense. We're trying to see who can play football. We'll be pretty basic this spring. We'll walk before we can run.

"There's definitely some talent back there. It's young talent that needs to be developed."