Cone rises up Jackets' WR depth chart

By DOUG ROBERSON

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson said last week that it’s hard to get Kevin Cone to stop smiling. Even if he’s told to drop and do 30 push-ups, his face beams.

“I’m getting better either way, so it’s all good,” Cone said.

Cone isn’t Ned Flanders come to life, but he is living a dream.

“It’s just a blessing to be out here,” Cone said. “I remember when I was in the stands as a fan just wishing to be out here, and now here I am.”

Cone has climbed the depth chart at wide receiver and will start opposite Demaryius Thomas in the 1 p.m. season-opener against Jacksonville State on Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

Both of Cone’s parents graduated from Tech and settled in the Atlanta area. Cone graduated from St. Pius, where he played football and basketball and led the track team to the 2006 state championship.

But he said Shorter was the main school that recruited him for football, so he enrolled. But his heart was calling him home, and his mind was calling him to fulfill his goal of becoming a mechanical engineer.

So, he transferred to Tech after one season at Shorter, where he caught 12 passes for 83 yards in seven games.

He sat out last season, per NCAA rules, and now is looking forward to walking out of the tunnel Saturday and lining up for the first time as a Yellow Jacket. His mom, Janet, dad, Ronny, sister, Amy, and brother Zach, will be in the stands.

Wide receivers coach Al “Buzz” Preston said Cone’s consistency, as well as his smile, rubs off on his teammates.

“He’s a real positive young man,” Preston said. “He has a lot of energy, and I like what he brings to the group.”