Long before they were ACC adversaries, Georgia Tech offensive line coach Mike Sewak and Virginia defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta practically were sworn golf partners.
“We used to play together, and we were always partners,” Sewak said. “I would never take anybody but him.”
Sewak and Tenuta, whose units will engage each other with their distinctive tactics Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium, once were teammates, good friends and even roommates at Virginia. The two were on the same Cavaliers teams from 1978-80.
“He was a great friend,” Sewak said. “Great friend, great competitor.”
Sewak knows Tenuta differently than most. Tenuta, who was Tech’s defensive coordinator from 2002-07, has been seen as coarse and given to foul language.
Sewak knows him as a man who cared about his team and his teammates, who readily shared advice with Sewak when he was a fledgling secondary coach at Georgia Southern and who has continued their friendship to the present. When Sewak was an assistant coach at Hawaii and assigned to recruit Dallas, he invariably stopped to see Tenuta and his family, stationed there when he was a coach at SMU.
“He’s a good guy,” Sewak said. “Really, really good guy.”
Tenuta’s personal qualities will matter less Saturday than his capacity to direct his 11 defenders to stop the Yellow Jackets. It is an intriguing matchup. With Sewak’s help, Tech may be playing as efficiently as at any time during coach Paul Johnson’s seven-year tenure. The Jackets rank No. 7 in the country in yards per play (6.98) and No. 6 in points per possession (3.26), according to the website FBS Drive Stats. Tech has cleared 600 yards of offense in both of the past two games, the third- and fourth-highest single-game totals in Tech’s modern era against FBS opponents.
“Everybody has to do their part, and I think our guys are doing their part,” Sewak said. “I’d like to be more consistent, but obviously there were a couple plays (Saturday against Pittsburgh) where you just said, ‘That’s how it’s supposed to look.’”
Playing Tenuta’s highly aggressive style, the Cavaliers rank No. 36 in the country in points per possession (1.69). Blitzing frequently, Virginia is tied for 13th in the country with 25 sacks and tied for No. 7 with 20 takeaways. Sewak said that Virginia is as aggressive in its scheme as anyone Tech plays.
It is who Tenuta is. From their golfing days, Sewak recalled that Tenuta was one to “swing for the fences.”
“They take chances, and they really put themselves in great position to execute, as far as movement and stuff like that,” right guard Shaquille Mason said. “That’s where we come in staying grounded and paying attention to detail.”
Under Sewak’s supervision, Mason and his linemates will have a primary responsibility for thwarting Virginia’s aggression. Sewak knows the blitzes and stunts will come.
“You’ve just got to catch them,” he said. “If you catch them in a stunt or you catch them in a twist and they’re out of position, then you’ve got to make them pay for it.”
Golf can wait.
