Defensive lineman Grey Carroll commits to Georgia Tech

An epiphany in the shower led to Georgia Tech’s third commitment for the 2021 signing class Friday.

Defensive lineman Grey Carroll of Alcoa, Tenn., informed coach Geoff Collins of his decision to play for the Yellow Jackets in the morning and later tweeted out his decision.

“I feel like I made a great choice,” Carroll told the AJC. “I feel like that’s where I need to be.”

Carroll was offered by Tech last fall and has been recruited consistently since, led by defensive line coach Larry Knight. Carroll, meanwhile, made multiple visits to campus. The most recent was days before the spread of the coronavirus put a halt to in-person recruiting.

Carroll thought through his recruitment Thursday evening, he said.

“I was taking a shower (Thursday) night, thinking, like, ‘Let’s say that I get a huge offer, like something crazy, like Clemson,’ ” Carroll said. “I was thinking, ‘I don’t even think I would consider it.’ ”

His favor for Tech was based on the team’s culture, the relative proximity to his home and his parents’ support of the decision, among other factors. (He said previously that the culture was such that “I could bring my granny with me and she’d enjoy it as much as I would.”) He slept on it and was ready to call Collins and Knight Friday morning to inform them of his decision.

“They were super happy,” Carroll said. “Coach Knight was giving me a hard time. He was like, ‘Man, it took you long enough.’ ”

Carroll said he plans to enroll early in January 2021. Carroll, 6-foot-2 and about 255 pounds, has a quick first step off the snap and plays with a high level of drive. He started as a freshman at Alcoa High and made all-state as a sophomore and junior. He is a three-star prospect rated the No. 44 strong-side defensive end prospect in the country (247Sports Composite) and the No. 20 prospect in Tennessee. He had also received offers from Louisville, Wake Forest and Boston College among about 20, including Harvard, Princeton and Yale.

Carroll's high school coach, Gary Rankin, told the AJC earlier this month that his motor is one of the best that he has coached in the past 20-25 years. It's saying something, considering that Rankin has won more games and more state titles than any coach in the history of Tennessee high school football.

“I’ve done this for a long time and I’ve been around a lot of good players,” Rankin said. “He’s probably as sure a bet to make it as anybody we’ve had in a long time.”

Carroll joins wide receiver Malik Rutherford from Hialeah, Fla., and Grayson High athlete Jamal Haynes as part of Collins’ 2021 class.

Carroll would be Collins’ first signee from the state of Tennessee, not counting two 2019 signees who were already committed at the time of his hire. The state was a stronghold for former coach Paul Johnson, who signed a multitude of players from Tennessee, most notably Shaquille Mason.

Carroll said that Tech’s coaches would like him to add about 20 pounds, which would enable him to play either tackle or end. To get there, he has been working out at home as he waits for school to resume.

“I’ve never done so many pushups in my life,” he said. “I feel like I’m serving time or something.”