Georgia Tech
TD Roof on following his fathers’ footsteps at Tech
Photo of TD Roof courtesy of 247 Sports.
Georgia Tech 2017 commit TD Roof’s path to choosing Georgia Tech wasn’t typical.
Although Roof’s father is former Yellow Jacket and current Tech defensive coordinator Ted Roof, TD Roof’s choice to become a Yellow Jacket was his own.
“(My dad) influenced my decision, I wouldn’t say a lot, but it definitely influenced it some,” Roof said. “My dad has been all over the place, so I really just been a fan of wherever he’s been coaching. It was just something that I’ve always heard about him playing at Tech and when we came back to Atlanta, people always knew him from Tech and it was just a cool experience. I kind of just want to continue on what he built.”
Like Roof is following in his father’s footsteps, so are Tech commits Tre Swilling and Bruce Jordan-Swilling, sons of Tech great and All-American Pat Swilling.
Pat Swilling and Ted Roof were teammates on Georgia Tech’s defense from 1982 through 1985.
Although the commits’ fathers were teammates in college and all three commits chose Tech to continue their family legacy, TD Roof and the Swilling brothers weren’t close until recently.
“(Tre Swilling) visited Tech one time and I was there, and I got to spend some time with him and we hit it off,” Roof said. “I kind of was kind of recruiting those two brothers really hard. I’m glad it worked out.”
Roof, a 3-star linebacker, chose Tech over Army, East Carolina, Indiana, South Alabama, Troy, Central Florida, South Florida and Western Michigan.
Although Roof chose Tech based on what was best for him as a student and a football player, he and his father are eager to start working together.
“(Ted Roof’s) been talking about that since I was a kid, ‘I can’t wait to coach you,’” Roof said. “I just think it’s going to be really cool and it’s going to be a unique opportunity that not many kids get to have.”
