There are two big surprises in the summer workouts for Georgia State’s football team.
The first is wide receiver Avery Sweeting is back with the team and on scholarship. The second is that Marcus Caffey, who just a few months ago was “permanently” moved to cornerback, is now “permanently” moved back to running back, according to coach Trent Miles.
Sweeting has been one of the most puzzling players at Georgia State the past three years. Small but gifted with speed, Sweeting has bounced back and forth between meeting Miles’ standards and the university’s academic standards for eligibility, to seemingly being off the team forever.
But Miles said that Sweeting has fulfilled his responsibilities and was welcomed back. He will join a deep group of wide receivers that includes Robert Davis, Donovan Harden, Glenn Smith and Todd Boyd, among others. Sweeting caught 16 passes for 224 yards and a touchdown in eight games last year. He played in five games as a sophomore, catching nine passes for 120 yards. He was suspended the final few games of that season to focus on academics, and then was indefinitely suspended in the spring of 2014 for a violation of team rules.
Sweeting may be able to make an impact as a returner, a position he has played before. He returned 19 kickoffs for 396 yards last year.
Caffey started at cornerback last year before a rash of injuries at running back forces Miles to move him there. Caffey led the team with 354 yards and also caught eight passes for 38 yards. He also had numerous fumbles.
Miles said before the spring practices that Caffey was moving back to cornerback and would stay there.
However, Miles said on Tuesday that he changed his mind and moved Caffey back to running back for several reasons: Caffey prefers to play running, the team is deep at cornerback and Miles would like to add depth and competition at running back. Aside from Caffey, the only running back with experience in Gerogia State’s offense is Kyler Neal, and he suffered a season-ending knee injury last year. He is healthy.
Strength and conditioning center: Workers poured the concrete on Tuesday for the floor for the new strength and conditioning center that is being constructed adjacent to the team's practice facility.
“They are making great progress,” Miles said. “It’s huge for our program. We’ve got to be able to develop these young men in the weight room. It’s a great opportunity, once it’s built, to work together as a team and get bigger and stronger in a Division I, FBS atmosphere.
“Just being able to keep up with the facilities of the other teams is wonderful, but it’s best of the development of our team.”
New coaches: Miles completed his coaching staff with outside linebackers coach Larry Knight, formerly the defensive quality control assistant at Tennessee.
Knight, a native of Augusta, joins defensive line coach Tony Samuel and secondary coach Eric Lewis as the newest assistants on Miles’ staff. Samuel and Lewis were hired before the spring session. Also joining the staff is Dusty Bennett, a former baseball player at Georgia State who is now the director of football operations.
“We’ve got a great group of men,” Miles said. “They all fit the bill. They are role models. They are fun people. They are educators.”
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