Georgia Tech quarterback Vad Lee showed admirable willpower Friday morning. Leaving his apartment for practice at Tech and then the team’s flight to Nashville for the Music City Bowl, he had a decision to make about a big bag of gummy worms his girlfriend gave him for Christmas.
“I left them in my apartment so I don’t get too fat,” he said. “It’s my favorite candy, though.”
That may not be the only reason Lee shows improved agility against Ole Miss on Monday. With the Yellow Jackets’ 10 on-campus bowl practices, Lee concentrated on his footwork with quarterback and B-backs coach Bryan Cook.
Lee said he worked on his steps “in the option game, getting my feet in the right places so I can be ready to explode out of the mesh and stuff like that. It’s something that I’ve been focusing on, something he’s been coaching me up on.”
Lee made strides, figurative and literal, against Georgia in the final regular-season game, running with more aggressiveness. He finished the game with 63 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns on 14 carries. His previous 14 carries netted 32 yards.
“You can never master footwork, I guess, especially in this offense, because we run the triple option and your feet are going crazy,” he said. “You’re spinning and doing a bunch of different stuff.”
Coaching tree: Johnson was excited for former Tech assistant Jeff Monken, who was hired Tuesday at Army after a four-year run at Georgia Southern. Army was 20-41 under coach Rich Ellerson and saw its losing streak to archrival Navy extend to 12 games. As Navy's coach, Johnson started that streak, with Monken's help, in 2002.
“I think it’ll be a challenge, but it’s no different than when we went into Navy and we got that thing turned around, and they’re winning,” Johnson said.
Regarding the opening at Georgia Southern, where he coached from 1997-2001 and won two national championships, Johnson said no one from the school had reached out to him for consultation, but broadly threw hats in the ring. He dismissed the possibility that offensive line coach Mike Sewak, who succeeded Johnson in Statesboro and had a 35-14 record before being fired, might be hired again.
“There’s a lot of guys on our staff that could do it, I think, that would be deserving,” he said, “but I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a school hire somebody that they let go the first time.”
While in town: After their arrival Friday afternoon, the Jackets had an evening welcoming reception scheduled at the General Jackson Showboat at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center, the 2,800-room hotel that will house both teams.
On Saturday, the team is scheduled to practice at Father Ryan High School in Nashville and attend a Nashville Predators hockey game. Johnson addressed the team upon arrival.
“Just do right,” he said. “That’s our rule all the time. If they do right, they’ll be fine. If they don’t understand what that is, I’ll interpret it for them.”
Bowl swag: Players selected their bowl gifts out of a wide selection offered by the bowl while on campus. Linebacker Quayshawn Nealy picked out an Armani watch. Offensive lineman Will Jackson got Ray-Ban sunglasses and a watch. Defensive end Jeremiah Attaochu went a little more practical — he got a sandwich maker and a television.
“I need a sandwich maker,” said Attaochu, expected to be drafted in the spring. “I’m going to be living by myself next year.”
Players also received warm-ups, shoes, shirts and other gear from the school.
Etc.: The entire team made the trip, with no players suspended. Johnson said the team earned about a 2.5 GPA for the fall semester. … The Jackets will wear white jerseys and gold pants against Ole Miss.
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