The following is the third in a series of articles that will preview the coming Georgia Tech football season, which begins Aug. 24 against Florida State in Dublin. In the series, we will examine several of the “Most important” things to watch as the Yellow Jackets’ season approaches. Today: Most important defensive player.
If there is a quarterback on the Georgia Tech defense in 2024, it’s LaMiles Brooks.
A safety, Brooks is one of only six Yellow Jackets who have been with the program since at least 2020, and one of only two defenders who fit that bill. He has seen a little bit of everything during his previous four seasons with the Jackets, in which he has logged almost 1,500 career snaps.
Brooks, who is from Jacksonville, Florida, is coming off a down season statistically in which he recorded 67 tackles, broke up six passes and made an interception. The season before he made three picks (including one returned 37 yards for a touchdown), broke up seven passes and made 52 tackles en route to being a third-team all-ACC selection.
According to Pro Football Focus, Brooks was Tech’s highest-rated overall defender, best coverage defender and fourth-best pass rusher in 2022. He’s striving to return to that level of play while working during preseason camp, his last with Tech.
“Camp so far has been amazing,” Brooks said. “This has probably been one of my most fun camps. I’m really enjoying that for it to be my last go-round.”
Brooks may not be the most physically talented defender in Tech’s 4-2-5 system under new coordinator Tyler Santucci, but he is one of the more mentally bright. He and fellow safety Clayton Powell-Lee will be charged with getting Tech’s defense in the right alignment and position before the snap and then adjusting on the fly throughout each game.
He said he already understands how important that communication will be for a defense with a lineup of new coaches and a handful of newcomers.
“We’ve come very far,” Brooks said. “What I’d say we’ve probably done to kind of keep up with that is pre-snap. We like to kind of talk before the play starts, kind of see what the formation is and then see all the variables, see who can move, who can do what, what the final picture ends up looking like. So our communication has become elite.”
Brooks is a former four-star recruit, according to the 247Sports Composite, who committed to Tech and former coach Geoff Collins in 2019 and enrolled in 2020. He played sparingly in 2020 and 2021 before becoming a starter in 2022. Four times Brooks has recorded at least nine tackles in a single game.
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