TAMPA, Fla. — Nearly three months ago, Kevin Sherrer’s head was spinning.
The former Georgia Tech linebackers coach had just been named sole defensive coordinator for Tech following a 38-27 home loss to Bowling Green on Sept. 30. The move caused his long workdays to quickly become even longer, as dozens of eyes now looked toward him for direction before their next game against the Miami Hurricanes.
“The first week, just thinking back to the Miami week, was really kind of just a whirlwind,” he said Wednesday. “You’re going from working 16 hours a day to 18 hours a day, because you’re like, ‘OK, I have to remember this, I’ve got to do that.’ A lot of times people are waiting on you to tell them what you want next.”
Sherrer had served as co-defensive coordinator with Andrew Thacker, who was reassigned to safeties coach in early October and later demoted to off-field duties this month, alongside former defensive backs coach Travares Tillman.
On Feb. 1, Thacker signed a new contract to make $650,000 annually and is scheduled to receive a $50,000 raise if his current contract is renewed Jan. 31. Thacker also is due one month of his base salary for Tech qualifying for a bowl game this season.
Credit: Jenn Finch
Credit: Jenn Finch
Sherrer said being organized helped immensely amid the chaos. His coaching staff also gave direction during his transition from handling a single position to running the entire defense.
The move had been the result of poor defensive performances throughout the season to that point. It paid immediate dividends as the Yellow Jackets went to Miami, then ranked 17th in the nation, and won 23-20.
Tech’s defense has been up and down since, giving up 38 points in three of the next four games. Still, Sherrer said things have started to slow for him – even if he joked that the past few months felt like 10 years.
Under his new defense, Sherrer said the staff tweaked some terminology but made sure not to overwhelm his players by dumping everything on them at once. It helped that the system had a lot of similarities to what was run before, he added.
“You kind of had a learning curve of OK, I want to do this,” he said. “(But) what do we call that? How do I phrase it so that the players know what I’m saying? I think the biggest thing was to take the pressure off of them and put it on me to adjust.”
Sherrer said his players are getting accustomed to the new system and what he is thinking, which will be especially important at the Gasparilla Bowl in Tampa on Friday (6:30 p.m., ESPN), when Tech’s 118th-ranked defense goes against Central Florida’s seventh-ranked offense. Staying disciplined will be key in containing Knights dual-threat quarterback John Rhys Plumlee and the jet motion they have been successful running this season.
But for Sherrer, who has been a football coach from the high school level to the NFL, he is used to adjusting on the fly.
“You go out there and it’s first down, second down, third down, they might get a big play, we might get a big play, we adapt and you adjust to the next situation,” he said. “So just part of the role when you get into the coaching profession, you got to be able to do that.”
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