Tech assistant praises defensive lineman Morgan
By Coley Harvey
sports@ledger-enquirer.com
ATLANTA — Throughout his football career, Georgia Tech defensive line coach Giff Smith has seen a lot of good defensive linemen.
Having been a three-time All-America standout at the position in the late 1980s and early ’90s, he knows what the best ones possess: speed, power, size and a knack for devouring ballcarriers in the backfield.
After three seasons of being Georgia Tech’s recruiting coordinator, five as its defensive line coach and another five commanding Tulane’s line, he finally has encountered a coach’s dream in Derrick Morgan.
“He’s the best one I’ve ever coached,” Smith said without flinching. “He’s the best defensive lineman in general I’ve coached. There’s not a weakness to his game.”
In the waning days of Morgan’s junior campaign, few would argue.
An All-America, Lombardi Award and Hendricks Award candidate, Morgan has been the most consistent component within Georgia Tech’s changing defensive line. A 6-foot-4, 272-pound defensive end, he has led the Yellow Jackets (7-1, 5-1 ACC) in sacks and tackles for loss this season.
But regardless how strong the team’s start may look now, Morgan knows that without key changes a couple of weeks ago, it could have all been for naught.
“I’m never satisfied,” Morgan said. “I feel like there are a lot of plays out there that I left out on the field. There may be a couple of plays that I could have made. So I’m not satisfied with my own performance. I know I could get a lot better.”
Some of that talk is the by-product of events three weeks ago, when the Yellow Jackets’ defense gave up 539 total yards to Florida State, forcing the offense to score 49 points for a five-point win.
It wasn’t, however, the only moment the defense struggled.
Yellow Jackets defenders appeared out-hustled in Week 3 during Georgia Tech’s 33-17 loss to Miami and looked much the same two games later during a 42-31 win over Mississippi State.
Following each performance, coaches and players fielded their share of criticism before stepping back and searching for answers.
“I voiced my opinion by just saying, ‘We know what we’ve got to do. We’re trying to get to the championship, and we’ve just got to play a lot better. We can’t have our offense scoring all these points and us giving up all these points on defense, so we’ve just got to go out there and play our game,’” Morgan said.
Joining Morgan in bringing added focus and ownership to the defense were fellow team leaders Brad Jefferson and safety Morgan Burnett. A linebacker, Jefferson charged himself for holding his unit accountable for playing better, as did Burnett with the secondary.
“The great teams that I’ve been around, that’s normally how it’s handled, is when your peers call you out,” Smith said. “Sometimes it has a lot more effect than when a coach does it because you never want to let your teammates down, and that’s why leadership in the game of football is so important.”
In the two games since the victory over Florida State, Morgan has had six tackles, including a pair of crucial sacks that helped preserve late-game leads.
While those numbers may not sound spectacular — especially when compared to his 15-tackle, five-sack performance after the first two games — they have come as opposing offenses have thrown a full arsenal into stopping him.
Getting double- and triple-teamed by offensive linemen, Morgan has been the focus of most offensive lines this season. It has forced the Yellow Jackets to become crafty with how they play him.
“We move him around,” Smith said. “He’ll play on the left or right sides or we’ll bring him from some different areas. We try not to isolate him to where they know where he’s going to be all the time. Now, obviously, they could check at the line of scrimmage, but we just try to do some different stuff to try to take advantage of them trying to set some protections against him.”
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