Andrew Thacker, Geoff Collins, and the rest of the staff are now 2/2 at Dacula High School the last two cycles.
Following a busy month of June, with official visits to Maryland and Purdue, as well as multiple unofficial visits and camps, Dacula linebacker Kyle Efford went public with his decision to commit to Georgia Tech on Sunday.
Efford chose to team up with former teammate and close friend Kaleb Edwards over offers from Purdue, Maryland, Iowa State, Michigan, Duke, and several others.
Efford becomes commitment No. in the 2022 class, and the first linebacker commitment.
He spoke with JacketsOnline in-depth about his decision.
"Even throughout all of the COVID stuff and the dead period, they always showed love," said Efford about his future home. "We never stopped building a relationship, even when we hadn't seen each other in well over a year. Coach (Andrew) Thacker is my guy. They were always a top school for me due to the relationship he and I have built."
That relationship, as strong as it was going into the month of June, reached a new level following Efford's two trips to the Flats in the month of June.
"We were able to spend some time together, talk about things, and then after lunchtime we put in a workout. It was awesome to get a feel for each other with that. The workout wasn't too crazy, but it was nice to get some coaching while showing my movement skills and everything. I let him know a few days ago that I was ready to commit to them, and he was HYPED up."
Speaking of hyped up, former teammate, close friend, and now future teammate Kaleb Edwards was also pretty stoked about the chance to play with him at the next level.
"He was actually one of the first people I let know I was going to pull the trigger. I had asked him multiple questions about the program, because I knew he would be truthful and honest about everything."
As Edwards had answered each question from Efford, one-by-one, reality started to set in quickly that GT was the place for him.
"He and I had talked about it being one big family there," said Efford. "Between that and the location, they couldn't be beat. Being in Atlanta is the perfect spot for me. I'll be able to build my own brand with the new NIL rules.
Efford had planned for quite some time to make his decision before the season. The biggest box to check for him remained the same throughout the entire process.
"The biggest factor for me was the chance to be an early enrollee," said Efford. "I had that chance at each of my top three schools, but there were some others that were eliminated because I wasn't able to do that there."
The 6-foot-2, 230 pound linebacker finished his junior season at Dacula with 1,234 rushing yards and 24 total TD on offense, to go along with 82 tackles, 20 TFL, 2 sacks, 1 FR, 1 FF, 1 SAF, and 17 QBH. For his senior season, it seems as if things may be a bit more focused on his future college position.
"I got burned out a little bit after last season," said Efford about playing nearly every snap of Dacula's season. "I will still be playing both sides of the ball, but not as much. I will take some snaps off on offense."
When describing himself as a player, Efford used one word to describe his playing style: physical. He'll play the MIKE once he gets to Georgia Tech, but is also willing to play the WILL spot if it means he'll play earlier. Running back is out of the question, though.
"I like hitting people too much," said Efford when asked about the chance to play running back in college. I have that natural pop off the ball. I'm an old school guy, I love watching tape of guys like Ray Lewis. Physical is the best way to describe me."
