LaMiles Brooks healthy and making plays for GT's defense
Before the start of this football season for Georgia Tech, it was obvious that for the Yellow Jackets to make a bowl and play at least .500 football, a couple of key areas on the team had to step up and show improvement.
Tech is in a decent position at the halfway mark in 2022 to accomplish that goal at 3-3 having played through the most challenging part of their schedule, albeit taking a much different path in getting there than many predicted. Momentum is entirely on the Jackets’ side from winning back-to-back games for the first time since 2018 and the improved play in the back half of the defense under Travares Tillman is one of the biggest reasons for what people are seeing so far.
It is amazing how the little things such as communicating and being on the same page can allow players to play fast and swarm to the football, and this in and of itself is why the Tech defense has been stout throughout most of the year thus far. A telling stat that shows the secondary’s growth is that Tech is ranked 13th in the nation right now in passing defense adjusted to their opponents’ QB rating, in a model created by Pick Six Previews on Twitter. This includes the Ole Miss game in which they ran a ton against Tech, but nevertheless, it is still impressive with the Jackets’ shoring up their run defense after that game.
Sophomore safety LaMiles Brooks has played a huge role in what has transpired on the field defensively for the Yellow Jackets in 2022 and is someone that is going to be an incremental piece of that secondary moving forward.
Brooks has seen action at Tech going back to his first year on the Flats in 2020, with his role steadily increasing while persevering through some adversity with a shoulder injury and other setbacks. This year especially he has made some massive plays in critical parts of the game, most notably in the last two games against Pitt and Duke on important third down stops.
He has taken advantage of every opportunity since recovering from the aforementioned shoulder injury that made him miss this last spring.
“It’s very satisfying. I missed the entire spring due to shoulder surgery, so it's just good being back out here with my teammates. That’s what I missed the most, whether it’s playing good or playing bad. Just playing on the field with my teammates, so, it’s going well.” Brooks said about how he feels regarding his come-back from shoulder surgery.
With fellow safety Jaylon King out with an injury, Brooks has had to play alongside true freshman Clayton Powell-Lee, who has done a remarkable job doing what he needs to as a young guy playing a lot of meaningful snaps. Due to the way Brooks was asked about the true freshman, he was set up to talk about having to do extra to get Powell-Lee in the right spots. Instead, Brooks had glowing remarks about the young man’s preparation and focus as he has been thrown into the fire this year.
“It doesn’t add anything to me honestly. Clayton has been preparing since he has been here, he was waiting on a moment like this and he’s making the most of it,” Brooks said about Powell-Lee. “His communication, his preparation is always top level. So [because of that], he’s making plays.”
Interim coach Brent Key named Brooks as an important part of improving the communication piece with the secondary this season especially once King sustained his injury, and it cannot be emphasized enough how important this piece of the puzzle truly is. The lack of communication was what led to many lapses in coverage last season, and Brooks believes a more unified approach to it has led to the gains seen on the field.
“I mean it all starts in the meetings. Everybody’s engaged in the meetings, we communicate in the meetings which leads to communication in practice, which leads to communication in the games. When you communicate and everybody is on the same page whether you’re right or wrong everybody can play fast, and it allows us to make plays.” Brooks said.
The success the Yellow Jackets have had in recent weeks has brought a lot of excitement amongst everyone involved on the Flats, with Brooks saying that it has been nice to receive the support he has on campus from students and even professors. He attributes this success and the increased level of play within the back end to the preparation and work they have been putting in week to week.
“Preparation, once again. Our preparation is what allows us to play fast, [and] play together. Our brotherhood from the d-line to the linebackers all the way to the secondary, our communication [and] everything’s just flowing right now. I wouldn’t say [it’s] easy, but just the way we prepare in practice and meetings every day is showing out there on the field.” Brooks said.
Moving onto this week, a let-down game after multiple huge wins is something the Jackets simply have not been too familiar with in the past three seasons. Brooks believes their one day at a time and every game is a new season mentality is what can keep them from falling with that type of game coming up this Thursday night against Virginia.
“For us, it's really just winning the day, every day. There’s no room to fall off. The same team that we beat Pitt and Duke with cannot be the same team that’ll come out here and play Virginia. We gotta be better than how we’ve been previous weeks and we feel like that’ll lead to a dub,” Brooks said when asked how he feels about the potential for a let-down game against Virginia.
It is refreshing to hear the focus that Georgia Tech has on improving as a team after back-to-back wins instead of after tough losses stacked together, and these guys working their tails off for The Institute deserve to finally see their labor producing winning football. This Thursday night will be another test and is the next “season” for the Jackets within the 2022 season. Coming off a well-deserved bye week and time to recharge their batteries, we will see this team’s response when the Hoos come to town this Thursday night for a prime time 7:30 kick on ESPN in Bobby Dodd Stadium.