Oliver gaining confidence as a CB at GT
Tobias Oliver has made solid contributions no matter what position he’s played or what side of the ball he’s been on during his time at Georgia Tech. But now that he’s had a chance to settle in for a full season and, more importantly, a full offseason at cornerback rather than being constantly on the move to another position group or unable to get enough prep work in due to Covid restrictions, the differences are expected to show on the field in 2021.
Oliver, who has seen time at quarterback, wide receiver and kick returner while playing On The Flats, enters his fifth season as a Jacket with confidence and more of an understanding of his position thanks to a full season in 2020 of learning on the fly and the following offseason of breaking everything down that he needed to work on in order to be more consistent.
“Honestly, I’ve bounced around for the last two or three years. Right now I feel as good as I’ve felt physically over the last three years,” said Oliver. “I finally got like a true offseason at a position. You know I came in at quarterback. I didn’t finish the season at quarterback. I went to receiver. And then Covid happened so I didn’t have an offseason at corner. I kind of had to just do things on my own at home. Then I had to play that season at corner. But having the offseason here, doing the player-led 7-on-7s during the summer really helped out so I feel very confident at the position.”
Oliver played in nine games last season at cornerback and on special teams and had 10 total tackles. Most of the plays he made were admittedly based on instincts rather than a deep knowledge of the cornerback position. He said the difference a year makes is drastic after never really playing defensive back any time before during his college or high school career.
“Like I said, I didn’t have much experience at the position at all,” said Oliver. “I’ve never played it in my life. I didn’t really have an organized offseason. So going into (last season) I really didn’t know what to expect. Obviously, I wanted to play a lot just because I’m a competitor and I wanted to play. But there were times when I was on the field where I was like ‘okay, there are some things I’ve got to learn and there are some things I’ve got to get better at.’ Yeah, last year was definitely an eye-opener. I wasn’t as ready as I thought I was. But it was a good evaluation for myself to just step back and be like ‘okay, that’s the season with me playing corner with no experience.’ But now that I have the chance to have an offseason and work on those things I saw last year, it led me to great preparation for this year.”
The move to cornerback prior to the 2020 season came after a 2019 campaign where the former Northside High standout did a little bit of everything for the Jackets in Geoff Collins first year at the helm. Oliver started the Jackets’ opener at quarterback and then once again made a start as the signal-caller against Temple before switching to receiver halfway through the season. He finished the season with two rushing touchdowns and one receiving touchdown while also averaging 21.2 yards on 14 kick returns.
Oliver said he relied a lot on his athleticism in his first year at cornerback but getting more work in the offseason and more reps at the position as well as feeling better physically has given him more confidence going into his second full season at the position.
“I feel like for corner it’s such a feel thing,” said Oliver. “Obviously, I have athleticism. I can run with a lot of guys. But at the end of the day there is still technique to it. It reached a point where I knew I was fast, I knew I could run with anybody so I just opened and run with them. Having this offseason really helped me develop my technique, allowed me to perfect my craft. So really just breaking down the position…more than just running with people, knowing what they’re going to do, when they’re going to do it. Looking at the splits…me playing offense, knowing the technique, now I can think about what the offense is doing, whereas last year it was more playing reactive.
“Physically, this is the best I’ve ever felt in my life. I was kind of banged up the last two years. I had a couple of surgeries. This offseason I was the strongest…weighed as much I’ve weighed. Physically I feel the best I’ve ever felt, and at the position I’ve gotten tons of reps so it feels like second nature right now.”
Oliver made a huge impact early on at quarterback in 2018 where he served as the backup to TaQuon Marshall and made one start. He ran for 876 yards for the season and led Georgia Tech in rushing touchdowns with 12, including a 215-yard, three-touchdown effort in his only start which was a victory at Virginia Tech.
Oliver said that his experience at quarterback and on the offensive side of the ball in general is something he has used to his advantage since making the move to corner.
“Seeing the offense come out to the point where I can almost feel what they are going to do, I’m alerting the defense watch for motions, just because I know what offenses typically get into when they’re going to motion,” said Oliver. “Looking at the receivers’ splits to alert the nickel and the free safety to look for these routes because this is typically what they run when they are lined up here. So just being smarter at the position. Being smarter allows the game to slow down a lot.”
As Oliver goes into his redshirt-junior season, which begins next Saturday, Sept. 4 vs. Northern Illinois at Bobby Dodd Stadium at 7:30 p.m., he said he and the team expect to show improvement and growth under Collins, who heads into his third season on the job and looking to show major progress in his makeover of the Georgia Tech program.
“Honestly, I think if we just get better every day (the season will be a success),” said Oliver. “There is going to be ups and downs during the season. People are going to get banged up. People are going to go down. But as long as we keep our eye on the end goal, when those hard times come we really have to revert back to our training and can’t get stuck in the moment. Honestly just keeping our eye on the prize the whole time. I feel like we’ve matured a lot this offseason. Last year we had a lot of the same players. We had athleticism all over the field, but I just felt like we were immature at times. We would be leading a team at halftime, come out in the third quarter, a little adversity and then we would back down a little bit. I feel like right now we’ve matured a lot as a team, and overcame a lot of adversity. So it’s just about being mature and fighting back from adversity.”