Georgia Tech got a pretty big piece of the offensive puzzle at tight end last year in the portal with Jackson Hawes from Yale, and the Jackets' hope is that J.T. Byrne fills that same kind of role in 2024 as the Cal transfer announced his commitment to Georgia Tech today. Byrne picked the Jackets over Louisville and Arizona who were his other two finalists after visits.
Byrne becomes the Jackets' seventh portal commit of this cycle. The 6-foot-5, 255-pound tight end Byrne started his career at Oregon State where he spent two seasons before transferring to play the last two seasons at Cal. The graduate transfer will have one season of eligibility for the Jackets.
The connection to Tech came via film study during Cal's inaugural season in the ACC. Byrne said he became intrigued by what he saw watching the Jackets play opponents and connected with tight end coach Nathan Brock once he entered the portal.
"I hit up Coach Brock and we were able to chat a little bit and hop on the phone pretty early in my portal process and I think obviously what he has done with his tight ends and the way they have gone about having multiple grad transfers and that experience. I was looking for a place where I could dedicate a year of hard work and good football and we just hit it off and then I was able to get out to Atlanta last week and take a visit and I really enjoyed what he is about and what the rest of the staff is about."
The Jackets need to replace multiple senior tight ends with the graduation of starter Jackson Hawes and primary backup tight ends Ryland Goede and Avery Boyd. At Cal, the Bears were primarily 11-personnel leaving Byrne to be the blocking tight end in certain situations limiting his snaps to a handful each game. He was excited for the opportunity to play in an offense that values that position more.
"Throughout this whole process, I've been trying to find the right place schematically along with a lot of other aspects of it. A good culture and obviously the most important is I wanted to go somewhere and help the team win a championship and not just a conference championship but a National Championship and I feel like that is extremely doable at Tech," he said. "From a personnel standpoint, the way they use that tight ends really excites me. The way that multiple guys were able to get a lot of time and the style of offense with a lot of two tight end sets has me fired up. When I was first hit up by Coach Brock I was super fired up because I watched film all year on them and I loved what they been doing with the tight end room."
The meeting with head coach Brent Key was what sealed the deal for Byrne who made his decision last weekend and wanted to announce this Friday publicly.
"I think sitting down with Coach Key and being able to hear about what his values are for the team and for me being able to see what I saw on film and how it translated to who they are as people. It did not surprise me one bit because how they play on the field is a reflection of who they are. They play hard and they play physical with extreme effort," Byrne said. "All of that made me want to be a part of that and excited me to try to do what I could do to help contribute to the team winning a championship next year and I'm going to do whatever I can to help the team achieve that goal next year."
Byrne played in 11 games for the Golden Bears in 2024 but didn't record any offensive stats. He was utilized mostly for his blocking on offense but also played some special teams where he recorded two tackles. He played in five games during the 2023 season at Cal and before that, he played in 10 games over his two seasons at Oregon State.
Byrne was ranked as a 2-star (5.4) prospect by Rivals out of Carmel High in Carmel, California in the 2021 recruiting class and chose Oregon State over nine other offers.
Georgia Tech will be losing three tight ends off the 2024 roster, including the redshirt senior Hawes, as well as senior Avery Boyd and redshirt senior Ryland Goede.
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