Tech D-Lineman Keion White a vital piece to the Jackets’ puzzle on defense
With spring ball continuing to roll on for the Yellow Jackets, many fans are hoping for signs of noticeable improvement that will elevate Georgia Tech this fall.
For the defensive side specifically, there are a couple of players whose potential to breakout in 2022 would make the most impact. The emergence of Keion White, Tech’s incredibly talented defensive end, is something that could bolster the defense up to heights we have not seen in the Geoff Collins’ era so far.
White now stands at 6’4, 280 pounds, and is projected to anchor down the field side of the Jackets DL this fall. In his first season at DE after moving from TE in 2019 with Old Dominion, he flashed his potential accumulating 19 tackles for loss, tying for 10th place in the FBS that year. He ended up opting out of the 2020 Covid season deciding to use it to hone in his craft, and subsequently sustained an ankle injury before the start of the 2021 season after transferring to Tech.
This ankle injury was an unfortunate blow to any kind of success White hoped to achieve last season. It also greatly inhibited him from providing what he and the coaching staff knows he is capable of.
“So last year, I was just trying to get out there and get the confidence. Just seeing that I could do it, but I wasn’t anywhere near 100 percent. I was probably 60 percent when I was playing,” White said about his 2021 season. “But now, I feel better, I’m roughly around 90 [percent]. Just trying to get back to who I can be, and every day it gets better. My ankle wasn’t near where it needed to be last year. But now, working with our head athletic trainer Mark, he’s done a good job of getting me back on track as far as being explosive, power, fast-twitch and everything I need to be.”
Instead of letting the emotions of a rough season get him down regardless of the reason why White has maintained a positive attitude throughout that has allowed him to use these trials as learning experiences and become better because of them.
“I don’t really look at things as a negative, life happens. It’s unfortunate that life happens, but it can be worse, that’s the way I see it,” White said of his situation. “I just trained every day, and worked as hard as I could, and just did everything I needed to do to get to where I needed to be.”
When looking at getting to the next step as far as his development is concerned, White mentioned new DL coach David Turner getting him some reps inside trying to take advantage of his added size. This, along with continuing to improve his pass rush from both spots, are his main focus at this point in spring ball. He also believes working with different coaches throughout his collegiate career has helped his development and allowed him to pick up new things from each person.
Moving onto preparations being made in spring ball currently for this fall, he made it known that the defense is focused on staying true to themselves and the style of defense they want to play. This, along with added execution in spots should equal success for Tech, especially if players like White add disruption in the backfield that keeps opposing offenses on their toes every snap.
“We’re trying to stay true to who we are. We have a little bit more schemes in with Coach Collins coming in and being a part of the defense a little more and having a little bit more hands-on,” White said. “I’m not the best person to ask because I only played four games last year, but it hasn’t truly changed that much. We’re just trying to get the fundamentals down and being able to execute. I feel like you can run any defense, but if you can’t all be on the same page and execute, it doesn’t matter what you run.”
White believes he has a lot of room to improve as far as fully mastering the DE position, which is honestly exciting when you turn on that 2019 film of his and see his natural ability. This fall will determine whether he takes that next step as it will for the Jackets’ defense as a whole.