Yondjouen working for his breakout moment as a Jacket
CHARLOTTE- Georgia Tech defensive end Sylvain Yondjouen could finally be ready for a breakout season on the Flats after slowly developing and learning the game of football over the last five years after taking up the game post-high school.
Youndjouen signed with the Jackets from Belgium. An injury derailed his promising 2020 season and it took him until the fall of 2022 to finally be himself again.
The talented end finished 2022 with 2.5 sacks, five TFLs, and 32 tackles in a career-high 324 snaps on defense. He has big shoes to fill with Keion White in the NFL now with the New England Patriots and Yondjouen wants to double that snap count this fall.
With that goal in mind, Yondjouen has been focused on preparing his body this offseason for the grind of doubling his snap count.
"I keep in mind the idea of you have one body and I have to make sure I treat my body right," he said. "When you are starting and starting and starting, you are going to get bumps and bruises here and there, but if you take care of them I think you should be good."
Having Marco Coleman back in the fold as defensive line coach and specifically tutoring Yondjouen's position as a former NFL defensive end has helped as well. The coach and the player bonded in his first three seasons at Tech before Coleman left for Michigan State last year.
"I learned a lot from Coach (Larry) Knight), but having Coach Coleman back, I know that I am personally getting a lot better. I take in his coaching and I listen more specifically to him because he has already helped me so much. I've grown and I've seen his coaching get me better and better so I just have to trust him and go with what he says. I'm excited," Yondjouen said.
White posted 7.5 sacks and was third-team All-ACC last year. Yondjouen hopes to surpass that goal in his final season on the Flats.
"It gives me a lot of motivation to keep working hard because I saw Keion at the beginning of the season or even when he transferred, at first he didn't really play a lot, and then he played way more last year," Yondjouen said of seeing his former teammate in the NFL now. "Just seeing him work every day, he would come in, get treatment, get in the hot tub, get stretched before everybody, after everybody, stayed longer after workouts, and it just shows that if you put your mind to it and you keep working for it, it will pay off. That's what I'm trying to do just like him. Just keep working, head down, and we'll see where I get. Yeah, I'll put 100 (percent) every time."
Yondjouen and his teammates will aim to put in that 100 percent effort starting on August 1st when camp opens on the Flats ahead of a season opener against Louisville on September 1st in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.