Since the Geoff Collins era at Georgia Tech began in late 2018, there have been a total of 10 four-star signees at a variety of positions.
One of the only positions in which they had been unable to land one had been on the offensive line.
On Wednesday that changed, when Johns Creek (Ga.) OL Tyler Gibson went public with his decision to commit to Georgia Tech.
Gibson chose the Yellow Jackets over other offers from Florida State, Mississippi State, Virginia, and several others.
He becomes the #8 commit in the 2022 class.
Gibson actually sat on his decision for a little bit until he was ready to announce to the world where he was going. He actually made the decision a week ago.
“I committed a tiny bit after my visit. I was going back to my family thinking for a couple of days, maybe two days and I was thinking this is where I want to be and this is where I can call it home,” Gibson said of the process leading to his commitment.”
There were a lot of factors that swayed Gibson toward his commitment including the direction of the program under third-year head coach Geoff Collins and the ability to work with offensive line coach Brent Key.
“Coach Collins is up and coming as a coach and he is making the program come up. Coach Key is probably one of the best offensive line coaches in the country. Coach Key has had at least one lineman drafted every year for many years now in the NFL draft,” he said. “I just love the Tech program and it being close to home was a big factor. It is 30-40 minutes down the road for me and my family to easily get to and they can also come to see my games without any problems. I think all of that is why Georgia Tech is my home.”
Coach Key had a great reaction when Gibson gave him the news.
“Coach was all puffed up, he was like, ‘this is unbelievable.’ He was super excited. He went there is no way and I told him I was serious,” Gibson joked.
Gibson had prior relationships with several players that helped make him feel more comfortable as he got to spend time around the Tech campus as well.
“I knew two Tech players off the rip, Dylan Leonard the tight end and Jack Coco (snapper/TE). I know them both really well and Jack Coco came out of Johns Creek and Dylan is from Milton so getting to meet the other guys too on the official visit lifted me up and made me feel like I should go there. All the offensive linemen were funny and told jokes. They were guys I could be around with and guys I want to hang out with on the regular,” Gibson said. “That’s why I love them.”
With the ability to play multiple positions on the offensive line, Gibson offers from flexibility but he says he doesn’t care where he plays when he gets to Tech.
“Honestly everyone sees me as a guard and honestly I’m just going to play wherever (coach Key) wants me to play. I’ll play everything. I’ll play center, I’ll play guard, I’ll play tackle so wherever they need a play ballplayer that is what I’ll do and what I will tell coach Key,” Gibson said.
One interesting side note from Gibson about his recruitment is he thinks he would’ve committed earlier to Georgia Tech had it been a normal recruiting cycle without the long dead period.
“Honestly I would’ve committed earlier had I been going down there every weekend. I would’ve been going down to Tech on free days or every weekend because I wanted to build that relationship and bond between us, me and the coaches and the players,” he said. “Even when I’m not a part of the team yet I’m going to do that. I’m already planning to go down there this weekend again before the dead period starts and I’m definitely going back the last week of July when the dead period ends again. I want to go as many times as I can to bond with these coaches so I can be a part of the team and I want to do the same with the commits because they will be my future teammates too.”
The Gibson family are also all on board with the decision.
“My family, they are going ballistic. My grandfather who passed away two years ago during my freshman year after our last regular-season game was actually a Georgia Tech fan. So, that was a very weird coincidence, but I think it was meant to be after I got all these offers because I think it was meant to be and my grandfather wanted me to be a Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket,” he said. “My mom, my dad, my aunt, my grandma they are very excited. My aunt was balling her eyes out. My brother thinks I found the best fit for me and my family is excited because they were going to sell the house if I went to Indiana, Mississippi State or Florida State. Now they don’t have to sell the house.”
Gibson said he is 100-percent committed to Georgia Tech and ready to join the program a year from now in the summer of 2022.