Everyone can use an advocate, and Georgia Tech defensive end Anree Saint-Amour’s happens to be his teammate Brenatvious Glanton.
“I’ve never seen him fail at (lifting) any weight he’s done, like, ever,” said Glanton, a defensive tackle. “I’ve seen (strength-and-conditioning coach John Sisk) tell him, ‘Stop. Don’t put any more weight on.’ Like, there’s no point.”
Saint-Amour, a junior from North Gwinnett High, did confirm that Glanton wasn’t spinning a tale. In a session where Tech players were testing their bench-press maximums, Saint-Amour said he hoisted 435 pounds and felt he could do more, but Sisk told him he had done enough.
“But Brentavious likes hyping me up,” Saint-Amour said.
While hardly slender, Saint-Amour’s physique – he is listed 6-foot-3 and 247 pounds – doesn’t necessarily look the part of one of the strongest players on the team. But Glanton testifies, as does Saint-Amour’s max squat of about 500 pounds.
“Anree’s probably the strongest athlete I’ve ever seen,” Glanton said.
With more playing time at Tech’s strongside end spot, Saint-Amour has blended his strength and quickness with added experience through two games. He was credited with two quarterback hurries against Tennessee in the season opener. Against Jacksonville State, he picked up two sacks and another tackle for loss. A backup as a freshman and sophomore, he has taken regular snaps, sharing the two end spots with KeShun Freeman and Antonio Simmons.
“He’s been one of our better guys in the pass rush and had a couple tackles for loss,” coach Paul Johnson said. “He’s an explosive guy and hopefully he can continue to improve on assignments and responsibilities, but when he’s out there, he brings a good athlete that’s very explosive coming off the line to the game.”
When Tech plays Pitt at 12:20 p.m. Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium in the ACC opener for both teams, the Yellow Jackets could use more. The Panthers may be changing quarterbacks, and the more that Tech can rattle either incumbent Max Browne or backup Ben DiNucci, the better. Often playing from behind and in passing situations through three games, the Panthers have given up 10 sacks.
Saint-Amour’s passion for building strength started in high school. When his older brother Manrey earned a football scholarship to Georgia Southern, Anree took inspiration to follow the same path.
“I didn’t want to let anybody down, be the one not to get into college, so I’m trying to make sure I’m the strongest, fastest I can possibly be,” Saint-Amour said.
Saint-Amour said his coach at North Gwinnett, Bob Sphire (now at Camden County High), created a competitive environment in the weight room that pushed him daily.
His lower-body enables him to drive back offensive tackles who might outweigh him by 70 pounds or stop running backs cold, while his upper-body strength helps him disengage from linemen to bring down quarterbacks.
“He’s really strong, like a He-Man-type dude,” Freeman said.
Against Jacksonville State, Saint-Amour pushed back offensive tackle Justin Lea (290 pounds) in the pocket and then shucked him when linebacker Brant Mitchell’s blitz flushed quarterback Bryant Horn toward him.
On a run play in the third quarter, Saint-Amour was left unblocked on a handoff to Gamecocks running back Roc Thomas, who barreled into Saint-Amour and had his momentum stopped for a loss of three yards.
“I feel like it’s just the game slowing down,” said Saint-Amour, who is studying operations in the business school. “I’m kind of getting older, more experienced with it.”
Tech needs a consistent pass rush, and the Jackets’ hope is that Simmons, Freeman and Saint-Amour can improve what has been a glaring weakness in recent seasons. The Jackets ranked 114th in sacks per game in 2016 (1.39), tied for 121st in 2015 (1.17) and 108th in 2014 (1.43). Johnson has sought a more aggressive style of play from defensive coordinator Ted Roof’s defense in large part to create more negative-yardage plays.
“I would like to get 10 sacks, over single digits,” Saint-Amour said. “But I’m just going to keep on playing hard. Whatever I can rack up, any type of numbers would be good for me.”
If his production can match up with the poundage he throws around in the weight room, the Jackets would be quite pleased.
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