4 things to know about Georgia Tech commit Brandon Adams

The ESPN College GameDay set will not be paying a visit to South Bend, IN HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Credit: Ken Sugiura

Credit: Ken Sugiura

The ESPN College GameDay set will not be paying a visit to South Bend, IN HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Georgia Tech commit Brandon Adams was a longtime commit to Vanderbilt, but the defensive tackle changed his decision earlier this week, switching to the Yellow Jackets after making official visits to both schools. Adams, from Brentwood Academy in Brentwood, Tenn., is a three-star prospect rated the No. 53 defensive tackle in the country by 247 Sports.

No pressure

In his official visit meetings with both coach Paul Johnson and Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason, neither pressured him to commit. Adams said that both told him to “do what’s best for you.” Adams said that when he called Mason to tell him he was going to sign with Tech, he was respectful of his decision.

“I really respect him,” Adams said. “He was like, he’ll be rooting for me and he’ll be keeping watch on me.”

Tech, you may recall, will play Vanderbilt in the third game of the season.

A lot of love

On his visit, Adams said he, his parents and sister were “smothered” with love from Tech coaches and staff.

“Not like hugging and all the phony-type stuff,” he said. “They were just really, really nice. It was just easy to talk to them. It just felt right.”

He appreciated that defensive coordinator Ted Roof didn’t push for a commitment, either.

“He’s like, no pressure on you this weekend,” Adams said. “We just want to show you what we have. I really liked that. ‘We’re going to be who we are, and if you want to be part of it, you can be a part of it.’”

He said that defensive line coach Mike Pelton “made me feel like they would take care of me. That was a big thing for my parents. They wanted to know that, wherever I went, I would be taken care of.”

Adams’ area recruiter is linebackers coach Andy McCollum.

“Coach Mac’s something else,” he said. “Coach Mac always makes me feel like I’m at home and his home is my home.”

He said that Pelton showed him how he would fit into the defensive scheme and said that, “if I come in and work my tail off, I could be in the rotation, maybe even starting at defensive tackle.”

Two observations of Johnson

1. "He knows how to make you laugh."

2. "He won't lie to you. He won't lead you astray."

Bringing size

Adams is 6-foot-2 and 315 pounds. The heaviest defensive lineman on last year's roster was freshman tackle Kyle Cerge-Henderson at 290 pounds.