Zach Pyron discusses with Wreck Talk the Spring Game, QB Competition, 2023 Season Goals and more!

[Music] I'm tired of being what you want me to be feeling so faithless lost under the surface you don't know what you're expecting of me but under the pressure of walking in your shoes [Music] I think I've become so nice [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] can't you see that you're smothering me holding too tightly afraid to lose control all right I know we're all excited to get into the Zach pyron interview but first a word from our sponsor section 103. now if you've watched uh Rec talk for any length of time you know that Rec talk is a huge fan of section 103. I was talking about how great these guys were well before I ever did a sponsored video with them Benjamin London uh 247 reporter also a huge fan they're one of the few uh Georgia Tech apparel providers that has the official Georgia Tech colors you don't find that many places they have the official ATL branding you're going to find that this shirt's actually a section 103 shirt I bought they have the Brent key hoodie I highly recommend getting for all you die hard tech fans out there they have apparel for men women even the little children anything you're going to want they have stickers all that started by a Georgia Tech grad and for a limited time if you use code Rec talk you're going to get 10 off your order motor which is so simple a Georgia fan can figure it out so uh check that out and with that let's get into the interview everyone we have a very special guest here the one the only Zachary pyron uh Mr pyron how are you sir I'm doing well how are you doing very well so I don't where it looks like you're recovering from your injury well um how is that coming along was it a clavicle on your non-throwing arm left shoulder and it's uh it's going really well I'm feeling really good you know um it's feeling really good so uh we're on we're on track doing what I need to be doing and I'm feeling really good so awesome do you do you expect to play in the spring game uh I believe so yeah okay uh cool well you know looking at your um resume super impressive so um three of your four years in high school you win state titles so you win two state titles at the Double a level and he said that's not enough though let me go to the 6A and win one of those um kind of tell us about your high school career uh playing the quarterback position in Alabama what was that like oh it was awesome I would have changed it for a thing you know so uh High School view created a smaller school you know we were uh kind of like a hybrid Wing offense you know ran the ball a good bit you know I wasn't really throwing it so you know I was asked to run the ball 20 30 times a game and it sounds like the triple option guys basically what it was I was also playing defense so I was playing offense and defense my ninth 10th grade year uh you know we had a really good team went 30-0 that year and then you know decided you know if I wanted to go play some college ball I'm gonna have to throw the ball a little bit more uh showcase I can do some things to move to Pinson Valley which was the second highest classification in Alabama and uh surrounded myself with some really good coaches some really good players and uh went on to win state championship that year and then you know my senior year didn't make it as far as we wanted to but still had a really good year so so at what point in your career did Tech start recruiting you uh my senior year okay who who recruited you so coach key offered me okay um and then it was coach key and Coach Pat node who was a former OC before coach Wong or the two that really uh recruit me hard and then when some coaching turnover happened coach key was the one really recruit me hard and also coach Coleman so when I have my in-home visit Coach Collins coach key and Coach uh Coleman off flew in and then when coach Wong got hired coach key and Coach Wong flew in and those were so you know I kind of went through faces of different coaches getting in and going out so really the biggest one was coach key he was a he was a steady factor and all but okay so I imagine you're you're pretty obviously close with with Coach key seems like he's been the I guess the common denominator throughout your time your time at Tech um so why did you choose tech because they obviously they weren't the only one who offered you right like what was it about tech that that made you commit especially with kind of this turnover that was going on well I saw that you know that you know the program Tech used to be the prestigious winning program they had you know um you know there's a lot of history with tech and I just wanted to help bring Frank back to what it was you know making a Powerhouse like it used to be and you know try and build that back and then also you know coach key did a really good job recruiting me telling me everything I needed to hear and then from school-wise you know it's a 40-year decision you know football is going to end someday no matter if you make it to the league or not and Tech sets the players up in great positions to be successful off the field outside of football so all kind of the factors of you know being able to play for a historic dominant Powerhouse football team uh you know bring them back to where they were the chance of being that and then also you know the the school that it actually is you know it's a great school great academic school so uh for sure yeah um there's not a degree at Tech that you're not going to be able to have a pretty decent career with um so we you know you already mentioned kind of this turnover of coaches so you've gone through a transition this will be your third OC that you've dealt with since you've been there at Georgia Tech from Pat node to long um to Buster Faulkner now have you met with Buster yet or have you talked to him at all yes sir so I met with Buster right when he got hired it was funny I was actually in their interviewing coach Faulkner I happen to be walking by coach Keys office oh wow with somebody and I got to uh say hey to him so I've got a taco Buster or some and you know we've been doing some stuff there right now all the coaches are getting the offense put together you know so we got the I I think I see I'll probably talk to coach about Coach Faulkner once a day so oh awesome so what's your feel of of Buster um because I know you know the the kind of word on the street is he was the the mechanic for stetson's um success at Georgia I mean is he just like a good old laid-back guy like how you feel about buster he's a he's definitely a fiery dude on the field you know he's um he doesn't get after us you know he's gonna coach us hard but what's awesome about Coach Faulkner is that um you know he's a good dude off the field he really cares about his players he's a genuine relationship with us and he's going to make sure that you know you know he's showing us love but also as soon as he step across that white line on the field it's he's in coach's heart he's going to expect us to operate fast you know rid the middle mistakes and all these things so he's got a good you know he's a really he's a really good guy I I feel like we're going to make a really good connection with him and I also love his coaching style you know he's not he's not going to be a laid back coach he's going to be out there he's going to be coaching us hard and you know I expect a lot out of us but in return He we're expecting a lot out of him and he knows that and he's gonna work just as hard as we do to help us be successful right do you have a feel for what style of offense he wants to run and do you have a preference is there is there a style of offense you like you like to run I mean I'm sure a quarterback you want to open up and throw it of course I'd like to throw it you know but you know honestly whatever it takes to win when is the main priority for me you know I love to win um and all these things I'm not exactly sure what coach Faulkner is going to want to do uh just because him and the coaching staff is still putting together everything you know they've not had as much time together some guy so they're trying to get everything ready by spring so I'm sure by Spring we'll know exactly what we want to do right now he's still putting everything together but you know I'm willing to do whatever it takes to win so whatever coach Faulkner asking me is what I'm gonna try and do and do my best at awesome um so I also wanted to ask you um I mean you had um very interesting season last year with you know you go from basically running the scout team to really a week later being the guy right what was that like for you was that kind of jarring was it just kind of hey this one thing at a time this is the next thing yeah it was you know coach winky always tells us everybody has a role in the QV room and uh you know like he said at the time my role wasn't to be the guy yet you know we had Jeff and you know Jeff was performing really well until he got injured and like coach winky was telling me and Coach key also would tell me you know you know scout team is a really good way to improve you know like I would have been anywhere with near where I was last year or ready to play if it wasn't for scout team I was getting to go against that defense every single day live you know Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday I was going to go live against him every single day work on my skills and then at night I was getting more on the offense and meet with the offensive guys so you know in the scout team was a huge huge huge uh help for me to develop my skills and take that year to develop and then Virginia gang when Jeff ended up getting hurt and uh we had that bye week afterwards you know that bye week I really worked hard on you know trying to understand the offense and understand everything and um then four state came so luckily that bye week got us time to get used to getting Rhythm you know and you know it was a big change you know but coach winky does a really good job getting us repaired and getting us ready and you know no matter who you are in the quarterback room he's always going to expect you to be ready to play and you know he tells everybody to prepare every week like you're the starter so you know coach Frankie did a really good job helping us with everybody for it yeah um and and maybe it walks through that too because uh you know I think against Virginia Jeff goes down Zach comes in struggles a little bit I'm not here to dog on anyone at all Florida State he gets the first series and I'm sure it was communicated to you that like you were gonna get some playing time in this Florida State game but you know uh Gibson gets the first series and then you go in on the road against one of the better teams in the ACC like what were you feeling going out there like what was that like I'm sure it had to be thrilling you know it was awesome you know it was uh something you always dream of you know for me dreamed growing up playing college football and it was pretty cool getting to do it against Florida State you know prestigious uh College you know they have a really good fan base errors you know it was a Pat game and you know they're kind of going to use me as they run the ball a little bit more to get some of the Run game going and you know when I went in there you know this is a testament to coach Winky and Coach Keys coaching style you know they make practices so hard where you know I went into the game you know I wasn't nervous you know or anything you know I was I was ready to play you know because we practiced so hard and they expect so much out of us for practice where it really does make the game so much easier so um you know I was excited to play I was ready to go and you know it was just it felt good being able to be on that field so you weren't nervous at all that first snap like I don't remember if it was out of the gun or not but I would probably be thinking like please just don't fumble this or do something yeah it was it was out of the gun it was a it was a quarterback power so okay got me got me hit first got me feeling good got all the Jitters out you know but I really wasn't even nervous going into it you know like you know I always say if you prepare as hard as you can there should be no reason you're nervous because you did all you can through the week you know so I prepared as much as I could have and you know once you get in the game there's nothing else you can do except play so and and I think that's like a testament and I don't think people give Coach winky enough credit for putting you guys in in the best position to succeed you know as opposed to just having a car like we're gonna run these five plays to start off the game or or whatever like I think a quarterback power with you is is um genius because it's like you don't really have to worry about um get it getting the handoff right or anything it's just get it and and go what what was um because it seemed like winky was calling the plays toward the end of the season um what's what what was that like with Winky because when he's awesome you know he's so he's so minute in the small details and no expects respects a lot out of us and coaches really hard but you know when we get in that film room you know it's always like look what you see here what's all this and he's really understanding and tries to walk through with us but as soon as we step on the field it's hard coats and you know he's a hard coach to play for but you gotta love it because it's what makes you better I'm not exactly sure the last two weeks if he was calling place or not because I didn't travel to a North Carolina game because I just had surgery I wasn't exactly sure about those two weeks um but you know coach winky did a really good job communicating with Coach long last year about what we were comfortable with what we weren't comfortable with and you know they would always communicate between every play you know coach along would ask for inputs on what we like or didn't like and all these things and Coach winky does a really good job doing what's best for us and putting us in the best position to be successful so um obviously don't get the result we want against Florida State um then we go stay on the road go to Blacksburg Virginia um very tough place to play um and and ended up you know balling out I mean it was back and forth we just we just kind of kept clawing what was that game like for you oh it was it was a fun game you know the inner Sandman entrance was pretty cool you know Virginia Tech has a great fan base extremely Wild game uh you know it was it that was a really fun game you know it was a coach long said it was a fun game to call you know we were doing pretty good the first half and then you know some ups and downs went and other sold the testing it had a team how much we're going to fight you know we had that pick six happen you know that as kind of a fluke play and I wasn't expecting that linebacker to make a play like that and then that punt return hurt us you know but you know that's a testament one to the defense too you know explaining how good they are and you know that was a game where we kind of really all came together as a team and you know we were like look no nobody else is going to believe in us with this however much time left being down these two scores you know this is really just up to us to do something and everybody stayed together and then I can't remember the sequence I think we threw the touchdown first and that put us put us between one and then we gotta stop again and then we had that right I had that Russian touchdown and you know that kind of was a test of everybody you know really good running attack right there with Dante and Hassan and Jamie the whole game and then being able to throw what we wanted to you know they had a really good defense really good defensive scheme it was hard to scheme for and you know everybody just really battled that game and fought offensively and defensively and you know really came together as a team that was extremely fun game to play in yeah and I don't know if you know or not I actually just taught with Clayton Powell Lee uh right before I talked to you and um I think that was the game that really displayed like something would go wrong on on offense and then Lee Ely and Thomas one of them is going to come up with a turnover or step up and make a big play and give you another chance um and that that was amazing so then you know the Miami comes in I'll be honest when you score the touchdowns against Virginia Tech you I thought you took an awkward hit on your shoulder there where the guy came in on the side of you I don't know if you're you know if that might have given you a uh banged you up a little bit there but you come into Miami and and I guess walk us through that man I mean it's got to be heartbreaking to step up be the guy in your freshman year and um have your season in there yeah I mean it sucked how it ended you know but you know at least I got some experience I got some plants on one of my belt and uh you know going to the Miami game I was you know I've tried to pride myself on being the toughest toughest guy on the field that I can be or being the toughest guy on the field so I was battling some stuff already going to the Miami game uh all the way back from the Florida State game that I was having to uh battle with so you know that like my thing is I can't make excuses for it you know because I played in the game and If You're Gonna Play in the game then you know gotta be as good as you can be and prepared so Miami had a really good team you know we kind of came out slow and then we had that 99-yard drive right before halftime and we were down 14-7 and then uh I think we got we had a good drive right at the third quarter got stopped and we were driving the ball again right before I got hurt and threw that through that interception on that trick play you know but that was after you got her I broke my Carbone to drive before that and you know I kind of got up just thought I dislocated it and I was like oh I think I can keep playing through it so I didn't say nothing and you know as soon as I went to clap to get the ball I really couldn't move my left hand I was like yeah I don't feel right as soon as I threw it I was like yeah I don't have any power because you know that was a touchdown if I'm not hurt you know Dylan's wide open I can throw some I can throw it you know it's not going to be undercutting anything and we have a tie game right there so you know I wish I would have got hurt game might have been a little bit different uh I would like to say we would tight it up that drive it would have been important but uh you know that's that's football you know you got to deal with adversity you know like coach winky says you can't blink an eye you got to keep going and you know I try to play through it for as long as I could and I was just like you know I'm just gonna end up hurting the team if I keep trying to so do you feel like you learned anything from that because the play that you got hurt on you'd already gotten the first down and then you know ton of respect because you're like I just want to make contact and drive through this guy and end up end up getting hurt I as Wiki talked about maybe like hey just slide right there after this yeah he's talked he's talking about Warren and you know when to protect myself and when not through uh that was my fault for thinking it was third down uh because we had a penalty to play before that right instead of being third down to a second down so I thought it was third and fifteen and uh I thought I needed about another yard or two yeah so I was trying to get the first down but if I would have known it was second down I would have said and if I would have known I already had the first Ally with a switch that kind of comes in with having awareness and yeah just keep improving my game you know but something coach Keith talked with me about after the gang it's like it was a really good learning game for us we learned a lot and uh you know just my IQ from those situations gone up a lot to help me going into this year just to keep improving yeah and it's easy for us to say watching the game right you don't have this bright yellow line that says this is the first down right you're you're just you're just trying to make a play um on the field um I also want to talk about so now this something I'd ask uh Clayton you know we we've gone through kind of the worst stretch we have in in the time I've watched Georgia tag um three and nine three and nine three and nine and then end up making I think something out of um kind of a bad situation so we transitioned from from Coach Collins to coach key um and what I told Clayton is one of the things that I was really respected about Brent key was he didn't really dance around the issue um you know he he was asked did you change anything about practice and he said absolutely you know we changed everything about practice what was that like for you guys what changes did you guys see implemented um Etc yeah that's like you know that's a testament of Coach key but also some of the leaders we had on the team last year you know some of the leaders are on the team were like look we can either roll over lay down or roll over and be done with a year because something bad happened or we can all step up you know make a change and keep playing and you know play as hard as we can you know that's something that you know coach key you know we we love coach key and we we play extremely hard for Coach Keane we do anything for him you know personally I'll do anything for Coach key and you know it's a testament to all the players and everybody on how they respect we have for Coach key and you know we really didn't ask any questions we're really not compliant we just wanted to work and uh you know did what he asked we did it as hard as we could you know that's a testament to you know the leaders in the team making sure everybody knew that and then Coach key also yeah and and obviously I'm not here to bash anyone who's not there anymore that's not my goal was there anything that key change that you were like yes that that's awesome I'm glad he did that yeah there are a few things I know every coach has their own philosophy coach gee being from under uh coach save and you know you look at that saving tree of assistant coaches and not our head coaches that are successful so you know coach can you change some things you know that may have helped us a little bit more uh you know but you know like every coach has their own philosophy and their own way of doing things so he also coached Senator uh George O'Leary who was had a lot of success at tech for about um 15 years so we have a ton of weapons at wide receiver coming in this season with Chase Lane uh like I think we have like eight wide receivers coming in have I don't think Chase is going to be here for the spring because I think he's finishing up his degree at Texas A M um how do you feel about the new talent coming in the weapons that that you might have this season uh I mean between the guys we got coming back and the guys be coming in I think we're gonna be really talented at the uh receiving core you know we got guys like Leo Blackburn and hopefully this year you know he's in battle in engines every year DJ Moore who's in my class you know uh then we got Malik Rutherford who's going to step up for some guys transferring out you know he proved in the last two games that he can do it and then Christian Leary uh yes another stud so I mean I I can name every single receiver on the team and be happy with them so yeah that's the guys are working really hard too the receivers are working really hard we've got really great receiver coach now with Coach Crawford you know he's proven from where he's been so uh really right now it's you know coach Keys giving us everything we need to be successful nauseous up to us to work as hard as we can you know do we want it or not and I think these guys want it and you know they're doing everything everything we ask them to do and more so and I think that's a good question too um you know you do have a lot of people you haven't necessarily played with before and it you know you can make the right read but if the timing isn't right and you'd there's kind of a trust I would think between you and your wide receiver when you throw the stop he's going to turn at the time you turn you expect them to turn so absolutely that's you know coach uh Kurt Frankie's big on Rhythm and timing of our feet which also we have to tie that up with the route so that's why we try to throw as much as we can in the off season right now to know one to learn how these guys Run To See How They Run See How They Run routes and also establish the chemistry between everybody and that's really important you know and that's testing of the receivers explaining how hard they work and how willing they are to throw and stuff and you know just making sure that we're successful in everything we do so I imagine y'all film your throwing motions too and break them down a little bit coach Winky's not huge on uh changing throwing motions because we've been doing it our whole life right like heel foots and stuff you know like last year I had some questions when I was throwing and stuff you know he'll fix some stuff and mechanic wise on it and you know like you know coach link he's extremely mind like detailed on all the small details and along those are extremely important so you know anything that he feels that he can help us to make us a better thrower he's gonna he's gonna suggest and have us do so so going in I guess along those lines going into the spring um what do you feel like uh you need to improve on I know for most quarterbacks footwork is usually something you can improve on and especially if you have a strong arm you kind of get away with bad habits in your footwork so what do you think you can improve on them and what do you think that you do really well I definitely think I can improve on footwork you know because many people would say the same thing I think you know you ask every quarterback it all starts with your feet if you're inaccurate more than likely it's your feet another thing is like being able to control the offense you know knowing the offense like it's the back of my hand you know being able to operate it you know it's you know know what the next play call is going to be because I'm so familiar with Coach Faulkner and Coach winky what they want you know to be able to predict those things uh like football IQ you know understanding defenses what they're going to do what they expect what to do with the ball in certain situations you know and all those things there's a bunch of little easy things to fix but they're extremely important so sure yeah because that can be the difference in converting a third and five and not because you sail it because you're you're not you're not transitioning your weight and you're opened up a little too much in your feet um what else there was something else along those lines I wanted um to ask you I'll come back to it so um we've had a ton of people come in through the portal obviously our quarterback room looks a lot different so uh puma-chon gone uh so it'll be you uh Gibson and then you know a highly recruited guy on Haynes king um I don't think he's on campus yet either I don't think he'll be there oh he is okay so I guess he finished up his degree already I guess what does that room look like this season and and how do you feel about the the competition um in the quarterback room going into the season right it's definitely a great competition we all uh push each other you know it's extremely important to have a room that's competitive you know like coach winky says QB room is gonna be the most competitive room because only one of them can play so uh you know we always push each other but at the same time pushing each other is going to help each other because you know it's going to help us learn from each other we're going to help each other learn you know so it's gonna be really good competition and you know you know like coach coach when he says the best is going to play no and whoever that is we'll see so it's up to me just to work as hard as I can and you know make sure I'm doing everything I can and control what I can control yeah um and I guess walk us through that too I think that's something you know a lot of people watch football don't have an understanding of from the time that you go up to take the snap right I guess first thing you're doing is identifying the coverage if it's a pass we'll assume it's a pass so they're in cover too and then you have from the time you snap the ball to throw it you have what maybe two seconds to to make all these reads and make a decision yeah this thing's about right you know first thing we gotta do is you know we gotta get the play from the sideline make sure everybody is lined up correct way and then if we have motions or have to move people to certain positions and then also make protection calls with the offensive line tell them where to go you know if it's a pathway we got to look at the defense alignment to see where we have leverage and all these things and what the uh coverage might possibly be because you can never tell what the coverage is pre-snap because guys it you know you can get an idea what to expect and then as soon as the ball snap you have about two to three seconds to see coverage and then go through your progressions to see where you got to get the ball yeah I mean that uh seems like I told uh Clayton Powell I think you and him have the toughest positions obviously quarterback's tough there's a lot of moving pieces defensive back and Corner you're playing uh back pedaling the whole time which is which is tough um let's see so you talked a lot about competition and it seems like now um you know no one's position is really guaranteed like we're gonna put the best guy uh on the field we can would you say it's it's it's been that way uh always absolutely I mean I think that's that's Sports in general you want to be successful you got to have the best players on the field and you know that's what I think uh coach key is going to do he's going to try and put the best players on the field and players that you can trust out there so you know that's what we got to do to win absolutely um well is it so is there anything you you'd like to talk about man is there anything you'd like to say to Tech Nation or you know anything like that uh just like thank you for the support you know I know it can be hard trying to support year after year after year lately that you know we're going to get through wins you know but just thank you for the support you know we work it we're working extremely hard right now to get back to success you know and we're just asking for y'all to continue to support us you know um we're definitely busting our butts every single day coach keeps making the right changes you know we got coach AJ now with the strength staff you know that's completely different you know we're making huge changes there uh you know so coach Keys doing everything for us to be successful we're working extremely hard and uh we just want to say thank you for supporting uh constantly being there and you know always supporting us oh I guess I'll ask you this too so what what goals do you have going in to this season what are your goals you know goal is to definitely make a bowl game this year ACC Championship you know there's only two three as long as you know um uh eight or more wins you know you know just to be successful this year is my goal you know to do everything my best ability I can and you know help lead this team where we know it can be so awesome so uh Zach what's your favorite um YouTube channel that covers Georgia Tech uh it's definitely Rec talk you know they did everything the right way you know they they're extremely supportive in everything they do for us and uh you know you know they do everything for us that we need them to do and you know give us the exposure we need and always supporting us and they'd uh I think biggest things they do it the right way so definitely the wreck talk all right man well I appreciate it thank you so much for doing this act we're definitely gonna be um I'll be at every home game this season I'll be at two away games as well and uh go jackets man I appreciate it absolutely thank you guys