Grey Carroll of the Alcoa Tornadoes during a non-region matchup on Jim Renfro Field at Shields Stadium in Maryville, Tenn., on Friday, Sept. 11, 2020. (Photo by Danny Parker)
By DAVE LINK
Grey Carroll had waited on the sideline long enough.
Alcoa’s senior defensive lineman was ready to get back on the football field Sept. 4 for the Tornadoes’ home game against Scott.
Carroll had hip surgery in June and missed Alcoa’s first two games, victories over Murfreesboro Blackman and Austin-East.
“I don’t know if I was necessarily at 100 (percent), but I was going to play either way for my boys,” Carroll recalled on Jan. 4. “I wasn’t going to miss. I really felt like I needed to be out there with them and I was willing to pay the price, per say, but once I got back and started running and stuff, I was fine.”
Carroll was more than fine.
The Georgia Tech signee posted 67 tackles, 24.5 tackles and nine sacks in 13 games as Alcoa (14-1) won its sixth consecutive Class 3A BlueCross Bowl.
Carroll, the 5Star Preps Defensive Player of the Year, won the Class 3A Mr. Football Award – one of his individual goals when he started playing for Alcoa as a freshman.
“The big thing for me, I was always ‘team first,’ ” Carroll said. “I just wanted to win state championships. That’s why I came to Alcoa to play football was because I wanted to be able to experience that. Mr. Football was just a bonus. I’d be lying if I were to say I wasn’t worried about it. Yes, that was an individual goal, and it was cool to be able to achieve that.”
Carroll (6-3, 260 pounds) has already embarked on the next chapter of his life, having graduated Alcoa in December and enrolled at Georgia Tech in January. He moved to the campus in Atlanta on Jan. 10.
“It means a lot (enrolling early) because I can go there and get ahead, whether that be in the weight program or actually learning play calls,” Carroll said. “I’ll also get some of my classes out of the way which will also definitely be a big help. Me and my dad (Lee Carroll) felt like it was the best thing for me to do, just go ahead and get there.”
STARTING AT ALCOA
Not often does a freshman earn a starting job on Alcoa’s football team.
Carroll was one of the exceptions, starting some games in 2017 when Alcoa went 13-2 and won the Class 3A state championship.
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“He’s probably the most dominant player we’ve had since I’ve been (at Alcoa),” Alcoa coach Gary Rankin said. “I don’t know if you can do it in a college or a pro level, I guess you might can, but for a defensive lineman to be able to dominate and take over a game at times, he was able to do that.”
Carroll only got better during his career. As a sophomore, he helped the Tornadoes to an undefeated season (15-0) with the Class 3A state title and a 34-28 win at Maryville.
Carroll was a Mr. Football finalist in 2019 when he had 79.5 tackles and 16 sacks as Alcoa (14-1) posted 10 shutouts.
Rankin said Carroll has the intangibles of a special player.
“It’s that ‘it’ factor. He’s got that ‘it’ factor, and that includes a lot of things,” Rankin said. “He’s got a great motor, he’s a good athlete, he’s tremendously strong and quick, and he’s had great work habits. And he was a driven guy. I think he knew from the seventh or eighth grade what he wanted to do, what he wanted to be, and I think more important than that he knew how to go about getting there.
“He’s a tremendous worker, a kid that was goal-oriented. All kids coming into your program as freshmen will tell you they want to get a college scholarship and they want to play in the pros. That’s the answer for everybody, but very few know how to get there. He was a different player. He’s been the most dominant defensive player we’ve had since I’ve been (at Alcoa) probably, especially a defensive lineman.”
GETTING READY FOR TECH
Carroll started preparing for his college career not long after Alcoa’s 35-0 victory over Milan on Dec. 4 in the Class 3A BlueCross Bowl.
The Georgia Tech coaching staff sent Carroll a workout program that included four days of heavy weight training and two days of stretching and conditioning each week.
He plans on studying biology at Georgia Tech and becoming a physician’s assistant.
And he wants to play early for the Yellow Jackets.
“I feel like that’s a realistic goal because I feel like I’m pretty versatile,” Carroll said. “I know a lot about many different positions, and I also have a body size, I’m a little bit shorter so I can play interior and I also have some pretty good weight to me. But I’m also able to move well, so they can use me at multiple positions. I’m actually going to Georgia Tech to play a position they call a ‘hybrid.’ ”
It’s a position where Carroll can be used as a tackle, end, or outside linebacker.
Not a big change there. Alcoa’s coaching staff used Carroll everywhere on the defensive line.
“He played in the middle some. He played all four spots on the D-line,” Rankin said. “We’d move him around a little bit, especially when people were trying to do something with him as far as coming up with schemes or doubling him or different things. Our defensive coaches moved him around.
“He’s one of those guys that you can’t run towards him, but you can’t run away from him, either. He’s quick enough and fast enough to catch you from the back side. He’s just a different guy, just one of those different guys. He was a Randall Cobb. He was a different guy.”
Rankin can’t wait to see Carroll in a Georgia Tech uniform.
And he won’t be surprised if Carroll is playing in 2021.
“I think he’ll play early,” Rankin said. “I think he’ll play quick. I think they’ll be surprised how far along he is, and I think he’ll probably be ready to step in and help them some as a freshman. hope so.”