Countdown to Kickoff: No. 27

Pressley Harvin III

The countdown to kickoff is officially on as Georgia Tech‘s season-opening matchup at Colorado on Aug. 29 is less than 100 days away.

Until then JOL will be counting it down with one Jackets’ player daily that wore the corresponding number of days remaining until toe meets leather in Boulder.

With it now 27 days until kickoff in Boulder, today’s focus is on No. 27 Pressley Harvin III, a big man with a big leg that went down in Jackets’ history as one of the top punters to ever do the job on The Flats, a multiple-time All-ACC selection, an All-American and a Ray Guy Award winner.

Harvin spent his prep years at Sumter High in South Carolina where he became a two-time All-State punter and earned the attention of several college programs before deciding that Georgia Tech was the place for him, joining the Jackets’ 2017 recruiting class as a three-star specialist according to Rivals and one of the top punters in the country according to several recruiting services.

Upon his arrival on The Flats, Harvin immediately took over punting duties and had a great freshman season in 2017, averaging 44.1 yards per attempt to break the previous freshman record held by Dan Dyke (43.8 in 1999). Harvin was 16th in the nation and second in the ACC in punting average and earned Freshman All-American honors from the FWAA and ESPN as well as a Third-Team All-ACC nod.

Harvin built on that with another strong showing as a sophomore in 2018 despite being used only 31 times due to the Jackets’ potent offensive attack that regular season. He improved on his average with a 44.3 yards per attempt mark during the regular season before a tough day in the Quick Lane Bowl vs. Minnesota dropped it to 41.3. He was named Second-Team All-ACC.

As a junior in 2019, Harvin punted 80 times for an average of 44.8 yards per attempt (fifth best single-season punting average in school history) and also made one of his most memorable plays of his career, this time with his arm instead of his leg. Harvin threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to Nathan Cottrell on a fake punt in Tech’s 28-21 overtime win over Miami.

Harvin wrapped up his Tech career with a historic season as a senior in 2020 as he set a new Georgia Tech and ACC record for single-season punting average with a mark of 48 yards per punt on 45 attempts. He was awarded with several well-deserved honors, including winning the Ray Guy Award given to the nation’s top punter as he was the second Tech player (Durant Brooks in 2007) and first-ever African-American to win the award. He was also only the third Georgia Tech player to ever be named a unanimous First-Team All-American, joining Calvin Johnson in 2006 and Ken Swilling in 1990, and rounded out his awards list with a First-Team All-ACC selection.

Harvin ranks second all-time in career punting average with a mark of 44.7 yards per attempt behind only Brooks (45.3) and second in career punting yards with 9,396 behind only David Shanahan (9,751).

Harvin went on to be a seventh-round pick (254th overall) by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2021 NFL Draft and spent three seasons with the franchise. In all, he played in 47 games and averaged 43.7 yards per attempt on 217 career punts. He was named to the Pro Football Writers Association (PFWA) All-Rookie Team in 2021. Harvin signed with the San Francisco 49ers prior to the 2024 season but was waived in the preseason.

Honorable Mention

–Jordan Mason (Running back from 2018-2021, ran for 2,349 yards on 449 attempts in his career with 17 touchdowns; had 17 catches for 202 yards and one TD in his career also; was named Third-Team All-ACC in 2019 after running for 899 yards and seven TDs; signed as an undrafted free agent by the San Francisco 49ers in 2022 and has played in 45 games over three seasons there with 1,253 yards on 236 carries and seven TDs in his career; traded to the Minnesota Vikings in March)

–Jeremy Muyres (Safety from 1999-2002; played in 47 career games and had 12 total interceptions which is tied for eighth-most in program history, was named All-ACC in some capacity for three straight years; was Tech’s all-time leader in tackles by a defensive back when he finished with 273 total; played some of his career along with his brother Jon who was a receiver)