Georgia Tech’s Aidan Birr earns preseason All-American nod

Staff Reports

THE FLATS – Georgia Tech place kicker Aidan Birr (Kennedale, Texas/Kennedale H.S.) was named third-team all-America and is one of the Yellow Jackets’ six all-Atlantic Coast Conference honorees on Phil Steele College Football Preview’s 2026 preseason all-America and all-ACC teams.

In addition to Birr’s all-America recognition, he was also named first-team preseason all-ACC by Phil Steele. He’s joined on the preseason all-conference team by first-team offensive lineman Malachi Carney (Pleasant Grove, Ala./Pleasant Grove H.S.), second-team running back Justice Haynes (Alpharetta, Ga./Buford H.S.), second-team offensive lineman Ethan Mackenny (Marietta, Ga./Lassiter H.S.), third-team tight end Gavin Harris (San Antonio, Texas/Judson H.S.) and third-team linebacker E.J. Lightsey (Fitzgerald, Ga./Fitzgerald H.S.).

Birr returns for his senior season after being one of three finalists for the 2025 Lou Groza Award, which honors college football’s top kicker. He made 29-of-25 field goals and 45-of-45 extra points as a redshirt junior last season. His 25 field goals were a Georgia Tech single-season record and ranked third nationally (1.92 per game). He also ranked fifth nationally in kick scoring (9.2 ppg), en route to earning third-team All-America honors from the Associated Press and Phil Steele.

Carney and Mackenny helped anchor a Georgia Tech offensive line that paved the way for the Yellow Jackets to rank among the top 25 nationally in rushing offense (21^st – 197.5 ypg) and top five in fewest sacks allowed (third – 0.69 pg) in 2025. Lightsey ranked second on the team with 77 tackles in his first full season of collegiate action.

The Jackets’ remaining representatives on Phil Steele’s all-conference team are a pair of highly regarded transfers in Haynes, who rushed for 857 yards and 10 touchdowns, averaged 7.1 yards per carry and had six 100-yard performances in just seven games at Michigan last season, and Harris, whose 533 receiving yards at New Mexico State ranked eighth among all NCAA Division I FBS tight ends in 2025.

Georgia Tech opens the 2026 campaign on Thursday, Sept. 3 when it hosts Colorado in a nationally televised showdown. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. on ESPN.

In addition to opener against Colorado, Georgia Tech’s highly anticipated seven-game home schedule at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field also includes a massive non-conference tilt against Tennessee (Sept. 5 – 7:30 p.m., ESPN) and ACC battles against defending conference champion Duke (Oct. 10) and 2025 bowl winners Louisville (Nov. 7) and Wake Forest (Nov. 21).