JOL’s Countdown to Kickoff: No. 7

The countdown is on until "Toe Meets Leather" on Sept. 3 when Georgia Tech hosts Colorado in the 2026 season opener on The Flats. Over the next several days JOL will look at at least one current Jacket and/or a historical Jacket of the corresponding number to the days until kickoff, continuing today with No.7. Historical Jacket: David Sims David Sims was a productive player during his time on The Flats, starting his career as a quarterback before making his biggest impact as a "B-back" in Paul Johnson's option offense. Sims signed with Tech in the 2009 recruiting class after his high school days at Calhoun County (S.C.) came to a close. After redshirting his first year in Atlanta, Sims played in five games as a redshirt-freshman in 2010 at quarterback and had 58 rushing yards and one touchdown. Making the move to B-back in 2011, Sims saw his time on the field and production take a big step up as he played in 12 games with 10 starts and rushed for 698 yard to finish second on the team in that category to go with seven rushing TDs and one receiving TD. In 2012 Sims was once again solid in the offense, rushing for 612 yards and four touchdowns while also boasting a receiving touchdown as he played in 12 games with seven starts, missing two games due to injury. Sims saved his best season at Tech for his final one in 2013 as he was named Honorable Mention All-ACC after starting all 13 games and leading the team in rushing with 884 yards to go with 11 rushing touchdowns and one receiving touchdown. For his career, Sims finished with 2,252 yards rushing, 23 rushing touchdowns, 26 total touchdowns and 5.14 yards per rushing attempt as he is still top 15 in all of those categories in Georgia Tech football program history. Sims is now a college football coach, most recently taking a job at the University of Rochester going into the 2026 season as the pass game coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Yellow Jackets. He has previously spent time as an assistant at James Madison (running backs coach), Penn (running backs coach), Furman (running backs coach) and Shorter University (quarterbacks and running backs coach). While at Penn, Sims coached current Georgia Tech running back Malachi Hosley. Georgie Tech's Dalen Penson goes through a recent fall camp practice. (Photo by Kelly Quinlan/JOL) Current Jacket: Dalen Penson Wearing the No. 7 this season for the Jackets is sophomore wide receiver Dalen Penson. Penson came to the Tech program in the 2025 recruiting class as a 4-star prospect and top 200 player in the class according to Rivals with the Jackets beating out several other Power-4 programs for the talented athlete from Sandy Creek (Ga.). He played in 11 games as a true freshman last fall, mostly on special teams, and recorded one tackle. Penson made the move from cornerback to wide receiver this past spring as head coach Brent Key and offensive coordinator George Godsey are hoping to take advantage of his impressive speed as a deep threat in 2026. Penson, who also competes on the Jackets' track and field team, is majoring in aerospace engineering at Georgia Tech.