Nearly a week after suffering a devastating skull fracture in an ATV accident, Georgia Tech quarterback recruit Jaylend Ratliffe is showing small signs of improvement, according to his high school football coach.

As reported by the Fayetteville Observer, Ratliffe’s Scotland High coach Richard Bailey cited “some small improvements” in the athletic quarterback’s condition, noting that doctors at Charlotte’s Carolinas Medical Center are apparently happy with the progress he has been making.

While all recognize that Ratliffe is far from a speedy return to the team’s starting lineup, they also cited another key positive milestone: Georgia Tech’s commitment that the quarterback’s football scholarship offer will be honored regardless of whether he can compete on a football field in the future.

“Georgia Tech is going to honor its scholarship offer regardless if he can play football again,” Bailey said. “I appreciate coach Paul Johnson and the Georgia Tech family doing that,” Bailey said. “Jaylend wants to get an education and I want him to come back and be a great father and husband one day.”

The positive Georgia Tech news came on the heels of a prayer vigil held for the teen at Scotland High in Laurinberg, where his fellow students gathered to come together while Ratliffe underwent emergency surgery to remove part of his skull hours away.

For now, those well wishes and the good news from Atlanta can help offset some of the uncertainty of Ratliffe’s uncertain medical future, even if nothing will substitute the comfort all will receive when he walks back into school again in the future.