After 11 seasons on the Flats, Paul Johnson is no longer running the show at Georgia Tech. Johnson left a legacy at Tech, running his spread-option offense when no one said it would work and proving naysayers wrong, season after season. The only issue is that his offense had a ceiling. Yes, it was fun to watch but when it didn’t work it was like watching someone rub their fingernails against a chalkboard. Fortunately for Tech, and their fans ears, Athletic Director Todd Stansbury made a switch. But this wasn’t going to happen overnight. Tech needed someone who could not only coach and recruit, he needed someone who could market the Tech brand, which will be a job all on its own. He needed someone who could take Tech into a new level of branding and winning. The name that stood out more than any other was Temple’s, Geoff Collins.
Coach Collin’s is a name not many people outside the college football hemisphere know but should. A Conyers, Ga native, Collins has been in the football business since his days at Western Carolina, both as a player and a coach. But what has made Collins an undercover star comes in three areas: defensive coaching, recruiting, and branding. And this is exactly what has been missing from the yellow jackets football program as of late. Let’s look at coach Collins three strong points:
Recruiting – When Collins was a Grad Assistant at Georgia Tech, he wanted to recruit but then coach, George O’Leary wasn’t really eager to give him that role. So coach Collins just kept bugging and bugging O’Leary until he finally said ” Ok, wise guy. Here’s where we recruit, you can take this part of the map. Have at it”. Well, guess what? Collins did so well that he was given the Tight End’s coaching position the following season(2001). Then in his second stint at Georgia Tech, he helped paved the way to haul in Tech’s best class to date(2007) and was ranked in the top 25 nationally. One year later, he’s hired by a guy named Nick Saban. Guess who Collins recruited? Julio Jones. Later after that 2008 signing class at Bama, Saban had said the following about hiring Geoff Collins, ” if you can recruit at Georgia Tech then you can recruit anywhere”.
Defensive Coaching – During his Western Carolina days, Collins played both linebacker and defensive back where he recorded 194 tackles in his career. This laid a solid foundation for his path to coaching:
Western Carolina – Student Assistant
Fordham – Linebacker coach
Albright College – Defensive Coordinator
Georgia Tech (first stint) – Grad Assistant/ Tight End’s coach
Western Carolina (2nd stint) – Defensive Coordinator
Georgia Tech( 2nd stint) – Director of Player Personnel
Alabama – Director of Player Personnel
UCF – Linebackers coach/ recruiting coordinator
Flordia International – Defensive Coordinator
Mississippi St. – Co-Defensive Coordinator
Florida – Defensive Coordinator
Temple – Head Coach
Georgia Tech (Third stint) – Head Coach
Juice, Waffle House, and the 404 – From Waffle House Wednesday’s to posting pics of “The 404” on Twitter, this is the swag(branding) Collins is bringing to Tech. Why is branding some important? Collins says. “In the NFL, players choose based on contract length and dollar amounts,” he says. “But when high school players choose a school, they’re choosing based on brand. So you create the strongest brand and strongest culture you can.” And Can I just say, no other school in the country needed a branding re haul like Georgia Tech. A school with a rich tradition of coaches and players, Tech really hasn’t grabbed much attention in the past decade, even being in the heart of Atlanta. This is why Collins is the right guy for Tech. The man knows branding and he will take Tech to a new era.
In conclusion, Geoff Collins has a lot of energy and it has revitalized a Georgia Tech fan base that has been yearning for something fresh besides watching a 1960’s offense for the past decade. Since the hire of coach Collins, Tech’s recruiting has flipped on a dime. They’re getting kids who would had not even thought twice about the Institute until coach Collins took over. However, all the swag, all the 404, all the waffle house and twitter posts and social media buzz won’t mean a hill of beans if he can’t win and this other stuff will just be smoke and fluff.
JDubb's Sideline Report 