College Football 2018: Grading every new Power 5 coaching hire
2. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
New Coach: Geoff Collins
Departed Coach: Paul Johnson
Georgia Tech fans were itching for a change, hoping to move the offense into the 21st-century upon Paul Johnson’s decision to retire. Johnson brought the option with him to Atlanta, and with it brought sustained success to a Georgia Tech program steeped in mediocrity since the Bobby Dodd era.
Johnson was never going to bring them back to those glory days, but he did win three Coastal Division titles and an ACC Championship in 2009, proving all the naysayers wrong that the flexbone couldn’t be successful in a major conference.
The Yellow Jackets have been in a bit of a decline since an 11-win 2014 season that culminated in an Orange Bowl victory, particularly on defense, but he was still able to scratch out a 9-win campaign in 2016 and a 7-5 mark this season after an ugly start to the year.
I may be overrating this hire of Geoff Collins a bit, but the alternative looked to be former Cardinals and Titans head coach Ken Whisenhunt, so the decision to grab Collins looks incredible in comparison.
Collins is a Georgia native, and spent time as an assistant coach at Georgia Tech, so the program familiarity is there. He also had successful tenures as a defensive coordinator at Mississippi State and Florida before getting the head coaching job at Temple.
Collins was 15-10 in his two seasons with the Owls, lifting them to a 7-1 mark in the AAC this season, where they came up just short of a major upset over UCF.
Collins is a sensible hire, poised to bring the Yellow Jackets into the present. He has a reputation as a strong recruiter, and Georgia Tech has been considered a potential sleeping giant in recruiting, awaiting the right guy to rattle the beanstalk and awaken the metro Atlanta area. If he can find a way to make the Jackets Atlanta’s team, then it will only be a matter of time before they are competing again in the ACC.