ATLANTA – Georgia Tech football coach Geoff Collins can’t be blamed for wanting a quick restart for his program this year.
After a third consecutive three-win season since he was hired in December 2018 and heavy losses through the NCAA transfer portal – including the exit of standout running back Jahmyr Gibbs – Collins and the Yellow Jackets need to shift their focus to the future as quickly as possible. They opened spring practice Thursday, earlier than most programs, and Collins joked he was so eager to start he didn’t have to change clothes.
“The outfit you see right now is the outfit I slept in last night,” he said with a laugh.
Gibbs, a 2020 graduate of Dalton High School, announced his decision to transfer only two days after Tech’s 2021 season finished with a 3-9 record (including 2-6 in Atlantic Coast Conference play) and is now at Alabama, which won the Southeastern Conference title game against Georgia in December but lost to the Bulldogs in the College Football Playoff national championship game in January.
The Jackets’ ugly season ended with six consecutive losses, capped by blowouts against Notre Dame and the rival Bulldogs by a combined 100-0 margin. Gibbs, who has compiled nearly 2,800 all-purpose yards in two years of college football, was the first of 12 players to leave the Jackets through the transfer portal. Other significant departures included defensive end Jordan Domineck – the team’s top pass rusher – running back Jamious Griffin and starting safety Wesley Walker.
Collins, 9-25 overall and 7-18 in the ACC through three seasons at Tech, said he doesn’t see the significant exodus as a collective vote of no confidence in his program.
“I do not,” Collins said. “I just take it as we love those guys, we care about those guys. If they feel there’s another situation that they need, we counsel those guys, we have conversations with them. But then you have to look to the guys who are on your roster, on your team and your program that you’re blessed every single day you get to coach and focus on that and keep it moving.”
The 50-year-old Collins, a native of the Atlanta area, took over the Jackets after going 15-10 with two bowl appearances in two seasons at Temple, his only other head coaching stint.
Gibbs was the team’s leading rusher and third-leading receiver last season. Jordan Mason, the Jackets’ second-leading rusher in 2021, turned pro instead of returning for his extra year of eligibility provided by the NCAA due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Graduate transfer Hassan Hall, junior Dontae Smith and freshman Antonio Martin are the new top candidates at running back, while quarterback Jeff Sims is the leading returning rusher. Hall, an Atlanta native who played four seasons at Louisville, is one of seven players to join the program as transfers. Former Akron quarterback Zach Gibson could be Sims’ top backup, a role Jordan Yates held last season before entering the transfer portal.
The new look for spring practice was accompanied by heavy turnover on Collins’ staff. He fired offensive coordinator Dave Patenaude and two other assistants after last season, and three assistants left the program. Offensive coordinator Chip Long was hired from Tulane after previously calling plays at Notre Dame.
Tech gave up more than 40 points in four of its final six games in 2021. Defensive coordinator Andrew Thacker returns, though new assistant head coach David Turner carries the title of defensive run game coordinator.
Collins said he and his staff “did a whole evaluation of everything we do in the organization since December” and enacted changes as a result.
“We’ve made tweaks,” Collins said. “We’ve made improvements.”