That Waffle House plane has some good range..

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Not sports...just of general GT interest.
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Per Bleacher Report

These are quick quotes so they are not 100-percent line for line.

Been a while, it was the initial press conference since I spoke publicly. Been a crazy month putting together a recruiting class and staff. Been exciting and fun. Been nice to have the staff in place, nine-day period was a one-man show with some help from coach Johnson and his staff. They were respectful and love these players and this place. It was good to see CPJ last night cheering on the Yellow Jacket program. Went to the bowl game, not the result we wanted to send CPJ out the right way. I got to meet the players parents and families before we got into the winter conditioning piece and spring ball. It was a great experience and a good turnout. We had New Year's Break then a team meeting on Monday, got to meet the players out on the plaza and then into a team meeting to set a tone for the culture that is GT football.


For five hours a day, including today and tomorrow I'm having 15-minute meetings with the players, asking about positive experiences here and things they'd like to see improved upon. I've been blessed over my career, getting to know some great people. A lot of great people want to join us here in Atlanta. A lot of close friends have wanted to join us here while we build this the right way. We want to develop our players the right way and we've hired an amazing S&C staff. Carralla was named football scoop S&C coach of the year, he was at GT before and Miss State while I was there. Great job establishing the culture.


Ryan Horton was with me at FIU, he does an amazing job with player safety and conditioning.


We kept Zach Reed from the old staff.


Development and recruiting is a huge piece and we want the elite of the elite, Patrick Suddes is joining us from Auburn, he was the GM there and we were together at Bama under Saban, great friend, we retained Tevin Washington and Cody Moore will stay as well, they helped close out the class and five more guys who weren't on the radar we got to sign.


We brought the entire defensive staff at Temple, the defense I've been in-charge of the last seven years, Coach Thacker did a great job, we were a top 2 D in our league, Nate Burton is Co-DC and safeties coach, coached safety at Temple and top 10 group. Larry Knight will coach OLB/DE and he is a GA native and a great coach and recruiter. He will be the defensive RC. Jim Panagos who worked with GOL for six years and does an amazing job with the DL, the last two years at Temple we were tops in TFL and sacks at Temple.


Jeff Popovich from Boise State will coach CBs and defensive special teams, punt team and kickoff team.


Offensively Dave Patenaude had two of the three best offenses at Temple, I was a GA for him, we've known each other for 20 years, his offense have been record setters and the flexibility of implementing the spread and pro-style and the personnel in place.


Chris Wiesehan was the OL coach at Temple, will do TE/OT and offensive special teams PR and KR.


Tashard Choice was a great player when I was here with Gailey, great player and fiery and a local guy. Three finalists for RB coach of the year at North Texas.


Kerry Dixon we were together at UF, back-to-back SEC Championship appearances.


Brent Key will be the assistant head coach, offensive line coach and run-game coordinator.


We had a full staff meeting with the whole GTAA, led by Stansbury and got to know everybody and we are excited about the future.


We hit the ground running tomorrow and three hot and heavy weeks of recruiting to finish out the last bit of the signing class. Then we get to work.


ON FILM OF THE CURRENT PLAYERS

What I've been doing even on the plane watching recruiting tape then over the break Todd McCarthy our video guy, loaded up my surface with film of the entire season and special teams and all that. Been trying to watch some tape and I got it constantly rolling in that two-minute break between meetings. Teaching the full staff of what we do and then drilling down and tape over the last two years as well. When we get into Winter Conditioning we can really see what they can do. We are built on effort and we have guys who have tremendous effort, they have to earn their spots to be over the line.


ON THE DEFENSIVE STAFF


The thing that will matter is the branding and culture to get the recruiting piece to the level it needs to be at, I'll be heavily into it and defensively the staff meeting room, once we get the recruiting in piece, I won't be in there initially all the time, I won't have to be in there all the time.


ON THE LIMIT OF SIGNING AND VETERAN QB


We got some guys we are actively targeting and our plan is to be recruiting at an elite level and are right for this culture, there is not a set minimum #, but the places we need to be high priority and they have to be the right guys. After spring practice there will be another wave of grad transfer market, the nature of college football, we are not in a hurry and we've got some really good players who are excited about what we are doing.


ON GEORGIA CONNECTIONS ON THE STAFF


It is huge, I made sure I had that on the old staff at Temple, know brining back guys who played at GT, getting former players reengaged with the family and guys who are associated. Will Glover is one I haven't mentioned he is the 6th leading receiver all-time and played on a great offense here. I think that is part of the excellence here.


ON PATRICK COMING FROM AUBURN

When we took over at Bama in 2007, he was big on setting up the structure of what we did in Tuscaloosa and he understands the blueprint and you take the favorite things from different places and we base our recruiting on what Coach Saban does at Alabama, he was at Texas, Arizona State then Auburn, now he is in his hometown of Atlanta. Huge moving forward and helps stamp the GT brand and moving forward with our culture and our recruiting piece going forward.


ON EARLY ENROLLEES


One is a tight, having Tyler here to play TE, be the first in 11 years, having coached against him at UConn, he was maybe their best player and he help us with the offense. We got a big OT Jared Southers who played in the SEC at a great academic and a freshman WR and a freshman CB to jump start their career. The way we practice, there are a lot of repos


ON PRACTICE


There are special days for different days, we will get to the media policies and see how we practice and it is a lot of fun.


ON BJS PLAYING RUNNING BACK AND GUYS MOVING AROUND


Every meeting I had them tell me the different things they'd be good at. With Pat and Bruce it was a conversation, position flexibility is huge, our entire program is to have life after college, get a degree and hopefully develop into a NFL player. NFL wants guys who can do a lot of things, you have a larger chance to make it to your second contract. Every young man has talked about that and attacking the offseason program and being the absolute best you can be, give us something to base that on based on that process.


ON NUTRITION


Leah Thomas is in charge of that here, she is in the CFB HOF and has a done a great job with that and we want to be elite in every phase and the development piece and she and her staff do a great job, cutting edge of nutrition and company that with Ryan Horton to make sure our guys are developing at the highest level and some of the elite players in college football.


ON SPRING BALL


First Tuesday from Spring break, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday going forward.


ON SANTINO JOINING YOU ON SOCIAL MEDIA


He does a great job and we are connected at the hip most days and he is as creative as they come. We want to make sure he is selling what GT is and we are marketing our brand the right way here in Atlanta. I'm proud of Uniswag as Temple being the #1 uniforms and my wife was at the Parsons School of Design, she was excited by that. I call him Morphus and we were proud of what we put together and i think the white and gold is iconic and continue the great traditions of GT football. There are some things, but I do genuinely love our tradition piece.


ON LAST MEMBER OF THE OFFENSE STAFF


10th and final assistant is Brent Key, everything you want as a SA, once I was promoted as TE coach under GOL, Brent became our GA on offense and won National Championships and having him learn from coach Saban and bring that knowledge to GT and a place he loves and one of my closest friends and a big-deal about relationships and the relationships we added and our closest friends are relentless recruiters and they are tough and that is the kind of staff I've been blessed to assemble and they are so well-respected in our fields and what myself and my wife want to do at this great place, very humbling. Excited to get to work and get GT in the conversation with

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Sinagra and Wallace join Yellow Jackets from Temple



THE FLATS – Georgia Tech football head coach Geoff Collins has filled two leadership positions within his support staff with the hires of chief of staff Vince Sinagra and director of football operations Scott Wallace, Tech announced on Thursday.


Sinagra and Wallace arrive at Georgia Tech from Temple, where they held the same positions on Collins’ staff for the past two seasons.


A football coach and administrator for the past 43 years, Sinagra is responsible for assisting Collins with oversight of all aspects of the Georgia Tech football program. Prior to joining Collins at Temple in 2017, Sinagra was a coach for 41 years (32 at the collegiate level), including five seasons as the head coach at Anna Maria College, an NCAA Division III program in Paxton, Mass. from 2012-16.


Sinagra’s career also includes stints as a collegiate assistant coach at Anna Maria (defensive coordinator – 2010-11), Norfolk State (linebackers – 2008-09), VMI (defensive coordinator – 2006-07), Stony Brook (defensive coordinator – 2004-05), Holy Cross (linebackers/special teams coordinator – 1999-2003), Hofstra (defensive coordinator – 1998; wide receivers – 1993), Fordham (defensive coordinator – 1994-97), Bloomsburg (defensive coordinator – 1988-93) and Rhode Island (defensive line – 1976-77). Collins served as a graduate assistant and coached linebackers under Sinagra at Fordham in 1996.


“I’ve known Coach Sinagra for more than 20 years,” Collins said of Sinagra. “He was the defensive coordinator at Fordham University, I was his G.A. He’s a huge mentor of mine and a great human being. He did a lot of things for the football program at Temple and he’ll do the same now for our football program here at Georgia Tech.”


Sinagra also served as athletics director for six years at Milford (Conn.) Academy (1981-87). He was Milford Academy’s football head coach from 1978-81. A Brooklyn, N.Y. native, Sinagra was a three-year starter at defensive tackle at Rhode Island, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education and health in 1975 and a master’s in physical education, health and recreation in 1983. He played professionally for the Philadelphia Bell of the World Football League and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League.


Joining Sinagra as part of the Georgia Tech family is his wife, Elise.


As director of football operations, Wallace will direct day-to-day operations of the football program, oversee all team meals and lodging, assist with summer camps and clinics and manage the football program’s budget. He was at Temple for five seasons (2014-18), including the last four as director of football operations and the last two under Collins. He began his stint at TU as the football program’s coordinator of internal operations.


Wallace’s professional career also includes stints at Delaware (assistant to the director of football operations – 2012-13) and his alma mater, California (Pa.), where he worked in the development department from 2010-11. He has also held roles with the Washington Wild Things minor-league baseball team and served as a high school basketball assistant coach.


“Scott comes to us from Temple. He did a great job running the football operation there,” Collins said about Wallace. “I’m excited for him to help set up our processes and how we do things in this program on a daily basis to help our student-athletes develop in every single phase of their lives.”


After beginning his collegiate career at UMass, Wallace played quarterback and defensive back at California (Pa.) from 2009-11. He earned a bachelor’s degree in sports management from the school in 2011.

So I have a couple of late night updates now that the dust has settled on the National Championship game. Brent Key should be announced within 48 hours as the new OL/associate or assistant head coach at Georgia Tech. He has a multi-year deal in place and is getting a significant but not unreasonable pay raise.

Collins is making a few other hires to round out his staff including a current SEC recruiting office guy to help head up the recruiting office along with the current employees.

On the transfer front as of tonight there are ZERO players in the transfer portal looking to leave. However there should be attrition between now and May, the expectation most of the kids who are going to leave will do so after spring practice. There are at least two players who will have graduated and could move on if they are not in the two-deep at the end of camp as well. Just something to file away. GT has one scholarship as of today, but I think that Collins plans to add at least five more players to the 2019 class in various combinations of signees and incoming graduate transfers depending on who is available.

There are also players with strikes and at least one academic concern that could turn into an opening down the line so there should be room for five and that appears to be what Collins is shooting for.

Login to view embedded media Login to view embedded media Last top three I saw he had was Michigan State, TCU, and Maryland.

The staff was recruiting him previously at Temple.

STORY: https://georgiatech.rivals.com/news...izing-trip-to-the-flats-after-receiving-offer

this is what greeted the players as they arrived for their first official meeting with CGC and staff

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just got an email as im sure a few others did.

I’m interested to see what they do with Tobias Oliver. I feel GT should copycat what OSU did with Braxton Miller and let him get the ball all over the place and utilize him as an H back.

So here is my first stab at concocting a depth chart for GT football under Geoff Collins now that the coordinators have been named. This includes everyone on scholarship as of today.

OFFENSE:

Just going off Temple's offense, they were in 11-personnel or two WRs, one slot WR, one TE and one RB around 60% of the time. They used a FB around 25% of the time instead of the slot WR. I expect we will see double slots because of personnel at times and that would give a few additional wrinkles with jet-sweeps and whatnot. I think that second slot would make sense for more of the RB-type personnel like a Cottrell. I put my biggest predictions in bold. Offense will be different because they will have personnel packages

*QB- Lucas Johnson, James Graham, Jordan Yates, Demetrius Knight
*TB- KirVonte Benson, Jordan Mason, Christian Malloy, Tony Amerson, Devin Ellison
FB- Jerry Howard (I think someone has to move here), Joseph Macrina+
*WR-X- Jalen Camp, Steve Dolphus, Zach Owens
*WR-Z- Malachi Carter, Jair Hawkins-Anderson, Adoncias Sanders, Avery Showell
*SLOT1 - Ahmarean Brown or Kalani Norris or Omahri Jarrett, Xavier Gantt
SLOT2- Tobias Oliver, Nate Cottrell, Tijai Whatley, Dontae Smith
*TE1- Tyler Davis, Peje Harris, Dylan Deveney
TE2- Tyler Cooksey, Luke Johns, Harrison Jump
*LT- Jared Southers, Zach Quinney, Charlie Clark, Hamp Gibbs+
*LG- Parker Braun, Mike Minihan, Boe Tufele, Matthew Morgan+
*C- Kenny Cooper, Zakk McKeehan, Chet Lagod+
*RG- Connor Hansen, Brad Morgan, Mike Maye
*RT- Jack DeFoor, Scott Morgan, Austin Smith, Kevin Wolf+
WILDCAT QB- Tobias Oliver, James Graham

DEFENSE:

Basically a 4-3 and a 4-2-5, they played a lot more 4-3 with mobile OLBs compared to a lot of teams that played more nickel.

SDE- Antwan Owens, Jahaziel Lee, Kelton Dawson, Sylvain Yondjouen
NT- Brandon Adams, Chris Martin, Jamal Camp
DT- TK Chimedza, Brentavious Glanton, Quon Griffin
WDE- Justice Dingle, Jordan Domineck, D'Quon Douse, Josh Tukes+
SAM- Christian Campbell (could flip with Bonds)or Charlie Thomas or Jaquan Henderson
MIKE- Bruce Jordan-Swilling (I'm not sure he moves to RB) or Quez Jackson, Jakob Brashaer
WILL- David Curry, Chico Bennett
CB- Swilling, Jaytlin Askew or Jaylon King, Wesley Walker, Dameon Williams
FS- Juanyeh Thomas, Gentry Bonds (you could flip him and Campbell), Jordan Huff
SS- Tariq Carpenter, Kaleb Oliver, Jarett Cole, Jeremiah Smith
CB- Ajani Kerr or Zamari Walton, Kenan Johnson, Jaylen Jackson

SPECIAL TEAMS:
PK- Wesley Wells+, Brenton King
P- Pressley Harvin III, Cliff Gandis+
KO-??
LS- Jerrod Abee+, Cade Long+ or Lucas Patelles+
SS- Jack Coco+
KR- Juanyeh Thomas
PR- Juanyeh Thomas
+walk-on
*starting 11 on offense

Coaching turnover - should someone get to hold the turnover chain? He didn't want to fire his son and was looking like a rebuild despite all the recruits he's gotten since 2015.

Per my Temple counterpart Larry Knight will be joining the GT staff as OLB coach apparently whoever CGC wanted to hire instead did not work out (Travares Tillman or someone else). Andrew Thacker and Nate Burton are still expected to join him as well. From talking to Temple people Collins apparently was the DC himself.

Offensively still hearing Dave Patenaude as OC/QB/Passing Game Coordinator, Brent Key as associate HC/OL and run-game coordinator.

Kerry Dixon II has been hired officially as WR coach and Tashard Choice as RB coach and Lewis Caralla as S&C coach.

So that would look like his

HC- Collins
OC- Patenaude
RB- Choice
WR- Dixon
TE-
OL/A-HC- Key
DC?/MLB- Thacker
OLB- Knight
DB- Burton
DL-?
Special Teams?
S&C- Caralla

Coach Sisk is headed to Georgia State along with a couple of his assistants as the new S&C coach for Shawn Elliott.

I'm expecting Collins' DFO (director of football operations) Scott Wallace to come to GT. Kevin Cone would stay on as assistant DFO.

No word on DL coach other than I know they were talking to Eric Henderson and a few other guys including Jim Panagos and that was/is a possibility that CAM would get looked at there as well.

Ed Foley, the TE/Special Teams coach could come here as well, he loves Temple though and would stay if Diaz wants to keep him. New Owls coach Manny Diaz is supposed to meet with the Temple staff over the coming days to inform them of their futures. He is trying to keep a few guys around.

You could also see Thomas Niles join as a staff assistant on defense. He has been GAing for Collins and worked at GA Southern as a GA and played at UCF under GOL. He was a guy GT recruited as well but Groh didn't like. He was committed to NC State and then flipped to UCF after O'Brien was canned. Niles is from Gainesville HS.

GT will be releasing more hires as HR processes them so over the next five days the rest of the staff should be announced.

Haven’t seen much discussion on this but checked the roster and DL looks THIN in 2019, especially at DE. Assuming some guys move back inside with the 4 man front, there looks to be 7 potential DTs and 5 potential DEs. That’s counting the 2019 signees, which there are three(2 DEs & 1 DT)in that class and none may be ready to play right away.

That’s kind of scary.

I assume CGC is looking for grad transfers and more unsigned HS seniors to fill some spots here but haven’t seen any names being floated out there.

Does anyone have any insight on this?

Mel Tucker is hiring Travares Tillman as DB coach at Colorado, CGC had wanted him as possibly an off the field coach.

Sorry for no mailbag last week. I found out about all the coaches being fired at like 8:30am Monday morning as I was getting ready to work on the mailbag and then with all the signing day stuff, GT practices and whatnot I was not able to do it and then just decided to wait until today.

Is PJ using the Waffle House menu play sheet or not?

I forgot to ask, but I'll text him and see if he wants to do it. I'd bet money we could get CGC to use it for a game. LOL

Merry Christmas Kelly to you and family!! What’s your plan for Christmas since you’ll be up in a hotel? You and the wife still get gifts for each other and if so what’s the one gift you want? Keep it PG-13 lol

I'll be here until the afternoon of Christmas Day and then I'm flying up to Detroit solo. My wife is going to stay with her family locally so she has company and my son is going with my ex-wife after I leave. We do gifts, I bought her some diamond earrings as a thank you for everything she has had to put up with for the last month. I'm not sure what she got me. My birthday is earlier in the month and she got me a workbench with tool drawers that I've always wanted to replace my makeshift workbench. So that was awesome.

We heard about our CBs playing press man this time last year only to be disappointed ( understandable due to youth and talent in the front 7 to get pressure). I think King, Walton and Swilling have the ability, but can our front 7 disrupt enough for this to actually play out?

I think CNW was underwhelmed by the cover skills of the main CBs and that played into his decision. I think he wanted to play King and Walton, but King got hurt in camp and had he had enough time to compete he may have beat out an older player. CPJ is also sometimes too differential to older players and I think that was a factor as well.

We drinkin in Detroit or what?!? For real tho. Great job with everything lately! We all owe you one! Hopefully you can make it! I’ll take care of ya.

I'm going to try and get out and be social.

Are there any 4 stars besides Griffin that you think CGC has a shot a getting late because they are waffling in their decision?

He is the only one now, but GT like everyone is looking at who didn't sign and will be hitting those kids up.

Do you feel CGC will only take a QB transfer if he is elite like a Hurts or a Fields?

I think he will take anyone he thinks can help win games. It doesn't have to be a name guy, but if there is someone like Blake Barnett last year for USF floating around, I'm sure he will take a shot at them.

Why do coaches get to block teams for transfers?

That has been done away with.

Anymore high level talent out there for bball recruiting?

There are a ton of guys and more that will fall through. I think Danny Manning gets fired at Wake Forest and they have a couple of guys that GT would be interested in for example. That's why Pastner is trying to keep people chilled out. There are still a ton of interesting guys out there.

How do we get busted for clothes given to D. Thomas but UGA is out here throwing gifts like their Oprah to recruits?

I'm not going to comment on the UGA rumors, I'm not interested in being sued or whatnot because I can't prove anything I've heard, but yes it is a damn shame that GT got in trouble for "covering up" some free t-shirts (that is what the penalty was for not the action of the players) and others like UNC skate with reprehensible actions.

We need OL, DL and LB. Any good ones that are available for February signing period?

There are, 3-star DE will be visiting from Germany in Jan and more offers should come out once CGC knows how many ships he has to work with.

Football assistant coaches? Who? When?

Jan 2.

Was Coach Johnson’s snarky behavior a big turnoff to high school coaches, alumni and fans?

Not really, I don't know any HS coach that had a beef with CPJ. They respected how he ran his program.

Players who plan to leave?

Give me a break

Did the ship sail for Black and Dowdy?

Not yet, both were told to wait and come see the staff in Jan. Dowdy hasn't met CGC to my knowledge yet because he was tied up with school and the Shrine Bowl. Black is waiting to see who the hires are and what his options are and how he fits in.

What’s your best guess on transfers out and lost players like to graduation, which will open up scholarships this February (no names)? I believe we currently have one open, and am curious as to how many you think we can realistically sign in February.

I honestly have no idea, from what it sounds like CGC is preparing for 5-7 spots to open up.

Any more rumblings regarding Jalen Hurts?

Won't be a peep until after the playoffs.

As far as the official staff moving forward. Whats the date that we will hear who will be coaching each position? OC? all that!

I think it will leak at the end of next week, but CGC is targeting Jan 2nd.

Would enjoy your thoughts on a Griffin/Amerson comparison

Jamious is a little more of the shiftier guy with good balance and pad-level like a Dwyer in some ways, Amerson reminds me of Synjyn Days, runs a little upright, great burst and vision. Both are really exciting and I suggest you check out their SR film. It is very entertaining, Amerson has a couple of KR for TDs that are pretty fun to watch.

There are so many running backs on scholarship, I am not even sure what question to ask. How about:

Who of these are the best suited (based on skill set) for the new offense come August 29, 2019?

1. Tony Amerson
2. KirVonte Benson
3. Nathan Cottrell
4. Devin Ellison
5. Xavier Gantt
6. *Jamious Griffin
7. Jerry Howard
8. Omahri Jarrett
9. Christian Malloy
10. Jordon Mason
11. Dontae Smith
12. Tija'i Whatley
* If Signed

I'll make this easier for you. The RBs on this list are Amerson, Benson, Ellison, Griffin, Howard, Malloy and Mason and maybe Whatley. Gantt and Jarrett are SLOT WIDE RECEIVERS and were recruited by multiple schools as such. Nate Cottrell will have to play SLOT and should be okay, I think Dontae Smith fits that mold as a SLOT as well. If CGC had such a problem with the amount of RBs on the roster he wouldn't be chasing Jamious Griffin who is only marginally better than Amerson or Benson or Howard or Mason. Don't fall for talking points.

When, if ever, will we know what happened with Will Bryan this season?

Up to them to share that.

Switch gears to basketball.....with only one commit what is our strategy this year?

Only have two ships to play with, I think one is a transfer spot and the other will be a late signee.

Any names out there that we are looking at as recruits that didnt commit?

Nothing new right now.

As of today (December 21st) & before probable attrition, how many more can we sign?

ZERO

Do you know if CGC called the D at Temple? Any idea yet if he’ll do that here or leave it to the DC?

I believe he let his DC call the defense and he has indicated that he will only coach DBs and will not call plays.

He has referenced the “roster management” process employed at Bama and that he’ll work towards establishing such here. Has he laid out the numbers by position group?

He has not, but I'll try to do something on that after the bowl.

He has also mentioned trying to recruit to certain specs related to size, speed etc... at each position, any details on those specs?

Nope

Eager for T-day game and planning to make the trip to CU in August, good time for our first game in Death Valley. Could be a popular travel game for GT fans, hearing stuff like this from others?

I expect the spring game should be pretty interesting, not sure how many will make the trip to Death Valley, but I'd think GT will sell out their allotment of tickets.

The meet & greet on 1/5, will this be structured like shaking hands and pictures like at Fan Day or him moving around the Pavilion greeting as he strolls? Anticipate the new staff also being there?

I don't know the answer to any of that.

You mentioned that four OL on the current roster aren’t suited to the new scheme. Would you speculate as to which players on O you think will benefit most from the scheme switch? And which ones will seem like square pegs?

I mean again this is a shitty question. You are asking me to crap on the current SAs with the second part. I'll say the happiest people should be Jack DeFoor, Austin Smith and Mike Minihan. I have no idea on D yet.

Can we get a 30 word max on mailbag questions?

Amen

What was it about CPJ that the ATL media gave him the Donald Trump treatment?

Ugh, Trump brings that on himself.... Every GT coach since I remember has been given crappier treatment than the counterpart in Athens. The majority of the media went to UGA or are UGA fans in the market. Hence how they act.

Are you going to be able to come by the alumni/fan pre game gathering?

Yes.

How many members is this site up to now? Just curious

We grew a lot during the search and aftermath.

So everyone wants to know who will be on Geoff Collins staff and that should get clearer over the coming days.

First off I'd like to share something interesting I heard today. Apparently Ted Roof is a legit candidate to become the next DC at App State, he is tight with the former NC State OC Drink who got the head coaching job there. If Roof goes to App State then Andy McCollum may replace him at NC State. Kirby Smart has also reached out to CAM as he has an opening as well....

According to multiple sources CGC is hiring UGA Quality Control (Defense) coach Travares Tillman for an unspecified role at GT. Tillman is a GT letterman and has seven years of NFL experience.

I've been told Tashard Choice is still taking over the RB coach duties at GT. CGC was looking to possibly make a change there had he stayed at Temple anyway.

People have asked about CAM and what is up there. There is one scenario where he could stay and it involves Temple DL coach Jim Panagos who Manny Diaz is trying to keep at Temple, if he stays then CAM could get that spot on the new staff. Andrew Thacker is expected to be the OLB coach, Nate Burton the DB coach along with Collins himself and the ILB spot is up in the air. I've heard Daryl Smith's name thrown around for that job as well as some others like Tillman.

On the offensive side, it is still up in the air what all happens. Ed Foley the TE and special teams coach is expected to stay at Temple, he has survived like four coaching changes there. Stan Hixon is expected to come down to GT, the actual OC spots and WR and QB or TE depending on the OC could vary.

Off the field staff wise

Also in the mix for unspecified roles are former recruiting analyst Saeed Khalif who is the director of player personnel at Wisconsin, former GT QB and recruiting assistant Joe Hamilton. Cody Moore (defense) and Tevin Washington (offense) are staying on with the recruiting office staff and probably Sarah Woodruff as well. Kevin Cone is staying on staff in Football Ops in some capacity as well.

Former Jacket Joe Burns is pretty tight with CGC and has been around A LOT lately as well and that should help with some of the underclassmen and getting them on campus given his job.

CRUITIN'

Geoff Collins is making a full out play for former UGA QB Justin Fields, I think he doesn't end up at GT, I'm thinking Ohio State is the early leader, but he there may be a bidding war. Former 5-star DT Aubrey Solomon is also someone he is trying to get, but UGA is pretty much a slam dunk right now, they were a runner-up last time. He kind of wanted to go there.

UConn grad transfer TE Tyler Davis should announce for Georgia Tech as early as tomorrow per my sources. That would be a huge addition and put GT on the number pretty much at 18.

CGC will keep going, he is trying to get Jamious Griffin and his brother could try to transfer and get a waiver to join him at GT from VaTech so all three brothers would be together. I know that is something the family is pushing and GT should have space should that happen, but CGC can't do anything on that front until LB Jaylen Griffin is in the portal and that is up to the family.

Both OL commits Joshua Black and Larry Dowdy are set for January visits which may or may not happen. Dowdy wasn't able to visit because of the Shrine Bowl and Black has burned his OV, but both would like to see the staff and the scheme from what I'm hearing before signing any papers. GT also needs OTs and both of the probably project inside in the new scheme.

Going forward CGC is looking for help at LB and offensive tackle, that will be the focus. The German based DL Joseph Darkwa will visit in January as well, he doesn't graduate until July so that is extra complicated, but CGC is still working on him. He will not sign anywhere this go-around.

On the LB front there are 25 unsigned 3-star or higher LBs as of this moment and 24 three-star or better offensive tackles... keep that in mind

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between sleeping off the last two weeks.

STORY: https://georgiatech.rivals.com/news/fla-cb-kenan-johnson-becomes-first-commit-of-geoff-collins-era
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Anyone going tomorrow night? I was lucky enough to snag a handful of tickets.

It you haven't been to a United game yet, give it a try (even if next season):

• The last game was probably the loudest sporting event I've ever attended, including trips to thUGA, Clemson, VT, and ACC championships. It looked like every section in MBS was standing the entire game.
• The Supporters section is entertaining, except for the distraction caused by the numerous flags in my face.
• I also like that the train horn is used similar to the Tech whistle. Almost feels like home.

Well according to sources at Georgia Tech and Temple, Geoff Collins could be named Georgia Tech head coach as early as tomorrow or by early next week depending on background checks and any last minute snags.

Temple has multiple people reaching out for the job already in anticipation of the formal announcement from Georgia Tech.

Stansbury has done a good job keeping this mostly under wraps and there was considerable interest from a variety of sources.

I've talked to sources who have an idea of who should be coming along from Philly with Geoff. Neither coordinator is a shoe-in. Nate Burton who is the safeties coach and a former player and GA at GT from Lilburn is expected to come. Also Larry Knight (OLB coach and recruiting coordinator) who coached at GA State and was Butch Jones RC at Cincinnati and early at Tenn. He is from Augusta. Also for GT assistant Stan Hixon is expected to come back at coach WRs, he of course was Dez White and Kelly Campbell's position coach at GT.

My source thinks that offensive assistants Tony Lucas (RB), Adam DiMichele (QB/Slots) and defensive line coach Jim Panagos (DL) are staying at Temple. The OL coach Chris Wiesenhan and Special Teams/TE coach Ed Foley are going for the head coaching job at Temple. Not sure yet on DC/ILB Andrew Thacker who worked for Bohannon at KSU.

On his offensive coordinator Dave Patenaude at Temple, apparently the Temple folks had him dial back his offense due to the lack of a running QB and the conservative approach people wanted there. Temple fans want I-formation and a fullback, that is not Geoff's OC's normal approach so I'll be curious to see if he comes with him.

Keep an eye on KSU's Liam Klein who is the DL and RC at Bohannon for a potential defensive spot. He is very close with Collins and the two worked hand-in-hand at GT. Bryan Cook may also stay around in some form. I imagine CAM will also get a look given his recruiting prowess and versatility on the staff. CAM has a few options. I'd be surprised if Nate Woody stays, but I don't know how that discussion went.

According to my friend Dan Wolken, North Texas' Seth Littrell and Memphis' Mike Norvell. Norvell like I said can't pass the background check (gentlemen never dine at the company table) and Littrell is a favorite for the K-State job. So that jives with a few missing names from the search. I figured he would talk to both of them.

At the end of the day, Collins wants the job, he knows the challenges and he can engage the fanbase and he can recruit. He will at least bring in talent. The coaching piece is still a work in progress because he is a young HC still learning so I wouldn't compare him to Matt Rhule who didn't start winning until year three at Temple. I think that is unfair. I think this is a win and should reengage the fans who hated what CPJ did and hopefully keeps some of the PJ fans as well by having some exciting style of play.