Is The Scary Rambling Wreck At Georgia Tech Getting Fixed?
Georgia Tech is just the latest position open in college football. It seems like the coaches that were on the hot seats last season and were kept are on a short leash. Another one has now been fired following Nebraska and Arizona State’s lead.
According to Ken Sugiura of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgia Tech has fired its head football coach, Geoff Collins. Athletic Director, Todd Stansbury has also been fired with Collins after giving him a vote of confidence in 2021. It appears both were informed of their terminations on Monday morning by the school president Angel Cabrera.
Geoff Collins Coaching Career
Geoff Collins called Georgia Tech his dream job, but it seemed at times to be more of a nightmare for him, the team, and many fans. He only won 10 games since replacing Coach Paul Johnson in 2019. The program did not appear to be making any headway in getting better. Collins promised the Yellow Jackets fans that he would be taking the program to new heights. Instead, they were 10-28 under his coaching.
This season Georgia Tech played hard against Clemson and then beat Western Carolina from the FCS. However, their last two games have been horrific with losses to Ole Miss 42-0 and to the University of Central Florida 27-10. But throughout his seasons at Georgia Tech, it was the unexpected losses to the Citadel, Northern Illinois, Temple, and some others that were unacceptable.
Stansbury Let It Happen
Many fans believed that athletic director Todd Stansbury would not allow Geoff Collins to continue this season. Especially since the 2020 Covid football season Georgia Tech only has two wins against FBS programs. However, in 2021, Stansbury gave Collins a vote of confidence after Collins replaced eight assistant coaches. He hired offensive coordinator Chip Long which many thought would make a huge difference but hasn’t.
“Unfortunately, the results of our football program have fallen short of what our loyal community, fans and athletes expect and deserve. The challenges the athletic program has faced in recent years have grown to a point where we need to try a new approach, and that requires new leadership.” Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera
With Todd Stansbury being a 1984 Georgia Tech graduate and football player, it was said that no one cherished this job more than him. According to Ken Sugiura, “he was hired in 2016 from Oregon State and had aspired to sit in the same position performed with distinction by Homer Rice, the AD when Stansbury was in school and his eventual mentor.”
Interims and Aftermath
Frank Neville has been named the interim athletic director. He came from George Mason with Cabrera in 2019 and has been known as Cabrera’s right-hand man as chief of staff and senior vice president of strategic initiatives. Neville isn’t expected to apply for the full-time position. Many at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution believe that more changes are coming in the athletic department.
A Georgia Tech alumnus, Brent Kay has been hired as the interim head coach. He has been the offensive line coach and was an All-ACC player for coach George O’Leary from 1997-2000. He is expected to apply for the full-time head coach position and is being given an eight-game tryout with the rest of the regular season in the balance. It will start on Saturday in Pittsburgh.
Geoff Collins is owed over $11 million as part of his contract buyout. It is said that Parker Executive Search has been contracted to lead the search for a new athletic director and coach. However, this is not an ideal situation since most coaches don’t want to take a job without knowing who the athletic director of their program would be. We will have to see how Georgia Tech tries to turn it around from here.