4. Geoff Collins, Georgia Tech
So the adjustment is going to take a wee bit longer than expected.
It’s just football. So what that the Yellow Jackets had to completely overhaul their offensive style under a new coaching staff? The defense still had players, the schedule wasn’t that bad, so they should’ve been able to simply figure it all out.
Instead, in the transition from the Paul Johnson option-offense to a pro-style team that needed offensive linemen who fit a more conventional style, Georgia Tech went 3-9 with the three wins by a total of 12 points.
There was a loss to Citadel – TOTALLY inexcusable considering the option attack the Bulldogs run – a 24-2 clunker at Temple, and loss after loss with the nation’s least effective Red Zone offense, an attack that averaged under 300 yards per game, and not enough help from the defensive side.
If ever a team went through the football definition of growing pains, 2019 Georgia Tech was it.
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But there’s a ton of experience back to try figuring out how to improve things in Year Two.
Almost everyone of note who made a tackle last year is back, a few transfers are coming in to compete for spots on the offensive line, and there’s a young group of skill players who’ll be allowed to turn it loose and work through their mistakes.
And now here’s where we have to grade on a curve.
This is still a young team that’s going to need its recruiting class to shine, and it’s going to be about improving and rising up for Year Three. As long as the Yellow Jackets start to create more of an identity and are more competitive, 2020 will be a success.
After putting together a highly-touted recruiting class, the #Jackets opened up spring practice this week. @Cody_Fox5 has the latest on the "night and day" differences Geoff Collins sees so far this offseason. pic.twitter.com/zC11Lv4BMT
— FOX 5 Sports (@FOX5Sports) March 4, 2020
And why?
Gardner-Webb is an early home game, and playing Duke at home is winnable. The other ten games …
Clemson, UCF, at North Carolina, at Virginia Tech, at Pitt, at Syracuse, Notre Dame, Miami, at Georgia.
Win more than three games, and Collins will have a far better second season.