Tag: Geoff Collins

Social media reacts to UNC hiring Jeff Collins as DC

Geoff Collins had up-and-down head coaching stints, but has greatly excelled as a defensive coordinator. He now takes over UNC’s worst unit.

Not one player – or one person – can fix how horrendous the UNC football team’s defense is.

The 6-0 start fooled all of Tar Heel Nation. A 9-sack performance in the 2023 opener against South Carolina and emergence of Alijah Huzzie, turned into allowing Georgia Tech and a lowly UVA squad to combine for over 1,000 offensive yards.

There were plenty of calls for firing Gene Chizik from his defensive coordinator position during the season, a trend I feel like is emerging across struggling teams on all levels. That finally happened on Wednesday this week, as Chizik’s firing came exactly a week after UNC’s Duke’s Mayo Bowl loss to West Virginia.

It only took Carolina two days to find its next defensive coordinator, as former Temple and Georgia Tech head coach Geoff Collins was hired earlier Friday.

In addition to his two head coaching stops, which include most wins in a Temple Head coach’s first two seasons, Collins has also been the defensive coordinator at Albright Colege, Florida International University, Mississippi State and Florida. His Mississippi State and Florida defenses finished Top-25 nationally, a sign all UNC fans are sure to be excited about.

Let’s take a deeper look into what Tar Heel Nation thinks of the hire:

REPORT: North Carolina set to hire Geoff Collins as next defensive coordinator

The UNC football program is set to hire former Georgia Tech head coach Geoff Collins as defensive coordinator.

The North Carolina Tar Heels didn’t take long to replace Gene Chizik after parting ways with the former defensive coordinator. Just a few days after the Tar Heels made that decision, they zeroed in on their target and now they reportedly have landed him.

Per a report from Matt Zenitz of 247Sports, the Tar Heels are set to hire Geoff Collins to serve as defensive coordinator in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels reportedly had Collins as their top target per John Brice of Football Scoop and didn’t wait long to pursue him,

Collins accepted the job offer on Friday morning per the report.

The 52-year-old Collins has years of experience coaching at the college level and was most recently the head coach at Georgia Tech from 2019-2022 before being fired. He did not coach in 2023.

Prior to that, he was the head coach at Temple.

In his career, Collins has served as defensive coordinator at Western Carolina, Florida International, Mississippi State, and Florida. He also has stops at UCF and Alabama for stints in his career.

Collins has found success as a defensive coordinator in the past and he’s also been a really good recruiter as well. That could be a big benefit for the Tar Heels especially targeting the south region.

An official announcement is expected soon.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

A running list of college football head coaches already fired in 2022

Keeping tabs on all the college football coaches who have been fired during the 2022 season.

Getting fired from a cushy college football coaching job isn’t great, and losing your job before the season ends is worse. But getting fired before the end of September is just embarrassing and a clear signal from the program that it didn’t have a ton of faith in you to begin with.

Well, a solid handful of college football coaches have already given pink slips — some of whom we predicted would be on the job hunt at some point this season. So as more coaches are looking for a new gig, we’re keeping tabs with a running list of FBS coaches who have been fired so far in the 2022 season.

Going into Week 6, there are already five names on this list to potentially shake up the coaching carousel.

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Notre Dame assistant named as Georgia Tech possibility

Who should Georgia Tech make their top priority?

Georgia Tech became the third team to fire their head coach since the 2022 college football season started when they fired Geoff Collins on Monday.  Some have stated that Deion Sanders deserve a long, hard look from Jackson State, but if it isn’t him, who might it be for the once-proud Yellow Jackets?

Pete Thamel, ESPN’s college football version of Adrain Wojnarowski, listed 17 names of possible candidates to be the new Georgia Tech head coach and one of them is a Notre Dame assistant coach.

No, not that Notre Dame assistant.

Al Golden, the Temple coach from 2006-10 and Miami head man from 2011-2015, was among those named.  Golden went a combined 59-59 between those two stops before landing in the NFL as a defensive assistant.

Joining Golden on Thamel’s list were these 16 others, several of which you’ll notice are offensive assistants from right up the street:

  • Thomas Brown — Los Angeles Rams TE coach
  • Troy Calhoun — Air Force HC
  • Jamey Chadwell — Coastal Carolina HC
  • Bill Clark — Former UAB HC
  • George Godsey — Baltimore Ravens TE coach
  • Alex Grinch — USC DC
  • Charles Huff — Marshall HC
  • Brent Key — Interim Georgia Tech HC
  • Sean Lewis — Kent State HC
  • Bryan McClendon — Georgia WR coach
  • Dell McGee — Georgia RB coach
  • Bronco Mendenhall — Former Virginia HC
  • Jeff Monken — Army HC
  • Todd Monken — Georgia OC
  • Bill O’Brien — Alabama OC
  • Kane Wommack — South Alabama HC

In case you are wondering, yes, George Godsey is the older brother of former Notre Dame quarterback-tight end [autotag]Gary Godsey[/autotag] who one did enough to help Notre Dame beat a [autotag]Drew Brees[/autotag]-led Purdue team.

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Winners and losers from a quietly compelling Week 4 of the college football season

From James Madison to Oklahoma, here’s who impressed (and didn’t) in Week 4.

We’ve been treated to some absolute mayhem to begin the 2022 college football season.

By comparison, Week 4 wasn’t necessarily the most memorable. But if you look beyond the top five — all of which won, despite a couple of close calls — there were some wild results.

A pair of top-10 teams losing undefeated status, a couple of highly improbable comebacks and yet another Power Five job opening up headlined a week that featured plenty of intrigue once you get past the chalk of the elite tier.

Without further ado, here are the winners and losers from the fourth week of college football action.

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Georgia Tech fires head coach Geoff Collins

Who should Georgia Tech hire to replace him?

Add another college football program to the list of those looking for a head coach as Georgia Tech fired Geoff Collins from the post on Monday.  The Yellow Jackets went just 10-28 overall and 7-19 during Collins’ tenure, never winning more than three games in a single season.

Georgia Tech was off to a truly woeful start this season as they were 1-3 following Saturday’s 27-10 loss at UCF.  In three games against FBS opponents this year they were outscored by a total of 110-20.

I get the expectations for Georgia Tech aren’t sky-high or to win ACC Championships on the regular, but this is a far cry from the program that earned a postseason bowl berth each year from 1997-2014.

Could Deion Sanders be the next head coach in Atlanta?  It would certainly be a move that would draw attention to the program, and likely improve the overall talent.

For the latest on all major college football coaching searches please check out our 2022-23 college football coaching tracker.

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Twitter reacts: Georgia Tech fires head coach Geoff Collins

Georgia Tech fired head coach Geoff Collins. UGA football outscored Tech 107-7 in Collins’ two career games against Georgia.

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets have fired head coach Geoff Collins. Collins went 10-28 during four seasons as the head coach at Georgia Tech.

Collins notably changed Georgia Tech’s offensive system from the triple option to a more traditional scheme. Georgia Tech was outscored 107-7 in Collins’ two career games against in-state rival Georgia.

Collins and Georgia Tech did not enter the 2022 college football season with much momentum. The Yellow Jackets lost six straight games to end the 2021 college football season and were outscored 100-0 in their final two games.

The final straw came when Georgia Tech lost 27-10 at UCF on Sept. 24. Geoff Collins inherited a tough situation and Georgia Tech and had a positive mindset, but it was not enough to overcome the numerous obstacles he faced.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to Collins’ firing:

Georgia Tech head coach has high praise for Clemson ahead of Monday’s matchup

Georgia Tech head coach Geoff Collins held his weekly press conference earlier this week as the Yellow Jackets get set to open the 2022 season against fourth-ranked Clemson on Monday night in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in …

Georgia Tech head coach Geoff Collins held his weekly press conference earlier this week as the Yellow Jackets get set to open the 2022 season against fourth-ranked Clemson on Monday night in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

Collins had plenty of high praise for the Tigers and their deep, talented defensive line ahead of Monday’s matchup.

“I think it’s arguably the best front four in college football, and I don’t know how much of an argument there is,” he said. “They’re really good, they’re really good players, and then they play really, really hard as well. They’ve got a scheme suited for the defensive line to make an impact.

“Obviously we know we’ve got our work cut out for us, and Coach Key (run game coordinator and offensive line coach Brent Key) has worked really, really hard developing and making sure the right matchups are the right way, the way we line up is complimentary so that we can have some success. But we know it’s a big challenge. They’re really, really good players, and they have depth as well across their front. So, it’s a challenge and our guys know it’s a challenge, and they have to come out every single day and work to be ready to play at a high level.”

Collins also spoke highly of Clemson’s offense when talking about the challenge he sees quarterback DJ Uiagalelei, running back Will Shipley and the Tigers’ attack presenting for Georgia Tech’s defense.

“He (Shipley) is a really good player, and as we introduced the team, their offense to our defense, is just the quality that they have at all the skill positions,” Collins said. “The way the quarterback, the things that they’re saying about how he’s dropped weight and all those kind of things… He’s a dangerous runner, throws a nice deep ball, runs that offense. When it’s clicking… I think they won six straight last year to end the season, so we’ve got our hands full. They’re a really good offense and they’ve got really good skill players, and they’ve got four returning starters up front that we’ve got to compete against. So, the guys understand it, and they’re working every single day to be ready.”

Dear Old Clemson is excited to announce a limited edition football and poster signed by Clemson’s Avengers.

Now there is a new way you can support Clemson student-athletes. Purchase collectibles from Dear Old Clemson and the proceeds with go to support Clemson student-athletes. Visit Dear Old Clemson to find out how you can help!

Which college football coaches are joining Scott Frost on the hot seat

Who do you think will be joining Scott Frost on the hot seat in 2022?

We’ve talked before about the fact that Nebraska head football coach Scott Frost is on the hot seat. It’s no surprise to anyone. A 15-29 overall record and zero bowl games in four seasons will and should put you on the hot seat. So who are the other coaches that will join Frost with tenuous job security? ESPN senior writer Adam Rittenberg has put together a list highlighting the additional Power 5 coaches that need to win in 2022, or they could be looking for a new job. I have to say that I agree with almost every selection on this list. Scroll below and let us know what you think of the hot seat coaches heading into 2022.

Former Tennessee analyst hired as ACC offensive coordinator

A former Tennessee analyst has been hired as an ACC offensive coordinator.

Chip Long served as Tulane’s offensive coordinator during the 2021 season.

He will serve in the same capacity at Georgia Tech in 2022 under head coach Geoff Collins. Collins has been the Yellow Jackets’ head coach since 2019.

Long went to Tulane after serving as an offensive quality control analyst at Tennessee in 2020 under head coach Jeremy Pruitt. Collins and Pruitt coached together in off-field capacities in 2007 at Alabama.

Long came to Tennessee after a three-year stint as Notre Dame’s offensive coordinator and tight ends coach from 2017-19.

Chip Long’s offensive philosophies detailed

Follow us at @VolsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of University of Tennessee athletics.

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