Behind Enemy Lines: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Head Coach: Widely regarded as one of college football’s top young coaches and recruiters, head coach Geoff Collins is in his second season at Georgia Tech. A metro-Atlanta native, Collins was named the 20th head coach in Georgia Tech football history on Dec. 7, 2018, after recording 15 wins in two seasons as head coach at Temple. He returns to Tech after having previously served as a graduate assistant, tight ends coach and director of player personnel at Tech.

Prior to becoming head coach at Temple, Collins was one of the nation’s most respected defensive coordinators, serving in the role at Florida, Mississippi State, FIU and his alma mater, Western Carolina. He is the only coach to ever be nominated for the Broyles Award, given to college football’s top assistant coach, at three different schools.

Yellow Jackets on offense:

Dave Patenaude is in his second season as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Georgia Tech.

Given the monumental task of transitioning Georgia Tech’s offense from an option-based scheme to a pro-style, spread attack, Patenaude’s accomplishments in his first season as the Yellow Jackets’ offensive coordinator included:

two Jackets earning all-ACC accolades — RB Jordan Mason and OL Jack DeFoor;
WR Ahmarean Brown tying Calvin Johnson’s Georgia Tech freshman record (2007) with seven touchdown receptions;
QB James Graham tying Shawn Jones’ Georgia Tech freshman record (1989) with 12 touchdown passes;
TE Tyler Davis, Georgia Tech’s first tight end in 11 years, getting selected in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars, making him the highest-drafted tight end in Tech history and the first Yellow Jacket TE to be drafted since 1992.

Patenaude came to Georgia Tech from Temple, where he served as head coach Geoff Collins’ offensive coordinator for two seasons (2017-18).

Under Patenaude’s direction, Temple put together two of the three highest single-season passing totals in school history (3,273 yards in 2017, 3,297 yards in 2018) and ranked 23rd nationally in scoring offense in 2018. Individually, TU running back Ryquell Armstrong ranked third in the American Athletic Conference and 16th nationally in rushing (109.8 ypg) and wide receiver Randle Jones ranked third in the AAC and 15th nationally in yards per reception (19.35 avg.) in ’18. Armstrong went on to be selected in the fifth round of the 2019 National Football League Draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Yellow Jackets on defense: Andrew Thacker is in his second season as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Georgia Tech, where he directed a unit that ranked among the nation’s top 40 in pass defense and the top 25 in red zone defense in 2019.

In his first year with the Yellow Jackets, Thacker’s defense produced two all-ACC honorees (LB David Curry and CB Tre Swilling), ranked among the nation’s top 40 in pass defense (207.7 ypg), and ranked among the top 25 nationally in red zone defense (.774).

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