Georgia Tech’s Geoff Collins made his first trip to the ACC Kickoff as a head coach Thursday. He’s most notable for his stints as a defensive coordinator at Mississippi State and Florida and a head coach at Temple for the last two seasons.
Collins will have his hands full early as his Yellow Jackets open the season with a visit to Clemson. The good news for Collins is he’s inheriting a program that had a winning record last season. The bad news is that team was built to operate Paul Johnson’s option attack. If Collins is going to lean on his defense, he’ll have to do it with inexperienced players as his stop unit returns only four starters.
Coach Collins sat down with us to discuss what he plans to do with his offense, opening with Clemson and why he’s carrying a Waffle House coffee.
GEOFF COLLINS INTERVIEW:
Collins also spent time in front of the podium to field questions about taking over for Coach Johnson. There is little doubt it is always a big adjustment transitioning away from the triple option, but Collins stressed his team will not be built on scheme, but on players.
GEOFF COLLINS PRESS CONFERENCE:
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 7-6 5-3 Lost Quick Bowl to Minnesota
Geoff Collins 1st season 0-0 0-0
| 2018 | ACC Rank | NCAA Rank | |
| Points Per game | 33.6 | 4 | 33 |
| Rushing Yards per game | 325.1 | 1 | 1 |
| Passing yards per game | 83.8 | 14 | 127 |
| Total yards per game | 408.8 | 7 | 64 |
| Defense | |||
| Points allowed per game | 29.3 | 9 | 79 |
| Rushing yards allowed per game | 158.3 | 7 | 56 |
| Passing yards allowed per game | 211.3 | 7 | 49 |
| Total yards allowed per game | 369.6 | 4 | 46 |
The Yellow Jackets return 10 starters; 4 on offense, 4 on defense, and the Kicker and Punter.
Statistical Leaders Returning
| RB | Games | Yards | TD | AVG |
| Tobias Oliver | 12 | 876 | 12 | 5.8 |
| Defense | ||||
| Tackles | TFL | INT | Sacks | |
| Charlie Thomas | 48 | 3.0 | 0 | 1.0 |
| David Curry | 47 | 0.5 | 1 | 0.5 |
| Tre Swilling | 24 | 1.5 | 1 | 1.0 |
| Tariq Carpenter | 55 | 1.5 | 2 | 0 |
Returning Starters Offense
QB/RB Tobias Oliver
LT Zach Quinney
C Kenny Cooper
RG Conner Hansen
Returning Starters Defense
LB Charlie Thomas
LB David Curry
CB Tre Swilling
S Tariq Carpenter
Special Teams
K Wesley Wells
P Pressley Harvin 3rd
Key Losses
QB TaQuon Marshall
WR Brad Stewart
LG Parker Braun
DE Desmond Branch
DE Anree Saint-Amour
LB Brant Mithcell
LB Jalen Johnson
S Malik Rivera
