Geoff Collins Awaits Season 4 at Georgia Tech
Coach Geoff Collins is heading into his 4th season with Georgia Tech. The upcoming year arrives on the heels of his 3rd consecutive 3-win season and some believe it will take a definite-and obvious- improvement on the win/loss ledger to keep Collins at Tech for season 5 and beyond.
Collins himself has professed evidence of improvement throughout his tenure at Tech. But Yellow Jacket fans have grown weary of the losing, especially given the way the 2021 season ended– with big margin shutout losses to Notre Dame and archival Georgia. (aggregate margin 100-0). Not that anyone foresaw Georgia Tech beating those two teams in 2021, but Tech fans did expect some level of competitiveness, even against elite teams, by the end of year three of Collins’ time. In the fans’ view; the huge margins of loss in those two games did not align with Collins’ assessment of forward progress in the program.
In the aftermath of that disappointing finish to season 3 under Collins, Tech AD Todd Stansbury fielded questions from fans about the overall direction of the program. He responded with a public vote of confidence in Collins, along with a request of Tech fans to be patient in the ongoing process . At the same time, Collins made significant changes to his staff, most notably bringing in new OC Chip Long (replacing Dave Patenaude) along with QB coach Chris Weinke. Collins decided to retain DC Andrew Thacker, though he did pledge his own deeper involvement in the day-to-day workings of the defense.
As has been their recent history, the Yellow Jackets have a difficult schedule in 2022, bookended by their opener against Clemson and finishing vs. defending national champion on the road at UGA in late November. In between are road games vs FSU and UNC plus a home date vs Miami.
Even given all those factors, perhaps the biggest challenge facing Collins and Tech is the implementation of the many new faces on the Yellow Jacket roster. Along with the departure of some of last season’s best performers, the Tech staff has brought in a large number of transfer players to flesh out the ranks. That adds up to more intrigue regarding how those new additions play…and play together. Tech fans want and expect a few more wins in 2022.
Patrick Conarro
RamblinSports