Collins Looks Ahead
Tech’s head man plans the final few days before the opening game of his fourth year.
Geoff Collins eagerly awaits the start of the 2022 season. Maybe even a bit anxiously. This season will certainly be the proverbial fork in the road for Collins, entering the fourth year of his seven year deal. It’s an understatement to say things haven’t gone as planned to this point. Collins and crew have produced exactly 3 wins per season in each of his first 3 years, leaving the fan base disappointed and annoyed and– worst of all– somewhat apathetic.
Collins certainly can be a pitch man, which is a handy skill in the modern world of Division 1 college football. Upon his signing with Tech in December 2018, Collins quickly began laying the groundwork to fans and administrators that this task of uprooting Tech’s then-signature option offense would be a hard road. Monumental in fact . He termed it “the greatest transformation in the history of college football”. (He is no stranger to hyperbole).
There are many ways to challenge that contention of course, starting with the fact that long ago college football did not have the forward pass. Introducing same certainly had to lead to a few great transformations. But who are we to quibble? No matter how you measure it, the changes would be significant, since Tech’s emphasis on the option run game became its very identity. And in some fashion that emphasis relegated defense and special teams play to slightly lesser class status. After all, if the option offense worked as designed , the resulting ball control would limit the opponents’ possessions and time. And to optimize the offense’s effectiveness, you might attempt more fourth down conversions, making for fewer punts and fewer field goal attempts. All of those effects produced enough positives to have a number of good seasons– plus a couple great seasons– under Paul Johnson during his 11 year stint as head coach. As recently as 2014 Tech was ranked 7th in the final AP poll after finishing the season with wins over Georgia and Mississippi State. But there was a sense of stagnation, even decline, over the last 2 years of Paul Johnson’s tenure. Enter Collins.
Nobody doubted the essence of his message, though there was faint hope he could find enough “traditional” talent to sneak up on a few teams while he rebuilt his roster to look like he wanted it to look. The faint hope was not rewarded. Year 1 yielded a 3-9 mark.
But the recruiting picked up, including some 4 stars signees. These were players with significant resumes, players who had other options. Alas, Collins and crew were unable to wring more than 3 wins in Year 2 and any hopes that the greatest transformation might be quick were dashed. Progress was being made, insisted Collins, and he made his case for same. And so Year 3 began with hopes for a .500 season, maybe even a low-tier bowl game. Tech stumbled badly out of the gate with a home loss to Northern Illinois. But through game 6, thin hopes for a better year persisted based on a 3-3 mark at the bye week. That record featured a big win over UNC at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on national TV. But Collins’ team followed that win with a listless performance at home in a king-sized 31-point home loss to Pitt. So much for momentum. The following week brought a miraculous late win at Duke, in a game that came to serve as a prime example of how differently Collins and the Tech fan base interpret the same result. His team showed poise and resilience in the clutch win, the coach said. But Yellow Jacket fans believed that Tech had underperformed and was in fact fortunate to escape Raleigh with a narrow win over a bad team. However you read it, Tech was 3-3 at the bye week, still with an outside shot to finish at .500 on the year.
As we now know, they did not win another game. Worse, the year culminated with blowout shutout losses to Notre Dame and to Georgia, games in which Tech did not really compete, despite Collins’ insistence that progress was being made. There were plenty of seats available for the home game vs arch-rival Georgia –which is not a good sign if you’re trying to convince your supporters that things are better than they look. There was a discomforting realization among the fans that Collins’ definition of progress might not match their own. His version seemed ethereal and too nuanced for the common fan to discern. Their definition was simpler– wins.
Following that rough end to a disappointing season, Collins made changes– a new OC, a QB coach, a new secondary coach, more involvement with defense etc. Notably, some of Tech’s best players jumped ship. Also notably, although only one Techster was drafted, (DB Tariq Carpenter by Green Bay) several Yellow Jackets signed on with NFL teams and made it through early cuts. This little factoid suggests that Tech’s poor record over the past several years could be improved with different coaching. So there is hope. Still.
That said, the schedule is full of challenges, literally from start (Clemson) to finish (Georgia) . And so most are picking Georgia Tech to yet again produce a 3 win season. With a revamped coaching staff and approach, I am expecting better things from QB Jeff Sims under Coach Chris Weinke— and from the offense as a whole, with new OC Chip Long running that side of the show. If Geoff Collins’ defensive background bears any fruit at all , Tech’s D should improve, even with less experienced players than last year. The oft-cited “communication” issue from 2021 should calm in the secondary, which in turn should translate to fewer blown coverages.
Given the changes noted above, I believe Georgia Tech is in line for a 5 win season– with an outside shot at 6 wins and a low profile bowl bid. Only a few years ago, such an outcome would have been a disappointment. But with the past 3 years for perspective, 5-7 would indeed be “significant progress”. Ironically, Tech fans who are ready to draw down the curtain on the Collins era right now might be frustrated with improvement that is only barely sufficient to earn him another year. Such a scenario would put AD Todd Stansbury directly in the spotlight.
Patrick Conarro
RamblinSports.com