Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images
Coach Geoff Collins was fired on Monday after losing to UCF 27-10 on Saturday. The loss dropped the Yellow Jackets to 1-3 on the season, and dropped Collins’ overall record to 10-28 during his time in Atlanta. According to ESPN, Collins’ buyout is expected to be around $11.3 million dollars.
Head football coach Geoff Collins and AD Todd Stansbury are both out at Georgia Tech, sources confirm @ksugiuraajc’s report. Collins’ buyout is expected to be in the $11.3 million range. Brent Key will be interim coach.
— Chris Low (@ClowESPN) September 26, 2022
There has been little to no improvement at all for Georgia Tech under Collins. They only won three games in each of his first three seasons and only has one win this year. Georgia Tech probably wouldn’t be favored in any upcoming games either, and would likely finish the season with two wins at best. A lot of the losing can be directly pointed to the abject failure to recruit talent to Atlanta.
According to 247 Sports, Collins has only had one recruiting class land within the top 40 in the country. By year, his classes have ranked 53rd in 2019, 28th in 2020, 43rd in 2021, and 44th in 2022. As of right now, the 2023 class is again ranked in the 50s, demonstrating the lack of progression in the five years that Collins has been the head man. The one good class was 2020 and the best player in that recruiting class is now the starting running back at Alabama by the name of Jahmyr Gibbs. Players have been leaving Georgia Tech in droves, and that was the first sign that Collins wasn’t going to last long.
It is difficult to recruit to Georgia Tech. The academic standards and lower budget don’t help any coach when trying to recruit. Being in the heart of SEC country, having to recruit against Georgia, Alabama, and others isn’t easy either. However, Georgia is a hotbed for high school football talent and Atlanta is the biggest city in Georgia. Georgia Tech should be able to sign and develop the talent in the state of Georgia significantly more than they have.
Geoff Collins makes the third Power Five coach to be let go after Nebraska and Arizona State fired Scott Frost and Herm Edwards respectively.
Georgia Tech coach Geoff Collins & AD Todd Stansbury have been fired, @ksugiuraajc reports. Collins was 10-28 in 4 years at Georgia Tech
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) September 26, 2022
Georgia Tech also let Athletic Director Todd Stansbury go as well. Stansbury had been the athletic director at Georgia Tech for seven seasons, dating back to 2016. 2016 was also the last time Georgia Tech won more than seven games. Needless to say, his time in Atlanta had not gone well.
Associate head coach Brent Key, a former player, is expected to become the interim head coach.
