Kenneth Harrison
Feeling Blue
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The college basketball regular season is winding down this week. Before the season began, Duke looked to be head and shoulders above everyone else.
Then they played archrival North Carolina and Zion Williamson was injured 33 seconds after tip off. We all saw his shoe explode and he’s been out with a knee sprain.
Zion is extremely explosive and he will be the top pick in the upcoming NBA draft. He has missed the last three games and we do not know when he will return. The question is can Duke still win a title without Zion?
I’ll give a quick recap of how life has been without Zion. The Blue Devils lost to UNC the game he was injured. They followed that up by getting revenge against Syracuse. Then they lost on the road to No. 20 Virginia Tech. They finally looked good against Miami, routing the Hurricanes 87 – 57.
On paper, Duke has the talent to still be a number one seed. They signed the top three recruits in 2019. RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish are also projected to be top five draft picks. The weak link has been point guard Tre Jones. Jones was five-star recruit and the No. 1 point guard in the class of 2018.
Jones averages 8.5 points per game and 5 assists per game. In the game against Va Tech, the Hokies did not guard him. They dared him to shoot and collapsed the extra defender in the paint. He has to play like the elite player he was projected to be to give the Blue Devils a chance to win it all.
Coach K has given us some updates about Zion and if he will return.
“No. He hasn’t done anything with contact,” Krzyzewski said. “But he’s moving really well. But contact makes you do things that you don’t think about. You have to get past that phase of things. We’re not in any hurry or whatever.
“The other thing with Zion, he’s an exquisite athlete. There aren’t people like him, athletically,” Krzyzewski said. “And so, he has to be 100 percent so that his body has always responded instinctively to what his mind and heart feel. And his body then, well, we’ve seen it. You can’t put him out there with any less than that. You cannot. You cannot. And we won’t. We won’t. But it’s getting better.”
The remaining regular season games are against Wake Forest and at North Carolina. The game against the Demon Deacons will be an easy win so I expect him to sit out. I think the season finale against UNC is where Zion will make his return. There is a lot on the line with that game in addition to being the best rivalry in college basketball.
UNC and Virginia are tied for first place in the ACC. Duke is one game behind them in second place. Winning the final two games will give them at least a share of the regular season ACC title.
That should be enough to guarantee them a No. 1 seed and possibly the top overall seed. This will make the path to the Final Four much easier.
AFC South Draft Preview
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The NFL Draft fast approaches. After free agency ends, we will have a clearer picture on the direction teams will go in for the draft.
I’m going to examine the AFC South and who will be selected in the first round. This is one of the weaker divisions in the NFL with only one team ever winning a Super Bowl (Indianapolis).
Houston and Jacksonville have never been to the big game and Tennessee has only been once.
Jacksonville (5-11): The Jaguars looked poised to be one of the best teams in 2018. They had an elite defense in 2017 and relied on the ground game with Leonard Fournette. That formula led them to the AFC Championship game where they led New England in the fourth quarter.
We know how that played out. Quarterback Blake Bortles was the obvious weak link of the team. He was rewarded last offseason with a three year contract extension worth $54 million. It seemed to pay off early after they got off to a 3-1 start. That included a victory over the Patriots. Then they had a seven game losing streak.
Quarterback is the position that must be addressed. If they don’t acquire Nick Foles in free agency they will draft a QB with the 7th pick. Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray will get selected. The Heisman Trophy winner has great talent but lacks ideal height.
Tennessee (9-7): The Titans have had two consecutive winning seasons. They have several needs they can address with this pick like wide receiver, guard, edge rusher or quarterback. Their franchise QB Marcus Mariota cannot stay healthy.
One possible pick is NC State receiver Kelvin Horne. He could be paired with Corey Davis to make a dangerous passing attack.
If they go with a pass rusher Jachai Polite of Florida could be the pick. Last season he had 11 sacks and 6 forced fumbles.
Houston (11-5): The Texans won the division but lost in the Wild Card round to the Colts. They finally have a franchise quarterback in Deshaun Watson but they can’t protect him.
He has one of the best receivers in the game (DeAndre Hopkins). They should draft an offensive lineman to help with that problem.
Offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor (Florida) would be a good pick. He would be a day one starter. If he is not available tackle Greg Little from Ole Miss will be picked. He looks like he will be the fifth o-lineman picked in the first round but he still has good value. He’s a good pass blocker but he needs to be more consistent.
Indianapolis (10-6): The Colts have one of the best young quarterbacks in the league in Andrew Luck. He missed the entire 2017 season and came back in 2018 with a vengeance. They have a pretty good offense and they need to get better on defense. The biggest needs are at cornerback, defensive line and wide receiver.
Washington corner back Byron Murphy would be a good pick if available. He had four interceptions and 58 total tackles in 2018. He’s physical enough to help stop the running game and he can cover.
Receiver D.K. Metcalf of Ole Miss is also a possibility if they do not add another WR in free agency.
I’m excited to see if one of these teams can become a serious contender after the draft.
NFC South Draft Report
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The 2019 NFL Draft starts April 25, 2019. For the 31 other teams that didn’t win the Super Bowl they have a chance to add players and improve their franchise. Let’s take a look at the NFC South and see who they might select in the first round.
Tampa Bay (5-11): The Buccaneers have the fifth overall pick. They had a bit of quarterback controversy to begin the season before Jameis Winston came back from his four-game suspension.
It looks like the Bucs will stick with the troubled young QB. Bruce Arians has taken over as head coach and he will try to give Winston protection.
Left tackle Donovan Smith will be a free agent. On the right side, Demar Dotson is entering the last year of his contract and turns 34 in October. That is why Alabama’s Jonah Williams should get picked to protect Winston’s blind side.
Atlanta (7-9): The Falcons are coming off of a disappointing season that had many injuries on the defense. They need to drastically improve on that side of the ball and on the offensive line.
Head coach Dan Quinn is on record saying he is only comfortable at center and left tackle.
With the 14th pick guard Cody Ford from Oklahoma makes sense. He’s extremely physical and he would help change the identity of the line. He played guard and right tackle so he might also be shifted to that position.
If defensive tackle Ed Oliver (Houston) is still on the board he should get selected. He reminds me of Aaron Donald because he can totally disrupt an offense.
Carolina (7-9): The Panthers started off the season hot before the seven-game losing streak. They are in an interesting position because star quarterback Cam Newton had surgery on his injured shoulder. Some time tables have predicted him to miss the 2019 season.
They also need help on defense. Mario Addison led the team with nine sacks. They need help getting to the quarterback and that is the direction they will go with the 16th pick.
They can draft a local player like Clemson’s Clelin Ferrell. The defensive end registered 50 career tackles for loss and 27 sacks in three seasons. He added 56 total pressures and 30 total stops during his final year. He’s 6’4, 265 pounds with great first-step quickness.
New Orleans (13-3): The Saints had a great season, advancing to the NFC Championship game. They should have won the game but a terrible no call for pass interference against the Rams cost them. They traded their first-round pick in the 2019 draft to move up and select Marcus Davenport.
The biggest needs are tight end, defensive tackle, running back and linebacker. Running back Mark Ingram will be a free agent so that may create a need. Alvin Kamara is great but he works best paired up with a physical runner.
New Orleans will pick 62nd in the second round. I think they will want a pass catching tight end. I’m not sure who will still be on the board by the time they make the pick. The best-case scenario is Irv Smith from Alabama. The best available might be Dawson Knox of Ole Miss.
Prior to last year the NFC South was the toughest division in the league. The Saints were the only playoff team so the other three teams need to get better. It will be exciting to see how everything plays out.
Blue Blooded
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Duke is one of the blue blood programs in college basketball. The Blue Devils have won five national championships under head coach Mike Krzyzewski. This year’s team might be the best he has ever coached.
They signed the top 3 players in the 2019 recruiting class which is something that has never been done before. Those players are R.J. Barrett, Zion Williamson and Cam Reddish. They also snagged point guard Tre Jones. He was ranked No. 10 overall and the top point guard.
So far, the star freshmen have lived up to the hype. They opened the season pummeling No. 5 Kentucky 118 – 84.
Williamson looks like a lock to be the top pick in the 2019 draft. He’s one of the most explosive players I’ve ever seen. It seems like every game he has an amazing dunk or blocked shot. He averages 22 ppg, 9 rpg, 2 steals per game and 2 blocks.
Barrett leads the team in scoring with 23 ppg. He also gets 7 rpg and 4 assists per game. Reddish adds 14 ppg.
They are currently ranked second in the nation behind Tennessee. Their two loses came against No. 3 Gonzaga and unranked Syracuse. The Blue Devils have one loss in conference play and are first in the ACC.
The schedule consists of wins against several top 15 opponents like Kentucky, Auburn, Texas Tech, Florida State and Virginia. They swept both meetings against the No. 3 Cavaliers, which are their only losses of the season. They beat them over the weekend 81 – 71 in Charlottesville. LeBron James was there to watch the talented freshmen.
“We were just in our zone and it’s great to see when our team is like that,” Barrett said.
“It’s any given night for all of us,” Reddish said after finishing 5 of 8 from beyond the arc, with three coming in a span of less than three minutes.
The next game is at No. 16 Louisville. The remaining schedule has two games against arch rival No. 8 North Carolina, NC State, Miami, Wake Forest, No. 22 Virginia Tech and a rematch at home against Syracuse.
The only game I think they could be in danger of losing is one of the match ups with Carolina. I think it will be difficult to sweep the Tar Heels.
I expect Duke to finish as the best team in the ACC after the regular season and they should also win the conference tournament. I think they will be the top seed in the NCAA tournament.
Once March Madness begins anything can happen. There are always upsets so the most talented teams can get sent home. With a team led by freshmen they could struggle against an experienced team.
For instance, I think the best team at Duke was the 98-99 team. That team had four players drafted within the first fourteen picks of the 1999 draft. They were undefeated in the ACC and only lost one game during the season. They lost the national championship game to UConn by three points.
They will be the favorite to win it all but it’s not a sure thing. If this team can stay focused and win the championship, they will be the best team in program history.
The New-Bees
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
National Signing Day is almost here. We will get a chance to see where each program ranks and get an idea of who will play next season. I’m going to take a look at Georgia Tech’s recruiting class.
Geoff Collins is entering his first season as the head coach in Atlanta. He has inherited a roster full of Paul Johnson recruits.
As you all know CPJ ran the triple option offense, which made it difficult to recruit top prospects. For many of the players he recruited Tech was the only Power 5 school that was interested in them.
The Yellow Jackets are switching to a pro-style offense, so they need athletes that fit that scheme.
One big boost came in the form of a transfer. Wide receiver Marquez Ezzard transferred from Miami. He was a four-star prospect and he signed with the Hurricanes in February 2018. He also had offers from Georgia, Ohio State, Alabama, USC and Florida State.
Ezzard is from Stockbridge, GA so he’s coming home. He’s 6’2 and 210 pounds, so he has great size. He only played in three games this past season so that counts as being redshirted. By ACC rules, Ezzard would have to sit out a season at Tech and lose a season of eligibility, as he is transferring within the conference. That would mean he would sit out the 2019 season and have three seasons remaining.
The current 2019 class has 18 commits and all of them are three-star recruits. I’m a huge fan of quarterback Jordan Yates from Alpharetta, GA. He led Milton high school to the 7A state championship as a senior. He’s a very good dual threat QB. He passed for 2,590 yards and ran for 958 yards last season.
They signed another dual threat QB also, Demetrius Knight. He rushed for over 1,000 yards last season.
They have also signed a few receivers like Nazir Burnett, Zach Owens, Ahmarean Brown and Kalani Norris. Brown is from Tampa and as a senior he had 38 catches for 726 and 7 touchdowns. He’s small (5’9, 165 lbs.) but very fast.
Owens is the biggest receiver at 6’3 and 198 pounds. He’s from Marietta, GA and he averaged 105.7 all-purpose yards per game.
Tight end was a position Paul Johnson did not use at all. Collins plans on changing that and he signed Dylan Deveney from Princeton, New Jersey. He has prototypical size standing at 6’6 and 245 pounds.
They also added a pair of running backs; Devin Ellison and Tony Amerson. Ellison is from Jacksonville and he’s the epitome of a student athlete. He set school records with 3,345 rushing yards and 45 rushing TD’s during his high school career. He’s on course to graduate magna cum laude (4.1 GPA).
Defense has been a problem over the last decade. Tech is going to get talent at each level on defense. They signed several defensive backs; Wesley Walker, Jordan Huff, Kenan Johnson and Jeremiah Smith.
Defensive ends Sylvain Yondjouen and D’Quan Douse have also committed. Douse is from Savannah and he was a three-time all-region honoree.
Yondjouen is from Belgium and has only been playing football for 4 years. They signed one defensive tackle, Jamal Camp.
The linebackers consist of Chico Bennett Jr. and Cornelius Evans. Evans attends the school right by my house, Central Gwinnett. He’s 6’4 and 220 pounds so he has the frame of a pro outside linebacker.
I think this is a solid class that can get better once they arrive on campus and get coached up.
Bee Killer
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Josh Pastner era at Georgia Tech has not been successful thus far. Since taking over as head coach in 2016, he had his best record during his first season, going 21 – 16. The following 2017 – 18 season Tech was 13 – 19.
At this point it might be time for Tech (11–9, 3–4 ACC) to pull the plug. Judging from his previous track record the Yellow Jackets are in for diminishing returns. Pastner replaced John Calipari at Memphis in 2009 and he initially had success.
He led the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament in four of the seven seasons he coached. In his final two seasons his teams went 18 – 14 (2014-15) and 19 – 15 (2015-16).
He has struggled to have consistent success in Atlanta and that has caused the program to accept mediocrity. He has a losing record against Clemson, only beating them once. Clemson is not a basketball powerhouse so that is alarming. The Tigers lost their first three ACC games going in to the Tech game and they won, 72 – 60.
The Ramblin’ Wreck has actually lost their last 14 games at Clemson. Tech has to win games against these types of opponents in order to have a chance at making it into the postseason. I can understand not having success against Duke and UNC but they have to beat the average ACC teams.
Before conference play began, they lost games against teams that are also struggling. In the ACC/Big Ten Challenge they lost to Northwestern. This is a program that just made their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2017 and they are currently ninth in the Big Ten.
They also lost to St. John’s, Gardner-Webb and Georgia. St. John’s is sixth in the new Big East. A non-power five team like Gardner-Webb should not be able to come to Atlanta and win by ten points like they did. The Bulldogs (12-9) are seventh in the Big South so they are not one of the elite small school teams.
Losing to UGA is not acceptable because that’s obviously Tech’s biggest rival. It’s also alarming because the Dawgs (10-9) are struggling and are 11th in SEC play.
It’s going to be an uphill battle to have a winning record in conference play. They lost a close game to No. 12 Virginia Tech 52 – 49.
Georgia Tech beat Syracuse (14-6) on the road so that is a good win. The next game Syracuse beat No. 1 Duke. That gave fans hope that maybe they have a chance against the Blue Devils.
We saw that game this past weekend and Tech played much better than I expected. They played at Cameron Indoor Stadium, which is probably the toughest venue for road teams. They actually led No. 2 Duke at halftime by two points. They held the Blue Devils to a season-low 27 first-half points.
Then the Yellow Jackets extended the lead to eight points early in the second half. After that, Duke’s superior talent took over and they won 66 – 53.
“That’s our only way of survival in this league,” Pastner said. “We have to be really, really good defensively, and that’s who we’ve been in our time here. … That’s just kind of who we are and what we do, and if we don’t do that, we’re not going to have any chance of success.”
The next game is at home against No. 9 North Carolina. At this point we can almost guarantee another season without a tournament appearance. Once that happens, it’s time to make a coaching change.
The Big Game
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
GeorgiaSportsEdition.com news services
The teams for Super Bowl LIII are New England and the Los Angeles Rams. The game is February 3rd in Atlanta. Both teams were the number two seed in their conference and they had to go on the road to beat the top seed. Both conference championship games went into overtime as well.
This is a tale of two completely different franchises. The Patriots are the best dynasty this century and maybe in NFL history. They have appeared in the Super Bowl 11 times, the most of any team. Since 2001 they have made it to the big game 9 times, winning 5 of them. This is their third consecutive appearance.
Ironically the Bill Belichick and Tom Brady dynasty started with a win in 2002 against the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI.
The Pats have been counted out most of the season even though they are 11-5. Statistically they are not as impressive, as we have seen in the past. Brady is seventh in the league in passing yards and tenth in passing touchdowns.
New England lost their biggest playmaker, wide receiver Josh Gordon in December. He was suspended indefinitely by the league for violating the terms of his reinstatement under the league’s substance abuse policy.
Rob Gronkowski is also having a down year with only 47 receptions, 682 yards and 3 touchdowns on the season.
The Rams are the best team money can buy. They have two players that are the highest paid player at their position, defensive tackle Aaron Donald ($22.5 mill per year) and running back Todd Gurley ($14.375 mill).
They both were worth the money. Gurley was third in the league in rushing with 1,251 and first in rushing touchdowns with 17. He also had 59 catches, 580 yards and 4 receiving TD’s. Donald led the league in sacks with 20.5.
The Rams also added former Pro Bowlers Aqib Talib, Marcus Peters and Ndamukong Suh to the defense in the offseason.
Jared Goff is only in his third year and he is one of the best young QB’s in the NFL. He was fourth in passing yards and sixth in passing touchdowns.
This is a homecoming for Rams head coach Sean McVay. He grew up in Atlanta and was a four year starter at QB for Marist.
On paper LA is the more talented team. I believe there are several teams that are more talented than New England but they continue to overcome that with superior coaching. For example, both of their playoff opponents, the LA Chargers and Kansas City had superior talent.
We have two recent examples of the Pats playing talented yet inexperienced teams in the Super Bowl with different results. In Super Bowl LI the Atlanta Falcons raced out to a 28 – 3 lead in the third quarter. As we all know New England came back to win 34 – 28.
Last season, against Philadelphia and backup quarterback Nick Foles, they lost 41 – 33. Foles threw for 373 yards and 3 TD’s.
The reason I point that out is because I would have expected a Belichick coached defense with two weeks to prepare to perform better. I also don’t view Foles as a great quarterback. Going in to the NFC Championship I did not have much confidence in Goff. Now I think he can actually lead LA to victory.
Both defenses have played well in the postseason. The Rams are second in yards per game and the Patriots are fourth.
I can never bet against New England in a big game so I give them the edge to win.
Bouncing Bama
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
GeorgiaSportsEdition.com news services
Going into the college football season the top two teams were Clemson and Alabama. They met in the national championship again this year, making their fourth consecutive match up in the College Football Playoff. Most of us expected these two teams to play but the outcome was shocking.
The Tigers trounced Bama 44 – 16. This is the largest margin of defeat in the Nick Saban era in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide got out played and out coached.
Since the national title game last year, the media has hyped up Tua Tagovailoa and rightfully so. Tua has struggled against elite competition and that played a factor in the blowout loss.
He threw two interceptions that resulted in 14 points for the Tigers. The first was returned 44 yards for a touchdown only 100 seconds into the game.
The Tide also had six penalties for 60 yards.
“I just have a feeling that I didn’t do a very good job for our team, with our team, giving them the best opportunity to be successful,” Saban said. “I always feel that way, even sometimes when we win, I think there’s things we could do better or that I could have done better.”
“But particularly in this case, never really ever got comfortable with what we needed to do to win this game, especially on defense, especially the matchups we had in our secondary versus their receivers. That was something that was kind of bothering me going into the game, and as the game unfolded, it worked out that those matchups were a big difference in the game.”
Alabama came back to take a 16 – 14 lead in the second quarter before the wheels fell off. Saban seemed to feel the pressure and made some very puzzling moves.
They struggled in the red zone and ran one the worst fake field goal I’ve ever seen in the third quarter. On fourth and six they snapped the ball to holder Mac Jones and kicker Joseph Bulovas was the lead blocker (no, seriously). He ran right into Clemson’s elite defensive line to lose yards.
One big take away from this game is true freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence is a stud. I knew he was the projected top overall pick in 2020 but I thought the moment might be too big for him right now.
Lawrence threw for 347 yards, 3 touchdowns, completed 63% of his passes and did not turn the ball over. I’m expecting him to be the Heisman front runner next year.
True freshman receiver and Alabama native Justyn Ross had another huge game. He had 6 receptions for 153 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore running back Travis Etienne ran for 86 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The Tigers only had 1 penalty for 12 yards. They converted on 66% of third downs.
“There was a lot of talk about best ever, all year long,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “We were never in that conversation.”
This is the first time I’ve seen a team with more speed and athleticism against Alabama. Clemson looks like the team of the future but I wouldn’t panic yet if I were an Alabama fan.
They have the topped rated recruiting class coming in this year. The Tigers are also losing several senior defensive linemen.
I fully expect to see a rematch in the playoffs next season.
Rambling Wreck To Quick Lane Bowl
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
GeorgiaSportsEdition.com news services
One of the best things about the holiday season is bowl games.
We all know the prestigious bowl games are played closer to the start of the New Year like the Rose Bowl or Orange Bowl. Then we have the games that occur prior to that.
That takes us to the Quick Lane Bowl played the day after Christmas. I’ve always heard it was lovely in Detroit in late December so this is a great location.
Georgia Tech and Minnesota will square off in this game. Several Tech players felt disrespected by this bowl selection and took to social media to express that.
“Feels like a slap in the face,” offensive lineman Scott Morgan tweeted.
A-back Qua Sercy: “How do we finish FOURTH in the ACC and get the lowest bowl in the ACC!!! HOW!!!”
Quarterback TaQuon Marshall: “I’m baffled at this bowl game.”
The Belk Bowl seemed like the most likely destination since it’s played in Charlotte and they would have played an SEC team. Virginia was selected to that game despite losing to the Ramblin Wreck. They also were not picked for the Pinstripe and Military Bowl over teams they beat (Miami & Virginia Tech).
One thing that played a factor is attendance. The Yellow Jackets average home attendance (43,087) is the lowest since 2001, which was before Bobby Dodd Stadium’s capacity was expanded. It will be Tech’s first bowl game outside of the Southeast or Texas since playing in the Humanitarian Bowl in 2007 in Boise, Idaho.
This is the first game between Minnesota and Georgia Tech. The Golden Gophers (6 -6) were 3-6 in Big Ten play. This should be a good way to send Paul Johnson out with a win. The Jackets will be short one player, quarterback James Graham who is academically ineligible. He is the backup behind Marshall and No. 2 Tobias Oliver.
Tech is healthy and should have all available weapons for the bowl game.
“I’ve tried to approach it like every other game,” Johnson said. “It’s more about the players. They’re the ones who won six of the last eight games and we want to try to give them a good plan to get ready to go play and certainly (we) want to go out as a winner if we can. That’s been all my effort.”
Tech leads the nation in rushing, averaging 335 yards per game. This is the final game using the triple option so we can expect a heavy dose of the ground game. Minnesota is ranked 63rd in total defense so I don’t expect them to stop the rushing attack.
The Gophers have some explosive weapons on offense. Wide receiver Tyler Johnson leads the team with 1,112 yards, 10 touchdowns and averages 15 yards per catch. Freshman running back Mohamed Ibrahim has 936 yards and 7 TD’s. They had an injury to starting freshman QB Zack Annexstad back in October and he was replaced by Tanner Morgan. They’re almost identical statistically, both throwing over 1,200 yards.
This should be a high scoring game but I expect Georgia Tech to win.
New Sting?
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
GeorgiaSportsEdition.com news services
By now, we are all aware the Paul Johnson has stepped down as Georgia Tech’s head coach. He was replaced by Geoff Collins. I’m not sure how I feel about this hire so let’s take a look at Collins and his coaching history.
Collins is from Conyers, Georgia so he’s back in his home state. He played linebacker at Western Carolina (1989 – 1992). After graduation, he coached at his alma mater during the 1993 and 1994 seasons.
Following a year coaching high school, Collins became the linebacker coach for Fordham in 1996 before becoming the defensive coordinator at Albright College from 1997 through 1998. Collins would leave Albright to become a graduate assistant at Georgia Tech under George O’Leary for the 1999 and 2000 seasons.
He was promoted to tight ends coach at Tech for the 2001 season. Collins would return to his alma mater to become Western Carolina’s defensive coordinator from 2002 through 2005 before returning to Georgia Tech in 2006 as the Director of Player Personnel. The following year he became Director of Player Personnel at Alabama.
He became a defensive coordinator at FIU (2010), Mississippi State (2011 – 2014) and Florida (2015 – 16). Then he took over as head coach at Temple for the past two seasons.
One good thing is that Collins has experience coaching at Tech. He’s also a much better recruiter than Paul Johnson. The current recruiting class ranks 48th nationally and 10th in the ACC. For Johnson’s recruiting classes that is typical. The highest recruiting class under him was 41st.
Collins is aware that there are recruiting challenges unique to Georgia Tech but he is already aware and prepared for that. As the Yellow Jackets director of player personnel his 2007 recruiting class was ranked 15th nationally and included Morgan Burnett, Jonathan Dwyer, Derrick Morgan and Joshua Nesbitt.
The Ramblin’ Wreck has been outmatched from a talent standpoint under Paul Johnson. The gap in talent has only gotten wider between them and the upper echelon programs like Clemson and Georgia. If Collins can consistently bring top 20 recruiting classes in, he can close that gap and make them more competitive against their rivals.
In his two seasons coaching the Temple Owls his record was 15 – 10. That does not sound very impressive on the surface. Temple has been a struggling football program for as long as I can remember. They have only become respectful recently. In his first year in 2017 they were 7 – 6. In 2018 he improved to 8 – 4.
From strictly a coaching perspective, I think Collins is slightly above average. His Owls lost the season opener to an FCS team, Villanova. They are cross-town rivals but he should never lose to FCS competition.
I think this is a good hire mainly because the fan base has grown tired of Paul Johnson and it’s time for a change. His triple option scheme has hindered recruiting. Collins is bringing a pro-style offense and that will help with gaining recruits that want to play in the NFL.
He is also a defensive coach and the Jackets have been abysmal on D. In 2018 Temple ranked sixth nationally in yards per play and are tied for third in takeaways. Only time will tell but I believe Georgia Tech should improve under Collins.
