After graduating earlier in December with a management degree, Georgia Tech wide receiver Corey Dennis already has a job lined up – working for his future father in law.
It’s not entirely noteworthy, except for that the father of Dennis’ fiancée is Ohio State coach Urban Meyer. Dennis proposed to Nicki Meyer, a Tech graduate and former Yellow Jackets volleyball player, this past week. He is planning to begin work as a graduate assistant at Ohio State.
Speaking Saturday after the Jackets’ Orange Bowl practice, Dennis said that Urban Meyer is “a great guy. He’s always been so good to me.” Dennis addresses him as “Coach.”
Said Dennis, “It’s hard not to see him as Coach Meyer, but he’s just Nicky’s dad to me.”
He’ll soon be both.
“He’s got the double whammy,” coach Paul Johnson said. “He’s engaged to the daughter and a GA.”
Dennis proposed at a surprise birthday party this past week for Nicki Meyer’s mother, Shelley Meyer, Urban’s wife.
“It was awesome,” he said of the proposal. “It was a memory I’ll remember forever.”
Dennis’ Tech career has hardly been gaudy – he has one career catch – but still substantive. Barring unforeseen circumstance, he’ll tie the school record for most career games at 54. Dennis has played in every game since his freshman season in 2011, largely in a special-teams role. He began as a safety but then moved to wide receiver. Johnson called him “blue collar.”
“He’s played a lot of positions,” Johnson said. “I think it speaks volumes for him and his attitude and his work ethic and the way he approaches things.”
Dennis said he has never been close to missing a game due to injury. He was unaware of the record until informed Saturday. He described joining Jemea Thomas, T.J. Barnes and Rod Sweeting at 54 games played as “awesome.” Against Mississippi State, he’ll likely play on the kickoff return and punt return units and could see time in the wide receiver rotation.
“I feel like I’ve come with an attitude (to be) ready to go every day,” Dennis said. “Like, whatever I’ve been asked, I feel like I’ve always been able to try my hardest to do it, give my best.”
Urban Meyer will expect nothing less, and probably his daughter, as well.
